Shoring up support for public access to public waters
Restoring the noble and productive Klamath River
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Department Contributors:
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Drewry Hanes
Chris Hunt
Land Tawney
Dave Whitlock
Cover credit: Dylan Leeder Contents credit: Jim Litchfield
6 President’s Message
Keep Fighting for Public Access
8 Guest Leadership Message
Standing up for Public Lands
10 Fighting the Good Fight
Join us to keep public waters in public hands
14 Fending Fences
Montana’s soul-stirring rivers in an “invisible emergency”
20 The Big Picture
Habitat restoration creates angling opportunities and benefits sportfish and coastal ecosystems
28 FFI Guides & Businesses
32 Conservation
Restoring the noble and productive Klamath River
38 Casting
On the Mend: Aerial, on the water and otherwise
42 All Fish, All Waters Angler Profile
Dave Whitlock
48 Fly Tying
Favorite Dave Whitlock patterns
52 FFI Forum
News, events and happenings.
58 Thank You to Our Generous Supporters
Years ago, at one of the most crowded beaches on Martha’s Vineyard, my buddy and I navigated through a sea of summer beachgoers to a roped off area. A sign greeted us. “Private Beach – No Trespassing.” Carrying not much more than our 9 weights, a small box of flies and a spool of tippet, we walked past the barrier to the empty beach before us in search of cruising striped bass.
and finally stomped off, sputtering about how this was his beach. Except that it wasn’t. In Dukes County, Massachusetts, the right to public use of private “tidelands” is reserved for fishing, fowling, and navigation.
This time, the rules were on our side. But the hunting and fishing community has been battling to keep these types of laws in place all across the wonderful places people like to cast a fly. And regulations depend on where you live and recreate.
We quickly found a school of decent fish up on the flat. After a few casts, I brought a nice striper to hand. Within minutes, a young man appeared from the dunes. He was belligerent, insisted we were trespassing and demanded we leave. If we didn’t, he said, he would call law enforcement and have us removed.
I was polite but undeterred.
“Go ahead,” I said. “I’ll wait. I’m confident I’m allowed to be here.”
“Who gave you permission?” he snorted.
“The law,” I said.
He knew I was right. He made a few additional hollow threats—about how his father would bring us to court—
Unfortunately, if you’ve seen one state public access law, you’ve seen … one state public access law. There is so much variability, it’s difficult to keep track or know exactly which rules might apply. Battles are being fought across the country to preserve public access—from Montana to Florida, Missouri to Maine, and everywhere in between.
In some states, laws around use and access favor the public. In Vermont, for example, not only do public trust resources include fish, wildlife, surface water and ground water, but the public right to access land for hunting and fishing is enshrined in the Vermont Constitution on lands that are “unenclosed.”
In order for private land to be considered enclosed—or inaccessible to the public—the property must be legally posted. To meet this threshold, signs must be posted no more than 400 feet apart and registered with the town clerk—every year. As you might
imagine, plenty of landowners just don’t want to deal with that burden and leave their legally unposted land accessible.
In Arizona, by contrast, anglers cannot even float through private property unless the water is considered “navigable.” That category of what’s considered navigable only includes the Colorado River. Everything else is off limits,
Patrick H. Berry is FFI President and CEO. Berry brings over 27 years of experience within the environmental conservation field, having come to FFI from the Vermont Community Foundation where he served as vice president of philanthropy. A former commissioner of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, Berry is recognized as a visionary conservationist and is widely respected by his peers.
“I will continue to battle for access to places where I—and the rest of the fly fishing community—can still wet a line.”
unless permission is given by the landowner.
Regardless of location, public access for fishing is becoming increasingly threatened. Often this threat comes from wealthy landowners who don’t want to see their property defiled by the mere presence of the angling public. It’s an ongoing battle which should capture the attention of the fly fishing community, because along with the protection and restoration of habitat, loss of public access is the single biggest threat to our collective ability to go fishing.
This issue of Flyfisher features prime examples of challenges to access, what’s at stake, and what we can do about it. Along with these stories, you’ll find a message right up front from Land Tawny, the President and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA). Public access has always been an important issue to FFI, and we are grateful for partner organizations such as BHA whose mission is to preserve North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing through public education and advocacy. A key
element of BHA’s efforts is protecting and fighting for public access.
Along with countless other organizations focusing on hunting, fishing, and conservation, FFI stands shoulder to shoulder with BHA, fighting for our right to enjoy the natural resources all around us. Without public access, most of us would have to give up fly fishing for other passions and pursuits. It’s just that simple. What’s also cut and dry is that I will continue to battle for access to places where I—and the rest of the fly fishing community— can still wet a line.
Standing up for public lands is critical work which is never done
Awise person once said that the best anglers are the ones who have their lines in the water the most.
I can’t quite confirm that myself, but I know that our local members of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers are constantly on the waters around Missoula, Montana, and are catching a lot of fish. The only reason they’re able to do so on such a regular basis is because Montana has some of the best stream access laws in the nation.
waterways is ongoing. In New Mexico, BHA and our partners just won a fight which reaffirmed public access to waters in the Land of Enchantment.
BHA engages in these issues for a reason: We stand up for public lands, waters and wildlife. Unfortunately, our work is never done. Not only do we want to make sure our backcountry
lands and waters have quality fish and wildlife habitat; we also want to guarantee public access opportunities. One without the other just doesn’t make sense.
Said another way, the people must have access to public lands and waters so they care to conserve those very same landscapes.
Public access to rivers, streams and lakes is a perk of living in Montana. That’s because hunters, anglers, boaters and others have fought to keep it that way. But we must stay vigilant. Those kinds of challenges—ones with the potential to conserve important landscapes; create more opportunity to fish or hunt; or increase public access—are being tackled by BHA members every day, from Florida to the Yukon.
This edition of Flyfisher looks at two major access issues in the Southwest: In Colorado, a legal battle to redefine public access to the state’s
Land Tawney is the President/CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), a North American membershipconservation organization based in Missoula, MT. BHA is dedicated to serving as the voice for our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. As President/CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers since 2013, Tawney has helped expand the organization from 1000 members and a handful of chapters to nearly 40,000 members and chapters that cover 48 states, two Canadian provinces, and one territory.
“The people must have access to public lands and waters so they care to conserve those very same landscapes.”Photo Maggie Hamilton
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There’s a long battle line that’s allowed our right to walk and wade
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers
Can I walk up there? Can I float down there? Can I actually access that spot at all?
The right to walk and wade is a brass-tacks question for anglers seeking to float a fly down that intriguing little run just around the bend.
Public waters access is a major issue for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. We’re a North American nonprofit headquartered in Missoula, Montana, and we focus on making sure anglers, hunters and everybody else is able to continue fishing, hunting and experiencing the backcountry.
Right now, we’re working on a couple of important issues for fly fishers out west.
Colorado: Whose Right of Way Is It, Anyways?
The Arkansas River, as it flows through southern Colorado, is a classic mountain river. It’s burly, it’s clear, and it has a lot of trout in it. One particular spot just east of Salida, Colorado, has become a flashpoint for a major public access case that could reshape stream access in Colorado—for good.
Colorado’s stream access laws are restrictive. You can’t touch bottom on any private land while floating or wading without being accused of trespassing, and private fishing clubs and tough enforcement of private stream lines have
become the norm. But at the Arkansas River near Texas Creek, a legal case posits that the entirety of the Arkansas River should be open to the public and legal to fish. That argument could turn Colorado’s current laws on their head.
Roger Hill, an 80-year-old angler and former nuclear weapons scientist, filed a lawsuit in 2018 over Colorado’s opaque stream access laws. He argues that access to one of his beloved fishing spots deserves to be public. Mark Warsewa owns the land adjacent to the stretch of the Arkansas River that Hill likes to fish, and he maintains that he owns the river bed in dispute as well. This has been a contentious relationship, with Warsewa throwing rocks at Hill from a bluff and, at one point, shooting at Hill and a companion with a pistol for fishing that spot—an action that earned him 30 days in jail.
Based on newspaper accounts from the early 1870s, before Colorado gained statehood in 1876, the stretch of river in question was used to float logs and railroad ties— which supports the argument in Hill’s lawsuit that the river was “navigable at the time of statehood because it was regularly used and was susceptible to being used in its ordinary condition … as a highway for commerce, over
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers seeks to ensure North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting, through education and work on behalf of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife.
which trade and travel are or may be conducted.”
This is the federal test of navigability for title, meaning that the title of the stream bed was granted to the state at the time of statehood. In most states, this would mean that the waterway would be held in the public trust and for use of the public.
BHA has filed an amicus brief in the case on Hill’s behalf. “For anglers, waterfowlers and other sportsmen,” our brief states, “access to streams and waterways is the most important factor in our participation in—and the perpetuation of—our storied outdoor traditions. Our access opportunities, however, are far from guaranteed. Efforts are underway to change existing stream access laws, which vary widely from state to state, to bar us from fishing, wading, floating or otherwise utilizing these important resources.”
The boiled down version of this is “We back up where you put in,” and that’s why we’ve also been active in another stream access battle just a short drive down I-25 in New Mexico.
At BHA we like working in partnership with other groups that believe as strongly as we do in public access.
The New Mexico Constitution, which is based in part on Spanish and Mexican law stemming from the state’s colonial
era and differs somewhat from other state constitutions, declares that all waters belong to the public. The state Supreme Court spelled out that right to access in 1945 in the Red River Valley decision, where the Red River Valley Co. was blocking public access to a reservoir. That law was never changed, but in the intervening years, New Mexico has treated waters that run through private property as, in fact, private.
After a state attorney general reminded residents of their right to stream access in a 2014 opinion, a small group of landowners began a battle to reduce or eliminate public access opportunities for anglers and other members of the public. They pushed a bill through the legislature giving the State Game Commission authority to give individuals with waterways running through their properties a certificate of non-navigability, along with “no trespassing” signs to post. The Game Commission established the new regulations in 2018, and portions of five waterways were subsequently closed to public access.
Things changed in 2020. That’s when the New Mexico chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, along with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and the Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico, filed suit to ask the court to nullify the Non-Navigability Rule as unconstitutional. And in March 2022, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled on behalf of all anglers’ and also voided closures on several waterways in the state.
It’s taken a long time, but we’re proud to have been part of a coalition that opened up public waters access in New Mexico to all anglers. Our work won’t stop there. We are dedicated to keeping those public lands, waters and wildlife available and accessible to everyone, just like we’re dedicated to protecting our backcountry from forces which seek to privatize or monopolize the places we hold dear.
The next time you’re popping a fly for smallmouth, tying on 6x to get that wily brown in gin clear water to take, or plopping down a Chubby Chernobyl in high water, remember that access to the waters you’re enjoying isn’t just granted: There’s a long battle line that runs throughout history to get there, and you’re in it.
So when push comes to shove, we hope you’ll join up us to keep public waters in public hands.
Learn more about Backcountry Hunters & Anglers via www. backcountryhunters.org, become a BHA member, and consider making a donation to support our work on behalf of our North American public lands and waters.
Photo Will Parson, Chesapeake Bay Program
Montana is a land of snow-capped mountains and alpine lakes. A place where long plains grasses undulate to the melody of western winds. Each fall, the cottonwoods that inhabit the valley floors surrender their leaves in a cloud of gold, and the hillsides sigh in their eternal evergreen. It is a state as majestic as it is diverse, held together in perfect balance, by its waters.
Stand at the banks of the mighty Missouri River on a cold February morning and you will likely be treated to the vision of a hardy Montana resident, pulling into a fishing access site, rod holders mounted on top of their rig, warm winter layers stuffed under their waders. For the passionate angler, frigid winter days are no deterrent to casting a fly; they simply dictate a change from a top of the water tease to a more submerged approach. Return to the same spot in summer and you will be greeted not only by locals sporting license plates from across the state, but by anglers who have come from all over the world to experience Montana’s incredible fly-fishing opportunities. Known as the Last Best Place, Montana is frequently depicted in artistic reveries of every type. More importantly to us, perhaps,
is its recognition as the crown jewel of recreational fly fishing due to the incredible public access it offers the angling community.
Montana boasts over 150,000 miles of rivers, and with an outdoor industry valued at around $7.1 billion dollars. In terms of the value that recreation contributes to its economy, it comes second only to Hawaii. More than 80 percent of the population recreates outdoors—a major reason why residents have worked so hard to protect equitable access to the public lands that make up over a third of the state.
Yet many of the rights public land and water users enjoy today are relatively new, and access to Montana’s rivers and streams comes under threat—daily. With the space Montana occupies in the cultural lexicon of fly fishing, it may seem hard to believe that for the majority of the past century, important legislation such at Montana’s Stream Access Law and Bridge Access Law didn’t exist.
During the 1970s, anglers across the state began to encounter more and more problems accessing and enjoying the rivers where they loved to fish. Reports of landowners harassing people attempting to recreate on Montana rivers increased. Fences started going up
Drewry Hanes is the Executive Director of the Public Land Water Access Association (PLWA), a Montana nonprofit that has been protecting equitable access to Montana’s public lands and waters since 1985. Data for this article was provided by Headwaters Economics, a Montana based, independent non-profit research group and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System website.
along riverbanks, at bridges, and across popular access points. No trespassing signs appeared in locations where anglers had been recreating for generations, and there were reports of property damage; a landowner ran over an angler’s boat with his vehicle, in one instance. Government officials failed, in most cases, to intervene on behalf of the recreationists.
Montanans began to picture what their lives would look like without access to the rivers and streams they spent their days on, and this stark realization prompted action. In 1984, cases filed by the Montana Stream Access Coalition, in response to intimidation tactics and closures along the Dearborn and Beaverhead Rivers, were heard by the Montana State Supreme Court. These cases, which became known as Curran and Hildreth , went on to form the basis for current stream access rights we enjoy today. Victory in the Curran case determined that in Montana, the state owns the riverbed of navigable rivers, holding it in trust for the good of the public. The case also helped define navigable waters, a concept which allows us to wade, float, and use those waters for fishing. It states that “ any surface waters capable of use for recreational purposes are available for such purposes by the public ”. This interpretation draws from the Montana Constitution’s emphasis that the vast array of navigable waters in the state belong to, and should be used to benefit, the people of Montana as a whole.
Of immense importance to the angler, it also specifies that recreational users have the right to recreate on areas up to the normal high water mark and to portage around barriers obstructing access. Hildreth upheld this decision and went a step further by affirming that stream bed ownership should not be surrendered to individual owners on either side of the waterway. Bipartisan legislation, based on the public trust doctrine and these two cases, led to the creation of the Stream Access Law, which allows for anglers to use our state’s rivers with important access freedoms.
While these victories heralded important benefits for Montana’s residents, visitors, and economy, the courts began to see challenges almost immediately. Cases were brought against Montana’s Stream Access Law throughout the 80s and 90s, and yet challenge after challenge was denied by the Montana justice system. Disturbingly
however, anglers and guides began to see an increase in access issues, paired with an apparent apathy by officials to punish offenders, or reopen access points. This came to a head in Madison County where a popular county road bridge, used to access the Ruby River, had been fenced off by the landowner.
In 2000, Montana Attorney General Joseph Mazurek issued an opinion which stated that the public “ may gain access to streams and rivers by using the bridge, its right-ofway, and its abutments. ” He also clarified that the width of the easement, unless otherwise specified, should be the same as the road. This did nothing, however, to deter a Madison County landowner from harassing anglers, erecting barriers, and stringing barbed wire fencing along bridges over the Ruby River in an effort to prevent public access. After years of obstruction and lack of action to remove the barriers by county officials, local anglers contacted the Public Land Water Access
Association (PLWA), a Montana nonprofit, and asked for help.
The intervening years of 2004 to 2013 saw an incredible challenge to Montana’s public access rights through cases like Seyler Lane, which were fought—and eventually won—by the PLWA, against landowner James Cox Kennedy. The cases involved three county road bridges where access was blocked, with Kennedy’s lawyer Peter Coffman making several arguments which put public access at risk. He argued there should be different bridge easements for the government and the public, and that neither the stream bed below, nor the air above Montana rivers, should belong to the public, but rather to landowners like Kennedy. He also argued that the Stream Access Law should be repealed, and even that Supreme Court Justices should declare part of the Montana Constitution unconstitutional. As the cases worked their way through the Montana court system, PLWA’s attorney, Devlan Geddes, raised the issue that differing easements would have unintended effects, such as automatically making anyone with a flat tire occupying the side of the road a trespasser. He reasonably argued that “ once the width [of an easement] is established, it can then be used for all lawful public purposes ,” using stream access as an example. PLWA eventually emerged victorious in these cases.
During this time, the 2009 Bridge Access Law was passed. With cases like Seyler Lane and increasing challenges to stream access popping up across the state, public access advocates came together to codify bridge access and reaffirm the 2000 Attorney General opinion. A new coalition of organizations, advocates, and legislators banded together to support this common-sense bill which protects public access for recreational users while still allowing for landowners to fence when needed. It also gives authority to government agencies to perform repairs and ensure public safety. Nearly every angler fishing Montana’s pristine waters today continues to benefit from important victories like these.
Today, a visitor to Montana can wend their way through a verdant canyon, spy an idyllic bend in the river, park their car beside a county road bridge, and
climb down to cast their fly for that perfect rainbow trout. A father and daughter can spend the day floating down the Madison watching antelope graze and herons fly, then drop an anchor and eat lunch leaning against boulders strewn across the shoreline. Montana’s long days, indelible memories, and perfect casts still belong to everyone, and because of that, they are cherished and cared for.
But this equity of access, this idea of who we are and what we value, is once again at risk, perhaps now more than ever. Illegal closures and the loss of access is an “invisible emergency,” according to PLWA Public Access Investigator, Haley Sir. She sees a worrying trend in her work.
“We are losing access,” she says. “We need awareness and action to safeguard our outdoor heritage.”
Montana Troutfitters ownerm Justin King, agrees. His sentiments are that the increasing number of access issues in Montana poses a significant problem for locals and visitors alike.
“Fly fishing is a top industry for the state, but also the spirit of the place and why we live here,” he said. A
Montana local and fly shop owner since 1978, King believes that public access to its streams and rivers is an incredible privilege, but also an important right, one he says he will fight for.
“Until the day I die,” he emphasized.
There is still time—and an opportunity—to protect Montana’s fly-fishing resources. Organizations like PLWA are working to investigate illegal closures and reopen access. Communities are rallying together to defeat legislation meant to weaken public access; they are working to enhance the protections that already exist. Most importantly, people are continuing to spend time outside, making memories, and bringing new members into the angling community.
Now is the time to fall in love with our rivers all over again, and to bring someone along on that journey. If there is one thing we know, it is that you protect what you love. And there is a lot to love about time spent on Montana’s public waters.
Chris Hunt
Photo Zaria Dean
The ocean is big. Often, from the perch on a flats skiff or from the seat of a kayak—or even standing on the beach and looking out at the sea—it appears as if it’s impermeable. Almost like Teflon. What could possibly screw this up?
Unfortunately, for generations, the notion that the sea was just too big to trash resulted in an indifferent approach to marine conservation. Certainly, we’ve seen over the years how human impacts have taken a toll on marine fish populations, along with habitat and water quality. We’ve watched as groundfish populations crashed. Then, with restraint and management, we watched as those fish stocks rebounded. For many of the world’s fisheries, we are still looking for that management “sweet spot.”
It’s possible, though, that at least part of the complicated solution to marine conservation lies with the very people who pull from the ocean, either for sustenance or for sport. Anglers who are seeing the very real—and very harmful—impacts that humans inflict on the waters they fish are in the midst of an awakening. Yes. Fish stocks matter and the harvest-to-releaseto-bycatch calculus must still be considered. Management has its role to play.
But what about habitat? What about water quality? Water is the most important habitat, but also important are the habitats which provide shelter from predation, places to find prey, and safe places to spawn. Can we really address troubled fisheries without addressing the state of the waters in which they swim?
For Bonefish & Tarpon Trust—and the avid anglers who comprise its membership—the answer to that question is an emphatic “no.” Just as in any brand of conservation on land, habitat in the ocean—be it inshore in hidden mangrove hideaways, along beaches and coastal cuts or far out at sea— matters more than just about anything else. To communicate better with anglers of all stripes who chase fish from Florida to the far reaches of the Caribbean, BTT has one simple message: Intact habitat creates opportunity.
It’s simple really. The healthier the habitat, the better the fishing.
For BTT, before the organization could dive into the whole
“making fishing better” effort through boots-on-the-ground restoration, it first had to understand the fish it wished to protect.
Since its inception in 1997, BTT has always relied on science to guide its conservation work. In fact, for the first few years of its existence, BTT was almost solely focused on working to understand the life histories of bonefish, tarpon and permit, with the hopes of being able to put the data its staffers collected to use in fisheries management.
“When BTT was established 25 years ago, very little was known about the flats fishery,” said Jim McDuffie, BTT’s President and CEO. “We couldn’t take conservation action without science.”
Throughout its 25-year history, as BTT obtained more scientific information about the fish and their habitats, the organization applied that knowledge to conservation and management. Examples of this include regulating bonefish as catch and release-only in Florida, and the creation of the Special Permit Zone (SPZ) in the Florida Keys. This hyperfocus on conducting research with the specific intent of applying the results to conservation and management has been at the core of BTT’s mission since day one. Now, as BTT’s resources grow, the group is stepping up its efforts to influence conservation and management with the latest research data.
“Habitat continues to be the top priority for us,” said Kellie Ralston, BTT’s Vice President for Conservation and Public Policy. And with the organization armed with reams of scientific data, it’s ramping up efforts toward habitat restoration. “I think we’re building on the habitat work we’ve done and taking advantage of the political terrain to strike while the iron’s hot,” Ralston said. “BTT’s research, combined with work done by others on habitat restoration, is increasing momentum in support of BTT’s focus on flats species that brings broader benefits.”
Ralston said that in addition to the long habitat focus, BTT is putting more emphasis on water quality, as well as the conservation of important forage fish, like menhaden. Menhaden not only provide essential prey for migratory tarpon that BTT is working to conserve and restore, but can
Chris Hunt is an award-winning freelance journalist and author and an avid fly fisher based in Idaho and Florida. He writes frequently about conservation, fly fishing and travel. HIs most recent book, “The Little Black Book of Fly Fishing,” is available online and at finer bookstores.
also be a health indicator for ecosystems in general. This broad ecological approach is the foundation of BTT’s philosophy toward conservation. If the ecosystem is healthy, the fish populations that rely on the ecosystem will be healthy. This includes the species we like to fish for, from tarpon to redfish, snook to bonefish.
“If that makes fishing folks happy, that’s a nice benefit,” Ralston said.
But, as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. BTT started modestly. At first, the organization worked to pluck the low-hanging fruit. It started by working with fisheries management agencies both in the U.S. and abroad to put catch-and-release regulations in place for bonefish, tarpon and permit—with significant success. In the Florida Keys, BTT advocated for the creation of the SPZ to improve management for the prized species in state waters.
In the Bahamas, the organization successfully advocated for high-quality bonefish habitats to be protected as national parks, and in 2015, using BTT data, the island nation did just that, adding a host of new national parks, with four designated on Abaco alone.
Back in the states, as the solutions to the ecological challenges facing South Florida became better understood, BTT chimed in, again with its science, starting around 2016. Today, Everglades restoration efforts are under way—barriers like the Tamiami Trail highway that slices across the River of Grass are being breached by bridges and culverts to allow fresh water to move south through the ’Glades and eventually into Florida Bay. The hope is that clean, freshwater inflow will help lower some environmental red flags, like the seagrass
die-offs that have occurred thanks to unnatural conditions. If it works, and that once pristine habitat again becomes fully functional, the fishing will rebound, too.
Science goes a long way, and there are no plans to change the scientific foundation of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. But restoration…that’s the big leagues. When an organization goes beyond consultation (scientific or otherwise) to prioritizing moving dirt and channeling water into places where it’s needed, that’s a significant step. First, it costs more; BTT has the backing of its members, donors, leading fishing companies and boat manufacturers. The organization has also partnered with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), which contributes much of the funding needed to reconnect habitats—such as mangrove wetlands, which were disconnected from tidal flows by roads and other development. BTT is working closely with its state and other partners to implement the actual restoration.
And that’s where BTT is today. Yes, it most certainly is a science-based non-profit that focuses heavily on prized tropical gamefish. But it’s also taken that step up: moving dirt, funnelling water and doing so with science as its guide.
In Southwest Florida, near Naples, roads have, for decades, blocked the exchange of seawater into the mangrove marshes behind the roadways.
“Mangrove marshes provide a plethora of environmental
goodness,” said JoEllen Wilson, BTT’s Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Manager. “They provide nursery habitat for tarpon, and are essential habitat for many others species as well.”
Tarpon spawn offshore, sometimes miles into the blue water. The larvae eventually make their way inshore and into these tight tidal creeks and mangrove swamps. Here, they’re safe from most ocean predators and, of course, the environment is rich with insect larvae and small baitfish as the prey base. Here, they can grow and develop with a lower chance of being eaten by a predator.
“It’s a sanctuary,” Wilson said. “It’s where little tarpon grow, so they can eventually be those tarpon that daisy-chain across the flats and cause blood-pressure spikes among the angling community.”
But in parts of Rookery Bay that sanctuary is largely inaccessible to the larvae: seawater crashes off the shellbased roads and never makes it into the marshes, and that means the larvae don’t either. Plus, the water trapped behind the roads becomes stagnant, slowly killing the mangroves. BTT’s previous work led by Wilson showed that restoring the tidal connectivity to these marshes is the best way to improve that habitat—and, eventually, the fishing.
Using NFWF grant funding and the assessment that shows historical flows from the Gulf of Mexico into the marshes, Wilson and company are poised to begin a modest-in-scale project that could deliver outsized results. The project is set to start in 2022, using a $250,000 matching grant from NFWF and $250,000 from the State of Florida.
“There are culverts there,” Wilson said of the target restoration area, “but they’re not strategically placed, so flows were disrupted. The plan is to create a more natural flow system that benefits the fish.”
“The fish” aren’t just tarpon. Everything from redfish, black drum, and speckled trout stand to benefit from the habitat improvement work. Then, of course, there’s snook: the prized Florida gamefish that anglers love to pursue.
“Snook have a similar life history to tarpon,” Wilson said. “We combined our data with data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for Charlotte Harbor, and determined that if we protect habitats for juvenile snook, we also provide protection for 55 other species.”
This makes snook an ‘umbrella species,’ Wilson says— a concept adapted from work previously done with land animals.
“We are hopeful that this approach gains momentum in the marine fish world.”
An ongoing study in the estuaries and coastal creeks of Southwest Florida is one where BTT cut its restoration teeth.
Starting in 2016, the organization enlisted the help of inshore anglers to help identify areas with significant populations of juvenile tarpon. The idea was to identify the habitats used by juvenile tarpon, determine which locations were still in good shape (so they could be protected), and prioritize degraded areas for restoration.
And BTT got the help it needed. Using confidential data from anglers, usually via GPS coordinates, Wilson was able to locate many areas where juvenile tarpon were indeed seeking sanctuary during their first couple of years. But not all those areas offered ideal habitat. Some habitats were degraded, so juvenile tarpon had slow growth rates. Slower growth rates meant that when the tarpon left these nursery habitats after two years, they were small enough to be eaten by more predators than if they had grown to a larger size. Other habitats had baby tarpon in them, but not all year. The challenge was finding habitat that supported ideal tarpon growth and year-round habitat.
“With habitat restoration, ideally we want to mimic natural nursery habitats that have thriving juvenile populations,” Wilson wrote in a March 2017 edition of Coastal Angler Magazine. But she was also quick to note that amid the rapid human population growth and the development that comes with it, those ideal habitats were harder and harder to find.
“Due to the extensive amount of coastal development in our area and around the state, juvenile tarpon are already working at a deficit,” she wrote. “By impacting the juvenile populations, we are undeniably affecting the adult fishery.”
The enlisted anglers continued to provide much-needed help. Volunteers like Captain Josh Greer, owner of West Wall Outfitters in Southwest Florida, turned out to assist Wilson in her search for ideal tarpon habitat—the habitat models BTT could emulate when it came time to engage in restoration work.
Greer got involved in Wilson’s work after the state purchased an inshore parcel of land that was slated for development. The developers, prior to selling the land, constructed a series of canals, and Greer volunteered to help Wilson and others to determine if and how the canals were impacting juvenile tarpon habitat.
“We seined and netted both tarpon and snook,” Greer said. Then, he explained, the team put electronic tags in some of the fish to determine when and where they entered and exited the canals. “We wanted to find out what habitat was performing the best.”
His efforts helped reveal that the canals aren’t necessarily fish killers; they did provide some benefits to juvenile tarpon and snook.
“There is some productivity there,” Greer said. “But while that deep water offers access to the estuaries for the fish, it
also allows access for predators. We learned that mimicking the natural habitat is best, and that baby tarpon are better protected in shallower waters.”
Greer is a guide—perhaps the best profession in the region to gauge the impacts of human development in coastal areas. He follows numerous environmental issues in the region, from phosphate mining in the Peace River drainage to the challenges that impact coastal estuaries in the Caloosahatchee River drainage, thanks to discharges into the river from Lake Okeechobee. Both rivers enter the Gulf of Mexico, often carrying nutrient loads which contribute to the ongoing spate of red tide events plaguing the region.
And, of course, Greer is keenly interested in Everglades restoration, which isn’t a direct BTT project, but is based on science.
“It’s really just a political will issue,” he explained of the conservation tapestry in South Florida. “If the politicians do their jobs like they’re supposed to do, we can solve these problems. The science is 30 years old. Why are we dragging our feet?”
Anglers like Greer are seeing the impacts and helping concoct solutions. But is it enough?
Hurricane Dorian was brutal. In late summer of 2019, it parked over Abaco and Grand Bahama for well over 24 hours, boasting sustained winds of 185 mph. It killed at least 74 people and left tens of thousands homeless. It’s regarded as the worst natural disaster in the history of the Bahamas, and its impacts are still felt to this day.
Justin Lewis, a Bahamian fisheries biologist from Grand Bahama, recalls hearing about the disaster while he was on vacation in Western Canada. “I’ve never felt so helpless in my life,” he said. “I was angry and heartbroken. I really needed to be there, but because of the storm, I couldn’t get a flight home.”
Lewis has worked for BTT for seven years as the organization’s Bahamas Initiative Manager, but the last three years, in the wake of Dorian, have been his most eventful. With the help of generous private donations, in an effort to restore the mangroves that Dorian devastated, Lewis has been able to enlist fishing guides on Grand Bahama and Abaco. It might
seem odd for a conservation group to focus on replanting a species that can reestablish itself rather quickly thanks to the way it reproduces (red mangroves drop seeds called propagules that are carried by currents and build new habitat when they take root), but the storm’s sustained winds denuded virtually every mangrove on the eastern end of Grand Bahama.
“Mangroves are our first line of defense against storms,” Lewis said. “They can stop as much as 60 percent of wave action from a storm. That’s huge. Plus, this wasn’t a normal hurricane. Normally, a hurricane will cause damage, but only to a limited area. So mangroves that escaped damage can provide propagules to the damaged areas. Dorian destroyed or severely damaged nearly 69 square miles of mangroves, so there weren’t many mangrove trees left to provide propagules.”
Additionally, mangroves are fish factories, both for juvenile gamefish and for prey—like small fish and crabs—that feed the predators of the flats. Without them, the habitat is austere and entire islands are left largely unprotected from the next named storm that comes barreling across the Atlantic.
To date, Lewis said, BTT and its flotilla of guides and volunteers have planted more than 20,000 mangroves around Grand Bahama and Abaco. “They’re very important,” Lewis said of the mangroves of the Bahamas. “Without them, it’s possible some of our small islands wouldn’t even be islands at all.”
The work, too, has helped the wounded economy of the region. Not only did Dorian level the region’s mangroves, it crippled communities. Hotels and fishing lodges were flattened and guides and support staff were suddenly without work. In a nation where flats angling alone contributes more than $169 million to the economy every year, Dorian was just plain sinister.
But, thanks to BTT’s Northern Bahamas Mangrove Restoration Project, guides are able to earn fees for full days when they assist in the replanting effort. “It’s a win for everybody,” Lewis said. And, in a time when the wins seem harder to come by, that’s significant.
Ralston, from her office in Tallahassee, oversees BTT’s application of science to policy, and she’s getting some great support from the organization, its members and, more importantly, its donors. “Everything I’ve asked for,” she said, “I’ve gotten.”
In order to put BTT’s world-class science to work on the ground in the waters of South Florida and across the Caribbean, it’s going to take some significant resources. The investment, Ralston said, is already paying off in the form of the smaller projects that BTT is busy identifying and scoping for potential implementation.
“There’s a lot of excitement right now,” she said. “It’s been great to see how our science is working on the ground and informing policy.”
Ralston openly admits that BTT’s plans on the restoration front are ambitious. But she’s approaching the effort wisely. “We’re identifying our restoration needs by looking at smallscale—but impactful—individual projects first,” she said. “We want to get the best bang for our buck.”
Ralston said several smaller-scale projects are slated to be completed within the next five years, and that the expected success of those projects will help BTT seek more grant funding and do more work to improve habitat for the prized game fish it is mission-driven to protect and restore.
“We’re building momentum,” she said. “And we’re seeing recreational anglers as allies in conservation. We’d love for it all to come together under one umbrella, and I think we’re already seeing that with Everglades restoration.”
The Everglades work isn’t, by definition, a BTT project, but it does provide an example of stakeholders coming together in an effort to solve a big-picture problem. That may be the momentum Ralston talks about.
But it’s also the potential—it proves anglers, biologists and policymakers can work together toward a common goal.
“We’re on the cusp of seeing some huge progress,” Ralston said. “And that’s progress we can build on in the future.”
Brenda Galey, Guide msguidedff.com.au
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The President’s Club at Fly Fishers International represents the highest level of financial commitment to the organization and comes with exclusive benefits and opportunities as a way of thanking donors for this level of generosity. Over the course of FFI’s history, the President’s Club has been instrumental in our ability to ensure the legacy of fly fishing for all fish in all waters. Members of the exclusive giving circle can support any program or project at FFI that most inspires them, and at a level that recognizes their level of giving, including Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
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The President’s Club at Fly Fishers International represents the highest level of financial commitment to the organization and comes with exclusive benefits and opportunities as a way of thanking donors for this level of generosity. Over the course of FFI’s history, the President’s Club has been instrumental in our ability to ensure the legacy of fly fishing for all fish in all waters. Members of the exclusive giving circle can support any program or project at FFI that most inspires them, and at a level that recognizes their level of giving, including Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
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Some of my happiest moments in life have been spent on beautiful rivers with my fly rod in hand. The Klamath, in northern California, is one of those places.
I landed my first steelhead on the Klamath on a trip with my college
roommate more than 40 years ago. I’ve become a lifelong river advocate and steelhead junkie. I marvel at the intelligence of this fish, as well as the beauty of their habitat.
I remember landing a 12-pound female steelhead on a great northern
river, looking eye-to-eye with her as I removed the fly, and then watching her swim away to complete her journey. At that moment, I felt completely connected to the place, the fish, and my sport. Rivers are special places where we can connect
After retiring, Mark became VP of Conservation for the Northern California Council of FFI. Following his return from a lobby trip to D.C. on Snake River dam removal, he was invited to be the California Organizer of the Endangered Species Coalition, working to stop the Congressional effort to rewrite the ESA . He began working on Klamath River dam relicensing in 2003, signing the original KBRA & KHSA agreements in 2010, and the current revised KHSA in 2015. It’s been a 20 year collaborative effort to provide the opportunity for the Klamath to return to its historic greatness. Mark has been married 53 years and has 3 children.
Dr. Mark Rockwell
with ourselves and the creatures who occupy them.
Dams on rivers have become a known threat to the survival of fish like salmon and steelhead. They block access to criticallyimportant upland watersheds, where spawning and rearing takes place. Dam removal is now on the agenda for recovery. In the last 10 years we’ve had the Elwha River dams removed in Olympic National Park, on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and three dams taken off of the Rogue River, in Oregon. Magical fishery changes have happened since those dams were removed (although questions remain why so few chinook salmon are reaching the upper river).
Sadly, population declines are reality today for salmonids nearly everywhere they historically exist. Climate change, increased water diversions, poor water quality and high water temperatures are driving them to extinction. Dams make upstream migration of adults and downstream movement of young fish to the ocean nearly impossible.
Today in California only one major salmon river, the Smith, remains open from source to sea. More than 400 major dams impede the state’s other rivers. Historically, California was a major salmon and steelhead state. Two of the three most productive rivers in the U.S. were located there: the Sacramento/San Joaquin system, and the Klamath River. Only the Columbia/Snake system out-produced these giants.
In the past, the Klamath contributed more than one million spawning adults each year, but today we have only 20,000-40,000 spawners, 70 percent of which are of hatchery origin. A thriving commercial fishing industry existed along the pacific coastline of California, with an estimated 1,100 boats fishing salmon. That industry is all but gone today. In addition, salmon were the cultural center point of many Indigenous communities in all three Pacific coast states. The tribes along the Klamath—Karuk, Yurok, Klamath, and Hoopa—call themselves Salmon People because the fish are such a huge part of their life, culture, and history.
1905 was the year the Klamath Basin Project was authorized—the year in which all of the historic changes began. The first delivery of water to agriculture was in 1907. 1917 marked the year that homesteads were authorized in the basin, and the Copco 1 dam was built in 1918 as the first in a sequence of power dams. 1925 saw Copco 2 become operational, and J.C. Boyle, the most upriver dam, was completed in 1958. The pulsing of flows for electricity generation made the river unsafe, so Iron Gate Dam was installed in 1962 to regulate flows. Federal and state law did not require fish passage. From 1917 to the present, anadromous fish had no access to the entire upper Klamath Basin, equating to more than 400 miles of lost spawning and rearing habitat. These projects completely destroyed the fishery.
In 2005, the four dams of concern on the Klamath—Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2, and J.C.Boyle (see map)— were up for relicensing under the Federal Power Act. The federal law says every 30 to 50 years dams must be relicensed and meet current standards of operation and environmental needs. The relicensing process allows the public and impacted citizens to be involved; it opened the door for dialogue on how the dams would operate. Starting in 2003, the Northern California Council, Federation of Fly Fishers (now Fly Fishers International) joined other parties in negotiations.
PacifiCorp, the company that operated the dams, was owned by Scottish Power. They they wanted to relicense the dams as they were. In 2005, Berkshire Hathaway, chaired by American business magnate Warren Buffet, purchased PacifiCorp. Importantly, updated environmental requirements now mandated fish passage—policy which provided opportunity to request dam removal as the best (and least costly) way to come into compliance. But PacifiCorp was against removal. The power company was not interested in removing their power generation facilities. A two year dialogue commenced.
The vision put forward by the NGOs and Tribes included a free-flowing river where fish could make it back into the 400-plus square miles of spawning and rearing habitat which had been blocked for more than 100 years. PacifiCorp did not share that vision. Our job was to convince PacifiCorp that the concept we laid
out was the best alternative for them, their rate-payers and for all the other stakeholders involved, including four major Native American tribes.
Negotiations lasted for 20 years. Early on, PacifiCorp was resolute about keeping the dams. We spent untold time and resources evaluating what it would cost PacifiCorp to
upgrade their system. Fish passage alone, we learned, would cost $350 million. Upgrading turbines and other infrastructure would cost tens of millions more. After innumerable discussions, the company was convinced they could not run the system in a profitable way and agreed to discuss dam removal. This
moved us into a new reality where dam removal might be possible. Next was the question of lake sediment toxicity. We requested funding from the California Coastal Commission to evaluate sediment toxicity, and to our great relief, it was clean. That opened the door for more serious discussion to move our vision forward.
Besides sediment toxicity, another concern had always been available water flows for the river. In the early 1900s, the Bureau of Reclamation replumbed the entire Klamath basin, removing what was known as Lake Ewauna, a 94,000-acre marsh which emptied into Lower Klamath Lake.
This was the most prolific waterfowl and bird breeding area in the western U.S. The Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project transformed the watershed so farming was made possible. That transformation altered water flows in the river forever.
Today, the Klamath Project still diverts much of the Klamath River for
agricultural use in the basin. What’s left over goes down the river for fish, tribes and towns. Water flows can be restricted to agriculture to protect Endangered Species Act-listed fish: coho salmon, Lost River suckers and shortnosed suckers. The Klamath Project remains a significant source of conflict.
In 2008 it was decided to develop two agreements, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement (KHSA). The KBRA was to focus on all the upper basin’s needs: electricity, water for agriculture, water storage, fishery needs in the upper basin (suckers) and the habitat restoration work required to provide better river flows. The KHSA was to focus on an agreement to remove the dams. In 2010, we reached a settlement on both, and the agreements were signed by all parties. The KHSA required PacifiCorp to contribute $200 million for the cost of removal, and California would pony up $250 million—$450 million in total.
The KBRA required federal funding support from Congressional legislation. For five years, the Republican Party blocked that legislation, resulting in the KBRA’s termination in 2015, leaving only the KHSA. The KBRA was renegotiated
in 2015 and an updated KHSA was signed. Dam removal would move forward, but without the supporting foundational agreements on water distribution outlined in the KBRA.
In 2015 the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) was formed. The KRRC was created to take over ownership of the Klamath project and remove the dams. It will also oversee seven years of restoration work on the river after the dams are out.
In 2000 we were on the verge of a final settlement when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) transferred the license to operate the dams from PacifiCorp to KRRC. However, in violation of the KHSA agreement, the FERC kept PacifiCorp on the license. FERC was not convinced that the $450 million was enough to take out the dams. This led to PacifiCorp threatening to terminate the agreement. Months of negotiations began, and on a phone call with signatories, their lawyers
explained how they faced too much liability during dam removal. An elder from the Karuk Tribe interrupted them.
“You are killing my people,” she said. “You’ve spent years talking about money and costs, all the while we’ve been patient and waiting. You’ve killed our fish, and you are killing our tribe.” She was in tears, but continued. “If you lost $200 million in liability it would be a drop in your bucket. Stop the liability talk and get on with agreeing to remove the dams. You are killing us!”
The partner NGOs, tribes and even the governors of Oregon and California then wrote letters to Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, asking him directly to move forward on agreeing to dam removal. The possibility of large liability costs was small, we argued. Our pleas motivated Mr. Buffett to direct PacifiCorp to “get it finished.” PacifiCorp then committed to contribute an additional $25 million if California and Oregon would do the same, adding $75 million more to facilitate dam removal. FERC then transferred the license, without PacifiCorp.
Today, a final Environmental Impact Report has been completed, and Clean Water Act certifications have been signed off on by both California and Oregon. On November 17, 2022, the license to operate the Klamath Project was surrendered to KRRC, the last significant action needed for dam removal to start in 2023. Dam removal is finally a reality. Copco 1 is scheduled to come out in 2023, and the other three dams will be removed by October 2024—the
dream we envisioned so long ago has come to fruition.
In the fight to save the Klamath River, we have learned many lessons, but three truisms rise above the rest. The first is that it takes dedicated people—people who care about the future enough that they’ll go through whatever it takes to accomplish what is initially thought to be impossible. Dedicated people can do almost anything that they set their minds to.
Secondly, as our stakeholders will attest, it’s important to never give up. Whenever a problem arose, those of of us working for dam removal were committed to finding a way forward. And we did. We made friends with perceived enemies, created
bonds between tribal partners and other NGOs, and worked to better understand the needs of the other side. The goal was to return the river to its natural state and give the fish a chance to find their way to stability and health. We vowed we would do that, while addressing the needs of agriculture and others who required the water and river. We didn’t get all we wanted, but we’re hoping the fish get all they need. Time will tell. Finally, we learned that without advocacy, nothing gets done. Advocacy is activity that pushes others to think differently. Without that constant push, no change to the Klamath River would have transpired. We scrummed with media, provided community briefings, met with boards of supervisors, attended meetings, gave presentations, met
with enemies, filed legal briefs, filled out regulatory-mandated reports, worked with federal and state agencies, scientists, politicians and lawyers. We traveled often and spent thousands of hours on the phone, writing emails, on FaceTime and Zoom. It was a labor of love, for our planet and this watershed. Constantly pushing was critical. I feel strongly that free flowing rivers are worth fighting for. When opportunities like the Klamath come along, don’t be afraid to step into the breach. Know that it will take time, energy and commitment, but that our collective future depends on finding better ways to manage the land and water we live on, and with. We owe it to future generations to find balance and harmony with the natural world.
Astraight-line cast is often the best way to present a fly, but sometimes you need to change your location in order to get the drift you want. When you’re able to move, you should. But if trees, currents, the position of the fish or the position of the sun won’t allow you to move without spooking the fish or getting into wading trouble, the best option is often to use a mend.
A mend is simply a repositioning of the line. All types of mends have the same general purpose, which is to place extra line upstream or downstream to counteract a fast or slow current and allow the fly to drift drag-free. A dragfree drift is defined as a presentation where the fly has no apparent connection to the leader or fly line. In other words, the fly behaves like an untethered object moving at the mercy of the current.
If you’re facing perpendicular to the current, casting across fast water to slower water beyond it, an upstream mend is used. The mend places line upstream of the fly, in the faster water. This line must travel additional distance before it eventually
Jeff Wagnerpasses the fly, comes tight, and makes the fly drag. This extends the length of the fly’s drag-free drift.
Mends can be made after the line is on the water or while it is still in the air.
This is a repositioning of the line after the cast is complete and the fly line is on the water. An on-the-water mend is the typical move used to reduce drag when fishing a dry fly, or a nymph and indicator. The line is anchored to the water by surface tension, but the line nearest the rod tip can be “cleared” from the surface of the water and repositioned. The line is lifted off the water with the rod tip and “tossed” gently to one side or the other. The length of the rod and the floatation of the fly line determine how much line can be cleared from the surface. The longer the rod, the more line that can be cleared, because the tip of the rod can be raised to a higher position without pulling the line back and inadvertently moving the fly.
Few presentations are as impressive and functional as a well-executed aerial mend. It just flat-out works. In this
move, the repositioning is done after the “stop” of the rod (after maximum velocity is reached), but before the fly line reaches the the water. An aerial mend allows any part of the line between the rod tip and the leader to be repositioned. If there is a downside to this maneuver, it is the practice and control required to place the mend in the correct location. Here are the basics to making an aerial mend:
- Make a normal overhead cast.
- On the forward stroke, after the stop, move the rod to the right or left quickly.
- Move the rod back to center before the line hits the water. You’ll notice you have made a large horizontal bulge or mend in the line. The key is controlling this to make a repeatable fishing cast. There are a few things to keep in mind that can make this easier to learn and control.
First, is knowing when to make the the horizontal movement of the rod. The mend must be created during the period after loop formation (after the stop of the rod) and before the line settles on the water. The longer you wait after loop formation, the closer the mend is to the rod tip. If the mend is made just before the line
When he’s not fishing or casting you’ll find Jeff hiking or biking the back country with his family. They also volunteer their time to conservation efforts with groups such as Fly Fishers International. Oh, and during business hours Jeff does business stuff.
touches the water it will be very close to the rod tip. If the mend is made immediately after loop formation it will be near the leader. The goal is to place the mend in the irregular current flow to allow a drag-free drift, and the timing should correspond to that. This comes with practice.
Second is the distance the rod tip is moved left or right. This determines the width of the mend. If you move the tip of the rod four feet to the left, the mend will be four feet wide from the main line (the direction of the cast) to the apex, or widest part, of the mend.
Third is the length of time the rod tip is held to the right or left. Now that you know how far the mend needs to be from you, and how wide it needs to
be, the length of the mend is the next concern. The length of time the rod is held in position after the it is moved left or right determines the length of the mend. If the rod is held in position for a brief period the mend will be short. If it is held for a long period it will be long.
Reach Mend
A reach mend is sometimes incorrectly described as a cast. It is really a different kind of aerial mend, because it is made after the stop of the rod. The objective is to create one long mend from rod tip to fly. Here’s how:
- Make a normal forward cast.
- Immediately after the stop, move the rod to the right or left so that
the rod points perpendicular (90 degrees) to the target and parallel to the water. The rod should be pointing directly out to your side if you are facing the target.
- Leave the rod in position.
The result is a straight line from the tip of the rod to the fly. This makes a right triangle with the fly rod as the shortest leg, the fly line the longest leg and an imaginary straight line from you to the target, the third leg. Note that you need to have some additional line available to “shoot” when you make a reach mend, or the fly will fall well short of the target.
Aerial mends are wonderful tools for fishing more effectively in a variety of situations. An example of its use
figure 1 (Aerial Mend)
is when you need to combat a fast current seam just a few feet off the tip of the rod.
- Make a normal forward cast facing across the river at 90 degrees to the bank.
- Wait for the line to straighten and begin to fall to the water.
- Move the rod tip about four feet left.
- Immediately reposition the rod back to 90 degrees to the stream bank.
When the line hits the water there will be a small “mend” of line upstream on the fast water while the rest of the line is delivered in the original direction.
Another example is if you’re casting to a fish across two differing
currents (fast near the tip of the fly line and slow near the tip of the rod). It’s possible to combat both with an aerial mend. Make an upstream mend immediately after the stop of the rod and make a downstream mend just before the line hits the surface. The placement, width and length of the mend is adjusted to fit the situation. With all aerial mends there is a point of diminishing returns. Remember that whatever slack you put between you and the fly must be removed in order to set the hook.
Making consistently good mends requires practice. To work on aerial mends, place a target about 30 feet away, with cones in a straight line between you
and the target. Cast to the target, trying to make the the fly (yarn) land as close as possible to the target while placing a mend around the cones. Start with the nearest cone to become accustomed to the movement. You’ll find it easy to mend around a cone that’s close to you. However, as you reach to farther cones, the timing becomes more challenging. Experiment with making the sideways movement of the rod, how far you move sideways, and for how long you hold the rod in the sideways position.
Practicing now will make you much more effective on your next fishing trip. I think you’ll find that tricky situations turn into fun, problemsolving situations. The solution may be an aerial mend that results in a hook up.
Figure 4SINGLE-HANDED, TWO-HANDED, FRESHWATER OR SALTWATER, THE EVOLUTION FS OFFERS NEXT LEVEL DRAG AND IS THE MOST ROBUST REEL IN THE ROSS LINEUP
It’s an editor’s worst nightmare to have to write something about the loss of a team member. But that task is unimaginably more difficult when that person is your role model, inspiration and very dear friend.
Dave Whitlock, who passed away on November 23, was among the kindest, most gracious, humble, yet supremely talented, energetic and insightful people I’ve ever had the honor to know in the fly-fishing world as a whole, and it was one of my life’s greatest honors to be able to work with him on the many “Art of Angling” columns he and his wife Emily faithfully produced for TROUT magazine.
Dave was the consummate gentleman angler, and he embodied everything I consider great, even sacred, about the culture of this sport I love so much. If there were a “Mount Rushmore” of fly fishing, he should surely be carved in rock.
I’d bet dollars to donuts right now that if most of you combed through your fly boxes, you’d find traces of Dave in the fly patterns you find… Dave’s Hoppers, Whit’s Hoppers… numerous streamers and nymph patterns… he pretty much ran out of things to name all the bugs he created. When you fish, whether you realize it or not, you use techniques Dave pioneered… “tres emergers” and “dry-dropper” rigs, and more. He was Ben Franklinesque in terms of ingenuity. And best of all, he was an egalitarian angler, shining love on everything from farm pond bluegills to the underappreciated common carp, beloved brown trout, to all the native species of trout and salmon throughout North America and far-away destinations throughout the world.
Dave caught ‘em all. But best of all, he appreciated and respected every fish. He was all about the why, the what and the how, and not just the how many.
He also respected and appreciated the many people who read the words he wrote, or enjoyed the fine art he produced, far beyond any level of gratitude most artists and authors ever show.
I remember once standing in a long line at the Fly Fishing Show in Denver (this was a few years after I had inherited Dave and his column as editor of TROUT magazine) and
watching as Dave meticulously signed copies of his books and chatted with every person in the queue. Dave didn’t just sign books. He often took the time to draw an impromptu fish or fly on the title page. You rarely just got a signature from Dave. When it was my turn, he leapt up from behind the signing table to give me a big bear hug, and that made me feel very special.
When Dave would write me letters, the old-fashioned way, to talk about ideas he had for his column, they’d come with elaborate drawings on the envelopes. I never told him or Emily, but I’ve saved every one of them. I knew that they, like everything else Dave produced, were artifacts. He sent me prints, signed “Special to Kirk Deeter” that I proudly hung on my walls.
When Emily called to tell me the sad news that Dave had passed, she said that Dave always appreciated the “freedom” that I, as editor, had given him to create on his own terms. I was humbled and honored, of course (actually flabbergasted), but I had to state the obvious… “what the heck was I supposed to do?!” He’s Dave Whitlock, after all! I pretty much just switched a word here and there, threw in a
comma or two and sat back and learned like everyone else. What a luxury it was to learn to be a better angler, and edit a magazine column at the same time.
The most valuable, lasting lesson of all, however, was Dave’s humility.
We live in very cynical times… and also in an era of instant gratification. There’s no shortage of chestpounding, Insta glamor shots and hyperbole that all revolves around the “conquest” when it comes to flyfishing media these days. There aren’t many people now who can explain how the fly-fishing world has evolved over the past few generations, and use a box of colored pencils to illustrate how it really happened.
Dave did that, better than anyone. But the thing is, he always maintained an almost bashful country gentleman persona, with a wink and a smile and a friendly hand on the shoulder, never once implying that he’d already cut all that hay… already done more adventurous and “out-there” stuff, and yeah, caught more big, beautiful fish in interesting ways than any hard-charger from Gen-Next might ever imagine. He simply wanted people to find the essence, and the beauty of fly fishing, wherever the passion led them. He mentored by example.
And that, to me, embodies what the true beauty of fishing really is.
Dave Whitlock was, in every sense, a beautiful man, who cared very much about beautiful sport, for all the right reasons, in all the right ways.
So he will be sorely missed, and although in the short term, TROUT magazine and the flyfishing world may be a less colorful place now without him, in the long term, he left us a palette and a purpose to take the “Art of Angling” to newer, greater heights.
We have indeed all been blessed. Godspeed, Dave Whitlock, and thank you from the bottom of my aching heart.
Dave was a long-time supporter of FFI by tying and speaking at FFI events, donating his artwork for auctions, and giving his patent of the Whitlock-Vibert box that is now sold worldwide. He envisioned that box sales would support FFI’s conservation program and FFI has honored his wishes by using the profit from sales to fund conservation grants and scholarships. FFI produced a video series featuring Dave providing tips on how to effectively plant the box in streams that allow eggs to morph into fry and have a better chance for survival from the box’s protection. You can find more information at flyfishersinternational.org/Conservation. FFI is forever grateful to Dave for his generosity
Photo supplied by Emily Whitlock
Iwas fortunate to have tied with Dave Whitlock on February 12, 1996. Mr. Whitlock was an inspiration to me, his patterns were
not just for trout but panfish, bass and saltwater, showing me that the fly is a food source for all predators. Dave to me was a naturalist, and
a conservationist. His book Dave Whitlock’s Guide to Aquatic Trout Foods is a reference I still use when teaching others about the sport of fly fishing.
When, on November 25, I told my wife that Dave passed away, her comment summed up how I felt about him: he was such a gentle soul. That day, the fly fishing community lost a legend. In 1972, Dave was an FFI Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award Recipient. The WhitlockVibert Boxes helped with many conservation efforts. His unique fly tying designs still live on today—not just for trout but for all fish and all waters.
These are my four favorite Dave Whitlock flies…and they are also the flies for the FFI Fly Tying Challenge.
Jerry Coviello
Jerry Coviello is an accomplished fly tier and an FFI Buz Buszek Fly Tying Memorial Award Recipient. Jerry is a past Chair of the FFI Fly Tying Group, a columnist for Fly Tyer Magazine and current President and newsletter editor for Delaware Valley Fly Fishers. He contributes to the FFI Learning Center and develops Fly Tying Workshops for members to learn how to tie flies. He has a YouTube Channel, “Jerry’s Fly Tying Tips,” which has more than 100 fly tying videos.
Jerry Coviello
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/fIGuAttbsv8
This nymph is a perfect imitation which does not represent any specific nymph. When you look at it, it is the same all around because it is tied in the round. The tail is made from the guard hairs of the Red Fox Squirrel. This helps give it action in the water. The abdomen is the belly of the red fox squirrel, with Antron fibers mixed in to give it some life—maybe like a real nymph with air bubbles that reflect light and help attract a trout, bass or panfish. The rib of gold oval tinsel helps give the abdomen a segmented look, plus some flash. The thorax is the dark back-fur of the fox squirrel, and can be tied in a dubbing loop so the guard hairs stick out like legs to give a real buggy look. The partridge hackle wrapped around behind the eye of the hook gives the fly movement and legs. This fly is also tied weighted, with few wraps of lead-free wire underneath the thorax. This also can be tied with a bead.
Dave’s Hopper is, in my mind, the perfect grasshopper imitation. It can be tied with or without the legs; there is a tail of red bucktail that could be the red you see on the legs of a grasshopper, and a loop of yellow yarn tied at the bend of the hook. The body is made from yellow yarn and palmer, ribbed with a brown hackle that is trimmed. The legs are knotted partridge tail fibers. The wing is turkey tail treated with Dave’s Fleximent. The collar is spun deer hair tips and the head is spun deer hair, trimmed to shape. This is a high-floating fly which, during warm weather, imitates a hopper trying to get back to shore. Dave’s Hopper can be floated dead drift or popped on the surface. Trout, bass and panfish can’t resist this fly.
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/S6fGVU6v0f8
Three Blind Mice. See how they run. See how this pattern attracts big bass, and night trout! The ears and tail can be tied with leather or foam. The body is stacked deer hair, so are the tips on the top, to imitate the hair of the mouse or rat. Once the ears are tied in, you then tie the head, which is spun deer hair and trimmed to shape. Don’t forget the black eyes—just for looks. Maybe. Pop this fly right along the shoreline or if you’re brave enough, fish it at dark and hold on.
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/oTEZLvCb36g
This is a big fly, for big fish such as bass or trout. It presents a fantastic silhouette of a sculpin. Vary the colors to match the sculpins in your area.
Material List
Hook: Salmon 2/0
Thread: Your Choice ( I use 3/0 White for the body and an Olive GSP for the deer hair)
Belly: Pale Yellow or Olive Dubbing
Underbody: 50 Pound Mono on each side of the shank
Weight: Lead Free Wire
Rib: Brass Wire Medium
Tail and Back: 6 Cree and 6 Olive Variant
Throat: Red Dubbing
Head: Deer Hair (Pale Yellow, Black, Olive, Red)
Pectoral Fins: Cock Pheasant
Back Feathers
Eyes: Solid Plastic Doll Eyes (or similar)
Step 1. Prepare the hook using 50 pound mono on each side of the hook shank. Then, 10 to 15 wraps of .030 Lead Free wire. Coat with a cement such as Zap a Gap or UV Resin.
Step 2. Tie in the medium brass wire at the bend of the hook. I am using a Brassie gold wire thickness. Then dub a tapered body, using either cream, olive, brown or black, to about half the shank of the hook.
Step 3. I am using Hen Back Grizzly feather which has been dyed olive, cree, and light olive. There are six feathers on each side for a total of 12 feathers for the wing back. This will be tied in matuka style.
Step 4. Take two wraps of the brass wire at the bend of the hook, securing the tip of the wing. Next, start separating the back fibers to pass the wire between the feather fibers, trying not to catch any fibers under the wire. If you do, you can use your bodkin to pull them out.
Step 5. Tie in two male pheasant back feathers on each side of the hook. These are the pectoral fins of the sculpin. These are the large fins on the sculpin that also help keep it off the bottom (a sculpin doesn’t have an air bladder). Use red dubbing for the gills. I like to whipfinish and cut the 3/0 monocord thread, switching to an Olive GSP Thread to stack the deer hair.
Step 6. Turn the fly upside down. Take a stack of yellow or pale deer hair and stack the tips. Hold the deer hair in place and pull the thread to secure the hair to the hook. Do not spin the hair, this stacking hair, so different colors are layered.
Step 7. Turn the fly back and stack in the natural deer hair, make sure the tips line up with the underside deer hair. Push the natural deer hair down with you finger, making a cup, and then secure the black deer hair—the tips should line up with the natural hair.
Step 8. Layer a stack of red deer hair and top it off with olive deer hair.
Step 9. Bring the thread in front of the hair that is now stacked, and pack it: press with nail of the thumb and index finger, and pack it tight. Turn the fly upside down and add the second section of deer hair onto the bottom. Tips of the hair are to be cut.
Step 10. Rotate the fly back right side up. Stack the hair without the tips: natural, then black then olive deer hair. Pack the deer hair again; whipfinish.
Step 11. Trim the deer hair with scissors or a razor to shape. Glue doll eyes.
Fly Tied by Jerry Coviello | Video for this fly https://youtu.be/ftuoufOfzdA
FFI casting instructors from half a dozen states and two provinces got together to rendezvous in Canada’s Belle Province with 166 eager participants at a renowned fishing destination in Quebec.
For the first time in two years, the Northeastern Council of FFI, in conjunction with Kenauk Nature in Montebello, Quebec, brought together FFI Casting Instructors from the Northeast, Ontario, New York, New Jersey Florida, Idaho and Oregon to a succession of fly-casting workshops for single and two-handed rods. We also tied some flies!
The event was called Rendez-Vous Kenauk, and the week started with
Casting Instructor (CI), Master Casting Instructor (MCI) and Two-Handed Casting Instructor (THCI) testing. After much hard-work and practice, two participants passed the CI exam and three THCIs joined the esteemed ranks of the 21 FFI instructors at Kenauk for the weekend.
Clinics were held on everything from Introduction to the Basic Fly Casts to Casting Instructor Training Our Women Connect sessions brought together new and experienced female anglers. We practiced snake rolls, demystified shooting heads and had plenty of opportunities to get on the vise. Yours truly even tied dry flies for a great group, made up of two young families.
I also sat in on the Casting Instructor clinic and after spending time with Craig Buckbee and Pascal
Moreau, was inspired to work towards the CI certification. Buckbee and Moreau helped make some of the CI requirements more understandable and demonstrated what CI examiners would be looking for.
In the Basic Casting Clinic, which involved 44 participants over both days, attendees learned the fundamentals of casting and improved on the skills they already had. There was also a great deal of interest in distance casting—57 participants set up to get a feel for long range throws on the big open field at Kenauk.
What a great venue Pat Johnson and the owners of Kenauk have built in the natural setting of southern Quebec. Kenauk is an expansive, 265 square-kilometer (65,500 acre) property which encompasses pristine forests, 60 lakes and a wide diversity of flora and fauna. It has beautiful accommodations, outdoor activities, fishing and hunting opportunities, all designed to minimize the venue’s ecological footprint. Thanks to a partnership between the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the
Chesapeake (PA-WV-VA-MD-DE)
Eastern Rocky Mtn (WY-CO-NM-AZ)
Eastern Waters (NY-NJ) Florida
Great Lakes(MI-IN)
Gulf Coast (LA-MS-AL)
Northern California (CA-NV-HI)
North Eastern (VT-NH-ME-MA-RI-CT) Ohio
Oregon
South Eastern (KY-TN-NC-SC-GA-AL)
Southern (NE-IA-KS-MO-IL-OK-AR)
Southwest (CA-NV)
Texas
Upper Midwest (MN-WI-IL)
Washington (WA-AK)
Western Rocky Mtn (UT-ID-MT-ND-SD)
facility’s four Canadian owners, Kenauk Nature’s priority remains the permanent protection of this nature reserve. The Kenauk Institute’s mission is to support scientific research, create environmental education programs and monitor the property for climate change and human impacts. It is the perfect place for this FFI event.
Being held in Quebec, all of the clinics at Rendez-Vous were bilingual (French and English). This meant each class had two instructors (or more, for the larger sessions), ensuring everyone benefited from individual instruction. Even when there was not a structured clinic, there was time to further oneon-one instruction with some of the great FFI instructors.
So mark your calendars for next year and keep practicing your casting. If you are considering going out for a casting instructor certification, would like to share your knowledge, learn some new skills or connect with likeminded anglers, you have 23 months to plan to rendevous at the September, 2024 event.
Council Presidents:
Chesapeake Lane Thurgood lthurgood68@gmail.com
Eastern Rocky Mountain Dwyne Combs president.ermc.ffi@gmail.com
Eastern Waters Sam Decker samfishes@hvc.rr.com
Florida David Olson david@whitestackle.com
Great Lakes Mark Johnson mjohns1588@outlook.com
Gulf Coast AJ Rosenbohm ajrosenbohm@gmail.com
The Oregon Council of FFI sponsored our 32nd Expo on March 10 & 11, 2023. We started the planning process for the event in September 2022. We built it again and they arrived right on time. We were pleased with the turnout even though the snow storms kept some attendees away. Here are some highlights from the event.
• The gathering of friends and happy faces, networking, handshakes and hugs.
• 7 FFI Clubs carried the load for managing setup and cleanup, registration, merchandise, auctions, bucket raffles, and youth program.
• Jon Connally, our Casting Director, organized 29 casting lessons with FFI Casting Instructors.
• FFI Fly Casting Skills Development Program was available throughout each day.
• 87 students registered for classroom classes.
• All 43 exhibitor slots were filled with a waiting list for 2024.
• 350 fee-based attendees from general public.
North Eastern Jon Larrabee jon@larrabeereels.com
Northern California Mark Rockwell mrockwell1945@gmail.com
Ohio Jeff McElravy jmcelravysr@hotmail.com
Oregon Sherry Steele orcffi@gmail.com
Southeastern Debra Pauli president@secffi.org
Southern Chris Allen callenshooter@aol.com
• All FFI members, volunteers, tyers, vendors, children under 18 attend free.
• 150 + fly tyers demonstrated all day in 3 sessions.
• 186 volunteers and exhibitor staff participated.
• 35 children under 18 attended.
• 220 attended Friday night banquet, where Sherry (pictured left) was awarded the Polly Rosborough Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 44 attendees signed up for new membership in Fly Fishers International
The next Expo is planned for March 8 & 9, 2024 and we hope to see you there. Watch for developments on the website at nwexpo.com.
Southwest Earl Arnold president@swcffi.org
Texas Rick Haness president@texascouncilffi.com
Upper Midwest Lyth Hartz president.umc.ffi@gmail.com
Washington State Steve Jones president@wscffi.org
Western Rocky Mountain Dave Londeree dlonderee@roadrunner.com
June is a time of new beginnings: fresh flowers, nesting birds, joyous weddings and graduations. For those of us with FFI Women Connect (FFiWC), June is also Women’s Fly Fishing Month.
The goal of Women’s Fly Fishing Month is to offer support and fly fishing education to women anglers, and to highlight the contributions women are making within the fly fishing community.
We hope all anglers will join in the celebration, either by taking part in an FFI Women Connect program over the Zoom platform, or by helping out, or participating in, a regional council event. Or, anglers could participate simply by going fishing with a woman. Happily, the Southeast Council of FFI has a contest focused on just that.
Between May 8 and June 30, 2023, to celebrate women anglers in June, FFiWC is hosting a fly fishing photography contest. Photos taken over the past year featuring women anglers are eligible for prizes. Everyone who enters wins, thanks to a donated photography training session led by renowned fly fishing photographer, Brian O’Keefe. For complete contest details, visit the contest entry page under Fly Fishers International’s Get Involved/FFI Women Connect page on our website.
On May 30, at 7 p.m. CST, kick-off Women’s Fly Fishing Month with renown Atlantic Canada angler, Kastine Coleman. Kastine is an internationally certified casting instructor, the Canadian ambassador for Fly Fishers International, and the owner of Tight Loops, Tight Lines, a guided trip company and casting school. She’s also the producer of a television series of the same name and recently debuted a regular column in Fly Fusion Magazine
On June 13 at 7 p.m. CST, check out The Mayfly Project: Mentoring Children in Foster Care with Fly Fishing, presented by Kaitlin Barnhart, the co-founder and national program director of The Mayfly Project and Jane Miller, lead mentor of The Mayfly Project, Los Angeles.
All throughout the spring and summer we’ll be raising money via our Online Auction. Watch for this on-line event, featuring great gear and gifts.
Event: Women’s Intermediate Fly Fishing Class
To be held in collaboration with a local FFi Club in PA
Contact: Dianne Tidy, Tidys@ comcast.net
Event: Women Connect Deschutes River three-day float down the famous Deschutes River canyon
Event Coordinator: Anne-Marie Bakker, ambconsulting@sbcglobal.net or 707-721-6184
Dates: June 29 – July 1, 2023. We will catch the end of the stonefly hatch and the beginning of the caddis emergence. Deep Canyon Outfitters/ Confluence Fly Shop is leading this award-winning multi-day fly fishing and camping trip—the best way to experience the beauty and superb fly fishing the Deschutes has to offer. Throughout this 32mile, wild and scenic section of the river, towering canyon walls and exciting white water guard pristine rainbow trout and summer steelhead habitat.
FFI Members: $1,650 (with four or more signed up)
Non FFI Members: $1,690 (includes a one-year membership to FFi Women Connect)
Not Included: Gratuities, fishing licenses, transportation to Bend, Oregon. The closest airport is in Redmond, Oregon. This trip is limited to 10 participants.
Event Coordinator: Cari Vota, vota@zoomtown.com
June events
June 3 – FFI Casting Skills Workshop Cottell Park, Deerfield Twp., Mason, OH 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Open to the public.
June 8 – BUFF’s Women’s After Work Outing on the East Fork of the Little Miami River, at Sycamore Park, Batavia, OH. 6-8 p.m.
June 15 – BUFF Club/Co-ed After Work Outing on the Little Miami River at Carl Rahe Access, Loveland, OH. 6-8 p.m.
June 22 – BUFF Women’s Day Trip to the Brookville Tailwaters, Brookville, IN. This is a trout trip.
July events
July 13 – BUFF’s Women’s After Work Outing on the Little Miami River at the Lake Isabella Access near Loveland, OH. 6-8 p.m.
July 21 – BUFF Club/Co-ed After Work Outing on the Little Miami River at Halls Creek Access, near Morrow, OH. 6-8 p.m.
OREGON COUNCIL
Event Name: FFI Oregon Women’s Campout Event Coordinator: Candace Bell sebcan3@gmail.com
When: June 18-25
Where: Metolius River, Oregon
SOUTHEASTERN COUNCIL OF FFI & LADY ANGLERS OF THE SOUTHEAST
Event: Take a Woman Fly Fishing Challenge
For details visit the Southeastern Council’s website under the FFI Women Connect tab.
Dates: April 15-June 30, 2023, Contact: Linda Vance, Linda.Vance@mso.umt.edu
SOUTHWEST COUNCIL
June 10 - Women Connect Day at Orvis Pasadena.
Description: All day event. Casting, Fly Fishing 101 and round robin stations in the afternoon. Lunch is included.
Fees: No charge for event. Space limited.
Contact: AnnBull womensprograms@swcffi.org
WASHINGTON COUNCIL & Palouse WOTF Women’s event
June 17-19 - Camping and fly fishing trip, Lochsa River, ID.
Contact: Sara Cochran, Palousewomenonthefly@gmail.com
Write to: womenconnect@ flyfishersinternational.org to receive info and zoom links for upcoming events, activities and fly-fishing trips.
Bob Ford was a dedicated leader and volunteer, promoting the sport of fly fishing for more than 50 years. Bob worked tirelessly to spread the word of fly fishing and teach people, young and old, the craft that he loved.
Bob was a member of Trout Unlimited, serving on TU’s board of directors and assisting in the initial implementation of the Adopt-A-
Stream program. He later transitioned to Fly Fishers International, where he served as president of the North Eastern Council for many years.
Bob Ford was well known for his efforts in bringing the FFI Council’s presence to the Massachusetts and New Jersey Fly Fishing Shows. It was at these popular trade shows that Bob played an integral role in founding the Fly Fishing Show’s
Learning Center, originally an in-person concept which offered attendees the opportunity to partake in a free casting or tying lesson with the pros.
After his retirement, Bob settled on the Missouri River in Craig, Montana, where he happily planned annual group fishing excursions. Friend Brian McArdle remembers trips each May to Rhode Island for a month of striped bass fishing. “We could always depend on Bob to have everything ready for our arrival,” McArdle said. Brian was always struck by the true joy that Bob derived from others’ success on the water. “At the end of the day, he would meet us at the door. As we took off our waders, he would start quizzing us on our adventure: ‘How’d you do? Catch anything of size? What fly?’ He was a true lover of our sport of fly fishing.”
Rhonda Sellers, VP of Operations for FFI, shared a fond memory when Bob arrived at the Livingston office to lay out his plans and hopes for the Council She noted that this visit, at 80 years of age, required an Amtrak trip from Boston to Havre, Montana, where Bob rented a car and then fished his way across the state.
“It impressed me that his passion for the sport shone through in his conversation,” Rhonda remembered.
David Diaz had a plethora of interests, including photography, making and playing guitars, collecting phonograph equipment and LPs (especially jazz) and, of course, making fly rods and tying flies. In pursuit of fly-fishing experiences, David traveled all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Belize, Argentina and to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia—though he would say his all-time favorite trip was fishing for redfish in Louisiana’s marshes.
As a member of Fly Fishers International, David received many awards. He was the elected Chairman of the Casting Board of Governors in 2011. He was the Master Casting Instructor at Deep South Outfitters in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was known as Dr. D, Mo D, Triple D and Three D. He loved teaching the art of fly casting, imparting his knowledge to more than 5,000 people who were eager to learn.
David shared his interest in music with his wife. They were fans of musical theatre—both in New Orleans and Birmingham—and were long-time season ticket holders of Red Mountain Theatre Company. They enjoyed swing dancing and belonged to clubs in New Orleans and Birmingham.
Thomas Kerr Schmuecker was born on August 28, 1933, in Blairstown, Iowa. He married Shirley Ann Light in 1959, earned a business degree from the University of Iowa in 1961 and ran the Pinehurst Farms with his brother and father through the 1960s.
In 1973, Tom and Ann purchased Wapsi and moved their family to Independence, Iowa. With the changes in the economy, fly companies began to produce flies overseas. In 1978, Tom and Ann moved their family and Wapsi to Mountain Home, Arkansas. Changes were immediate. All production of flies stopped, and emphasis was solely on materials. Growth was rapid. In order to keep pace, Wapsi added new facilities and more employees.
Tom’s knowledge of dye technology and his years of experience allowed
Wapsi to lead the industry in raising the standards of quality of fly tying materials. Efficient, innovative manufacturing techniques have enabled the company to market products of superior quality throughout the world.
Tom was actively involved in his community, where he loved serving on the board of Baxter Regional Medical Center from 1986 until he retired in 2016. He was also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Mountain Home Rotary Club.
Tom served on the American Fly Fishing Tackle Association Board. He was a recipient of many awards from Fly Fishers International, including the Lee Wulff Award for Outstanding Fly Fishing Business in 1995. The Southern Council of the Fly Fishers International also awarded Tom with the Fly Tyer of the Year Award.
We are proud to recognize donors who have donated $5200 or more. These funds help FFI continue our important work in conservation, education and as the voice of all fly fishers. These gifts may be dedicated by the donor to a cause they are passionate about.
The President’s Club at Fly Fishers International represents the highest level of financial commitment to the organization. Over the course of FFI’s history, the President’s Club has been instrumental in our ability to ensure the legacy of fly fishing for all fish in all waters.
PLATINUM $25,000+
Larry Gibbs
Keith Groty
Howe Foundation
Patty Lueken
Paul Moseley
GOLD $15,000+
Ron Cordes
George Lane Charitable Trust
Jack Gillis
Herb Kettler
Jim Maus
Patagonia
Dave Peterson
Seth Riney
Doug Silver
YOT Full Circle Foundation
Brown
Bruce & Leslie
Carl & Maura Johnson
Michael Stewart
Jonathan Walter
SILVER $10,000+
Anna Atkin
Glenn Erikson
Thomas Gadacz
Gary Grant
Great Lakes Council of FFI
Jim & Dorothy Schramm
Mark Twite
Robert Uselton
Bruce Williams
Brown
Mark Brown
Richard Diamond
Brad Eaton
Robert Eck
Lew & Tilda Evans
Carole Anne Katz
Kirei USA
Edward Klaus
Dean & Margaret Lewis
Tom & Patti Logan
Michael Webb
Barry Webster
Ron Winn
Michael Nolan
Kent Richardson
Scientific Anglers
Edwin “Bill” Stroh
Len & Dawn Zickler
Bud Frasca
Don Gimbel
Philip Greenlee
John Herritt
Douglas W. Lovell
Roger Maler
Northern California Council of FFI
You give back to the sport that has given so much to you when you become one of FFI’s 1000 Stewards. By donating $500 per year over 5 years, you join the ranks of supporters dedicated to the legacy and future of fly fishing, and can enjoy exclusive benefits and opportunities as a show of our gratitude. Reflect your passion for fisheries conservation, your commitment to providing learning opportunities for all skills levels, and your support to inspire and engage the growing fly fishing community by becoming one of FFI’s 1000 Stewards.
Alpine Fly Fishers Club
Robert Bencic
Jean Black
James Bourgeois
Demetre Bove
Ken Bowers
Keith & Hillary Burkhart
Mark Cederwall
Robert Davis
Jeffrey Dean
David Drake
Eastern Waters Council of FFI
The Forrest Family Charitable Fund
Michael F. Gallavan Charitable
Gift Fund
James Goedhart
Leonard Gruenberg
Todd Heggestad
Ralph Heide
Charles Higman
Patricia Jankowski
Bruce Kline
John Knight
Wayne Knight
John Lewis
Stewart Mitchell
Joseph Mizik
David Moore
The North Umpqua Foundation
John L Olson & Marilyn J Olson
Family Foundation
Overlake Fly Fishing Club
John Page
Thomas Patch
David Perry
Bobbi Phelps Chapman
Greg Pitts
Dennis Precourt
Reed Family Foundation
Richard Ross
Robert Sales
Steve Schala
Dr. Sherman & Julie Shultz
Charitable Fund
Molly Semenik
Robert “Bob” Shirley
Phil Shook
Robert Blayne Smith
Joan Swartz
The President’s Club at Fly Fishers International represents the highest level of financial commitment to the organization and comes with exclusive benefits and opportunities as a way of thanking donors for this level of generosity. Over the course of FFI’s history, the President’s Club has been instrumental in our ability to ensure the legacy of fly fishing for all fish in all waters. Members of the exclusive giving circle can support any program or project at FFI that most inspires them, and at a level that recognizes their level of giving, including Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
Bob Tabbert
Leonard Tavormina
Robert Tritsch
Upper Midwest Council of FFI
Washington Fly Fishing Club
Washington State Council of FFI
Estate of Bartlett D Whelton
Michael Willis
Michael Zahn
Donor support has been key to our accomplishments – your generosity is making a difference. We’ve already started building on some of the accomplishments over the last couple years, a record of achievements worthy of reflection. So, what exactly have we done? We’ve created...
· a more diverse leadership
· a dynamic brand refresh
· a comprehensive learning center
· a groundbreaking virtual expo
· a thriving women connect program
· a commitment to conservation
· an enhanced membership experience
Thanks to everyone whose hard work made this possible. Looking toward the future—we are excited about the direction we are heading at FFI.
“It’s never too early to think about doing something significant for the sport I love. Leaving something to FFI now is a meaningful way to support the future of fly fishing.”
— ANDREWJoin
“It’s never too late to make a significant impact on what I value most—I’m leaving 95% of my estate to FFI to ensure the legacy of fly fishing.”
It’s never too early to think about doing something significant for the sport I love. Leaving something to FFI now is a meaningful way to support the future of fly fishing.”
It’s never too early to think about doing something significant for the sport I love. Leaving something to FFI now is a meaningful way to support the future of fly fishing.”
— LARRY
“It’s never too late to make a significant impact on what I value most—I’m leaving 95% of my estate to FFI to ensure the legacy of fly fishing.”
“It’s never too late to make a significant impact on what I value most—I’m leaving 95% of my estate to FFI to ensure the legacy of fly fishing.”
— LARRY
— LARRY
“It’s never the wrong time to leave a legacy for future generations of fly fishers. I joined FFI’s Legacy Circle in the midst of significant life changes and couldn’t believe how easy it was to include FFI in my estate plans.”
— KIM“It’s never the wrong time to leave a legacy for future generations of fly fishers. I joined FFI’s Legacy Circle in the midst of significant life changes and couldn’t believe how easy it was to include FFI in my estate plans.”
“It’s never the wrong time to leave a legacy for future generations of fly fishers. I joined FFI’s Legacy Circle in the midst of significant life changes and couldn’t believe how easy it was to include FFI in my estate plans.”
— KIM
— KIM
Now is the best time. How about you? At any age, any time, All fish, All waters.
Now is the best time. How about you? At any age, any time, All fish, All waters.
Now is the best time. How about you? At any age, any time, All fish, All waters.
In addition to leaving a bequest in your estate plans, you can also name FFI as a beneficiary of an IRA or 401K account. Contact President and CEO Patrick Berry to learn more at pberry@flyfishersinternational.org.
In addition to leaving a bequest in your estate plans, you can also name FFI as a beneficiary of an IRA or 401K account. Contact President and CEO Patrick Berry to learn more at pberry@flyfishersinternational.org.
In addition to leaving a bequest in your estate plans, you can also name FFI as a beneficiary of an IRA or 401K account. Contact President and CEO Patrick Berry to learn more at pberry@flyfishersinternational.org.
