History Does Repeat Itself at Troutfitters… Kris Kumlien back in the business his father started 28 years ago…
The original Troutfitter, Dave Kumlien,
battles a trout while son Kris is
on the oars on the Yellowstone River.
Twenty-eight years ago, Dave Kumlien opened the doors of the Wild Wings Orvis Shop, Bozeman’s first fly fishing shop and guide service, near the corner of College and Main St. in Bozeman.
Five years later, Kristopher Kumlien was born in Bozeman. In 1985, the business moved to the Beaver Pond Plaza and became Montana Troutfitters. The business is now owned by Gayle and Bruce Whittenberg of Billings.
Now, almost three decades since Kumlien became a name synonymous with fly fishing in the Gallatin Valley, Kristopher Kumlien is back in saddle at his father’s former place of business. Not only that, Dave Kumlien, outfitter #281 ( one of the earliest issued outfitters licenses) and executive director of the Whirling Disease Foundation, is back as the outfitter-of -record at the business he founded.
Kris took the reins of Montana Troutfitters on January 4 as general manager and has begun a major overhaul of this legendary fly shop. It’s not just a job to Kris. He is proud of his father’s history with Montana Troutfitters and promises to return the shop to it’s former stature in the Bozeman fly-fishing community.
As if managing a small business is not enough, this May, Kris will receive two bachelor’s degrees from Montana State University in economics and finance. He has served as an Intern for Montana Senator Conrad Burns in Washington, DC and for the Political Economy Research Center in Bozeman.
With father Dave close at hand, Kris Kumlien is proud of his father and his legacy and has now set out to make his own mark on the fly fishing industry in Bozeman.
