About
Joe Potoczak is an editor at Kayak Angler and Paddling Magazine and is based in Oregon. He’s been an angler for 30 years and an outdoor journalist for print and digital publications since 2014.
Experience
Potoczak spent his childhood surfcasting on the New Jersey Shore with his dad and heading back into remote Pine Barren ponds slinging lures to toothy pickerel. In his 20’s, most of his seasons turned to fishing Pennsylvania streams, and over multiple winters, he’d load a canoe and rods on his van bound for the flats and tidal creeks of the Florida Keys. He’s kayak fished fresh and saltwater up and down the East Coast, and now spends days pedaling and casting around Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Ultimately, fly fishing is the form of angling that has captured his heart most, and he’s spent more than 20 years wading mountain streams across the U.S., throwing dries in hopes a trout will rise.
Potoczak is also a lifelong paddler, with nearly 30 years of experience in kayaks, canoes, standup paddleboards, and just about anything that floats.
Highlights
- Other publications include: Men’s Journal, Outside, Bend Magazine, The Inertia, InsideHook, Blue Ridge Outdoors, Canoe & Kayak, Kayak Session, Planet Canoe
- Favorite meal for a day of fishing: Wawa hoagie
Fun Fact
As a whitewater paddler, one of Potoczak’s favorite aspects of fly fishing is the relationship between running a river and reading a stretch of pocket water.
