Certified Tenkara Guides

Decatur is a guide and shop employee for Mountain Angler in Breckenridge, Colorado. Originally from Georgia he spent a lot of his youth fishing ponds for largemouth bass. Decatur left the Southern states after college and headed West to the Teton Range of the Rockies where he first started fly fishing. His passion for fly fishing has since taken him to rivers and stillwater in Utah, Montana, Idaho, and now Colorado where he currently resides and fishes. Always eager to gain more knowledge and wisdom with the lifelong pursuit of fly fishing, Tenkara was a perfect fit for Decatur. He enjoys the true simplicity of Tenkara and loves to teach beginners. Decatur is also a patient and compassionate angler. His favorite band is Widespread Panic.

Barney moved to Colorado in October 1982 and started fishing the area in the spring of 1983. After escaping from the accounting profession, he became a part -time guide in May 1998. “I only work part -time since I refuse to let work interfere with my fishing.” During his tenure as a guide he was also an instructor for one of the Orvis fly fishing schools with students’ ages ranging from 8 to over 80. He will try to tailor each guide trip to what the client desires from the trip. It could be going after the big one, trying to catch lots of fish, learning how to fish, learning the area for future fishing outings or any combination of factors. In addition, he tries to emphasize the entire fishing experience: emphasizing stream etiquette, getting out and enjoying the day, experiencing the beauty of the area, and most importantly having fun. After all, fishing is supposed to be fun! If has fins and feeds, Barney is probably trying to catch it on the fly! Besides fishing for trout, he spends time fishing for various salt water species as well as going after bass, northern pike, and carp in freshwater environments.

A fifth-generation native Coloradan, Paul grew up in the shadow of the Mt. Evans Wilderness, in Colorado’s Front Range. From an early age, he started exploring remote backcountry and chasing trout. Paul has been fly fishing for thirty years, and in 2009 he embraced Tenkara, the traditional Japanese method of fly fishing. He has extensive experience in lightweight backpacking and backcountry angling on remote streams and high lakes. In 2012, Paul became one of only a handful of certified professional Tenkara guides in the state of Colorado, and he guided both tenkara and western fly fishing trips for four seasons in the San Juan Mountain backcountry in Colorado for RIGS Fly Shop and Guide Service (Colorado’s first tenkara guide service). His writing and photographs have appeared online on his personal blog, Tenkara Tracks, with guest articles for Tenkara USA, on Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, in Backcountry Journal, and most recently in the book Tenkara Fly Fishing: Insights and Strategies, published in April 2013, to which Paul was a contributing writer/angler. He has also provided tenkara presentations and demos for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers’ national rendezvous, on behalf of Zen Fly Fishing Gear at the 2015 Tenkara Winter Series, as well as tenkara presentations at The Fly Fishing Show in Denver. Paul lives with his wife and three daughters on the banks of the Arkansas River, in Cañon City, Colorado.

Owner Jay Baichi grew up in central New York fishing the Finger Lakes and Great Lake tributaries with his father and grandfather. He was introduced to fly fishing chasing striper on the New England coast. Ever since, Jay has built his daydreams and trips around fly fishing. Jay moved to Colorado in 2001 to teach elementary school, rock climb,and pursue new fly fishing opportunities. When he is not fishing Jay enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and three sons. His experience as an educator, father, and angler makes him a perfect guide for anglers of all ages and experience.

Jeremy learned to cast a fly on bass ponds and beaver ponds for brook trout in the Northeast. He moved to Colorado in 1995 and made the full time switch to trout and never looked back. After spending his college years fishing the rivers around Gunnison and Ft. Collins instead of going to class, he began guiding in 2000. He’s taken people fishing on many of our local rivers including the South Platte, Blue, Colorado, William’s Fork, Arkansas and Clear Creek. Jeremy has a very well rounded knowledge base for fly fishing in the Rockies and he loves using all different techniques for catching trout on a fly.

Ben grew up hunting, fishing and making outdoor memories in rural Minnesota. When Ben accepted a position as an elementary teacher and moved to Colorado over ten years ago, he started fly fishing for trout with his new teaching teammate, Jay Baichi. Ben summarizes his love for guiding this way, “Fly fishing gives everyone a chance to experience something that makes them feel in the zone. That’s pretty cool.” With the heart of a teacher, Ben aims to guide clients toward fly fishing success. He specializes in helping beginning anglers to learn the basics. Ben is always excited to share the river with new friends, and he abides by one simple principle: The best angler on the river is the one having the most fun! The only thing Ben loves more than fishing is his family.

Marcelo Caiozzi was born in Chile, South America where the beautiful and pristine mountains, rivers, lakes, and ocean created an everlasting impression on him while fishing for trout, salmon, sea run brown trout, corvina, and many other hard fighting fish. Upon moving to the mid-west United States, Marcelo learned numerous techniques to catch large & small mouth bass, crappie, walleye, northern pike, muskie, catfish, and carp. Following graduate school, Marcelo moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he directed a collegiate Outdoor Education Program and developed a fly-fishing curriculum. Teaching people how to fly fish soon became a real passion for Marcelo as he doubled as a professional guide for 3 separate fly-fishing businesses focusing on such rivers and streams as the legendary San Juan, Rio Grande, Chama, Cimarron, Culebra, Santa Barbara, Pecos, Jemez, & Rio de Los Pinos. Now residing in Colorado, Marcelo continues his passion for fly-fishing and loves exploring local Colorado rivers such as the South Platte, Arkansas, Blue, Colorado, Gunnison, Roaring Fork, Frying Pan, North Platte, plus numerous pristine high elevation mountain lakes. Besides fishing freshwater, Marcelo also enjoys fishing for such saltwater species as bonefish, redfish, jacks, tarpon, shark, barracuda, permit, and whatever else happens to swim by and bite his fly. Too little time, so much water to explore…

Originally from the east coast, Tom went to college in Vermont for ski area/ recreation management, and then migrated to the big mountains of Colorado. When he was 24, Tom started and still runs a group travel business that specializes in ski and summer trips to the resorts and rafting rivers of Colorado and New Mexico. Tom enjoys sharing his love of the skiing the mountains in the winter, and fly fishing the rivers and lakes the rest of the year. His passion is helping others improve their skills and seeing the excitement when they catch fish in beautiful surroundings. In addition to guiding/teaching fly fishing, Tom has taught skiing and is a current hiking/backpack trip leader and fly fishing instructor for the Colorado Mountain Club.

Luke was born and raised in the great state of Colorado. He began fishing at the age of 6 and never looked back. Somewhere in his younger teenage years, Luke was introduced to fly fishing while on a trip to the Miracle Mile in Wyoming. This was the start of his love for the sport. Many long days as a young man were spent chasing the fish, especially trout through out the Rocky Mountains. Luke’s true specialty is the ability to teach the finer details of fly fishing in a fun and productive manner. Not only is Luke a proficient teacher and fly fishermen with a standard dry fly or nymph fishing he also has the experience and know how to teach Czech nymphing or streamer fishing technique to anyone who has the patience and desire to learn. Fly fishing and more importantly guiding is Luke’s calling and passion in life.