Ian & Charity Rutter are the owners and guides at R & R Fly Fishing.
We share a love of the Great Smoky Mountains and the rivers and streams that carve the Southeastern landscape. R&R Fly Fishing was established in 2003. We are top-notch guides and have a wealth of experience in a variety of fly fishing settings. We love to teach anglers of any skill level. Together, they have written several books on fly fishing. Their latest book released April 2024, Fly Fishing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Whether you are a seasoned angler or just learning how to cast a fly rod, our goal is simple: we want you to have fun and learn how to become a better fly fisher. We have chosen to spend our lives fly fishing and invite you to come join us on the water.
Ian Rutter: Owner, Guide, Author, Artist
Ian has been fly fishing non-stop since the early 1990’s. He scheduled his classes around fishing while at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Ian graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1994 and began guiding fly fishers in 1995. He is among the most sought after fly fishing guides in the Southeast and guides exclusively inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Ian is equally comfortable fishing on the streams of the Smoky Mountains and the large tailwaters of East Tennesse and Western North Carolina. He guided East Tennessee tailwater rivers from a drift boat for about 15 years. He wrote Great Smoky Mountains National Park Angler’s Companion, Tennessee Trout Waters: Blue Ribbon Guide, and Rise Rings and Rhododendron: Fly Fishing the Mountain Streams and Tailwaters of Southern Appalachia.
While Ian has logged countless hours on the water in Tennessee and North Carolina he spends a good deal of time fly fishing in the Rocky Mountains every year. He also makes regular trips to saltwater destinations like Florida and Belize for bonefish, tarpon, permit, and redfish.
Favorite Times to Guide: Spring hatches in the Smokies, Caddis hatch on the Holston River, Fall BWO hatches in the Smokies (Can you tell he’s a dry fly nut?)
Most memorable moments in fly fishing: Chasing a 26″ brown trout 150 yards down Little River to land it, casting to rolling tarpon at sunrise, rowing a drift boat on the Snake River while his children watched a moose swim past.
Charity Rutter: Owner, Guide, Author, Graphic Designer
Charity is one of the few women that holds a guide permit in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A native of Oklahoma, she moved to Townsend in 1998. She met Ian and took up fly fishing a short time after. Charity was captivated by the sport and essentially fished non-stop in her first few years. She has been guiding since 2002 and maintains a busy guide calendar March through November. In 2014 Charity was recognized by Field & Stream magazine as on of the top female fly fishing guides in the nation. In addition to fishing all over the Southeast and parts of the West, she is addicted to saltwater flats fishing, especially tarpon.
Charity holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design and does freelance graphic design work. The few times she’s not on the water, she designs logos, brochures and other print materials. Her skills are evident in the graphic design of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Angler’s Companion, Tennessee Trout Waters, and Rise Rings & Rhododendron.
Favorite Things About Guiding: Seeing a beginner catch their first trout on a fly. Helping an angler learn a new skill.
Favorite Water: Anywhere in the Smokies
Favorite Fishing Outside of the Smokies: Tarpon on the fly!