With extensive knowledge about the best public waters and exclusive access to numerous private fisheries, our professional guides can provide the fishing experience you want. And no matter how experienced an angler you are, our expert fly instructors can help you improve your fishing, tying and casting techniques.

Guide Bios


Jeff Croy
Years Fly Fishing: 34     Years Guiding:  6

Other Occupation/Interests: Conservation. Family, Friends.

Favorite Water: Madison River.  Great variety and huge fish.  Some of the best streamer fishing in America.

Favorite Species: Brown trout.  They are mean.

Most Exotic Trip: Ireland for Atlantic salmon and brown trout.

Likes Most About Guiding: Teaching people and watching them succeed.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: You are always in a beautiful place.

Jeff is the proud owner of The Reel Life fly shop.  His childhood home was a stone's throw away from Big Tesuque Creek near Santa Fe, where he learned the art of reading a small stream and bow and arrow casting to spooky brown trout.



Ed Miller
Years Fly Fishing: 14      Years Guiding: 6

Other Occupation/Interests: Student, Fly-tying, Chelsea FC, My wife Anna

Favorite Water: Rio Chama from below Abiquiu to the Colorado border.

Favorite Species: Browns baby! They are immigrant survivors and get really big.

Most Exotic Trip: Bighorn, Henry's Fork, Green, and tidal waters of South Carolina near Charleston.

Likes Most About Guiding: The people, places, and fish.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: Endless challenges, making friends forever through angling.

Ed's infectious love of fly fishing has always been a hit with our clients.  He has a weakness for Rio Grande pike fishing, which he pursues with the passion of a steelheader.



Jesse Lee
Years Fly Fishing: 6     Years Guiding: 3

Other Occupations/Interests: Student, teaching & hospitality.

Favorite Water: The Conejos River in southern Colorado because it offers such variety and is located in one of the most beautiful settings.

Favorite Species: Lower Pecos cutthroats because they hit just about anything in the summer!

Most Exotic Trip: Belize and Honduras for all of the flats species.

Likes Most About Guiding: Sharing my passion with others and watching the excitement of beginners catching their first fish on the fly.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: The places that the fish take you.

Jesse is a born teacher who is as popular with our clients as he is feared by big fish everywhere.



Tim Herrera
Years Fly Fishing: 14     Years Guiding: 6

Other Occupation/Interests: Artist, Big game and turkey hunting, Working with kids.

Favorite Water:Rio Grande and its tributaries; year-round fishing for many species, always the possibility of catching something truly huge.

Favorite Species: Any species of trout.  They are all beautiful, strong, and the places where they swim are among the most beautiful of all.

Most Exotic Trip: North Platte in Wyoming.

Likes Most About Guiding: Spending time on the water and sharing with others my love for fly fishing and the outdoors.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: Using my knowledge of fish and combine my artistic abilities into one passion; catching fish on my own creations.

Tim is a fish catching machine, a master turkey hunter, and a brilliant silver worker who has a knack for addicting young people to fly fishing.



Toner Mitchell
Years Fly Fishing: 36     Years Guiding: 14

Other Occupation/Interests: Arborist, Writer, Wife Cullen, Son Gus, Reading

Favorite Water: Rio Grande Gorge for the solitude, McCloud River for the beauty, Yuba River for the fast running rainbows and steelhead.

Favorite Species: Wild rainbows/steelhead

Most Exotic Trip: Guiding the Illiamna Region of Alaska

Likes Most About Guiding: Fishing through the eyes, brain, and body of another person.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: Making deep contact with nature.  Everything is logical in the fish world; there's always a good reason that something turns out the way it does.

Toner has guided in Alaska, California, Utah, New Mexico, and Ohio.  He and Jeff have been fishing together since early childhood, when they both had hair on their heads.



Peter Mosey

Years Fly Fishing: 5         Years Guiding: 2

Other Occupation/Interests: Permaculture, Rain Catchment Design, Sustainable Farming, Fly tying

Favorite Water: Small, intimate streams that receive little pressure, like the Vallecitos or Brazos

Favorite Species: Brook and cutthroat trout, because you have to hike to them.  But any trout that chooses
eat my fly is my favorite.

Most Exotic Trip: Fishing under the Brazos Cliffs is the most epic fishing experience in New Mexico.

Likes Most About Guiding: The opportunity to share my passion and get people outside.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: Experiencing the places in New Mexico that only fly fishing will take me. 
Leaving my busy life and cell phone behind with only the river surrounding me.


Like all of our guides, Peter embodies The Reel Life's guiding philosophy of low pressure, easy going instruction.  His clients always enjoy their day on the stream with him.



 Carlos Montoya

Years Flyfishing:   25       Years Guiding: 3

Other Occupation/Interests: Executive Chef/Pastry Chef, EMT, Artist, Proud father and husband.

Favorite Water: Rio Costilla for the Rio Grande Cutthroats, the fastest strike on a dry fly; Davidson River in North Carolina; any secluded trout stream.

Favorite Species: Cutthroats because of their brilliant colors, but really, every trout is beautiful.

Most Exotic Trip: The Provo River in Utah, Henry's Fork in Idaho, and inner city fishing in a Salt Lake City dog park/

Likes Most About Guiding: My office, the people and sharing my passion for fly fishing with others.

Likes Most About Fly Fishing: The serenity.  The places it takes you are the most beautiful in the world.  Fly fishing is a fair sport.  You have to mimic nature with your presentation, and nature will respond if all is right.

The most common client accolade for Carlos is his positive and encouraging energy.  They also love his lunches.



Ben Casarez

Years Flyfishing:  19             Years Guiding: 1

Other Occupations/Interests: Rod building, Reading, Writing, and Family.

Favorite Water: Conejos River; miles and miles of public water with a variety of structure.  Rio Grande Gorge for a real adventure.

Favorite Species: Rio Grande Cutthroats.  Hard to find but fun to catch.

Most Exotic Trip: Slough Creek in Yellowstone for Cutts, and Chandleur Islands for reds and specks.

Likes Most About Guiding: Being outside and teaching people about my passion.

Likes Most About Flyfishing: It's so much more than just catching fish.