Byzie was born in Gray Rapids, NB and has spent his life on the river. He fished as a kid, then guided for the Miramichi Renous Fishing Club and Black Rapids Lodge, before eventually starting his own outfitting business, Country Haven Lodge, in 1999. Byzie takes tremendous care and concern for visitors to Country Haven and he goes out of his way to ensure that each and every guest has a positive experience at the lodge and on the rivers. While he works tirelessly at the Lodge for most of the year, and especially so during fishing season, when time permits in the winter months he loves travelling. Byzie has travelled to the UK and to many of the US States and loves fishing in the Florida Keys! Byzie has been happily married to Heather for over 30 years and together they have two grown boys, Tyler and Tyson.

Gary Colford (1947-2024) was a professional fly fishing guide on the SW Miramichi River and its tributaries for over 50 years. During this time, Gary guided well over 1,000 anglers including some world-class instructors such as Scott McKenzie, Garry Scott, April Vokey and Joan Wulff. From professionals to novices, spring, summer or fall, Gary's top priority was always the angler’s success and their enjoyment of the sport. Gary guided at Country Haven for over 15 years and always freely shared his knowledge with our many guides helping them to learn the waters he knew so well and to learn how best to work with people. Gary was known as "Mr. Cains River" because of his in-depth knowledge of the Cains River system and he knew where every rock and hole was on that river! Gary was well known and well respected within New Brunswick guiding circles and was inducted into the Atlantic Salmon Museum Hall of Fame in 2016. Gary was also a favourite guide amongst many of our long-time return guests with whom he created close relationships although he also loved guiding new young anglers and was always thrilled to see them hook their first-ever Atlantic Salmon on a fly. Gary will forever be fondly remembered by his Country Haven friends and family and our many guests … his legacy will live on through them well into the future.

Ken is a native Miramichier whose family has been guiding fly fishermen for generations from around the world. Ken knows the lower stretch of the Main Southwest Miramichi and some of its tributaries as good as any guide on the Miramichi with close to 40 years of experience guiding for a number of outfitters on the river including 7 years at the Doctor’s Island Salmon Club in Blackville. Ken has been working with us at Country Haven since 1999 and has been head guide for the past 17 seasons. Great at teaching beginners how to cast, Ken is also one of the best casters on the river and he sets a good example to learn from. Ken also does many of our guided canoeing and fishing day trips throughout the season.

Danny Coughlan has been a lifelong resident of the Miramichi River area, fishing most of the lower stretches of the Miramichi throughout the years. Danny has worked as a carpenter, lumberjack and fishing guide. With his good-natured personality and patient approach, time does not matter when it comes to teaching beginners how to fly fish and Dan is always happy to oblige. Dan knows our water well and is always up for the challenge of catching Atlantic Salmon.

Jeremy is Ken’s younger brother from the guiding family of Vickers. Jeremy also grew up spending his days on the rivers and his evenings listening to his Dad, Stafford and Uncle Max, well known guides throughout the river system, chatting about the catches of the day. Jeremy has a lifetime of guiding experience on the Main River and its tributaries and has been with Country Haven full time for the past 21 years doing many of the guided canoeing and fishing day trips we offer our guests. Jeremy knows the Lower stretch of the Miramichi like the back of his hand including where every ripple and rock can be found. He knows where to fish and where not to, where the wildlife should be and the stories of the Miramichi. Jeremy is also great at teaching beginners the art of fly fishing, sometimes for hours, teaching casting to perfection. Jeremy is also proficient at speaking French.

Jamie was born and raised on the Miramichi River and is cousin to fellow Country Haven guides, Ken and Jeremy Vickers.  Jamie grew up listening to the fishing stories of his grandfather Max Vickers who was caretaker for Doctor's Island Salmon Fishing Club for 40 years.  Jamie began his own guiding career at Miramichi Lodge where his father was the caretaker.  Since then, over the past 20 years, he has guided at Doctor's Island and Little Forks Lodge, prior to joining the Country Haven Miramichi team.  Jamie has considerable knowledge of the Miramichi River system and its many tributaries and branches and with his warm and friendly demeanor loves nothing more than seeing his sports' hook and land one of our beautiful Miramichi Atlantic Salmon!

Tyler grew up on the river banks of the Miramichi, with much of his time spent at Country Haven, fishing before school in the mornings and after school until sunset in the evenings. He has met many famous anglers over the years and has learned to tie flies and cast a fly rod by some of the very best. At an early age, he would accompany guides and guests of the lodge to learn the pools and how to fish them and has developed knowledge of the river beyond his years. Tyler loves to guide and is thrilled when he sees guests hook into an Atlantic Salmon. In addition to being a Miramichi River guide, he also previously worked at the Miramichi Salmon Association and he understands the lifecycle of the Atlantic Salmon and enjoys sharing this knowledge with our guests. There is not much of the Miramichi or Cains Rivers that Tyler has not canoed or fished and he is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide with a tremendous passion for wild Atlantic Salmon.

Colby is a life long resident of the Miramichi River and was born and raised on the banks of a renowned salmon pool once owned by the late Ted Williams.  Colby spent his childhood fly fishing and chasing the "pull" of the great Atlantic salmon. Guiding runs deep in Colby's family and his great-grandfathers were some of the most well-known guides in the area.  Colby is now following in their footsteps and every day he makes it his goal to achieve success for his sports.  Colby is extremely familiar with the upper stretches of the Main Southwest Miramichi River and the lower stretches of Cains River where he spent most of his childhood and where he currently resides.  In addition to fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon, Colby also enjoys pursuing sea-run brook trout that migrate to and hide in the pools of the upper Cains River. When not guiding or spending time with his wife and daughter, Colby can be found hanging out with his lifelong friend Tyler, exploring rivers and brooks, to find the best fishing holes and determine the highest producing flies that he can share then with his sports.

As the grandson of a retired Miramichi lodge manager, fly fishing is in Ian's blood and he has been fishing for Atlantic Salmon for over 40 years. Ian is an electrical engineer by education and profession and had a long career in the IT industry which took him around the world and back before becoming a guide for Country Haven. He began frequenting the lodge as a guest for many years prior to joining our team of guides and loves spending time getting to know the people he guides and swapping stories. Ian's greatest joy is seeing a person land their first-ever Atlantic Salmon! Ian always takes a fly rod wherever he travels in the world and has fished for Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon in locales such as Barbados, Cuba and Belize but his real passion is Atlantic Salmon on the Miramichi and Cains Rivers. Ian is also a fly tyer and runs a hobby business called Rocky Brook Fly Shop and loves having guests try out new patterns each season. Ian is a Board Member of the Miramichi Salmon Association and a former Board Director of the Atlantic Salmon Museum.

Axel is a dedicated and experienced Miramichi Guide with over 20 years of fly fishing and river guiding experience. Originally from Hamburg, Germany, Axel brought his entrepreneurial drive to a long-standing career as a business executive in marketing and consulting spanning Europe, the United States and Canada. A proud Canadian for decades, he now brings deep-rooted passion, knowledge, and stewardship to the angling of Wild Atlantic Salmon. Axel has spent many years collecting memorabilia - ranging from art and equipment to literature - focused on fly fishing on the Miramichi and beyond. Some of his favorite pools are located on the Cains River, which in his opinion every salmon angler should have fished at least once in a lifetime. Axel is committed to sharing his expertise with seasoned anglers and fly fishing newcomers. He creates a unique fishing and outdoor experience for every guest of Country Haven and most often is joined by his trusty canine partner, “Leader Larry”. Axel contributes to salmon conservation as the Vice President of the Nepisiguit Salmon Association.

The heart and soul of our Country Haven team are the hard-working folks who keep our guests well fed and constantly laughing! Bernice, Terrilee, Bev and Shari (L-R) prepare scrumptious home-cooked meals and desserts and ensure that the accommodations are in order so that our guests always feel at home. They are welcoming and fun-loving pranksters who, while taking great pride in the important role that they play here at the lodge, never take themselves too seriously nor let our guests do so either! Our team are all born and raised from our area and they know who to contact for just about anything! There is no request, no matter how big or small, that these folks won't try to accommodate in order to ensure that you have a positive experience at Country Haven.

Steve was born in Kitchener, Ontario and moved to the Miramichi in 1977 but we almost consider him a local by now! Behind every successful business operation, there are always a number of dedicated individuals working together daily for the best interest of the business. There is no better example of this than Steve. While he is a carpenter by trade, he always gives 100% daily to everything he does whether he is building new structure, maintaining the lodge grounds, repairing boats, motors, rods or reels, transporting guest canoes, delivering lunches or guiding fishermen! Steve is truly a "jack-of-all-trades" and master of them all and every outfitter should be so lucky as to have a "Steve" around!

Darrell has been a lifelong resident of the Miramichi River and his father Ralph was also a river guide, guiding for most of his life at Boyd's Fishing Lodge in Gray Rapids and the Dean Barr Fishing Lodge in Blissfield. Darrell grew up learning from some of the best! Darrell has guided for a number of years for Pinkhams’ Fishing Lodge at Quarryville, and through those years made friends with a clientele of fishermen mainly from the State of Maine. Darrell has also been guide and warden for a number of years at the Sevogle Salmon Club on the Sevogle River, a tributary of the Miramichi River system. Most of his life has been spent on the river or in the woods, depending on the season and he is very knowledgeable about nature and the New Brunswick species of wildlife. Darrell guides for Country Haven in the spring and for Brad Burns during the summer and fall seasons. Darrell is what we call a 'flycasters’ guide' - knowing where, why and how fishermen should present their fly to the wiley Atlantic Salmon, for the best results.

Diesel, was a Siberian Husky & Lab mix, and was our guest greeter and head of security until he passed away in December of 2024. Diesel was Byzie's constant companion, and when he was not lazing around on the lawn or the lodge deck, he could be found in Byzie's passenger seat, cruising the backroads of Blackville and surrounding areas, checking in on our anglers. Rest in Peace Deisel!