Jake Chiles

Jake Chiles is a true native of Asheville, NC and has spent his entire life hunting and fishing in the surrounding mountains.  Jake attended NC State University and earned a degree in landscape technology and business management.  He returned to the mountains and started a small landscape company in Asheville but soon realized that teaching people to fly fish is his true calling. 

Jake enjoys pursuing picky tailwater trout, smallmouth bass, and giant striped bass.  His diverse fishing experience ensures he will help you find the right flies and rigs to make the day a fishing success.

Josh Gorelick

Josh Gorelick is a true North Carolina boy and has Bojangles running through his veins.  He spent his childhood harassing warm water piscatorial residents of Charlotte, NC, and at 18 bought his first fly rod at Walmart.  He has been hooked on trout ever since.  Josh is on a mission to catch a fish in every state and has Massachusetts, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, California, Arkansas, Tennessee, North and South Carolina crossed off his list. Josh is a graduate student at Western Carolina University and working to become a licensed therapist.  He wants to one day combine fly fishing and therapy.  Before guiding Josh worked at a wilderness therapy program for struggling adolescents.   While there he started a fly fishing program and instructed clients on the basics of fly fishing and their therapeutic benefits.  Josh has a deep passion for fly fishing and it really shows when you fish with him (maybe too much when he is not on the water). There is speculation around the shop that Josh might sleep in his waders.

Brown Hobson

Brown is the owner and head guide for Brown Trout Fly Fishing LLC. He started fly fishing in Western North Carolina as a teenager and the passion for catching trout on the fly created in NC propelled Brown’s move to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Brown spent 4 years in the ORVIS store in Jackson Hole as a sales associate, fishing manager, and store manager and was fortunate to learn from many of America’s great fly fishermen while there. Seeking milder winters and closer proximity to family, Brown moved to Asheville and started Brown Trout Fly Fishing.

Brown is a member of the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team, Fly Fishing Team USA, is a former ORVIS Trout Bum of the Week, and a 2014 ORVIS Guide of the Year nominee. His fly fishing experience combined with his ORVIS customer service background give Brown a skill set that allows him to provide exceptional days on the water.

Travis France

Travis is a native of East Tennessee and has been fly fishing the area lakes, streams and tailwaters since 1976. He is a 20 year veteran guide who still loves helping others catch trout. Travis spent four seasons guiding on the Green River in Dutch John Utah but is now back home and a full time guide in East Tennessee.  Travis has a B.S. degree in land surveying, earned a nursing degree in the army, and served in Desert Storm, but most importantly he speaks trout, smallmouth and stripers fluently.  When Travis is not fishing, he enjoys shooting steel targets at long range and competing in the Precision Rifle Series.  Travis’ dedication to precision will surely show on your trip.  Travis currently rows a Stealth Craft Drift boat and meets all his clients in Elizabethton, TN.

Zack Davis

As a native North Carolinian, and on/off again resident of Asheville, Zack Davis felt it was natural to start fly fishing and exploring the rivers winding through the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Appalachians. Although Zack feels most at home on the Davidson River, or any other rivers flowing through the wilderness of Western NC, he spent time honing his skills on rivers out West, such as the Rogue and Applegate in Oregon, and in Norway fly fishing in the pristine waters of the Arctic Circle. In an effort to commit further to his passion, Zack then attended Sweetwater Travel Guide School in Montana. Once completed, he returned to North Carolina to enjoy an outstanding 250+ days of fishing in 2018. He looks forward to sharing his experience with others, as well as his love of exploring our beautiful mountains and rivers.

Jamie Blankenship

Jamie is a third generation Asheville Native.  He grew up chasing all kinds of fish that swim anywhere near Asheville.  Avid in all areas of the fishing realm Jamie’s true passion is fly fishing and has been since he was 12.  From Madison county to Brevard and up on the Blue Ridge Parkway Jamie has developed a diverse fishing skill set for all the different fishing opportunities we have here in Western North Carolina.  He is constantly reading and studying new fishing methods and fly patterns and that is what fuels his desire to stay on the cutting edge of innovation.  Tightline nymphing, bow casting to brook trout, swinging wet flies on two handed rods, and punching big streamers deep into cover Jamie is always thinking of ways to change up his approach to fishing.  Before guiding Jamie worked in several kitchens around Asheville and has a love for music, local art and all things folksy and woodsy.  Rumor has it he was raised by a pack of wolves.

Corey Lawson

Corey relocated to Asheville in 2019 after spending his life in the mountains of New Hampshire. A fly fisherman for over 30 years, Corey has been lucky enough to chase trout from the blue lines of the White Mountains to the Bighorn River in Montana and countless locales in-between. After nearly a decade of making an annual trek down here to fish, he and his fiancée Annie decided to make Asheville their home last summer.

When he’s not fishing, Corey is a history teacher and baseball coach at Christ School in Arden.

Jon Reimels

Jon Reimels brings over 30 years of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee fly fishing experience to the Brown Trout Flyfishing team. He got hooked on the fly in 1991, as a freshman at Appalachian State University, and hasn’t looked back since.

Between chasing headwater brook trout and tail water browns, Jon’s also been chasing his 3 kids and coaching them in all things sports. This gives him a unique perspective on patience and learning styles that suits his clients well on the river.

He knows these WNC mountain waters and their fish intimately, and loves to share his knowledge. So whether it’s chasing rainbows or smallmouth, Jon will put his clients in a position to find success and improve their skill sets on the stream.