Fly Shop Owner. Golden Isles Local. Steward of the Fishery.
Jared DiVincent grew up catching sunfish from a backyard pond in New Jersey, fed on hot dogs from a family barbecue and too captivated by the water to leave for anything else. Family members eventually stopped calling him up to eat. They just started bringing plates down to the dock. That instinct never left. It just found a bigger stage. Jared lives and works in Georgia's Golden Isles now, running On The Fly Outfitters, advocating for fisheries through the Georgia Saltwater Anglers Association, and spending every available hour on the coastal flats he calls home. He's the kind of person who knows everyone and is respected by all of them, not because he's loud about it, but because he genuinely cares about the water, the people on it, and what it all looks like for the next generation.
Where It Started
The first cast happened at Great Uncle Sonny's pond. Small rowboats. A dock. A handful of cousins and whatever bait they could pull together, sometimes worms, sometimes hot dogs, whatever was close. The sunfish didn't care. Neither did Jared. He describes it as the moment he got hooked. Not just on catching fish, but on the outdoors, the adventure, and the feeling of being connected to something larger than whatever was happening back at the house. That's the thread that runs through everything since.
The Memories That Stay
Jared has fished enough places that the question of a favorite memory is almost unfair. Stocked bass ponds in Jersey with his dad. Chasing salmon and steelhead during the annual run with his uncle and cousins. Weekend drives down to the Lower Keys with his buddy Dave, hunting migrating tarpon. Annual permit trips to Mexico with his Skinny Water Culture family. But the ones that burn the deepest are the species firsts. That first time you hook into something you've never seen at the end of your line. The anticipation. The challenge. The moment of accomplishment that never quite fades. Those are the trips he remembers in full detail.
What the Water Taught Him
The biggest lesson fishing handed Jared was patience, the real kind. Not the passive kind where you wait. The active kind where you slow down, observe, and let the answers reveal themselves without forcing them. He'll tell you that success on the water usually comes from paying attention to the little things. The weather. The tide. The behavior of fish and wildlife. The signals nature is sending if you're quiet enough to receive them. Fishing taught him that not everything can be pushed. Some things have to be earned by getting out of your own way first. It's a lesson that clearly translated well beyond the water.
What Drives Him
For Jared, it's the process and the people. The planning, the fly tying, the studying of conditions, the constant pursuit of being better at the craft. That's where most of his energy lives. Fishing is the platform. The relationships it creates are the reward. He talks about it with the clarity of someone who figured that out a long time ago. The catch matters. The chase matters. But neither of them is the point.
The Bucket List
The list is long and it reads like a dream trip itinerary. South African tarpon. Giant trevally in the Seychelles. Arapaima in the Amazon. Marlin in Magdalena Bay. Roosterfish in Baja. But if one destination stands above the rest, it's Bolivia. Giant golden dorado on the fly in remote wilderness. One of the most aggressive freshwater predators in the world. The combination of isolation, power, and pursuit makes it the trip he's working toward.
The Work That Matters
Jared doesn't just fish these waters. He fights for them. Through the Georgia Saltwater Anglers Association, he's learned firsthand that healthy fisheries don't happen by accident. They require science-based management, habitat protection, and anglers willing to think past their own immediate interests. He's direct about what needs to happen for Georgia's redfish to be there for the next generation and the one after that. "Conservation isn't about taking something away. It's about making sure the resource is there for future generations to enjoy." He's equally direct about what gets in the way. State management organizations that bend to political pressure instead of scientific data, anglers who stay quiet. His ask is simple. Get informed. Get involved. Join the Georgia Saltwater Anglers Association at GeorgiaSaltwater.org.
If You Could Fish Anywhere Tomorrow
Georgia's Golden Isles. He's fished incredible places and he'll fish more of them. But the answer is right outside his front door. Every tide, every season, every stretch of marsh still has something to teach him. He hasn't run out of water yet, and he's not looking to. Sometimes the best adventures aren't across the world.
The Quote He Lives By
"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children." Jared applies that to everything. The fishery. The shop. The community he helps build. The decisions he makes about what to fight for. He's not just passing through this place. He's stewarding it. That's been clear from the first afternoon he spent down by that pond in New Jersey, too captivated to leave, while the rest of the family ate without him. Some things don't change. They just get bigger.
Find Jared in Georgia's Golden Isles. Support fisheries advocacy at GeorgiaSaltwater.org.
Sean Nguyen @vin_nguyen