4Cff Program Speakers 2021

When most anglers think GT fishing they typically envision Christmas Island or maybe the Seychelles and yet, nestled along the Red Sea exists another phenomenal location, the Nubian Flats off the coast of Sudan.  Accessible only by live aboard boat, this destination is untouched by the angling community and you feel it everyday out on the water as fishing brings you that much closer surreal moments between you, water and the natural world! Explore an incredibly remote, unique, and lesser-known flats fishery, wade fish beautiful flats and sight-fish to a variety of exotic species including triggerfish and giant trevally, enjoy staying on a comfortable live-aboard ship anchored in the Red Sea, andExperience true adventure travel through third-world Sudan, Red Sea
Dave McCoy was introduced to fishing by his father, and together experienced and enjoyed life in the outdoors.  He quickly discovered the thrill of having a fish on, and was always in awe of those surroundings.  Growing up in the Eugene, Oregon area, his stomping grounds were and remain legendary namesakes; Crane Prairie Reservoir and Hosmer Lakes, the Deschutes River, McKenzie and Umpqua Rivers, just to name a few.  He has been in the fly fishing industry in one form or another for over 21 years, and is now professionally and relentlessly striving to surpass expectations everywhere, using his expertise  and energy among various organizations:  Patagonia, Thomas and Thomas, Nautilus, Costa and AMFF Ambassador, Rajeff Sports Pro Staff Member, Keepemwet Fishing Ambassador and Swiftwater Rescue Technician. In addition he possesses an eye as a Photographer. He posts  his work on Instagram and Facebook. Dave is also a writer. You can visit Emerald Water website and read the blog he authors about his fishing adventures. Here he highlights of a trip to the Nubian Flats in Sudan and Oman. Dave is also a FFI Certified Casting Instructor. He claims he is nothing in his pursuits without his wife Natalie and daughter Nessa who constantly remind him why he is so inspired, without saying a word.  

Be an Archer With Your Cast: How Accuracy Catches You More FishBe it trout, redfish, bonefish or carp, improving your casting accuracy will improve your catch rate. Topics include: understanding loop shape, rod tip path, casting arc, and fly line trajectory. Learn how to point your loop to your target for dead on accuracy. Molly will talk live, share video, and answer questions during the program. The more questions, the better! This will be fun, so I hope you will join in.
Why is casting accuracy important you might ask?"A friend, Chad McCormick, once related an anecdote to me that serves as a perfect illustration of this attitude. Chad was fishing the lower Bighorn with fly shop owner George Anderson a few seasons back, and it was Bighorn fishing at its best: little yellow stoneflies were skittering all over the surface, and the fish were keyed into both hatching insects and returning egg layers. With lots of bugs and lots of rising fish, if the angler put the fly on target, the result was a hookup with another 15 to 20 inch fish.At least that’s how it worked for George and Chad. They noticed another angler fishing the riffle just upstream, making cast after cast, changing flies frequently, conspicuous because he wasn’t catching a thing. All the while, he was forced to watch the anglers below him hook and land and release a considerable pile of fish.Finally, after several more fly changes, this fisherman couldn’t stand it any more. “What are you guys catchin’ ’em on?”, he yelled.George’s unexpected (but painfully honest) comeback: “Accuracy.”1
Molly Semenik was born and raised in Michigan. She fondly recalls the day when, at the age of fourteen, her father presented her with his prized Orvis bamboo rod. When Semenik moved to Utah in 1979, she brought the rod along and spent the next several years fly fishing in western fresh water. She eventually ventured into saltwater angling.A career in fly fishing started with her move to Montana in 2000. By the following year, Semenik accomplished three major goals: 1). become a Federation of Fly Fishers certified fly-casting instructor, 2.)  receive her Montana guide license, and 3.) foundTie the Knot Fly Fishing which she did in  2001. Tie the Knot included guided fly fishing on the Yellowstone River and local spring creeks, but now her focus is on  fly casting instruction with single and double handed rods, using Zoom technology and in-person instruction, and fly-fishing destination trips for women. Molly specializes in introducing women to the sport in a fun, professional, and encouraging way; she believes that “when a woman can tie her own knot, she has started down the path of independence.”Not willing to simply rely on her earlier accomplishments, Semenik became a Federation of Fly Fishers master fly-casting instructor in 2006, co-founded the Yellowstone Fly Fishing School with Matt Wilhelm in 2006, and two years later became a certified outfitter in the state of Montana. She was elected to the Casting Board of Governors of the Federation of Fly Fishers in 2010, where she and he colleagues developed a Casting Instructor program. She annually teaches over 400 students throughout the United States through school, shops, clubs, and shows. My husband and I now live in Birch Bay, Washington where I not only fish for trout but have added salmon and steelhead and Dungeness crab to the mix.We are privileged to have Molly as a member of the 4th Corner Fly Fishers.
Read the website at MidCurrent about Accuracy:1Oswald, Brant. "Fly Casting: The Importance of Casting Accuracy." Part 1. MidCurrent, January 22, 2014. https://midcurrent.com/techniques/the-importance-of-casting-accuracy/.Part 1: https://midcurrent.com/techniques/the-importance-of-casting-accuracy/Part 2: Mechanics of Accuracy: https://midcurrent.com/techniques/the-mechanics-of-accurate-casting/

James Garrettson asks, " Have you ever gone fishing and felt you didn't have the  Tough days on the water?" A Guides Approach to the Water is a deep dive into the daily decisions a full time guide makes to insure clients have a great day on the water. Thinking "trout first" and understanding correlations between trout behavior and river conditions are the foundations of a successful day on the water. Many anglers get pigeonholed into thinking "fly first", when they should fish with their mind before tying on the fly or choosing a rig. A Guides Approach to the Water covers trout biology, understanding river conditions and a meat and potatoes approach to insect life. It is not the fly but the understanding of the trout and their environment that makes for successful days on the water. James Garrettson is a full time guide based out of Northern New Mexico. He was quickly consumed by fly fishing after receiving a copy of the Curtis Creek Manifesto at age 10.  At 14 years old, James' passion for fly fishing landed him a job at Orvis Tysons Corner, store #55  (making him the youngest employee in the company). After cutting his teeth on brookies in Shenandoah National Park and striped bass in the Long Island sound, James expanded his boundaries to chase fish around the East Coast, The Pacific NorthWest, Costa Rica, Bosnia, and the Rockies. James currently guides on the San Juan, Chama, and Conejos rivers. James is an Echo Pro Team member and an Ambassador for Fulling Mill.Visit the website at www.abouttrout.com. Check out the video presentations, blogs, and more to find out the wealth of knowledge James has to share. We are in for a treat.

Skip Morris is among the most prolific fly-fishing and fly-tying authors alive—his name is known to anglers around the world as a noted fly fishing author and speaker. Over the many years that Skip Morris has fished and written about fly fishing he's uncovered many nuggets of information that have helped him and others to catch more fish. Whether it's trout, bass or panfish Skip has something to share that will improve your odds. Listen to this podcast and up your game!Fly Fishing Tips for Trout, Bass and PanfishHe has written twenty-one books on fly fishing and tying, including the established standard beginning fly tier’s volume Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple, and The Art of Tying the Bass Fly, Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes (with lake-fishing guru Brian Chan), Concise Handbook of Fly Tying, and Fly Fisher’s Guide to Western River Hatches. His videos and DVD’s range from instruction for tying nymphs, to tying bass flies, to tying and fishing flies for sea-run cutthroat trout.Skip has published over 300 articles on fly fishing and tying in magazines from Fly Fisherman to American Angler. For three years he was among the hosts of the “Fly-Fish Television Magazine” show.As a speaker and clinician, Skip is well-known as an entertaining, concise, and knowledgeable presenter, with a sly sense of humor and an easygoing manner that draws in the audience. As our presenter for February, Skip will do a fly tying demonstration for us during his zoom presentation.He lives with his wife, Carol, amid the rivers and lakes and saltwater beaches of Washington State's wild and magnificent Olympic Peninsula.You may have heard him as a presenter at the a recent Lynnwood Fly Fishing Show.Find out more about Skip Morris:http://www.skip-morris-fly-tying.com

 Over the years Gary Bulla has explored unique and pristine fly fishing waters and shares his fishing adventures. These include fly fishing the California surf, kayak fly fishing expeditions to the islands of Southern Baja, mothership trips to Belize for tarpon and bonefish, and guiding anglers with his trained family of captains on the Sea of Cortez in Baja Sur, Mexico.In the last four years he has also hosted trips to Amazonia. His zoom presentation “Angling the Amazon'' will take us through the capital city of Manaus in central Brazil and onto a mother- ship traveling the waters of the largest river system on the planet. He will cover two tributaries of the central Amazon which he visited on separate expeditions, the Rio Negro and the Uyetama Reserve. His first trip was exploratory on an old wooden mothership. Through intense experimentation he and Michael Williams of Nomadic Waters helped train the native guides on fly fishing strategies that led them to become believers in the power of the fly in the jungle waters.Gary will share his discoveries, including a brief geological history of the area, the warmth of the native Amazonians, the stunning biodiversity of the diverse habitats in the jungle’s ecosystems, the rhythm and camaraderie of life on a mothership, and the tackle and techniques for wrestling the dazzling variety of fish in the vast Amazon forest. As you will discover, Brazil should definitely be on every fly fisher’s bucket list. Please join Gary for a colorful trip through a very biodiverse and mysterious part of the world.Gary will share his discoveries with the club, including tackle and techniques for the dazzling variety of fish south of the border. As you will see, Baja should definitely be on every fly fisher’s bucket list. 

Contact Gary about his guided trips to Baja, the Amazon, and beyond at https://garybulla.com

 The term 'fair weather fisherman' exists for a reason.  Few but the hardiest of souls want to venture out when the weather is nasty and the likelihood of getting cold and wet far surpasses the possibility of catching a fish.  For those plagued by cabin fever the need to stay continuously connected to their passion, staying home is not an option and there are numerous fishing opportunities and fishing related activities to get you through the winter doldrums. His program will be in two parts.Scott Willison, 4CFF member and owner of the Confluence Fly Shop will first work you through some of the better local winter fly fishing opportunities from whitefish on the Nooksack River to rainbow trout at Lone Lake and beyond.  Most of the opportunities are fairly close to home at primed for spending a few hours on the water during the warmer part of the day. The second part of the presentation will discuss planning, prepping and organizing during the off season.  Scott's ultimate goal is to be able to grab a bag and go for whatever fishing opportunity rears its head.  He'll walk you through some of his strategies for keeping 35 year's-worth of gear semi-orderly ready to fish as well as how to set yourself up for success throughout the spring, summer and fall seasons.