OUR GUIDES
AARON GRAYBILL
Aaron founded Lake Hopatcong Guide Service in 2019 and has worked as a full-time guide ever since. A lifelong diehard angler, he originally moved to Lake Hopatcong in his early 20’s with the sole purpose of being able to fish every day. And he did. For nearly 10 years prior to ever starting the guide service, Aaron fished Lake Hopatcong almost daily. He takes the most pride in his knowledge of all of the gamefish and experience with all of the best bites on Lake Hopatcong throughout the year. The pictures and reviews speak for themselves. With literally thousands and thousands of hours put into fishing Lake Hopatcong, there is simply nobody who knows the lake better or catches more big fish than Aaron and his team of guys. Aaron has written multiple fishing articles, authors weekly Lake Hopatcong fishing reports for a number of online and print publications, has been featured in On The Water magazine, won bass tournaments, and is proud to be a Trustee in the Knee Deep Club. He is also a proud family man with two amazing children, River and Brooke!
KEVIN COOL
Kevin owns Lake Hopatcong's all-time LAKE RECORD for hybrid striped bass! The fish (pictured above) was a 12 lbs 4 behemoth. This is a major honor for Kevin and a testament to the amount of time and knowledge that the entire LHGS team has fishing Lake Hopatcong.
Kevin has spent as much time fishing Lake Hopatcong over the last few years as anyone. The countless hours that he has dedicated to fishing Lake Hopatcong have led to Kevin being as dialed in as anyone with the fishing on the lake. He has earned himself a reputation for producing a lot of big fish. And in addition to being an awesome fishermen, he is as nice of a guy as you will ever meet and genuinely enjoys sharing his passion for fishing with everyone around him. Kevin is an active member of the Knee Deep Club.
MATT CALIFANO
Matt grew up on Lake Tamarack in Sussex County NJ; the last of a generation that was given a pole and told to "just be home before dark." Matt has been very fortunate to experience fly a flats slam in the Florida Keys, a backcountry slam in the Everglades, bull redfish in Homosassa and the Outer Banks, striped bass of the Hudson Bight, Coho salmon, trophy rainbow trout and dolly varden on the Kenai River in Alaska, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and mahi-mahi in the deep blue fathoms off Hawaii, sea-run brown trout of the Kennebec in Maine, wild rainbows and cutbows in the Gunnison River, wild browns in the headwaters of the Arkansas River in Colorado, monster rainbows of the San Juan River in New Mexico and even a few native, European browns in Ireland. Still to check off on the bucket list in the near future: Patagonia and New Zealand.
Closer to home, Matt still loves to fly fish the Flat Brook and Delaware Rivers. When the water temperature is below 68 degrees, you will find him nymphing with his own, hand tied flies in the morning and throwing dry-droppers in the afternoon and evening. When the water gets too warm to safely release trout, you will find him either on Delaware River tossing streamers or stonefly nymphs at the remarkable smallmouth bass population or helping throw a bright pink 1 weight with his 4-year-old daughter to catch dozens of panfish in their backyard.
JOE SANTIAGO
Joe is another member of the LHGS team that is well known throughout New Jersey fishing circles. Joe has long been a contributor to the New Jersey online fishing community and has gained a reputation as one of the top multi-species anglers in New Jersey. Joe spends the majority of his time on Lake Hopatcong catching walleye and hybrid stripers, however, he also highly regarded as one of the top trout guys in both reservoirs and streams in NJ. Joe also spends a lot of time in the Pulaski, NY area targeting both Salmon and Steelhead. Joe is a member of the Knee Deep Club.
CHRIS PEREIRA
Chris, perhaps better known by his online alias “Mat Nelson”, has been a highly visible and well-respected member of the New Jersey fishing community for years. He is an extremely well-rounded angler and has long been considered one of the top multi-species fishermen in the state. He is a lifelong resident of Hopatcong and long-time Knee Deep Club member who has fished Lake Hopatcong his entire life.