Our Team
Dave Rocke (Uncle Dave)
Founder
When people ask me where I grew up I usually respond, "I don't know". Either I don't feel that I grew up or can't really pick the place where it might have happened. My junior and senior high school years were spent in a small dairy farming community in upstate New York called Cobleskill. College years were misspent in Cobleskill and Albany, New York. In 1975 I moved from New York City to Port Orchard, Washington and then to Bainbridge Island, Washington.
In 1982 I wrote some resumes (mostly fiction) and convinced a fishing lodge in Alaska that I would make a good fishing guide and worked the next eight summers guiding in Alaska and goofing off in either Florida, Mexico or Washington during the winters. One of the lodges had airplanes and I saw that the pilots lazed around, drinking coffee, while directing us guides to do their work, I thought, "I like coffee".
In 1986 - 1988 I obtained my pilot's licenses to start what I thought would be an easy and carefree existence. Unfortunately I have never found any guides or anyone else who was as easily hornswaggled as I was and so have never realized the life of leisure I aspire to. I worked another two years as a pilot/guide and then nine years for Taquan Air in Ketchikan, Alaska, first as a line pilot, then as Chief Pilot, then as Director of Operations.
Dave passed away in May of 2024 leaving Family Air in the care of Jim Davis. Dave was a mentor, surrogate parent, and best friend to not just Jim and his niece Kendra, but many others here in Ketchikan. His shared passion for flying, fishing, and Ketchikan is what made Family Air it is today. Though Dave is gone, he will always be at the core of our values and love for this business.
Jim Davis
Loxahatchee, most people cannot pronounce it right the first couple tries but it is the formerly small cow and orange town I grew up in. I started my fishing career harassing large mouth bass and blue gill in the canals that keep the swamp from swallowing Lox. I didn’t get into fly fishing until my early twenties when I was flying guys with fly poles out to the Bahamas in small float planes. After a few post bar fly casting lessons I started to carry a generic brand 8wt in the plane. My first fish on a fly was a decent sized bonefish that showed me what was what on the southside of New Providence Island.
I took my flying skills and burgeoning fly fishing abilities up to Ketchikan for my first summer in 2017. Moving from a place that is flat with perpetual heat to a mountain scape shrouded by mists and waterfalls had quite the enduring affect. Most of my time flying here has been in Ketchikan, but I have gone off island and flown in both Bristol Bay and the Yukon Delta, you truly do not know cold until you’ve worked a winter in Bethel! l had a wonderful opportunity working at a lodge in the summer of 2020 that never actually opened, I had four months of summer to explore, fly fish, and learn to drive jet boats. Many of the lessons I learned in that summer have stuck with me and influence the decisions I make every day. In 2021 grew rather tired of the gypsy lifestyle and returned to my friends and family in Ketchikan to join up with Dave and help operate Family Air Tours.
Evan Darnell
Evan Darnell is a passionate fly fisherman with over 15 years on the water and a full-time guide who brings a mix of skill, patience, and genuine love for fishing to every trip. He grew up fishing the Lower Illinois River and the Lower Mountain Fork, learning the ropes on bass, panfish, and trout. Those waters are still home base for him during the winter months.
Evan’s love for fly fishing eventually pulled him out west to the rivers of northern Washington, where he spent years chasing wild steelhead and salmon on the Nooksack and Skagit. That mix of calm Southern waters and fast-moving Pacific Northwest rivers gives him a unique and well-rounded approach to guiding.
Whether you're new to fly fishing or a seasoned angler, Evan’s easygoing style and deep knowledge of both warm and cold water fisheries make for a fun, educational, and memorable day on the water.
Adriano Altadonna
I am a dedicated fly fisherman from Buffalo, New York, and have been honing my abilities over the last 8 years of fishing across the Northeast. Mainly targeting brown trout as well as Great Lakes salmon and steelhead in technical waters such as the Niagara, Ausable, Battenkill, Salmon, and Delaware Rivers. I’m very fond of spending my time outside and being immersed in nature, whether it’s hiking, hunting, or fishing. While pursuing a degree in environmental sciences, I clock a lot of hours on the water and am always looking to learn. With such passions, the interest in moving westward was inevitable. Previous experience taking friends out fly fishing and putting them on trout got my foot in the door of guiding, and I haven’t looked back. I set out to provide cool adventures, memorable fish, and quality time on the water.
Join The Team
We do not Hire Pilots as we are a small single pilot operation. If you are looking for a float plane job contact Taquan Air at
(907)225-8800
Have you always wanted to guide in AK? Do you want to become a guide? Do you have good customer service skills? We hire seasonal employees every year to be van drivers, shop workers, dock staff, and fishing guides. A resume is required, no resume, no interview, we don’t hire instagram accounts we hire people. Fly fishing experience is required. Send us a message and start a conversation, we are friendly and outgoing…..sort of.