Who we are
Since 1991, Angling Destinations has been at the forefront of global fly-fishing travel. Long before many of today’s most revered destinations became household names, we were there – wading flats, scouting rivers, forging relationships, and helping open fisheries that are now at the top of every serious angler’s list.
We were the first U.S. company to explore the Seychelles in the early 1990s. We were on the ground during the earliest seasons in Kamchatka, and we played a key role in unlocking remote corners of the Bahamas, including now legendary islands like Abaco, Andros, Inagua, Crooked, and Acklins. We named Tarpon Cay on Mexico’s west coast, negotiated access to exclusive ranch waters in the American West, and helped put overlooked fisheries on the map.
Our fingerprints are all over the modern fly-fishing atlas, but we’re not in this for the accolades. We’re in it because we love to fish!
At Angling Destinations, fishing travel is not just our business, it’s our passion. We’re anglers first, and we bring that mindset to every trip we plan. Our itineraries are designed around authentic experiences, real relationships, and hard earned knowledge of fisheries around the world.
If you’re looking for polished brochures, corporate packages, or a slick sales pitch, we’re probably not for you. But if you want seasoned advice, honest insight, and a conversation with someone who knows what it feels like to pole a flat or bushwhack into a headwater stream, you’re in the right place.
Angling Destinations offers custom, small-group, and exploratory trips to some of the most remote and rewarding fisheries on Earth. We focus on the fishing – because that’s what matters. Unlike other outfits, Angling Destinations is proud that our adventures are…
crafted by anglers for anglers!
Angling Destinations was born out of a deep and enduring love for wild, remote places. Long before it had a name, our founder Scott Heywood was exploring the far edges of the map – kayaking glacial rivers in Alaska, climbing in South America, and fishing the unexplored reaches of the Amazon, Baja, and the Bahamas.
As his reputation for remote travel grew, fellow adventurers began reaching out for advice, not just about gear or logistics, but about how to reach the places Scott had already been. He began organizing and leading expeditions, blending the ethics of mountaineering and whitewater with a growing passion for fly fishing.
By the mid-1980s, that passion took center stage. Scott began applying the spirit of exploration and self-reliance from the extreme sports world to a fly-fishing scene that, at the time, was often more about tradition than trailblazing. His message was simple but bold: “Go out there and see what’s up… It’s a big world.”
Anglers listened. And so did explorers. Soon, trips that once started as informal word-of-mouth adventures became something more. With each expedition into unpressured fisheries and overlooked waters, a new kind of fly-fishing travel company emerged – one focused on discovery, not routine. That company became Angling Destinations.
Today, we continue to build on that original vision: seeking out the untouched, the under-the-radar, and the extraordinary, while staying true to the belief that fly fishing is more than a hobby, it’s a way to experience the world’s last wild places
Meet the team
Clark Smyth
The only member of our team to have been struck by both a rattlesnake and a stingray, Clark recommends neither. However, if he chose to stay home to avoid such encounters he wouldn’t have very many interesting stories to tell – plus nobody believes his stories anyway. Clark fostered his luck with a fly rod and bad luck with wild fauna in western Colorado where he learned to fly-fish at a young age. He was raised on the banks of the Roaring Fork, Frying Pan, and Gunnison Rivers. The son of two teachers, education was a pivotal ingredient in Clark’s upbringing and remains so today as evident in his passion for teaching the art and sport of fly-fishing. Clark has been guiding trout anglers in central-Wyoming since 1998 and in the early 2000s, he took over Rock Creek Anglers, our local fly-fishing guide service, and outfitter. Recently, he joined forces with the Fly Shop of the Bighorns and through that transaction also acquired Angling Destinations. While Clark has fished in fabled locals such as New Zealand, Belize, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, he has also spent time traveling to places where other seasoned anglers don’t. He has caught exotic fish species and avoided exotic other species in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Mongolia, Fiji, and Cambodia, to name a few. Clark’s passion for travel is noticeable from the moment you engage him in conversation. He’s often discussing far-flung destinations tucked in some of the most remote corners of the globe and the dangerous creatures that reside in said locals. Clark brings a sense of humor, enthusiasm for exploration, and thirty-plus years of fly-fishing everywhere he goes.
Contact Clark
Cole Burnham
Born and raised in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Cole began fly-fishing at age 12. He attended Penn State University in order to continue his fly-fishing education on the spring creeks throughout central Pennsylvania. He spent his college summers guiding for Rock Creek Anglers in Wyoming where he relocated after graduation. After 17 years of guiding in the rocky mountain west, Cole joined forces with Clark in forming Angling Destinations’ trio of angling companies. During his guiding heyday, Cole spent many an off-season honing his angling skills in Argentina, Belize, British Columbia, Chile, and Mexico. He even invented a fly-rod-rack for his bike and rode it from Wyoming to Tierra Del Fuego, caught one sea-run brown (on a worm pattern) turned around and came home. During his adventure, he caught 23 other species of fish! Cole’s desire to travel with a fly rod is nearly as impressive as his sarcasm (reference his bike trip – wink).
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Chaz Davis
A native-born Cowboy (that’s what people from Wyoming are called), Chaz resembles nothing of an actual cowboy except that he’s outright the toughest guy in the room and also has a passionate affinity for gourmet coffee. Having grown up fond of the outdoors, Chaz has logged countless hours hunting, fishing and whitewater rafting. He’s worked both as a white-water guide and a fly-fishing guide and logged a number of seasons guiding in back-country Alaska. He’s now the glue that holds all things Fly Shop of the Bighorns together. He knows the name of pretty-much every fly available, can, like a chemist, match fly-rods with multiple appropriate fly-lines and he ties custom flies that are as tough, if not tougher than he is. He can be found daily in historic downtown Sheridan where he’s offering sound and up-to-date advice on all of our area’s fisheries as well as managing our full retail “Fly Shop”!
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Dakota Webb
Born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, Dakota grew up casting flies on the North Platte River, where a deep-rooted love for fly fishing first took hold. Over the years, that passion expanded far beyond moving water—particularly into the stillwater scenes and the thrill of streamer fishing. While living in Nebraska, Dakota chased just about everything that would eat a fly—from walleye and pike to panfish, both large and smallmouth bass, wipers, white bass, and channel cats. Always up for a challenge, he’s never been afraid to experiment with new species or new water. Dakota joined the team in 2022, first serving as Assistant Manager of The Fly Shop before stepping into his current role as Angling Destinations’ Director of Travel. Whether he’s helping clients plan their next bucket-list trip or sharing local insights, he brings both experience and enthusiasm to every conversation. When he’s not in the shop or on the water, Dakota spends his time teaching youth ministry at his church, volunteering at a local self-led K–12 school, and enjoying the outdoors with his three-year-old daughter. Whether it’s fishing, hunting, or photography, his love for wild places and the experiences they offer is evident in everything he does.