From Stages to Skiffs
My Recent Podcast with Andy Prince on Learning, Losing Ego, and Loving the Process
Written by Hunter Leavine
Photos by Charlie Shalley, Ryan Williams West, & Brandon Brooks
Ego and jealousy don’t make for good fishing buddies.
One constantly interrupts your ability to learn and connect.
The other makes everything bitter.
Your journey—in fishing and in life—is a lot better when you leave both of them at the ramp.
Andy Prince has spent most of his adult life on stages—touring the world, playing packed rooms, and performing music at a level most artists only imagine while daydreaming in traffic or playing alone in their room.
His band, Manchester Orchestra has done well. But the version of Andy I’ve come to know isn’t defined by his musical accolades but by his attitude on the water.
Why Ego Fails
What made this conversation land so deeply for me was Andy’s honesty about why ego shows up in the first place.
Early in his music career, confidence wasn’t something he felt—it was something he manufactured. Leather jackets. Cigarettes. A hardened version of himself trying to survive in rooms full of doubt and competition. Not arrogance for its arrogance sake, but armor.
That armor seemed to worked—until it didn’t.
Eventually, he found himself in rooms with musicians who didn’t need to posture. People who had done the work. Mastered their craft, and could spot insecurity disguised as confidence.
That lesson carried over cleanly into fly fishing.
Throughout the conversation I couldn’t help but notice the similarities I have experienced in the world of fly fishing. A world with perhaps less leather jackets, their fair share of cigarettes, and people struggling with their own form of insecurity in their craft.
But wearing the heavy armor of manufactured confidence gets in the way of the process of connecting, learning, and growing. Our ego can cause us to miss fully experiencing the things we want to do and the people we want to do them with.
So Andy did something many people never do: he laid the armor down.
Jealousy, Reframed
One of the most practical insights Andy shared had nothing to do with fishing or music directly—it had to do with jealousy.
Instead of letting jealousy harden into resentment, he learned to turn it into admiration. To look at people who were further along and say, “You’re good. That’s why you’re here.” Not sarcastically. Honestly.
That shift—from comparison to curiosity—changes everything.
It opens doors.
It builds relationships.
It removes the weight of constant self-measurement.
And it creates a healthier relationship with progress. Yours and everyone else’s.
Loving the Process (Not Just the Outcome)
What I admire most about Andy’s approach—both to music and now to fly fishing—is that he doesn’t chase validation as aggressively as he once did.
He talked about realizing that some of his early dreams had already come true. Playing records he’s proud of. Touring places he never imagined seeing as a kid from the Florida Panhandle. Standing on stages he once thought were impossible.
That perspective matters.
It’s easy to always move the goalposts. Harder—and more grounding—to pause and say, this part mattered too.
Fly fishing offers that same lesson daily. You can do everything right and still fail. You can miss fish and still have a great morning. You can measure success in something other than numbers.
Andy seems to understand that now. And because of it, he fishes—and lives—with a lighter grip and a love for the process.
Why This Conversation Matters
This episode isn’t about becoming a better angler.
Or a better musician.
Or even a better human in any performative way.
It’s about remembering how to learn.
How to ask.
How to be new.
How to set ego down long enough to let curiosity lead.
In a world obsessed with expertise and identity, there’s something radical about choosing humility.
From stages to skiffs, Andy Prince reminds us that the process—the awkward middle, the missed casts, the self-doubt—isn’t something to rush through.
*If you’re starting something new—or thinking about it—I’d love to hear what that looks like for you. Just hit reply. I love when people share and comment on these post.
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Often this why I choose to fish alone. I have a few trusted buddies where we have fun and can learn for each other. Then there are a few that do nothing but complain and make me feel uncomfortable (especially if I am catching and they are not). They aren’t on my boat anymore- which is sad because they are really good anglers and could definitely teach me a thing or two about life and fishing.