Gean Snow - Utah fishing icon is gone

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I've been out of town on assignment and spending time in Zion National Park with my family on Spring Break for the past two weeks. The first I heard of the passing of Gean Snow came as a bit of a shock during a banquet at the Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo.

If there was ever an appropriate time to hear of his passing, it came as Stonefly Society members presented a conservation award named after Gean. I was deeply honored several years ago when I was named as a recipient of the Gean Snow Conservation Award.

I first met Gean sometime in the mid-1980s during a trip to Anglers Inn in Sugar House. The guy cracked me up with his sometimes gruff exterior and always dry sense of humor. He was an icon in Utah's fishing world and I, along with so many othes, will miss him.

The first fly rod I bought was a Snow rod. It is my pride and joy and my go to rod for the Green River. I'll cherish it even more now that the man who it is named after and who built it is no longer able to catch fish.

Here's a column about Gean written by Tom Wharton. Make sure you read to the end for an important note from Gean's family. I'm planning to do it, so should you.