About Me

Hello my name is Nathan Bailey and I am the owner operator of On The Fly guide service. I have been fishing from the time I could walk.
I was born and raised in the Klamath Basin, and its waters were a important tool that formed me into the person, fisherman, and guide I am today. I Joined the Coast Guard so I could get to Alaska and experience all the last frontier had to offer. It was there, that I learned how much fishing and the wild places that the fish inhabit were a part of me. When The Coast Guard saw fit to send me to Oregon, I was overjoyed to find out that I would be stationed at the mouth of an old friend, the mighty Rogue River. This brought me full circle as I had fished the upper river as a teenager, and now I was able to bid its waters farewell as it dissolved into the pacific. It was during this time I fell in love with the deep emerald water of the Rogue. It wasn't long before I knew that I would be forever connected with its cool flows. After the Coast Guard I moved to the Upper Rogue Valley where I have been for close to two decades now. The Rogue has taken its place right next to the Williamson, Wood, and Sprague rivers in my life. If it wasn't for their cool fertile waters I wouldn't be who I am today. Let me introduce you to my lifelong friends. Come let me show you how much beauty their introduction will bring to the rest of your life. Enjoy the following pictures of my life's progression of love for the water and fins that they contain. Thank you for sharing these memories with me.... Nate Bailey   


I grew up with a rod in my hands! My Dad know that starting me young would start me on the right path.

Catching fish was almost a super natural thing when I was little. the mystic take from the deep feels the same today as it did back then.

I learned to love water and the simplistic elegance of life that it brought.




Give a boy a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach a boy how to fish and he will find out that life is bigger, and greater than himself.

A Klamath Redband that succumbed to a leech pattern.

A small Williamson river fish that was caught on opening day.

Testing out the new 3wt on the Upper Williamson.

Who needs Waders.  

My only claim to fame! I wish the photographer would have caught a tighter loop.

All of those days, lead to these days-an a love for the wild things.

Thanks for looking. Let me share my relationship with the waters that I love, with you!
Nate Bailey.