Reel Angling Adventures
Our Guide Team                                                         

It's with a lot of pride and respect that I join this team of top fishermen and fishing guides who form the ranks of the guide team at Reel Angling Adventures. Without question, these guys watch my back! They carry fishing knowledge deeper than any other trio of anglers found in the tri-state region of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Each carries his own specific fishing interests and expertise, as well as the broad knowledge of a well-rounded fishing guide, that assures our clients tap into the deepest fishing database available when they spend a day with them on the widest range of guided fishing destinations offered by any outfitter in the southern Appalachian Mountains. -- Bob Borgwat Outfitter/Owner/Guide Reel Angling Adventures Bill Stranahan
That's him -- fishing guide and river rat Bill Stranahan -- of Reel Angling Adventures, as he works his fly-fishermen into a drop lane on Towee Shoals on the Hiwassee River.	Client-anglers have used these words to describe fishing guide Bill Stranahan: “Quiet.” Hmmm … “Reserved.” Well … “Low key.” Really? “Polite.” Absolutely! “Patient.” Yes! "Fish-minded." Is there any question? “River-wise.” Like you don’t know! But “river rat” may be the best words to describe him. Just 38 years old, Bill has lived for 11 years almost riverside to the Hiwassee
River at Reliance, Tennessee, and it’s Bill who has led Reel Angling Adventure's guided fishing over the past four years on the Hiwassee River at Reliance, Tennessee. Bill joined RAA shortly following the company's award of its outfitters’ permit, issued by the Cherokee National Forest. There couldn’t have been many anglers better suited for meeting RAA’s immediate needs in its first season of floating drift boats on the Hiwassee River. Calling the Hiwassee his home, Bill has spent 13 years floating, wading and fishing the tailwater at Reliance and the Tellico River watershed where it stretches high into the Cherokee National Forest. Bill's also responsible for single-handedly building the striped bass fly-fishing trips offered by Reel Angling Adventures on the Hiwassee River. He’s got water on his mind 365 days a year, but he admits he can’t quite make a plan to fish every single day – after all, his mom’s birthday comes once a year! Bill comes to RAA following three years of guiding for long-time outfitter Hiwassee Outfitters in Reliance, and a season of serving as lead guide for Reliance Fly & Tackle, located on Childers Creek Road just minutes downstream from the Smith Creek Powerhouse put-in at the top of the Hiwassee Scenic Riverway. Bill engages anglers of every level with instruction that widens their individual view of trout waters, the means with which to catch trout, and the specific knowledge required to take fly-fishing for trout well beyond the day-to-day encounter. You might also ask him about catching striped bass on the Hiwassee. Bill also is pursuing his degree in wildlife management, currently covering his basic education requirements at Cleveland State Community College in Tennessee. Lee Howard Holding more guiding experience than any guide on our team, Lee has chased both fresh- and saltwater gamefish across a wide swath of the Southeast US -- and a few venues beyond our nation's borders -- for almost 40 years! Spend a few minutes talking with Lee and you'll quickly discover his passion for bass fishing. His angler's love for fishing finds him chasing brown trout, seatrout, snook and even tarpon. But it's the black bass -- largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass -- that kicks him into high gear. His bass-fishing tactics have been featured in FLW Outdoors magazine, and he's put his skills  with topwater lures, crankbaits, jerkbaits and soft-plastics to good use, earning several first-place and top-5 finishes in bass tournaments on lakes across Georgia and Florida. Lee Howard has guided extensively across the southern Appalachian Mountains and deep across the waters of the southeastern US. Today, his reach in the fishing world extends to ownership and designer of the line of topwater lures manufactured by Blackwater Bait Co.
During the last 17 years, Lee's fishing focus has zeroed in on the bass and trout waters of  Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. He's a mentor for the rest of our guide team, proving daily his knowledge and scope of fishing ... for bass and most any other game fish on our menu.
Throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains region, no matter if he's throwing a 5-weight for trophy trout at Tooni Cove Farm or chunking his favorite hair jig for spotted bass on Lake Chatuge, you can bet Lee won't stop fishing until he lands the big one!