Ben Whalley

Pro

 

Ben’s obsession with fly fishing began at a very young age in south Florida with a box of old flies and his dad’s old fiberglass rod. Most of his youth was spent in Brasil. When he wasn’t breaking horses or working on the ranch, he was exploring the wilderness and waterways searching for natural materials he could spin up to imitate local berries and forage fish.

In 2003, Ben moved to Maine where his obsession with wild salmonids and striped bass was born. By 2015, he began offering guided wading trips part-time for trout and striped bass. As both angler and guide, Ben continues to draw inspiration from Florida and South America, chasing stripers on the beautiful, expansive flats in the Gulf of Maine.

After a 12 year career in corporate America working for a large biotech company, Ben decided to leave his roles as Sr Engineer & Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt to pursue his calling and passion of guiding and tying flies full time, founding Ben Whalley Fishing LLC.

His saltwater flies are known for being functional and realistic, heavily influenced by the brilliance of Bob Popovic’s creations. As mentor and friend, Bob’s influence and guidance continues to heighten Ben’s ability to bring salty creations from behind the vise and share with others any chance he gets.

  1. Home water? Chasing stripers on the expansive shallow water mud and sand flats of Casco Bay, Maine.
  2. What 2-3 lines do you use the most and why? Having a selection of lines to cover the ever changing conditions/ water depths is essential to success in Maine’s striper fishery. For shallow water-delicate presentations, I run Amplitude Bonefish Smooth Fly line. I find it has a  a great taper for anglers of all skill levels to pick-up and deliver casts to weary shallow water stripers. When needing to get down a bit deeper or when throwing larger offerings amongst rock ledges my preferred line is the Sonar Titan Full Intermediate fly line. I’ll reach for the Sonar Titan Triple Density when dragging crab flies along bottom, dropping BEAST Fleyes below schools of bunker, or fishing in tight to structure. This line gets the fly down where the fish are, period.
  3. Where would you most like to fish?  I am always itching for morechances to chase permit and tarpon, that love will always be there, but my current bucket list destination is Magdalena Bay, Mexico, sight fishing for Striped Marlin, Roosters etc.
  4. Two Truths and a Lie. 


– Having never attended formal school, Ben somehow managed to pull it together, earn his GED, get into college, and graduate with a BS in Biochem

– Ben grew up in an orphanage in South America working on a farm until he was 18yo then decided Maine, in FEBRUARY, would be a good place to move to…

– Ben wishes he still worked in corporate america with no windows