Our Guides


Guides with years of fishing experience

From rivers to the sea our guides have the expertise to help you.

Ryan Smith

Guide and Avid's managing owner, Ryan Smith brings a background in biology, conservation and photography. Since he can remember, fly fishing and appreciating the outdoors has been a way of life.

When fishing our saltwater beaches, you will be instructed on how to increase distance and power in the wind, so you can reach our cruising sea-run quarry. On the river, you will find Ryan chasing trout and steelhead and searching for the next piece of holding water.

Growing up in Oregon and a few years in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming prepared him for our challenging Puget Sound fishing. Ryan is a certified casting instructor through the FFF.

Mark Shimazu

Mark Shimazu is originally from Hawaii and has a degree in architecture from the University of Washington. He has spent his life chasing fish in the Northwest and beyond. Mark has been guiding for decades and focuses on float trips down the blue ribbon Yakima river just east of Seattle. Dry fly fishing is his forte and every guest gets a lesson in entomology and how to find feeding fish. When not in the shop, or on the water, you will find Mark tying flies, volunteering his time and helping train guides and staff.

Brita Fordice

Brita is a native to Washington state and learned to fly fish at the age of 8. Spending summers at her family house on the Stillaguamish river fed her desire to explore new fishing water. After a few years in Idaho and Alaska she returned to our emerald city. She has also extensively fished the waters of the Bahamas for bonefish, as well as a Florida for migratory tarpon.

Brita ties flies and is a virtual encyclopedia when it comes to recognizing and procuring tying materials from classic and modern flies. Fishing Puget Sound beaches, local lakes for big browns, and rivers for steelhead are her passion these days.

Donte Quinine

Donte is one of those guides that loves to teach as much as catch fish. His casting abilities are hard to match and combined with years as an educator, he will make you a better angler. He hails from California, where he grew up fishing everything from bass to trout and saltwater. He has travelled extensively throughout the US, Belize and other salty destinations. He has been in Washington State for decades and is proud to call Seattle home. Email us to book Donte. [email protected]