On the latest episode (#33) of the Fly Fisherman Loop to Loop podcast, Ross Purnell, Editor/Publisher of Fly Fisherman Magazine, sits down with one amazing fly fisherman – Andy Mill. A world-class skier who was one of America's top downhill racers in the 1970s and early '80s, the U.S. Champion in '76, who skied four times in the World Championships ('74, '76, '78 and '80), and twice represented the United States in the Olympics, finishing sixth in Innsbruck in '76 despite a severe training injury to his foot, and finishing 16th overall in 1980 at Lake Placid, New York. Mill was a regular on the World Cup Circuit until a career-ending skiing accident in Switzerland in '81, and afterwards he went on to a very successful, 20-year TV and broadcast career covering World Cup skiing and the Winter Olympics for CBS and other networks. Over his career as a skier, Mill certainly proved that he had the heart of a champion; however, another passion burned deep in his heart, stemming from his childhood in Aspen, Colorado – fly fishing.
In 1960, the Mill Family moved to Aspen, where as a youth Andy Mill excelled at a variety of sports – skiing, of course – but also at football and baseball. A chance meeting with fly fishing pioneer Ernie Schwiebert while Mill was riding his bike to baseball practice along the Roaring Fork River would have as big an impact on his future as the slopes of the Aspen Snowmass.
"One day riding my bicycle to baseball practice I saw this fly line going back and forth [making a motion with his finger] and I thought, 'Wow, look how cool that is,' so I rode my bike over and it was Ernie Schwiebert. He was in Aspen on behalf of the Country Store, which was a fly tying, fly fishing little store, and he was giving fly casting demonstrations, and I went over there and after the session he taught me how to cast. Ten years later he was back in town, and we found each other, and now he's sleeping on my couch. I was living in Basalt. Now I'm 17 or 18 years old, and he's sleeping on my couch, and we were fishing the Fryingpan [River]. I had my vice, and he was tying flies on my Vega. I had a little Vega, and Ernie Schwiebert was tying flies and wading them out to me in the middle of the river. And then, a number of years later, I was fishing in Alaska with Ernie. So, Ernie was the great Ernie Schwiebert, and we became pretty tight and traveled together a little bit. And then, Chuck Fothergill taught me how to tie flies when I was 11-12 years old with the Wright brothers – Jonathan, Flip, and Chapin Wright – and Jonathan, as you know, was climbing with Chouinard and was killed in an avalanche. Aspen was really fly-fishing ground zero there for quite a few years, because Chuck Fothergill had a store and a lot of people started fly fishing. But when I started, there wasn't anybody on the river, and I loved it!"
"So, when Covid hit," Mill continued, "I had a chance to show my son Nicky what I grew up with because there was not one airplane at the airport. There was nobody driving. The world was shut down. And I had a chance to show Nicky what I grew up with on the Roaring Fork, when we went down and could go anywhere we wanted and never saw another person. And then we got into the Keys before – it was shut down for the whole month of May – we got into the Keys and we were tarpon fishing, and we never saw another boat from Bow Channel to Key West, 17 miles, maybe 21 miles, never saw another boat for like two weeks, and every tarpon you saw was high and happy and wanted to bite your fly… The best day we had, we hooked 18 tarpon and caught 12, on the oceanside."
"My relationship with fishing has kind of changed," confided Mill, "because of what I've seen. You know, I'm an older guy now. I still love to trout fish, but on my terms, and the fact that I really don't care about catching a little fish anymore. I'd rather walk the river and look for a big fish that might be feeding under the surface and try to target him. Or, during a caddis fly hatch, get a bite but just don't set the hook, and you just try to get a few bites, smoke a cigar and go home. But fly fishing was as important to me as a young kid as skiing was."
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After Mill's catastrophic ski injury, he went into the broadcast booth and held numerous other jobs related to his skiing career, but he wasn't happy because he no longer was chasing a goal. "My goal in life was never to be a TV show host or to be the director of skiing. My whole life was like trying to win baseball games or go catch a fish or try to win ski races, and now my whole life was flatlined. And then the Outdoor Life Network called and asked me to do some specials. So, I hosted some of these specials for them and they enjoyed my work, and then they said, 'Hey, how about hosting and producing a fishing show.' And I said, 'I have no time at all.' But I started to think a little more closely about it and my life at the time, and I was making really good money. And I called them back and I said, 'I'll tell you what I'll do. You match what I make as a skier, all my contracts, all my clothing sponsors, skis, boots, bindings, what I was making from the ski company and the TV stuff. You match that, and give me a five-year contract, and I will change careers. I will leave skiing.' And they did…and we traveled the world for seven years producing great shows, and then I got involved in fishing tournaments in the Keys, but that basically changed my life in such a giant way because now I was having fun again, I was chasing stuff. I was fishing with the best anglers in the world catching these giant fish."
During the 1990s, Mill went on to host and produce over 90 episodes of Sportsman's Journal with Andy Mill for the Outdoor Life Network (later Versus Network) and he fly fished around the world. Additionally, he has won a dozen saltwater fly-fishing tournaments, including 11 major tarpon tournaments (the most ever by a single fisherman), and he also won tournament titles for bonefish and permit, making him the only angler to win a tarpon/bonefish/permit tournament on fly. Mill's competitive dominance duly earned him membership in both the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Hall of Fame (Class of '22) and the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame (Class of '23).
When asked about the end of his skiing career and making the move to fishing, Mill simply said, "Life moves on. Life is about surviving, right. Life is about recovery. It doesn't always go well. We learn more from our mistakes and our failures than we do when we win."
"I'm so grateful for the time Andy Mill was able to spend with me," said Purnell. "I have been a fan throughout his career, and I have to say that I'm amazed at his skiing career, and I'm probably more amazed at his fishing career, and his tournament accomplishments on the saltwater flats that may never be matched. His book, "A Passion for Tarpon," is an authoritative must-read, and you can bet that I'll continue to tune into the Mill House Podcast that he hosts with his son Nicky."
Don't miss Monte Burke's feature article, "The Many Lives of Andy Mill," in the August-September 2026 edition of Fly Fisherman magazine, on sale Tuesday, July 7.
Available on Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, and at FlyFisherman.com the latest episode of Fly Fisherman Loop to Loop podcast is a must-listen for fly fishing enthusiasts of all levels who want to stay informed.
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