Angler
Michael Yelton was born and raised in Rutherfordton, NC and was introduced to fishing at a young age. His grandfather taught him to fish for bluegill with a cane pole, bobber and bread from his dock on Lake Lure. In his teenage years Michael chased Largemouth and Smallmouth with light tackle rods.
In college, Michael took up fly fishing and fell in love with exploring the rivers and chasing trout with a fly rod. After college Michael moved to Colorado with his childhood friend and started working at the Copper Mountain Kid’s Ski School. He was looking in a day old paper and saw an ad hiring fly fishing guides. Michael almost talked himself out of calling, but called anyway and met for the interview. Each spring the fly shop would take prior guides and new guides to the Green River in Utah and camp and float fish for four days. That was their interview process. Long story short, Michael got the job and started his first season guiding in 2000.
He moved back to Lake Lure, NC in 2006 and started his own fly fishing guide service, The Granddaddy Fly Fishing Experience, LLC. Two years later, Michael heard about a fly fishing competition, the Pisgah Fly Masters, a fly casting comp where you had three bullseyes at different distances and a couple of hoop targets to cast at. The top ten casters got to compete on the Davidson River private water the next day. Michael made it to the fishing portion, finished 2nd overall, and was hooked on Competitive Fly Fishing.
Fast forward to today, Michael just completed his 11th season competing and 24th season of guiding, logging over a thousand guided trips. In addition to Fly Fishing, Michael spends his time raising his two boys, playing music, and coaching his son’s sports teams.
Michael can be reached by email at info@granddaddyflyfishing.com for bookings and questions
