High Country Boats Staff
150 Years of Combined Marine Industry Experience!
High Country Boats Staff
Jake Monroe
General Manager
Name Jake Monroe
Title General Manager
Jake leads the crew and brings a strong customer service background to High Country Boats. He has 27 years boating industry experience--primarily as a service manager. But Jake is not a “desk jockey” and is certified as a marine technician and has been awarded Master Technician credentials for several brands.
Jake is well-known as a top competitor on the Montana Walleye Circuit and also fishes occasional events on the national pro walleye circuit. Jake and partner Jeff Ingram won the Montana Walleye Unlimited Team of the Year and co-Anglers of the Year titles in 2023.
In-between fishing tournaments Jake and his gal, Skye, haul three children to rodeos, school programs, bird hunts on the front, big game around the state and a wide range of fun camping destinations for fishing, hunting and just having fun. As a Montana native, Jake has always taken to the field in the fall whiffing birds and scoping big game. In 2019 he ran a Crestliner jet boat to fill his coveted Missouri Breaks bighorn sheep tag.
Dave Luther
Shop Foreman
Name Dave Luther
Title Shop Foreman
In his 39 years as a full-time boat technician, Dave has fixed, maintained, rebuilt, assembled, prepped and otherwise wrenched on about 10,000 boats and motors! Dave’s various factory certifications could wallpaper a warehouse—if he was inclined to show off—which he is not. He is computer savvy which makes him a tremendous modern technician in the digital control era.
Dave's mechanical skills don't end with boats. He's been building razzu rifles and high-tech armaments the past few years to add to his already significant gun holdings.
Dave is a fixture on the Helena golf links and keeps a smile on his face even when busting knuckles on old rusty boat parts.
Dave and wife, Lori, are landlords for their neighboring rental property on the East side of town.
Ron Boggs
Sales Manager
Name Ron Boggs
Title Sales Manager
For 40+ years Ron has cast his line in the boating industry. After graduate school, Ron spent 8 years as a full-time tournament walleye angler and authored three books and a couple hundred articles about fishing and boating—none of which the fish bothered to read. He owned and operated a fishing and boating marketing company for more than 30 years and then served as regional marketing manager for the Western United States and Western Canada, most notably representing Crestliner Boats for a decade.
Ron is a self-described “boat geek” who typically gets on the water more than 75 times a year. His focus is on trophy walleye fishing, but he also fits in annual trips to the coast for crabbing and salmon fishing. Ron is on contract with several fishing industry companies to provide internet and blog content. He authors a blog on the High Country Boats website too--under the Fishing Blog tab.
Ron lives 20 miles outside town in York with Trout Creek in his front yard.
Deigh High
Parts / Service/Asst. Technician
Name Deigh High
Title Parts / Service/Asst. Technician
Deigh's background is in customer service, yet his mechanic skills and his aptitude for fish finders and other electronics has bumped him into our service shop.
Deigh has completed the Minn Kota factory training program in Minnesota and is certified to work in an Authorized Service Center for Minn Kota products. He's also trained for Mercury certification and has been chewing up and spitting out the Mercury training modules like it's baby food. He's also gained skills with Yamaha and Evinrude outboard engines as well as Mercruiser and other inboard engines.
Deigh has had a master fast-class with the new fish finder and trolling motor technology. He's rigged out fishing boats with as many as 7 sonar units and as many as 4 forward facing sonar transducers. If you see a boat pull out of our shop with 2 or 3 big screens on the bow and more big screens on the dash, that boat was likely networked together by Deigh.
Deigh and his wife have three young children who keep the family running at full speed. Plus, Deigh stepped to the plate when his brother had severe medical issues requiring multi-months for out-of-state treatments. Deigh and his wife took in the 3 children in his brother's family! It's admirable to see selflessness and a family ethic in our modern world!
Kelly VanSchaack
bookkeeper/office manager
Name Kelly VanSchaack
Title bookkeeper/office manager
Kelly's background is not just in bookkeeping but in many facets of small business enterprise. She has owned, helped start and run several small businesses of similar size to High Country Boats. So she "gets it" regarding the day-to-day operations of a successful small business.
Kelly saw our ad for a bookkeeper and immediately came in the door and asked to be hired. She returned in-person several times asking why we hadn't hired her yet. We realize how difficult it is to find actively engaged employees so we hired her!
She and her extended family are avid pontoon cruisers and you'll find them on the water pretty much every weekend during the summer season. Kelly and her husband have two grown children and spend much of their time socializing with parents and progeny. Kelly and husband, Nate, reside on the East side of town.
Kelly is one of those rare soles who actually seems to enjoy the battlefield of modern American politics. She actively follows the political issues of our times and genuinely cares about the future of our great country.
Brian Mangold
Service Writer/Parts Man
Name Brian Mangold
Title Service Writer/Parts Man
Brian grew up in Chester, practically on the banks of Tiber Reservoir. He's been in the marine industry for more than 15 years, first as a technician and then as a service writer and partsman.
Brian's computer skills help him juggle the list from service appointments, to parts orders, to warranty processing. He's the primary contact for more than 2000 service customers so the computer is an important part of his day.
Brian builds things...from fancy stereo systems in his younger days, to his projects today. Recently, Brian has built a few custom rifles and enjoys spending time at the range.
Like our bookkeeper, Kelly, Brian is more politically active than the average citizen. He can quote lines from the presidential debates and pays attention--even when it isn't an election year.
Brian is a "pitty" guy with a pair of spoiled pit bulls. He lives in East Helena.