The Guide Trip You’ve Been Looking For.

Guided fly fishing trips in East Tennessee & West NC for trout, smallmouth bass, musky, and more with a focus on streamer fishing, dry flies, and learning.

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Ellis Ward - Professional Fly Fishing Guide

Hi, my name is Ellis. I’m a fly fishing guide based out of Johnson City, TN, primarily streamer fishing the Watauga & South Holston rivers with my clients. I appreciate you stopping and considering me for your next outing. Some of the highlights of fishing with me include:

A Unique trip where we see very boats
Customized Experienced Tailored to Each Angler
Fishing dry flies and streamers
Targeting rising fish - not blind fishing!
Learning about fishing and rowing for your solo trips
You won’t feel trapped staring at an indicator
We don’t fish the same hours every day, say goodbye to the ‘8-4’ and ‘morning bite’
The rods, lines, terminal tackle - everything is top of the line and matched perfectly through my own time on the water experimenting with different setups
I tie all of our flies. Every dry fly, every musky fly, and every fly in between.

Here To Make You A Better Angler

I fell in love with fishing because of everything surrounding the sport - the scenery, the drives, the solitude, the heart wrenching line snaps, knee shaking personal bests or firsts. I don't believe that guided trout trips should focus simply on catching as many trout as possible and hoping that one that week is big enough to put on social media. Watching an indicator float and wishing for a fish to eat your fly is about as exciting as practicing long division.

Learning to cast, understanding what you are doing with the rod, the line, and the fly, and watching a fish either decide to eat your dry fly presentation or manifest from below and straighten your fly line as it tries to tear a streamer in half—those are the moments that I want to share with my clients. That inherently means that what I do isn't for everyone, but I do know it's for a lot of people.

I do everything in my power to make my clients successful.

“Ellis is a tireless guide that is constantly learning so that he can educate his clients. There is very little blind casting or prospecting water, as is common with streamer fishing, since he knows every inch of the Watauga and is eager to show you a new way to fish. If you're looking to put big fish in the net - Ellis is your guy. If you're wanting to learn why those big fish were put in the net - Ellis is definitely your guy.”

Morgan - Google Review
“I’ve been watching Ellis online for well over a year. I even called him last summer to discuss a variety of fly fishing techniques and setups regarding streamers. He was more than willing to talk with me. I’m aligned with his passion to fish streamers to target aggressive and monster trout. My friend and I made it down to fish w him earlier this month and it didn’t disappoint. We fished streamers and mice from 5pm to 5am. He’s hardcore and will go the distance if you want to try him. We caught fish and moved many we missed. We learned a ton throughout the trip. He’s a very fishy guy and knows the waters extremely well. I will stay in contact and be planning future trips for sure.”

Phillip - Google Review
“I couldn’t be happier with my fishing trip that I had with Ellis. I’ve fished with a lot of guides around the country and Ellis is one of the best. He’s not just looking at the clock and trying to make his hours and head back. He wants you to have a great experience. Streamer fishing for aggressive trout like he specializes in is very fun. I will be back to fish with him again.”

Evan - Google Review
“Our family traveled to Johnson City, TN for a week during the recent Thanksgiving holiday. We had heard of Ellis and his guiding service and reached out, thinking it wouldn’t work out, due to our request being just 1-2 days before the holidays. Ellis accepted our trip(s) request and was extremely helpful from the time week booked to the time the trip concluded. Everything from home pick up, instruction, fishing, conversation, catch, and drop off were perfect. We had the best time and will absolutely book again when in the area! Thank you, Ellis, for an absolutely memorable trip!”

Kirsten & Landon - Google Review
“My boys and I caught the biggest fish of our trip with Ellis Ward Guide Service. Ellis and Jack know there stuff for fishing the area. We were tossing fly’s on top of trout in no time. Highly recommend.”

David - Google Review
"Ellis is the real deal. Not many people are as serious and passionate about fishing as Ellis. Not only does he spend an incredible amount of time on the water, but is also an exquisite fly tier… and even processes his own bucktail (that’s how well he knows his materials). Ellis was a great guy to spend time with, but was also willing to share knowledge and put in an incredible amount of work to get us into some great fishing opportunities. Ellis loves the styles of fishing that are most enjoyable, from throwing streamers to targeting risers with size 26 dry flies. If you’re content watching a thing-a-ma-bobber float down the river while the guide matches the speed with the boat… well, still fish with him and he may expand your horizons. Definitely a great time and memorable trip!"

John - Google Review