Altamont Anglers guides work hard for their clients, and the highest praise from a client is the return trip (although guides assure us that the tip is nice, too!).  Paul Tootleman has been returning for years now, and always puts together the best team of fellow anglers to fish with. Paul and Steve Paradise first fished with Altamont Anglers back in Spring, 2007 and they brought the team back in November, 2008.

Altamont Anglers guide Teo Whitlock holds a beauty of a brown trout caught by his client, Howard Pecker, on the South Holston River, March 24, 2009 (click the image for a larger view).

The Tootleman Team--Paul, George Kessel, Ray Heimbuch, Howard Pecker and Bob Pinder--fished with Altamont Anglers the four days of March 23 through March 26, 2009, floating the Watauga River and South Holston River guided by AA guides Teo Whitlock, Travis Honeycutt and Jay Dodd.

That big fish on the left, caught by Howard on the 2nd day of fishing--on the South Holston River--was more the rule than the exception for the fishing during the week. Awesome...

George Kessler holds a big male brown trout caught on the Watauga River, March 24th, 2009 (click image to enlarge).

Day two of a four-day angling adventure, and the guides and clients have spit up: while Howard and  Paul hit the South Holston River, Ray, Bob and George stuck with the Watauga River.

Altamont Anglers guide Jay Dodd holds the safety net for George Kessler in the photo on the right. That's a quite a kipe on that fish!

Teo holds a fine brown trout after netting it for Bob Pinder on the South Holston River, 3/25/09 (click image to enlarge).

While the first two days produced blue-bird weather (along with great fishing) the next two were bleak, cold and rainy. It takes some resolve to roll out of a warm bed at 5:30 a.m. to hit the road in the dark with a cold rain pouring down and a full day in a boat ahead of you, but the rewards for doing so are evident in the photo on the left.

Bob Pinder and Teo Whitlock seem to have survived the morning with humor intact, judging by their grins...

Ray Heimbuch with a chunky Watauga River rainbow trout (click image to enlarge).

Ray Heimbuch catches a break from the rain and a hefty rainbow trout in the photo on the right. Perservering in the face of awful weather (even by anglers' standards) clearly has its rewards....

Paul Tootleman holds a pretty rainbow trout caught on the South Holston River, March 24, 2009 (click image to enlarge)

The man with the plan, Paul Tootleman--team builder extraordinaire--enjoys the sun and the fishing on the South Holston River in the photo on the left.

We here at Altamont Anglers tip our collective hats to Paul for his efforts in putting together such a great team of fishing buddies--if only every group of anglers was such fun to work with!

Click the thumbnail images below for larger views of Team Tootleman and their great fishing...

BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE: click here for the rest-->

(Altamont Anglers operates on Pisgah National Forest Rivers under USDA Forest Service Permit #PIS6560)