Meet Our Guides

Starr Nolan

Starr Nolan has been guiding and teaching fly fishing in Western North Carolina for the past 24 years. She has extensive experience guiding experienced anglers and has taught hundreds of people from age 7 – 82 how to fly fish.

In 2017, Starr was inducted into the Southern Fly Fishing Hall of Fame for her fly fishing expertise and for her many years of work in the fly fishing/non-profit world.

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

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 and Wyoming, floating the Kenai River in Alaska, and stalking bonefish on the flats in the Bahamas.

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

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

Casting Carolinas: Helping women thrive after cancer by providing a comprehensive program that includes free weekend retreats where women learn to fly fish.. Starr is the Executive Director of this program, a local 501 C3 organization.

Instructor and guide: Rivercourse, a Fly Fishing camp for kids; John C. Campbell School and Being an Outdoor Woman program.

Starr is past President and Board member of Land O’Sky Trout Unlimited in Asheville.

Jake Smith

Lead Guide / Manager

I am originally from Northern California. Some of my earliest memories were chasing stripers with my dad and grandfather in the California Delta. I would spend majority of my youth fishing conventionally until college where I would pick up my first fly rod. I would soon be hooked and find myself driving to various rivers in the southeast always looking for the next bite. 

I studied communication at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky and competed on the collegiate mountain biking team as well. During my college years, I fell in love with Western North Carolina and decided to call it home upon graduation in 2017. 

Many memories and fish later, I am thrilled to be a fly fishing guide here in Western North Carolina and look forward to helping anglers improve at all levels.

Tony Brooks

Tony has been guiding and teaching fly fishing for Brookside Guides for over 10 years. He is excellent with new anglers and can give experienced anglers tips and pointers that will definitely amp up their success on the water! Tony is an FFI Certified Casting Instructor. He is President of the French Broad Fly Fishers Club and a member of the NC Guide Association.

Rick Wedell

Rick spent the first 10 years of his life in Connecticut where he learned how to fish for Snappers and bluefish. After moving to Vermont he fell in love with the outdoors, romping around in the woods, fishing for trout and skiing. His love of skiing and the mountains lead him out to Colorado. While living in Gunnison and getting his BA in outdoor leadership and psychology at Western State College he began to teach himself how to flyfish. Shortly after moving to Asheville he started guiding for Brookside Guides.

Rick has a passion for teaching people of all ages about fly fishing and sharing his love of the outdoors. He is always looking to enhance his fishing trips with well rounded knowledge of the local flora and fauna.

In the off season Rick can be found at Cataloochee Ski area as part of the ski patrol team where he enjoys mentoring up and coming patrollers. Wherever he is found it will most likely be enjoying the outdoors and looking to hone his skills as a mentor and steward of the world around us.