Angler, Adventurer
📍Colorado/Idaho/Florida (a bit nomadic)
Jean-Marie Bousquet
Ambassadors > Jean-Marie Bousquet
As a Colorado kid, Jean found niche hobbies to be a natural part of her upbringing. Rather than playing sports, she went Nordic skiing and hiking on weekends, mucked stalls in exchange for horseback riding lessons, built a backyard ramp to learn to skate on, and spent many overnights car camping in ski resort parking lots and down dirt roads. Jean's fly fishing journey began a decade ago—thanks to a course at Colorado Mountain College, and her passion for fishing has only grown with time. It drove her to a roaming lifestyle, living all across the country—from the serene banks of many famed western trout rivers to, more recently, the lively saltwater flats and marshes of the Southeast. Immersing herself in new and different communities and learning a fishery through firsthand experience has widened her perspective—in ways she never imagined.
Most recently, Jean moved to Florida for over a year to learn and experience saltwater fishing firsthand. She truly enjoys every style of fishing and strives to be the most well-rounded angler she can be.
However, hiking into high alpine lakes or creeks is still her favorite way to wet a line, especially for native trout.
Conservation and positive progress for watersheds and fisheries is a world she's passionate about. She's worn various hats throughout her professional career, yet all rooted in the outdoors, the outdoor industry, and most recently, conservation communications and outreach.
Jean says she will never take the opportunity to work with some genuinely great people and brands for granted. Ditto, Jean!
Who do you look up to? Any personal or professional heroes?
So many people inspire me! I love an underdog story. When I was a kid, a few people I loved learning about were Steve Irwin, Jane Goodall, Annie oakley, and Alice paul.
Where's your fav vacation spot?
My favorite spot is wherever I happen to be at the time, especially when I'm with good company. An ideal fishing adventure for me would involve hiking into a high alpine lake and casting dry flies to native Colorado cutthroats, or perhaps running a small boat through shallow saltwater in search of tailing fish.
If you were to have one superpower what would it be and why?
Ooh, that's a tough choice. I'd go for something like super-healing abilities. To define that, I'd want the power to accelerate the healing process of injuries, diseases, or even environmental damage. It would be incredibly cool to have that kind of capability.
Favorite adventure beverage?
Cold cerveza does it for me every time!
What are three Chums items on your must-pack gear list?
I carry a variety of products depending on the day or adventure. For day-to-day life, you can find me sporting the Rover Cross-Body Bag. On all my adventures, I've gotta have retainers, I love the classics so I'd go with the Original Cotton (plus, they come in cool fishy patterns). I can't overlook the Pouch Microfiber Cloth though. Gotta be able to see out there, and smudged glasses are the worst.
BONUS QUESTION: just 'cause we’re curious
Is a hotdog a sandwich?
Ha! By the technical definition of a sandwich—I want to say yes...but my heart is telling me no.
