David Johnson moved to the valley in 1991 and started his guiding career 25 years ago under mentor Roy Palm.  After working for many of the local shops, DJ started Independent Fly Fishing Guides in 2005.  In 2006 he started Crystal Fly Shop in a tiny suite on Main Street, which was moved in 2007 next to Fatbelly Burgers.  We moved again in 2011 to the current shop in the old City Market Plaza.  In 2016 DJ bought the Redstone Company Store building, which is his home and now operates as Redstone Mountain Mercantile–a unique gift shop with a small fly fishing section.  In 2020 DJ was named the River Conservator of the year by the Roaring Fork Conservancy, which was a truly humbling honor.  It’s been a wild ride with CFS for the past 20 years that I wouldn’t have traded for anything.  2020 saw DJ return more to his guiding roots since it was such a busy year on the water, and he plans to do a fair amount of float and wade trips again this season, retail schedules permitting.  In addition to retail and outfitting, DJ enjoys playing rock guitar, hunting, and gardening.  And when he grows up, he still wants to be a big boy…

Kirk Webb seemingly walks on water. He’s always two steps ahead of everyone else. His first job was in a fly and tackle shop at age 15 teaching fly casting and fly tying on the Front Range. Foregoing a formal education, Kirk stayed enrolled in TroutBumU and has since managed several fly shops and guide services throughout his career settling in the Roaring Fork Valley in 2002.   You will not find a cooler cat and fishier dude around than this guy! The father of four is a ravenous Ohio State Buckeyes football fan and enjoys cooking, campfires and staring at water. He’s known as the guy who takes the fishing guides fishing. A lover of all things angling, Kirk is equally at home picking off risers at range with 7x and a 3wt as he is throwing glidebaits on a baitcaster or live bait rigs for denizens of the deep.

Like many others before him, Carter is an east-coaster who fell in love with the West and made the Roaring Fork Valley his home. Carter began his guide career at CFS several seasons ago and has quickly become a force to be reckoned with on the water. He is often found wading his clients on the Crystal and the Frying Pan, and enjoys floating in his Clackacraft on the big waters of the lower Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers. In the off-seasons Carter is frequently found fishing with his dad and brother in their Chittum Skiff chasing the snook, redfish and tarpon around in southern Florida when not sled-necking and elk hunting the backcountry. Carter keeps the energy level high on his trips and is well known amongst his fellow guides for always having the fly du jour.

Andrew Clingman moved to Carbondale from New Hampshire and was such a fanatic that we had to hire him. His shop tab was about 10x more than his income that first season of guiding (and continues to run the largest tab)! Over the years, Andrew has built up a great list of repeat clientele because he is such a fishy guy with a style that is anything but conventional. His biggest thrills are catching trashfish like carp, suckers, black drum, jacks etc. on the weirdest fly rigs and rods possible. He has also become a very good teacher of Czech/Euro nymph styles.  Infectious and tons of fun, Andrew lifts the spirits of all those around him. Andrew’s skill with a fly rod in his hand are unmatched – except for his wife Annette, who he readily admits is the better angler (she is!). This dynamic fishing duo frequently travel together chasing steelhead and salmon with two-handers in the PNW, sailfish and marlin in Mexico, stripers back east and so, so much more. You’ll want to book this very busy fishing guide well in advance.

David Santini has been guiding in the Roaring Fork Valley for about 20 years now and started his guiding career on the Deerfield River in Massachusetts where he is from. Dave served our country in the Marines with 2 tours of duty in Fallujah, Iraq, and he volunteers regularly to guide in local Wounded Warrior and Project Healing Waters events. Dave is strictly a float guide and has a big personality that is full of energy. Don’t let all the good humor fool you—he is also very skilled at getting techie out there on the river and getting people into fish when it’s later in the season and the fish have seen it all. A self-professed streamer junkie who loves fishing for visuals and big fish on the big rivers. Depending on the time of year and section of water being fished, Dave uses either his Boulder Boat river dory or a raft with fishing frame. Fishermen are storytellers and Dave is absolutely one of the very best there is!

John Hunt has been guiding and rowing in the Roaring Fork Valley since 2011. Originally hailing from Missouri, John quickly outgrew the technical spring creeks of the Ozarks. His amazing dry sense of humor and his uncanny ability to consistently bring fish to the net always brings his clients back to him. A float-only guide, lucky anglers will enjoy their river limo ride in his spotless drift boat or raft. John is a world traveler and adventure angler who frequently hosts exotic fly angling trips across the globe. He is DEEP, DEEP into his permit fishing. When not traveling or guiding, John can frequently be found rearranging chunks of sod on the golf course. Despite the fact he’s a Packers fan, he still managed catch this double with me in Louisiana (below).

Chris Swallows began his guiding career with us back in 2018. Chris has progressed very quickly and built up a steady stream of repeat clientele because he is just such a nice freaking guy and a great teacher. He is amazingly intelligent (and a fishing guide?), patient, and great with anglers of all skill levels, especially beginners. His expertise is wading the Roaring Fork and Crystal rivers and is intimately familiar with our private water accesses. He is often found floating the Roaring Fork in his Boulder Boat river dory with his daughter Josie and his wife Gina (below). Chris is also an expert craftsman with a nose for detail and a love of cooking.

They say fishing runs in your blood – and Thomas is no exception. His uncle Kirk was buying him pocket knives, BB guns, tents and eventually graduated him to fly rods when the time came. An ornithologist at heart, Thomas’ bird watching skills easily transitioned him to hunting the water for fish. Growing up in the Denver Metro/Littleton area and graduating with a degree in Forestry from CSU, he cut his teeth fly fishing the Poudre and the North Platte River in WY. Thomas started out behind the counter his first season tending flies at Crystal Fly Shop, then morphed into a wade fishing guide for a few seasons later adding a drift boat to his arsenal. Whether on foot or behind the oars, the hardworking guide with the tan and the big smile often provides the highlight to many fishing vacations. In the off-season Thomas enjoys hunting snakes and carp in the deserts of Arizona and drinking IPA’s.

Chris Thomsen has been a guide in our valley for about 25 years.  Like many fly fishing guides who live in seasonal resort areas, Chris wears a lot of hats.  Chris has been a wine and spirits rep to area restaurants for the past several years, but he still finds time–mainly Fri-Sundays–to row clients down the Roaring Fork or Colorado Rivers.  Because of Chris’ expertise and charisma, he has a loyal following of clients who still come back to fish with him every year, so if you want him, you’ll have to book him with us in advance.  His prowess selling wine is just as great as his prowess on the water, because he always seems to win trips to exotic places by being a top salesman.  Pictured below is Chris with a massive brown trout he caught on one of those trips to New Zealand.