About Dave Neal – Fly Fishing Guide

The Hookset

I was born and raised in northern California and have enjoyed an active life in the great outdoors.

My formative years were spent fishing for bluegill and bass in the granite quarry ponds and small creeks within bicycle range of our home near Folsom Lake.

My summers were spent camping & hiking with my family and lining crawdads in Lake Tahoe or fishing for brookies & rainbow trout in the surrounding mountain streams. During the wintertime we were in the mountains every weekend skiing. Occasionally, I ventured into the duck blind with my Dad at one of the legendary wildlife refuges within the Sacramento Valley calling ducks or pheasant hunting the nearby fields.

To say fishing & hunting as a kid kept me out of trouble would be a fair assessment… although it did lead to a mild state of arrested development and profound lifelong habit of pursuing fish & wildlife species.

The Big Adventure

In my mid 20's after the dream of becoming a professional bike racer dissipated (amateur racing in Belgium, Holland and Germany & all over USA and Canada) I packed up my fly rods and skis and followed a girl to the ski resort town of Mammoth Lakes located along the eastside of California’s High Sierra. This region is a big mountain, high desert paradise with endless fishing, hunting, skiing, climbing, camping and backcountry adventures.

Possibly the best adventure of all – was with the girl. She soon became my endearing and wonderful wife and later, the mother of our beautiful daughter. I fell into familiar work that I had done while growing up: outdoor specialty retail... where I worked in the skiing, climbing, biking & backcountry industry for many years.

It’s Getting Real

In 2001 I started teaching fly casting lessons and eventually guiding fly fishing trips for a small local shop on Main St in Mammoth Lakes. I quickly realized that I had found my calling in life.

The following spring, I attended the renown Guide School at the old Clearwater House on Hat Creek and was invited to join the very best fly fishing guide service in Mammoth Lakes at that time - Eastside Guide Service - at the old Trout Fly fly shop (later moving into The Troutfitter shop).

After 7+ seasons with the fly shop I had developed a solid base of regular clients. I eventually went on the way to create my own independent fly fishing guide service business, Reel Mammoth Adventures.

We spent 14 great years in Mammoth Lakes and with a lot of long hours on the water, sweat equity and perseverance - my guide service business steadily grew into a full-time, year-around career.

The Next Step

In 2008, I began guiding fall/winter steelhead trips on the Trinity River back in northern CA. This allowed me to truly become a year-around fishing guide. No more winter jobs tuning skis late at night or fitting ski boots in order to makes-ends-meet till fishing season started up.

For many years I spent most of the winter steelhead season living in the Gold Rush era turned logging town of Weaverville, CA to be close to the amazing steelhead waters nearby.

These incredible and zany anadromous fish have a way of getting under your skin! The passion and dedication needed to pursue these creatures becomes more than merely a sport, hobby or a job… it becomes your lifestyle.

If trout fishing paid the bills, steelhead fishing fed the passion. I like to use the comparison of an athlete... everybody enjoys the regular season but the post season or the playoffs are where the real action happens. Guiding for steelhead is a trout guides’ postseason and playoffs every year!

The New Chapter - back to Northern CA

In 2012 better opportunities arose for both my wife and I and we decided to relocate our family back to northern California and moved to Redding, in Shasta County. My guide service now became known as: Reel Adventures Guide Service. New website, same guide & philosophy.

We are very happy for this ongoing chapter in our lives and being close to my family and friends nearby. The move also allowed me to be at home with my family every night… no more 4 month stints of being a traveling guide all over California chasing fish.

The northern California region offers incredible steelhead fishing and some of the very best wild trout streams in all of California - and I would argue - the entire west.

I truly feel that this area is the ultimate destination for an incredible variety of fish species. We have: salmon, steelhead, wild trout, American shad, striped bass and several other bass species just in the Sacramento River system alone. And, there are plenty of other rivers, small streams and lakes near Redding to keep an angler busy all year around for the rest of one’s lifetime.

On Life Philosophy

Honesty, integrity, patience and a hard work ethic are traits I value. I appreciate developing relationships while having a fun, safe, positive, and memorable experience on the water with my clients and their families and friends.

I’m not going to yell at you, get angry or upset when you miss fish or put a nasty tangle the line. I am not a numbers oriented guide either. I’m a patient instructor who is easy going - but also driven to provide the best service possible.

My job is to allow you to have a fun day on the river and to teach you something new so that you become a better, more confident angler and hopefully return to fish with me again. I hope to instill some foundation of fishing skills while appreciating our wild places and the value of conservation.

Let’s go fishing…