Meet Our Staff
David Leake
Neil Turner
Matt Jones
Craig Tatum
Sean Polk
Kristian Cole
Jeff Jackson
Bo Glascow
Ana Schiwietz
Chris Gay
Schuyler Marshall
Patrick Duke
Madison Scarborough
David Leake
David Leake has nearly twenty years of experience in the fly fishing travel and retail industry. In addition to being the owner of the company, David is the director of operations in the travel department at Tailwaters. David has traveled throughout the world developing our travel offerings. These destinations include, but are not limited to, Alaska, Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Seychelles, Venezuela, and of course all through the United States. David is the copywriter for all of Tailwaters brochures and pre-trip information and editorial content for the company. David is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and has three children, Lynsie, Patrick, and Sam, with his wife, Melissa.
Emal:[email protected]
Neil Turner
Neil has been a long time loyal customer since our early days on McKinney Ave, and joined Tailwaters Fly Fishing Company full time as our GM in Fall 2019. In addition to being an avid fly fisherman, Neil brings a wealth of operations and business development experience to our team from his time as a multi store restaurant owner/operator. With a warm and loveable personality, Neil lives for customer service, building relationships, and maintaining a happy and productive work environment at the shop. After attending Texas Tech University, Neil spent time in Telluride Colorado working for Telluride Angler. Neil has two decades of experience fishing for trout throughout the US in Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, California, Alaska, and Arkansas. These days, if not in the shop you will likely find Neil in the Vail Valley, striper fishing on the Brazos, or on the Texas coast. Neil also sits on the board for Borracho Pescador out of Fort Worth that combines fishing and awareness to raise funds for Rett Syndrome in conjunction with Casting 4 A cure – chiefly through BP’s charitable redfish tournament each year in Port O’Connor, TX. Neil resides in East Dallas with his wife Lauren, and their two daughters Hazel and Winnie.
Email:[email protected]
Matt Jones
Matt Jones is our Texas-grown media and marketing guru. Matt is responsible for all our graphic design, photography and digital marketing. In addition to traveling the globe shooting much of our travel department’s imagery, you may also recognize many of Matt’s photos published in all forms of fly fishing media including the Drake and Fly Fish Journal as well as the use of his images in marketing and media for Patagonia Clothing Company, Costa Sunglasses, Loon Outdoors, YETI Coolers, and much more. Matt is an avid angler, but almost never puts down the camera for the fly rod. He lives in Colorado with his wife Andi, son Hank, and 2 dogs Brinkley & Maple.
Email:[email protected]
Craig Tatum
Craig is from the coast of Texas and is our go-to guy for everything buying, accounting, inventory, and finance. With a history of self employment in service businesses, Craig has an incredible work ethic. His scrupulous work balancing budgets, laying out buy plans, ordering and revising, handling payables and receivables, inventory control – and just about anything else related to the finances falls in Craig’s lap. Craig’s perfectionist approach makes him the perfect man for the job and there is no doubt we are very lucky to have Craig in charge of the company checkbook! A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Craig lives in Rockwall with his huge family and German Shepherd, “Hoss”.
Email:[email protected]
Sean Polk
Sean is a long time fixture at Tailwaters. He joined the team in 2012 and has been a consent presence on the sales floor. Sean has a wide breadth of knowledge when it comes to fishing in north Texas. He has spent countless hours fishing the lakes and rivers in the area and is excited to launch the Tailwaters Local Guide program. Sean leads instruction for Tailwaters and has taught hundreds of students how to cast and fish. Sean is also a travel host for the shop and leads groups to The Palometa Club and Turneffe Flats. Beside fishing most of Texas, Sean has spent time pursuing Washington and Oregon steelhead, Carolina albies, Florida Tarpon, Louisiana redfish, and Bolivian dorado. Sean lives in East Dallas with his wife Shonda and spends days off firing up the smoker and working to perfect his barbeque.
Email:[email protected]
Kristian Cole
Kristian Cole started part-time in January 2016 and has since evolved into one of our most critical team leaders wearing many hats. In addition to his knowledgeable and enthusiastic presence on the sales floor, Kristian takes the lead with outfitting our travel business clients. Kristian is a fine casting instructor, and also helps teach at our schools and clinics, along with heading our fly tying department. With a passion for incredible customer service, Kristian is also working into a more solidified role in our travel department. Before coming on board our staff, Kristian spent a ton of time fishing on the Texas Coast while attending Texas A&M Corpus Christi before moving back to his hometown in Dallas. While Kristian enjoys local bass fishing with friends and clients, he has also gained a ton of experience frequenting one of our favorite lodges, The Palometa Club, along with spending time in the Bolivian jungle. With more international experience soon to come, Kristian is ready to help you plan, and gear up for your next Tailwaters Adventure!
Email:[email protected]
Jeff Jackson
Jeff has been a staple on the Dallas fly fishing scene for 20+ years from the early days of Orvis Dallas as well as Westbank Anglers and Blue Drake Outfitters in Inwood Village. Prior to joining the Tailwaters team in 2018, Jeff spent the previous 12 years in sales, marketing, design and product development with Temple Fork Outfitters. Jeff’s fishing resume covers Baja, Belize, the Bahamas, Canada, the Amazon and the domestic USA. His upbeat attitude, friendly smile, and deep knowledge and passion for the world of retail, fly fishing, fly tying, casting instruction, and customer service make him an invaluable member of the Tailwaters team.
Email:[email protected]
Bo Glascow
Bo joined the Tailwaters team in December 2015 and has taken on the role as our Inventory Manager. With Skateboarding and art as his passions, we’re sure fishing and camping is not far behind. Bo is a Dallas native but Colorado has been home to him for the past 10 years. Tailwaters shop dog, Nollie, is never far behind; come say hi to her next time you are in the shop!
Email:[email protected]
Ana Schiwietz
Ana started working for us in March of 2016. Before coming to Tailwaters, Ana worked at a wildly successful web-based children’s clothing company learning her way around e-commerce and social media platform sales. While Ana is a huge asset helping to manage the day to day in our travel department, she also plays a key role in developing and managing our web store, assisting with event organization, generally keeping the office running smoothly, and so much more. She wears a lot of hats and can be counted on for just about anything…. including bringing homemade baked goodies up to the shop each week! Ana was born and raised in Dallas, is a graduate of John Brown University in Northwest Arkansas and is a huge Razorback fan.
Email:[email protected]
Chris Gay
Chris Joined the Tailwaters team in June of 2019 and has a lengthy background of both guiding and traveling the globe with a fly rod. Growing up in North Georgia allowed him to discover fly fishing. From there he went on to get his marketing degree from Montana State in Bozeman, MT, while spending his summers guiding in Southwest Colorado. After school, Chris took off for Belize where he helped manage and create creative content for Turneffe Flats Lodge, one of the most respected lodges in the Caribbean. Chris has enjoyed his time fishing all over the US, Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, but his favorite destination is New Zealand. For three months he cruised the South Island of New Zealand in a beater Subaru chasing mondo brown trout. With his guiding experience, Chris has been a great addition as one of our casting instructors. Chris is also a fantastic photographer and assists with gathering, organizing, and creating content for our marketing efforts. His incredible source of knowledge and experience has made him an excellent travel specialist. Whether you need help gearing up for your next trip or want to learn more about one of our destinations, Chris is here to help.
Email:[email protected]
Schuyler Marshall
Schuyler has always been captivated by exploring remote places and has fly fished since he could hold a rod. That skillset lead Schuyler to Tailwaters Travel, where he scouts new destinations, hosts trips, creates and edits content, and helps make things go behind the scenes. As a youth, he trout fished all over the U.S., Patagonia, and New Zealand before moving to Alaska for several years. Law school brought Schuyler back to Texas, but it didn’t take. Pretty soon the saltwater bug took hold, first on the Texas coast and then throughout Central America, the Caribbean, and Bahamas. Schuyler’s most recent obsession is fly fishing the jungles of Amazonia. He has been a guide with Telluride Outside and is an IFFF Certified Casting Instructor. Schuyler works remotely from Austin, TX where he lives with wife Julie and three children.
Email:[email protected]
Patrick Duke
Patrick Duke is a Colorado native whose father introduced him to the fly rod at the young age of eight, and he quickly found himself tying flies by age 10. He moved to Gunnison, Colorado for college where he received two bachelor’s degrees in both fine art and business, as well as a “PhD in fly fishing.” Patrick has spent the last 15-plus years exploring the Gunnison drainage and guiding year-round. Specializing in float fishing, his guiding endeavors have taken him to the Arkansas River and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Gorge. He now focuses his seasons on the headwaters of the Gunnison River, guiding out of Dragonfly Anglers, the longest established fly shop in the valley. Patrick has created a strong industry presence working as a brand ambassador for Howler Brothers, Thomas & Thomas, Hatch, Cortland, and Tailwaters Fly Fishing Company. In the offseason his focus is switched to traveling and fine art. Patrick’s oil paintings have been featured in Southwest Art Magazine, and he exhibits his art in two different Colorado galleries. Between guiding and oil painting Patrick is an avid traveling angler. From the marshes of Louisiana to the jungles of Bolivia to the flats of Cuba, his traveling experience makes him a natural fit for the Tailwaters family and an ideal host for your next angling adventure. To learn more about Patrick Duke visit ArtandAngling.com
Website:www.artandangling.com
Madison Scarborough
Madison is our newest member and is super excited to be joining the Tailwaters team. She is a graduate of Baylor University, receiving a degree in corporate communication. Madison spent her summers in college working at Camp Longhorn and getting in as many fly fishing trips as possible. Having been around fishing her whole life, she is looking forward to gaining more knowledge and bringing the women’s fly fishing community together. If you’re interested in women’s events and meeting other female anglers, Madison is your girl.