Fly Tying Demonstrators
Earl Arnold
California, USA
Earl has been fishing since 1952 and teaching fly fishing since 1995. He serves as the VP of Education for the Southwest Council, fly fishing instructor for City of Ventura Recreation Department, fly fishing instructor for The Conejo Valley Adult Education and Ventura community college community enrichment programs.
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Lucy Avalos
Idaho, USA
I am nine years old. I took up fly tying about a year and a half ago after watching my grandfather Derek Darst tie and fly fishing approximately 1 year ago. I started out tying lots of woolly buggers and have moved on to larger streamers and I’ve even started stacking deer hair bass bugs. I recently started my own business called Jupiter flies tying fly earrings and I plan to start tying custom fly orders as well. I love fly fishing for everything but my favorites so far are bull trout, cutthroat and smallmouth. I’m hoping to catch many other species in the future though.
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Jim Borst
Washington, USA
Jim’s journey into fly tying began in his teens, but it wasn’t until retiring from a career in education as a teacher and administrator that he had the time to fully pursue his passion. Since then, he has refined his skills through regional and national tying events and workshops led by some of the world’s top fly tyers.
While Jim enjoys tying a variety of patterns, he has a particular interest in trout emerger patterns featuring paraloop, Klinkhåmer-style, and tilt-wing techniques. A lifelong learner, he continually explores the “what, why, and how” of fly tying, inspired by the philosophy of becoming a “Thinking Fly Tyer.”
Jim credits earning the Gold Level Skills Award from the Fly Tying Group (FTG) of Fly Fishers International (FFI) with helping him develop advanced skills in applying a wide range of materials and techniques. Coaching and demonstrating at events throughout Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have further strengthened his knowledge and teaching skills.
Today, Jim serves as secretary of the FTG Board of Governors, chairs the Membership and Marketing Committee, reviews videos for the fly-tying library, and supports the Fly Tying Instructor Program.
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Tim Costello
California, USA
Tim has been obsessed with the vise for more than four decades. He first learned the craft as a teenager under the guidance of a dedicated family friend, sparking a lifelong passion for fly tying. Tim has demonstrated his skills at several International Sportsmen’s Expositions (ISE) and welcomes the challenge of tying virtually any pattern that comes to the bench.
While he enjoys exploring a wide range of styles, Tim’s heart lies with the “buggier” patterns. He especially enjoys working with foam for its versatility and durability and appreciates the movement and lifelike appeal of soft hackles. His vise frequently features Isonychia nymphs, extended-body mayflies, soft hackles, and classic steelhead flies.
From technical dries to weighted attractors, Tim believes that if it’s a fly, he wants to tie it. He looks forward to sharing his techniques, experiences, and stories with fellow anglers and fly tyers at FlyFest.
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Aaron Culley
Washington, USA
Aaron Culley is a Washington state native and member of Fly Fishers International, FFI Fly Tying Group and a certified casting instructor (FFICI) (2004). Aaron has earned the gold level of fly-tying skills in the Fly Tying Group. Aaron has been fishing and hunting since an early age and became seriously addicted to fly fishing since last century. Aaron is an avid fly tyer and 25+ year member of the Northwest Atlantic Salmon Fly Guild, FFI Fly Tying Group. He is accomplished at tying Classic Atlantic Salmon full dress flies. Aaron ties nearly all the flies he uses fishing.
Aaron has served as President of the Overlake Fly Fishing Club and board member of the Washington State council of the Fly Fishers International, and now FFI, receiving the Washington Council’s Presidents award in 2009 and Washington State Council Fly Tyer Hall of Fame (2024). You can often find him demo tying at various fly fishing expos. He has taught entomology to youth groups at the state level and at fly fishing expo events at international expos. He provides casting lessons at local and regional events.
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Derick Darst was born and raised in St. Maries, Idaho where the St. Joe and St. Maries River meet. He started fly fishing about as soon as he could walk with his dad for cutthroat on the St. Joe River. He took up fly tying when he was about ten years old after getting some lessons from his uncle. He took some more lessons as a teenager from St. Joe River fly fishing legend Rodney Wolfe. He has been at the vise tying ever since. Derick started selling a few flies as a teenager to the local sporting goods store which turned into a business later on. He now operate St. Maris flies from his home with his wife, Michelle. He specializes in deer hair bass bugs, streamers, dyed deer belly hair and other tying materials found on their website saintmariesflies.com
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Bruce Delventhal
Florida, USA
Bruce grew up in the Catskill School of fly tying and then the Brodheads Henryville school. His mentors being Dr. David Rose and Ernie Schwiebert as we were all members of the Henryville Conservation Club. Bruce was then was influenced by Fran Betters when he lived in Lake Placid. He is currently a member of the Catskill Fly Tying Guild and FFI Fly Tying Group as well as a former board member of the Backcountry Fly Fishers of Naples, FL.
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David Dempsey
California, USA
David is a California native who began fly fishing at the age of 10 or 11, not that he knew what he was doing back then. He eventually figured out what he was doing and began teaching fly fishing and fly tying in the late 80's and was one of the earliest guides for the Redding Fly Shop. Outspoken and irreverent, he somehow managed to tone down his schtick enough to start the Mt Tamalpais Fly Fishers and was their founding president.
David has always "preferred" the dry fly and during his time as a guide, he realized many clients struggled with both presentation and pattern selection. This led to a series of small group workshops and creating a series of more comprehensive fly fishing classes at the College of Marin in the early 90's.
David was also a member of the Taucher Committee (since renamed)--an advisory group to the California Fish and Game Commission. He continues to teach and does some limited private on-stream lessons.
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Joel Evans
Colorado, USA
Joel has lived in Montrose Colorado for 46 years and fished all over Colorado. He combines fishing, guiding, writing, photography, and fly tying. He self-taught fly tying in the early 1980’s from a book with black and white drawings, long before color, photos, and videos.
Joel is a regular outdoor columnist with the Montrose Press and is the fly tying columnist for the High Country Angler magazine. He is an FFI fly tying Bronze Award recipient. He has taught hundreds of kids and adults the art of fly tying. He has been at various times a pro team member for Ross Reels, Dynaking, Whiting Farms, Scott Rods, Cortland, Scientific Anglers, Orvis, and Patagonia.
He is a 1983 charter member of Gunnison Gorge Anglers, chapter of Fly Fishers International and Trout Unlimited, serving on local, state, and national boards. He is a recipient of the Colorado Trout Unlimited Silver Trout Award.
Stream improvements to the Uncompahgre River have been a passion project for Joel. He has hiked through the depths of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, at the river canyon bottom - one of only a few to ever do this high-risk adventure.
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Jim Ferguson
Oregon, USA
Jim's love affair with fly tying has its roots in his youth. He was introduced to fly fishing when he was about 10 or 11 years old. His grandfather gave him a bamboo fly rod during the summer of my 14th year. A friend gave him a Thompson vise and after many observations of Audrey Joy tying in the sporting goods section of Meier & Frank Department store in Portland, OR, he started to tie his own flies. For the next 60+ years, he never had a time that he could say, "I don't have anything to do."
For the first 30 to 40 years, he was a self-taught fly tier. Over the years he started taking formal classes. Eventually he got introduced to tying Classic Atlantic Salmon patterns. Now, he teaches tying classes which include trout to Atlantic Salmon patterns. Jim collected as much fly tying materials as he could store during his tying career.
Jim's "fly tying affair" involves his commitment to help others recognize, support, and actively pursue the "art of fly tying." A passion that has led to Jim being the recipient of the FFI Dick Nelson Fly Tying Teaching Award, the Oregon Council's Fly Tyer of the Year Stan Walters Memorial Award, and the FFI Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award.
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Ron Fisher
California, USA
As a retired graphic designer, I’ve always had a passion for the visual arts and creative process. Combined with being an avid fly tyer, I have found my niche making hand crafted balsa wood poppers in unique shapes, colors and styles.
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Robert Fujimura
California, USA
California Heritage Trout Challenge introduced Robert to fly fishing in 2008, completed a second HTC certificate in 2009, and became a passionate fly fisher afterwards. He eventually travelled the West to earn other angler recognition certificates including the Wyoming Cutt Slam, Arizona Wild Trout Challenge, FFI Cuttcatch Award, and Western Native Trout Challenge. He is a long term Board Member of Delta Fly Fishers (Stockton, CA) and created its own Delta Fly Fishing Challenge that recognizes fly fishers who catch sport fish from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. He is also active volunteer with the Northern California Council Fly Fishers International and belong to three other local fly clubs.
He studied fishery and freshwater ecology at Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA. Later worked as a Senior Fishery Biologist for California Department of Fish and Wildlife and led projects on aquatic toxicology, sport fish and endangered fish annual abundance indices, and impact assessments of the State Water Project facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary and its major tributaries. Robert enjoys stillwater fishing with wife Jean and volunteers for local fly fishing and fly tying education events.
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Bud Heintz
California, USA
Bud Heintz of Modesto, California, has been a passionate fly tier and fly fisherman for more than 50 years. He was introduced to fly tying in 1973 and soon began acquiring tools and materials from Herter's before upgrading to a Thompson vise and sourcing premium materials from Buszek's Fly Shop in Visalia, California.
Although he never met Buz Buszek, Bud developed a close relationship with Buz's wife, Virginia, son-in-law Mick Powel, and the shop staff. His tying skills led to an invitation to tie flies for the shop and later custom flies for private ranches throughout the western United States. After four and a half years of commercial tying, he became a regular demonstration tier.
Bud has been a featured fly tyer for Fly Fishers International (FFI) for more than 40 years and has demonstrated at the International Sportsmen's Exposition and Fly Fishing Shows for over 35 and 30 years, respectively.
He has fly fished extensively throughout the western United States, particularly waters in California, Montana, and Oregon. In 2018, Bud received the prestigious Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award, an honor made especially meaningful by his long association with the Buszek family and the fly-tying community.
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Vern Jeremica
Washington, USA
Vern’s passion for fly fishing began in 1962 when he watched legendary caster Jim Green fishing for shad below Nimbus Dam on California’s American River. Inspired by Green’s remarkable casting, Vern soon bought his first fly rod with money earned mowing lawns, tied his first fly—a Woolly Worm—and caught his first trout.
Since joining California Fly Fisherman Unlimited in Sacramento in 1968, Vern has been an active member of fly-fishing clubs throughout California, Washington, and Oregon. He has supported FFF/FFI activities and fly-fishing expos for decades, served four terms on the Washington Council Board of Directors, and is a past president and secretary of the Northwest Atlantic Salmon Fly Tying Guild. He is also a recipient of the Washington State FFF/FFI Hall of Fame Fly Tying Award.
Vern enjoys tying everything from tiny midge patterns and deer-hair Bombers to classic Atlantic salmon flies and large minnow patterns for smallmouth bass. His demonstrations focus on selecting and sourcing materials, tying techniques, and how to fish each pattern. His goal is simple: to share knowledge that helps others become more successful and confident fly fishers and fly tiers.
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Tom H. Logan
Florida, USA
Tom H. Logan is a retired Certified Wildlife Biologist who specialized for 47+ years in research, recovery and management of T&E wildlife species. He teaches fly casting and tying and fishes classic fly patterns for bream and bass in his home waters and streams of the Smokies and western US. Tom specializes in writing and teaching the biology of fish prey selection and the predator/prey relationship to selection of fly patterns. He was awarded "Fly tyer of the Year" by the Southern Council in 2003 and the "Silver King" and "Conservation" awards by the FFI Board in 2013 and 2015, respectively. He was presented the Board "FFI Award of Distinction for Leadership and Service" in 2021, the “FFI Fly Fisher of the Year” in 2023 and is the 2025 recipient of the “FFI Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award”. Tom is a Life member of FFI, Chairman Emeritus of the FFI Board and it's Fly Tying Programs and Conservation Committees and currently serves as Vice President of the Florida Council of FFI.
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Patty Lueken
Arkansas, USA
Patty helped found FFI Women Connect in 2016. Initially, she worked behind the scenes producing educational classes, but then she stepped into a leadership role and produced goals and objectives for the women’s group. Patty now chairs the Women Connect Committee.
Patty wants to be a role model to other women who desire to have a leadership position in FFI, either on the local, council, or national level. She admits she is not the only female that can do this job, but the opportunity presented itself to her and she relishes the challenge.
Patty is also a leader of FFI’s annual Expo, helping bring hundreds of anglers together from all over the world to provide educational programming, raise money for FFI, and connect people in the world fly fishing. She also organizes the Thursday Night Vice Squad, an online tying program to help women learn to tie and improve their skills.
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Kuni Masuda
Washington, USA
Kuni has been tying flies and fly fishing for more than six decades, combining the precision and artistry of his Japanese heritage with innovative techniques inspired by both Japan and North America. Born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, Kuni has dedicated his life to advancing the art of fly tying through education, mentoring, and international outreach.
A long-time leader and volunteer with Fly Fishers International, Kuni is the recipient of the 2021 Fly Fishers International’s International Ambassador Award for his contributions to promoting fly fishing worldwide. He has also been honored with the 2019 Award of Excellence and the 2018 Certificate of Appreciation for Demonstrating Fly Tying Excellence from the Washington State Council of Fly Fishers International, as well as Fly Fisherman of the Year (2012) and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2018) from his local fly fishing club. His workshop introduces innovative Japanese fly-tying techniques while sharing the history, craftsmanship, and culture behind these unique patterns.
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Dick Nicklas
Washington, USA
Originally from Seattle, Washington, Dick was introduced to fly tying by a neighbor and his son, members of the Washington Fly Club. His first experience as a demonstration fly tyer came as a first-year Cub Scout at a large scouting craft fair in Seattle in the mid-1940s.
As a teenager, Dick continued tying flies and even earned spending money tying polar bear hair salmon trolling flies for a local hardware store—the only time he has tied commercially.
After college, Dick’s engineering career took him to Richland, Washington, where he joined a newly formed fly club and became a member of Fly Fishers International. Since then, he has demonstrated his tying skills at numerous conclaves and regional shows.
Dick ties a wide variety of patterns, from scuds to Atlantic salmon flies, often preparing patterns for his next fishing adventure. His travels have taken him in pursuit of tarpon in Mexico, permit in Belize, sheefish in Alaska, rainbow trout and Arctic char in Kamchatka, and barramundi and Saratoga in Australia.
Dick and his favorite fishing partner, Pam, will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in October—hopefully with rods, float tubes, and a clam shovel in tow.
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Al Ritt
Colorado, USA
Al took his first tying class in 1983 and has fly fished for trout, grayling, bass, pike, panfish, catfish, carp, steelhead, salmon, bonefish, permit, snook, tarpon, redfish and other species. He and wife Diana operate Al Ritt Flies promoting fly tying and organizing/hosting domestic/international fishing travel. Al is a presenter, instructor, member of TU, life member of FFI and life member of the FFI FTG. Al currently serves on the FTG BOG and has done committee work including development of the Fly Tying Skills Award Program and currently developing the Fly Tier Instructor Program. Al is the 2022 FFI Buz Buszek recipient, an FFI bronze, silver and gold fly Fly Tying Skills Award recipient, authored 25 Best Most Versatile Flies and articles for Fly Fusion, Fly Fishing and Tying Journal, Fly Tyer, Hatches, Flyfishing Journal and the FFI FTG newsletter, a fly designer for Montana Fly Company, a pro-team member for Daiichi Hooks and a brand ambassador for Dyna-King vises. He has appeared at fly fishing shows, expos and fly fishing clubs across the US and Canada.
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John Ryzanych
California, USA
John is widely recognized as one of fly fishing’s leading creative tiers, known for his innovative use of fur, feathers, and synthetic materials. His original patterns—including the Fat Head baitfish, Air Head topwater fly, and Softex Stone Fly—are used around the world for their unique functionality and realistic representation of the food sport fish eat.
John is the founder of ICON Products, which manufactures specialized fly-fishing products, including SOFTEX body-forming material, Fly Stages, Perfect Loops, and conservation-focused Catch & Release apparel and decals.
In addition to leading the development and operations of ICON Products, John regularly presents fly-tying demonstrations at domestic and international events and has contributed to numerous fly-fishing publications. His work and patterns have been featured in Fly Tyer, Fly Fisherman, The Drake, California Fly Fisher, and other publications and books.
John has served on the boards of the Northern California IFFF and Lake Merritt Institute and as an advisor to the California Department of Fish & Game. A longtime advocate for conservation, he has helped advance conservation legislation in California.
When time allows, John pursues his passion for fishing the salt waters of the world.
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Steve Schalla
California, USA
Steve has been involved in fly fishing for the past 30 years. Past President of the Southwest Council FFI and currently President of the Sespe Fly Fishers in Ventura California. He has a website known as "Fly Fishing the Sierra" for the past 25 years. It includes maps, hatch charts, and description of the fish throughout the entire Sierra. Steve also provide fishing maps through my online store and have been providing programs covering the Sierra Nevada to fly fishing clubs throughout California for the past 6 years. As a fly tier, he has over 200 step by step tutorials covering the primary fly patterns used in the Sierra. These tutorials are found on the "Fly Fishing the Sierra" website. Currently, Steve serves on the Board of Governors with the Fly Tying Group of FFI.
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Michael Taggert
Virginia, USA
Michael Taggert from Fredericksburg Virginia is a silver skills award tier. Given his geographic location on the fall line of the Rappahannock River, Michael has been able to embrace all fish all waters. His demonstration will include several flies from this waterway that runs from the Easternslope of the Shennandoah National Park to the Chesapeake Bay. Noted for his fly of the month the Grey Moose, the local favorite The Falmouth Jitterbug, Michael's talk will include fishing tactics along this waterway. The Rapidan and Rapahhanock rivers flow past the homes of Presidents and such historical figures as Pocahontas, "King" Carter, two signers of the Declaration of Independence. This diverse fishery produces saltwater species such as rock fish (stripers) and snook. The brackish water holds largemouth bass, sunfish, bowfin, and snakehead, further upriver are smallmouth and muskie. The mountains hold stocked rainbows and browns. The National Pak holds Native Brookies. Michael fishes for all. Part history lesson, part fishing technique and tying demo this is fun for all talk.
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Rick Weisberg
Arizona, USA
Rick has been tying flies for more than 50 years. In the mid-1990s, he was a guest tier at FFF conclaves while spending his summers away from teaching working at Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in West Yellowstone.
In 1987, Rick built his first fly-tying bench for himself. Soon, friends and a local Tucson fly shop wanted benches of their own. In 1997, he left his career as a band director to build Oasis Benches full time, supplying Bass Pro Shops, Orvis, Cabela’s, Feather Craft, and more than 200 fly shops nationwide. After producing tens of thousands of benches and accessories, Rick scaled back the business in 2005 to pursue rainwater harvesting in southern Arizona, helping people conserve the desert’s most precious resource: water. After 20 years in that field and a national award for his work, he is returning his focus to fly tying, education, and time on the water.
In 2021, Rick developed his own dubbing brush table and has continued exploring the art and versatility of dubbing brushes—from ostrich collars for small nymphs to tapered and mixed natural and synthetic brushes for streamers.
His philosophy: Keep learning. Keep evolving.
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Carl Wuebben
California, USA
I have been tying flies for over 50 years, teaching fly tying classes at Deep Creek Fly Fishers (DCFF) club in Riverside (Calif.), at Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga in California, at the 50th anniversary FFI Fly Fishing Fair in Oregon and at the Southwest Council Fly Fishing Fair in Bishop (Calif.) to adults and kids. I am a member of the Orange County Fly Fishers now and I am also a member of FFI and FFI Fly Tying Group. I like to tie smaller flies, nymphs and midges mostly but I also like tying large articulated streamers along with salt water flies.
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