JOSHUA SCHWARTZ

“Trish” is one hell of a striped bass guide.. Another chef trained in the kitchens of the Napa Valley, Patrick has become my right hand Creel Crewmember. We have traveled quite a bit together over the past decade fishing, cooking and always laughing. Hi is often the first face you will see in the morning on a Creel adventure, serving up a fresh pot of coffee with a smile. He runs “Trish’s breakfast cafe” like a champ!!!! Between your travels with us, make sure to book a trip with Trish on the Napa River.

Jimmy is a BUTCHER…No.. Seriously! Visit his butcher shop the next time you are in Portland. We both attended Culinary school in Vermont and moved across the country to work in Napa, where we actually met. Jimmy and I have been cooking together for over a decade. Jimmy is a blast to travel with and when I call him to cook he always shows up, stoked!!!

“Jeffe” is one of the fishiest saltwater dudes we know.. I’m pretty sure he communicates with roosterfish in his sleep. We met in Mag Bay, where Jeff guides in the winter months. Check out La Ribera on our Destinations page to learn more about what Jeffe is up to. He happens to be a signature fly tyer for Rio and has an award winning fly called “The Cheeseburger”. Pretty cheffy, right?!

Ben Whalley just about knows where every striped bass lives in Casco Bay, Maine. He is a calm and patient guide as well as an incredibly talented fly-tyer. We are lucky to have Ben on our team and visit him in the summer months when Maine is in it’s full glory. Check out our program with this outstanding Captain on our Destinations page under “Maine”. When Ben is off the water, he spends time with his wife and daughter or is seated at his vice, creating new, effective patterns to fish with on his skinny water skiff..

Alex Castillo and I met two decades ago while working in fine dining restaurants in the Napa Valley. He worked his way up the ranks in the hospitality industry before transitioning into the role of head winemaker for his famiy’s winery. Several years ago, he moved to Colorado with the prospect of growing grapes in the Gunnison River Valley. Lucky for us, he has settled there, where he spends most of his time looking for rising trout on the banks of the Black River Canyon.

John Fochetti and I met while working at a fishing lodge in Northern California. He took clients fishing and I fed them. John loves great food and is an outstanding human being, so it didn’t take long for a mutual man crush to form. Over the years we have spent many hours on the boat laughing and harassing bass, trout and steelhead together. When he made the move into guiding independently, it was clear he would be the man to drive our NorCal group trips with Creel Hospitality. Check out our Fall River program, where John and I are back to our old tricks.

Steelhead... That’s what brought Jesse and Travel Creel together and it’s still the glue that keeps us together. Jesse is an honest and professional guide, father and all around fantastic human being. We started talking in the beginning phases of Travel Creel, when it was still forming. I told him what we were setting out to do and he was enthusiastic and supportive from the start. He wrangled up a killer crew of guides for our very first trip and look at us now! If there are fish in the river Jesse will find ‘em. Best part is no matter how you choose to fish on his boat, he treats you the same. Jesse’s passion for steel-heading is apparent and we are lucky to have him as our head guide for our Oregon adventures.

R. Valentine Atkinson is an internationally acclaimed and much-published photographer specializing in fly-fishing lifestyle and travel photography. His assignments have taken him to 29 countries. He divides his work between advertising, corporate and editorial photography and is published in most major fishing and outdoor magazines regularly.

Val has been the staff photographer for Frontiers International Travel for 19 years and operates his own stock photo library with 80,000 images on file. He studied commercial art and photography at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio.

We are very proud of his 4 books; "Distant Waters", Trout and Salmon", "The Greatest Flyfishing Around the World" and most recently; "Friends on the Water"- all fantastic reads. He was recently inducted into the fly-fishing Hall of Fame. We are truly honored to have Val be a part of the Travel Creel team.

Meet the newest addition to the Creel Crew! Nate started fly-fishing in Pennsylvania at age 8, when his dad took on teaching Nate, a friend and his friend’s dad how to fly-fish. They started taking trips out to Montana and Wyoming, where his lifelong passion first developed.

Nate was introduced to cooking from a young age, with his mom always priding herself on providing home-cooked meals, all while sustaining a healthy garden every year and providing hospitality to friends and family. Once in college, Nate fell in love with cooking for himself, and eventually for others, too. This sparked his interest and Nate dove into restaurant cooking after graduating.

Nate has now worked in 4 drastically different kitchens and while humbled by how hectic the industry can be, he still looks forward to those crazy dinner services. Nate reached out after his dad listened to a podcast about Travel Creel, featuring Joshua and Jeffe. The rest is history in the making, as we welcome him to the team!