Bill Schaadt

Who was Bill Schaadt?

William E. Schaadt, better known as Bill Schaadt was an artist, sign painter, collector and avid fly fisherman.

Schaadt was born in 1924 in San Francisco, California and spent his childhood years with his family in San Francisco. He discovered fishing at an early age along the public piers of San Francisco Bay. He quickly became obsessed with the art of angling. In his late teens, Schaadt moved with his mother to the small vacation town of Monte Rio along California's Russian River.

During the post war years along the Russian River, Schaadt built a reputation as a skilled fly fisherman. With his angling skills and quirky, elusive demeanor, he became the subject of countless classic fishing stories. From the 1950s to mid 1990s, he was regarded as one of the top fly fishermen in the country, if not the world.

An innovative user of shooting head fishing lines, Schaadt helped pioneer Chinook salmon fishing on California's Smith River. He was one of the first to use flies to catch saltwater fish, including striped bass and rock fish.