We take a unique approach to the guide service business by offering a high quality experience that is only conducted by one fishing guide, Jesse Tolliver. As a former park ranger, Jesse has fished all publicly accessible streams in the area over the course of the last 20 years. He also has several years of formal experience guiding fly fishing wade trips to both the inexperienced and the experienced client.

Additionally, unlike other guide services, we have private access to one of the most prolific wild trout streams in Tennessee. We teach diverse techniques of fly fishing, including European style competition nymphing. We will craft the guide trip to be specific to your level of experience and interests.

We are well connected in the region and are able to not only be your fly fishing guide, but happy to provide restaurant, campground, and lodging recommendations to make your trip easier if you are coming from out of town.

At Tolliver’s Guide Service, fishing is not just a job – but it has been a lifelong hobby for us. We can confidently assure that if you join us for a guide trip, you will have fun. Our clients always do!

See below for an in depth background on Jesse Tolliver’s Training as a mountain trout guide:

Jesse Tolliver is the owner of Tolliver’s Guide Service in Boone, North Carolina where he is also a professional fly-fishing guide. As a fourth-generation mountain trout fisherman with roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains that can be traced back to the Revolutionary War, Jesse brings years of education, enthusiasm, and experience to this role. Jesse's background allows him to possess a unique and intricate understanding of the stream systems and the natural world that surrounds him.

He has nearly a lifetimes worth of experience in leading groups in a wilderness setting. This experience sits on the foundation of a strong educational background. Jesse holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Outdoor Leadership from Eastern Mennonite University; he chose this university based on this degree offering. While obtaining his degree, he had the opportunity to learn from Lester Zook, a leader in the outdoor guide industry whose primary focus was on promoting leadership, group safety, and backcountry orienteering. Before graduating, Jesse led a group through the wilderness of West Virginia on a 17-day journey that including hiking, canoeing, and caving. This experience furthered Jesse’s diverse knowledge of the outdoors.

Working as a fly-fishing guide, Jesse was a National Park Service Ranger as well as a North Carolina Park Ranger for Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation. While he felt fulfilled as a ranger and certainly had the experience to carry out the job, his true passion had always been fly-fishing. He obtained his first fly-fishing guide job at an Orvis endorsed lodge in Virginia before starting his own business. His business allowed him to create a fusion between his zest for outdoor leadership and fly-fishing.

Jesse believes that being a high-level fishing guide requires safety considerations for clients, a willingness to educate people about the environment and conservation, and the ability to create lifelong memories. As a people-person with a knack for the outdoors, Jesse puts his beliefs to practice as a group leader.

Tolliver's Guide Service now carries the special use permit for the Jefferson National Forest. This permit makes us the only Boone based outfitter with legal access to these waters for guide trips.