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 15 years, that he 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…
