Pros

Bio

I grew up in East Tennessee and fished area lakes for bass and panfish and mountain streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for brown, rainbow and native brook trout. During college I spent a couple of summers guiding fly fisherman for those same trout. However, I always wished that I was fishing saltwater even while knee deep in a trout stream. I started saltwater fishing when I was 3 and it quickly grew into my passion. When I started fly fishing at the age of 10, I soon saved enough money to upgrade my cheap five weight to an eight and I was instantly hooked on fly fishing the salt. I started fishing the keys in the mid 80s and by the time I graduated from college I was spending several weeks a year fishing in South Florida. I moved to Key West about a month after graduating from college. When I was young I had dreamed of being a flats guide and never dreamed that it would be a possibility much less a reality.

I love pursuing and guiding for the bonefish, permit and tarpon of the lower keys. These fish always present a new challenge and I relish the opportunity to explore new techniques, fish different flies, and look at my quarry from a different angle. I get just as excited watching a large tarpon track and eat a small fly now as I did the first time I saw it. Guiding presents an opportunity to share these experiences with other people and still enjoy it myself. I pride myself in working hard to get my clients in front of fish and providing patient instruction when everything doesn't quite come together.