Our Guides

Starr Nolan

Starr Nolan has been guiding and teaching fly fishing in Western North Carolina for the past 13 years. She has extensive experience guiding experienced anglers and has taught hundreds of people from age 7 – 82 how to fly fish.

In addition to private instruction and Brookside Guides Fly Fishing Schools, Starr has guided and taught in the following programs:

Casting for Recovery Carolinas and GA: support and education weekends for breast cancer survivors. Starr has coordinated this program and lead retreat weekends as a volunteer since 2002.

Rivercourse: Instructor and guide for this week long fly fishing and conservation camp for kids organized by NC Trout Unlimited chapters.

John C. Campbell School: Fly fishing faculty instructing week long fly fishing classes for adults, 2006- 2010. www.folkschool.org

The Kawana Fly Fishing Club: Guide and instructor for the annual fly fishing weekend on the Linville River since 2008.

Being an Outdoor Woman: Fly Fishing Class: a program that teaches women outdoor skills.

The Charleston Angler: Fly Fishing classes for all skill levels since 2002.

Starr was a featured angler on ESPN2’s show “Rods and Wheels” in 2008.

Starr is past President and Board member of Land O’Sky Trout Unlimited www.landoskytu.com in Asheville. She is a member of the Federation of Fly Fishers and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

Starr enjoys fly fishing all over the world. Favorite spots include: fishing for native brook trout on small streams in Western NC, fishing “anywhere” in Montana, floating the Kenai River in Alaska, and stalking bonefish on the flats in the Bahamas.

When she’s not fishing, Starr is playing fiddle in her band All Strings Considered, playing traditional mountain music in Asheville.

Jay Dodd

Jay was born to fish. Starting at an early age, Jay began to learn the valuable tools it takes to consistently catch fish in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

With over 20 years of experience, a day spent with Jay will be a memorable one whether you are stalking trout on our freestone streams or chasing Muskie on the French Broad.

Rick Wedell

I graduated from Western State of Colorado in 2002 with a BS in recreation. The Gunnison Valley, CO is where I fell in love with fly fishing.

My fly rod has caught fish in the Trinity Mountain Range, CA, Eureka, MT, British Columbia, Belize and now Western Carolina.

The love of fishing runs a close second to the love of my new family. Gratefully, my wife supports fishing and my two year old daughter, Trinity Lane, has already caught her first trout.