Western North Carolina On The Fly!

Guide to flyfishing the mountains of WNC!!

On The Fly Guide Service, Inc. is a very friendly guide service run by myself (Scott Cunningham) and my best friend and fishing partner Chad Stevens.  We pride ourselves in making sure you have a day of fishing to remember. We do not hire area collage students for you to spend your day with. Chad and I are local area fishermen that have vast knowledge of the surrounding areas and fishing locations.  We will make sure your day spent with them is a enjoyable, relaxing and a true learning experience.

Scott Cunningham

I'm Scott Cunningham, lead guide and owner of On The Fly Guide Service as well as webmaster for this site.  I've spent countless hours in the mountain streams and rivers here in western NC and eastern TN.  In the early 90's I developed wnctrout.com as a guide to public trout water here in western NC.  Anybody that has spent time visiting my site can verify that I know the waters here in western NC and eastern TN.

As the web site grew in size and number of visits, the requests for "insider" information came more frequent. Soon I realized that many people could benefit from my fishing knowledge and personable demeanor.  Over the years I have learned what it takes to make your time spent with me, a day you'll not likely forget.  Come spend the day with me on one of our beautiful rivers or streams and you'll realize that I'm one of the most knowledgeable and easy going guides in the area.

Born in Wheeling West Virginia where I fished Big Wheeling "Crick" with my older brother and friends.  My dad was an avid bass fisherman and shared this passion with me and my older brother Doug.  As we grew older our father would teach us not only how to catch fish, but why fish live where they do.  So at a young age I learned about fish habitat and feeding patterns, along with how to catch them.

At age 8 my family and I moved to Florence SC, this is where I realized how I not only loved fishing but being outdoors in general.  I would rush home from school so I could hit the local ponds, catching bass, bream and whatever else would bite!  My father, older brother and I spent countless hours fishing the local lakes around Florence, mostly fishing the two lakes of Santee Cooper.  My father was a part time fishing guide for bass, stripers and catfish and this is where I learned about getting the most out of the clients fishing time.

Just before turning 16, my family and I moved to Marion NC and I, of course, headed into the mountains!  Soon after moving here I realized that these mountains of NC were special and fell in love with chasing wild trout On The Fly!  During this time in the mountains I developed a love for the remote places hidden in these hills and would load up my backpack for multi-night trips in search of these special locations.  During my senior year in high school I hooked up with my fishing/backpacking buddy Chad Stevens.  Chad and I not only developed a life long friendship but we realized how the visiting angler could benefit from our knowledge and thus On The Fly Guide Service Inc. was created.

These days I spend most of the summer months chasing smallies and during the winter month I pursue trout.  Without the support of my family, my dream of fishing for a living would never be possible.  My wife Regina and daughter Addison also enjoy spending time on the water but of course wish I was home more often.

I'm a proud and active member of Table Rock Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Chad was born and raised here in McDowell County.  As a son of a very passionate hunter and fisherman Chad spent most of his childhood following his father from trout streams in the summer to deep in the woods during the winter months.  Hooking up with Scott during their senior year in high school, the two of them began exploring these mountains every chance they got.

Chad with a nice mid summer topwater smallie

Chad's love for BIG fish has lead him to become a great fly tier.  No bulk order flies here, just his "specials", make sure you take a minute to look his fly box over.

Oh yea ladies, Chad is a single bachelor on the lookout for that special woman that enjoys spending time outdoors and on the water! He's going to kill me for posting this... but oh well! :-)

Chad and I are both very active and when not fishing, which is not very often, we're normally traveling the southeast US following our favorite bands Widespread Panic and Gov't Mule.