December 2023 - 21

EARLY YEARS
Linder is from the Denver area and was
introduced to fishing and the outdoors by
his dad, Bruce.
" He loved to fish, " Linder said. " I didn't
spend a lot of time fly-fishing as a kid, it was
more on the lake. We spent a lot of weekends
camping, boating and water-skiing in Colorado
and Wyoming. "
Those places in Wyoming included Guernsey
and Seminoe reservoirs, along with some
time at Curt Gowdy State Park outside
Cheyenne.
" I didn't spend a lot of time fly-fishing
as a kid, it was more on the lake.
We spent a lot of weekends camping,
boating and water-skiing in Colorado
and Wyoming. " - Jeff Linder
Linder said he got into fly-fishing when he
was in college at Colorado Western University
- known then as Western State - in
Gunnison. Linder played point guard on the
basketball team. His roommate, Matt Smiley,
was on the football team. Linder described
Smiley as someone who " thinks like a fish " and
said Smiley got him started - and hooked -
on fly-fishing.
" If I wasn't tied up with football and school,
I was out exploring and fishing, and I kind of
drug Jeff into that, " Smiley said. " He really
enjoyed it and it was something new for him.
I think basketball kind of dominated him at
that point. It was something he really took to. "
Some of the best trout streams in the country
are in and near Gunnison, but Linder and
Smiley also spent a lot of time chasing lake
trout on Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison
in a used boat Bruce Linder bought for his son.
" We learned a lot from that boat his dad
bought for us, " Smiley said. " In a funny way,
it brought us closer together as anglers. "
Linder said Smiley is a " world-class " angler,
and that's not lip service. Smiley is the state-record
holder in Utah for lake trout that was
caught and released at 52.97 pounds and 48
inches long, which he set in 2019 at Flaming
Gorge Reservoir. Smiley once held the Colorado
lake trout record at 44 pounds, 5 ounces
caught in 2003 out of Blue Mesa Reservoir.
Last year, Smiley broke the Colorado
record for brook trout with an 8-pound,
9-ounce fish out of Waterdog Lake near Lake
City, Colorado.
Linder's coaching career
2000-01
2001-04
2004-06
2006-08
2008-10
2010-16
2016-20
Colorado, assistant director of basketball operations
Emporia State, assistant coach
Midland, assistant coach
Weber State, assistant coach
San Francisco, assistant coach
Boise State, assistant coach
Northern Colorado, head coach
2020-present Wyoming, head coach
Wyoming Wildlife | 21
Linder guided the University of Wyoming men's basketball team to the NCAA Tournament during the 2021-22 season.
(Photo courtesy of UW Athletics)

December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2023

December 2023 - 1
December 2023 - 2
December 2023 - 3
December 2023 - 4
December 2023 - 5
December 2023 - 6
December 2023 - 7
December 2023 - 8
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December 2023 - 11
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December 2023 - 21
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December 2023 - 40
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December 2023 - 42
December 2023 - 43
December 2023 - 44
December 2023 - 45
December 2023 - 46
December 2023 - 47
December 2023 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/September2020
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