About Tony

  Tony Wratney grew up in Piedmont, CA a small town in the San Francisco bay area. He first came to the N Umpqua river in 1967 on a family vacation, and fell in love with the river. The family made the river trip a yearly event from there on out. Then one fateful morning in 1977 Tony hooked his first steelhead. He went straight back to Steamboat Inn to ask Jim VanLoan for a summer job at the inn. Jim informed him he was to young to work but to send him a letter when he turned 16. So Tony wrote that letter and started working at Steamboat the summer of 1979. He continued to work the summers until he moved to Bend, OR to go to college in 1981. Then in 1984 Pat Lee from Steamboat Inn asked him if he would like to do some guiding on the river, he jumped at the chance. He worked out of Steamboat Inn with the help and guidance of Jim and Sharon VanLoan and Pat Lee until 1984 when he formed Summer Run guide service. After all these years he still has a love for the river and guiding seldom seen in the guiding industry.