Way grew up fly fishing for bass and panfish in the suburbs surrounding Washington, DC, but it was his passion for steelhead fishing that ultimately led to his relocation to the Pacific Northwest and interest in Spey casting. An inveterate tinkerer, he began splicing together Spey lines for his own use, which ultimately led to his key part in designing the Scientific Anglers Mastery Spey XLT line – the first commercially available long-bellied Spey line based on the great Alexander Grant's principles. The XLT has been used to win every major international Spey casting distance championship since it's introduction in 2002, and has resulted in a renaissance of high performance spey line designs over the past 5 years. Way also works as a Pro Staff consultant for Scott Fly Rods, in Montrose, CO. He has twice placed third in the Musto International Open Spey casting competition in the UK, and was the UK Salmon distance champion in 2004.
He considers the Skagit and Sauk rivers his home waters, and enjoys steelhead fishing in British Columbia and Oregon. He has been fortunate in being able to fish early season Atlantic salmon on the North coast of the Kola Peninsula, and enjoys tarpon and permit fishing in the Florida Keys.
Way enjoys teaching fly-casting at all levels as much as he enjoys fishing. He is the first American to take and pass the rigorous Master Instructor certification program by the Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors (AAPGAI) in the UK. He is a Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Master Certified Instructor, and possesses a Two-Handed Certified Casting Instructor certification with the FFF as well. He is also a Hardy certified single and double-handed casting instructor.
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