The certification process to be a Registered Maine Guide is well known as perhaps the most difficult in the nation. Only those guides who are truly competent are able to secure their Maine Guide Patch and lead guests upon Maine’s fabled waters.

Your host and guide, Tom Welch, is happy to lead you to the fabled waters of Rangeley, Maine to try your luck at wild, natural brook trout and salmon. He leads groups of one to two anglers throughout the various seasons up Maine and focuses exclusively on wade and fly fishing for these wild fish. Catch and Release is mandated on many of these waters though preserving these wild treasures is always encouraged.

Book with Tom, fish with Tom. We don’t rely on a stable of junior guides that end up taking you on the water without deep knowledge of the rivers, the seasons and the fish behaviors. Tom has been fishing these very waters for most of his adult life and has learned the secrets of Rangeley. For large groups or unique situations, we can suggest partners and pair you up with fellow guides. Tom works closely with long-time guiding partner and MGS member Dick Buffum, who has decades of experience in the Rangeley area, as well as southern Maine.  You can rest assured you’ll be in direct contact with Tom before, during, and after your trip.

As mentioned, Tom is a Registered Maine Guide, a Maine resident, a member of the Maine Professional Guides Association and the Rangeley Region Guides & Sportsmen’s Association, focused primarily on guided Fly Fishing trips for Wild Brook Trout and Landlocked Salmon in the Rangeley-Oquossoc region.