Our Team
Michael Foreman
Fishing GUIDE & CHEF
Michael was born in Alabama and raised in southern California. He grew up fishing coastal, lake, deep sea, river and pond. When he moved to New Mexico, a local chef introduced him to Fly Fishing. It was not hard for him to fall in love with the sport in the heart of incredible trout rivers. He has had the pleasure to have fly fished 41 states over the past 25 years as well as England, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina. His passion for fly fishing is only matched by his passion for the culinary arts. 35 years in the restaurant business as a chef has allowed him to appreciate the beauty of food and hospitality. “Our mission at Speckled Trout Outfitters is to provide the premier river experience wade or float. Cheers and Tight Lines.”
Joel Brown
FisHing GUIDE
Joel grew up right here in Boone, NC, and started fly fishing when he was 8 years old. By the time he was in high school, he was on the water every chance he could. This ultimately led him to decide to attend college at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado, to pursue a degree in business administration and grow towards becoming a guide in one of the premier fly fishing towns in America. After a year of guiding for Willowfly Anglers in Almont, Colorado, and graduating college, Joel moved to Fort Smith, Montana on the Bighorn River. He guided there in 2020 before returning to his home waters of Western North Carolina in November of 2020. He is now full-time with the Speckled Trout family.
Mason Holeman
Fishing guide
Mason Holeman grew up in Fairview, North Carolina. After he moved up to Boone to attend Appalachian State University, he fell in love with fly fishing. Graduating with a bachelor’s in recreation management, he has a huge passion for the outdoors and all the opportunities that come with it. Whether it’s big open rivers or tiny creeks you can find him getting a line wet. He has guided waterfowl hunts for South Carolina Waterfowl gaining a love for providing people with a premier recreational experience, which matches exactly with our mission.
aj trujillo
Fishing GUIDE
AJ was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He caught the adventure bug and left California at the first opportunity. Over the course of the next 3 years, he traveled the world, spending most of his time in Hawaii where he excelled as a Crossfit coach. Through connections he made abroad, he found the great town of Boone, NC. He quickly fell in love with the Mountains and was ready to plant roots. His passion for the outdoors and adventure led him to the world of fly fishing where he dove headfirst. Since then, a lot of his free time is spent on the river learning how to think like a fish. His natural ability to teach and his passion for the sport made becoming a guide a no-brainer.
lawson greene
FisHing GUIDE
Lawson is born and raised in Boone, NC. He discovered fly fishing early in high school and has since fallen in love with every aspect. For the last 5 years, he has been working at Napa Auto Parts in Boone. After work and on days off, he has dedicated his time to his passion for fly fishing. You can look for him on a local creek or picking apart the famous tailwaters of the Watauga and South Holston River.
HIKING TEAM
RYAN CRAWLEY
Hiking Guide
Ryan grew up exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains and learning the art of backpacking from his grandfather, who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in the early ‘80s. Since then, Ryan has thru-hiked both the Appalachian Trail and the John Muir Trail, coordinated and led two and three-week backpacking trips for teens, and has an innate ability to spread a passion for the outdoors and the sport to others. With over 4,000 miles of backpacking under his belt, he brings a ton of experience to the team. He is both a natural teacher and a supportive leader. As a result, when his (then) eight-year-old daughter became interested in the sport, he brought her along through every step of planning and executing the multi-day trips. At age 10, she has successfully completed both the Foothills Trail and the Shenandoah National Park section of the AT, has backpacked over 200 miles, and is currently sponsored by Osprey. Ryan sees hiking as both an art and a skill. He believes in being prepared and making sound decisions so that you can have the adventure of a lifetime during the trip.
chelsea dittrich
hiking guide
Originally from the sandy shores of South Florida, Chelsea has been a resident and admirer of the North Carolina Mountains for the last nine years. A lover of all things outdoors, she enjoys hiking, biking, surfing, climbing, white water kayaking, and snowboarding, just to name a few. For roughly a decade she’s been a yoga instructor and a snowboard instructor at Beech Mountain Resort for the last five years. One of her favorite and most influential job titles, aside from yoga and snowboarding, has been zipline guiding in the Green River Gorge. Overall, one of her greatest passions is guiding people through new and exciting experiences whether it be in a yoga studio or out in the woods.
Kira Plummer
hiking guide
Kira grew up in the Boone area and enjoys being outdoors. As a local, she is very familiar with the parks and trails here in the High Country. Kira has been a snowboard instructor and coach at Beech Mountain for four years and coaches youth soccer. She also works at a local brewery. Her love of travel and being outdoors has inspired many adventures including a four-week trip across the country and back as well as a 3-month study abroad in Costa Rica. A recent graduate from Appalachian State University, Kira studied environmental anthropology and Spanish (hablo español también). She enjoys challenging herself to try new things and spending time in nature and looks forward to helping others do the same!