Tallyn Bronson is majoring in business entrepreneurship at Colorado Mesa, which makes sense — he's owned his own business since he was 18 years old.

Talon Fishing Company was borne of Bronson's senior project at ThunderRidge High School and the love of the outdoors, fishing in particular, he shares with his father, Jeremy.

After attending Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., and playing Division I soccer for two years, Bronson missed the mountains and his favorite fishing spots. He returned to Colorado and found his way to Grand Junction and the CMU men's soccer team last fall.

"There's a lot of things that went into it with soccer, but more so just getting back to Colorado and the outdoors," Bronson said. "I hated Tennessee, honestly, so being back in Colorado is where I belong."

The move also allowed him to launch Talon Fishing Company with his father late in 2021, and stay involved in the company even during the school year and soccer season.

The company manufactures cataraft fishing boats, pontoon-style, built for one, two or three anglers.

Although the company launched in 2021, it started several years before that, when Tallyn and his dad started building their own boat. Jeremy Bronson owns a glass and aluminum business, and he started teaching his son how to fabricate aluminum pipe. A lot of engineering adjustments and trial and error later, they believed they had built a better boat.

"We kind of designed prototypes for a boat that we wanted to use," Tallyn said. "We really didn't start it as wanting to start a business, but it kind of turned into … we built ourselves a boat, we took it on rivers and lakes and everyone was asking where they could get one. I mean, they loved it, so the passion for that kind of started there."

They came up with a business plan, and a couple of years later introduced their boats to anglers. Word about the solo, twin, three-man boats spread as Tallyn and his father fished their favorite waters. They visited fly shops and outdoor shops and used social media to attract clients.

"It's been stressful, it's hard to break into the industry," said Bronson, a redshirt junior forward. "But it's been well worth it."

They give customers plenty of options to customize their boats, offering several pontoon colors and other ways to tailor the craft to the individual angler's needs. Tallyn can build a frame in about one day, and depending on whether the desired color of pontoon material is available, a custom-built cataraft can be ready in roughly 6-10 weeks.

"We build fully-kitted models that they can just buy as is so they don't have to go through the waiting time to get one customized," he said.

The Bronsons pride themselves on building a boat that can traverse all kinds of water, from small sections of a river, side channels, still water and whitewater. Plus, they don't require a trailer or a boat launch.

"That was the main goal behind our boats, because there's so many other boats out there that are heavy and need a trailer," Tallyn said. "I can throw a two-man on top of my truck by myself and I have the wheel that I made (to pull the boat from the truck to the water) and take it wherever I want. Being versatile and functional was definitely the main goal behind everything that I've done with TFC."

Having his boat in Grand Junction is allowing Tallyn to introduce outdoorsmen on the Western Slope to his business. He quickly found a fishing buddy in teammate Manuel Ponce Casas, who hadn't tried fly fishing until Bronson got him out on his boat.

"He's from Mexico and he'd only fished in the ocean," Bronson said. "He kept trying to get me to take him out and now he can fly-fish almost as good as me and he hasn't been doing it that long. It's really impressive. Whenever I get a chance, me and him go on our day off and go float a river somewhere nearby, get out and do something, so that's cool."

While he's in school, Bronson's father handles the day-to-day business. His grandfather, who owns the glass and aluminum business with Jeremy Bronson, specializes in making the custom rod holders — "It takes some crazy skill to cut the pipe right down the middle." His mother, LeTisha, is their accountant, and his grandmother sews storage bags for the boats.

"With me being a student-athlete, doing this with my dad, it's kind of let me take it slower," Bronson said. "I can still focus on what I'm trying to achieve here, but after college, my goal is to go from 10 boats a year to 100, to 300. I really want to make it a nation-wide, recognizable boat business."

At some point, he'd like to expand the business into guided fishing trips using TFC boats.

If it seems as though Bronson is all-in on growing his business, it's his nature.

His dad has photos of Tallyn in a backpack on a fishing trip when he was only six months old, and one of his favorite memories is when he was about 8 years old.

"We were in a place called Waterton Canyon (in Littleton) and you have to ride a bike up," he said. "I think I was about 8, and there's not supposed to be big fish in there, but we caught an almost 30-inch rainbow that wasn't supposed to be in there. I just remember how excited I was doing that with my dad, definitely a core memory of when my love for fly fishing started with him."

He started playing soccer at a young age, and, like fishing, was immediately hooked on the sport. He played in the U.S. Development Academy for four years, played for Real Colorado in club soccer and was on the 2015 National Premier League championship team. As he got better and better at soccer, it took more of his time.

"I fished with my dad a lot, but it wasn't like we did it every week, you know? It wasn't until soccer got really competitive, when I had barely any days off, it was all I did (when) fly fishing really became my out, my escape from the stress of playing six days a week, traveling every weekend," Bronson said.

"It was something that I could go to do let off steam or not think about anything. That's really where soccer and fly fishing kind of co-existed together. That's where my love really came from."

It's not easy being a full-time student-athlete and a business owner, but with his family handling things on the Front Range, he's found the right balance.

"Other than having a few injuries, it's been everything I've wanted, honestly," Bronson said of playing at CMU. Injuries have limited him to playing in only five games this fall, taking two shots, both on goal, so far. He played in 10 games last season. "I liked Nashville for what it was, but being back here, specifically at Colorado Mesa, it's been a great experience overall. I've gotten really close with my coaches, with my teammates. I love the campus, just love that's it's close to a lot of fishing, so it's really come together."