Tanner Ehlers' interest in fly fishing was sparked in a local Wisconsin lake where his dad first handed him a fly rod during a day on the water with his two older brothers. Growing up in Wisconsin, Tanner immersed himself in the outdoors, spending countless hours bass fishing the lakes and rivers of his home state and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. His love for fishing and hunting laid the foundation for a lifelong passion for the outdoors.

At 18 years old, Tanner finished high school, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and served four years of active duty as an artilleryman. After returning to Milwaukee, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, earning a business marketing degree. Today, he applies his marketing degree and fishing experience to help run his family's fly shop, The Fly Fishers, working alongside his father, Pat Ehlers, and brother, Jared Ehlers—both fly designers for Rainy's. 

Tanner's passion for fly fishing has taken him to incredible places, searching for freshwater and saltwater species. He has fished the western U.S. for trout, explored Louisiana's marshes for redfish, stalked bonefish, permit, and tarpon on the flats of Mexico, and pursued golden dorado in Argentina along with exploring the awesome trout and warmwater opportunities of the Midwest. Each new destination and species deepen his passion for fly fishing and fuels his creativity in developing new fly patterns.