Historical Perspectives of the IAFFV

The concept of providing veterinary continuing education at fly fishing destinations was spawned in the mid 1990's while I was working as coordinator of CVM Outreach (Continuing Education and Alumni) programs at Michigan State University. Being an avid fly angler, I just thought it was a great thing to do: Continuing Education at Fly Fishing Destinations. So when I retired from the college in 1997, pieces started to fall together by calling veterinarians who fly fished and asked them to call a colleague who fly fished, and the chain was continued. By early 1998, those veterinarians became the nucleus of membership and thus the IAFFV was born. Dr. Bob Frey, from Bozeman, Montana, offered his help to get the association started by serving as treasurer and also became the first newsletter editor. With a great deal of work, expertise and perseverance from Dr. Frey, all necessary documents were assembled and submitted for approval. In December 1998, the IAFFV was incorporated as an IRS 501 C3 non-profit education association based in Bozeman. We have since moved the headquarters to Tucson, Arizona. The goal was to offer 4 to 5 trips each year and we have stayed on target with an average of 4.5 programs per year from 1999 through 2009.

Fishing the flats off Ambergris Caye, Belize this past February was the 44th program hosted by the IAFFV. Only 9 of the 47 programs offered through January 2010 have been cancelled for a variety of reasons: a short time-line in planning, been there done that, 911 or who knows? We will do anything to keep from canceling a program but when members don't sign up, there is not much else to do. However, we have made good progress, learned a lot along the way, enjoyed some great fly fishing destinations and met many new friends. Membership is the lifeblood of this group and we have a reasonably high renewal rate! Those who attend once usually sign up again.

The following list of programs will provide an idea of diversity regarding both fresh and salt water destinations. The majority of these destinations have been for trout, but fly fishing in the salt has become more popular in recent years. Now there are many locations that have outstanding guides for fly anglers. From personal experience, I can assure you that hooking and landing a Tarpon will without doubt put a fly angler's heart rate over the tachycardia level. Places we have been:

1999
March/April - Spring Creeks, Paradise Valley, Montana
August - Upper Slough Creek, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
October - Colorado River, Marble Canyon, Arizona

2000
January - Ambergris Caye, Belize
April - Spring Creeks, Paradise Valley, Montana
August - Upper Slough Creek, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
October - Colorado River, Marble Canyon, Arizona

2001
February - Ambergris Caye, Belize
March - Spring Creeks, Paradise Valley, Montana
July - Cape Cod, Massachusetts
August - Christmas Island, Pacific Ocean
October - Atlantic Salmon, Grand Lake Stream, Maine

2002
April - Spring Creeks, Paradise Valley, Montana
July - Slough Creek, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
August: Silver Salmon, Crooked Creek, Alaska
October - Big Horn River, Ft. Smith, Montana

2003
January - Christmas Island, Pacific Ocean
April - Spring Creeks, Paradise Valley, Montana
September - Silver Salmon Creek, Coastal Lake National Park, Alaska
November - Harker’s Island, North Carolina
November - Colorado River at Lees Ferry, Marble Canyon, Arizona

2004
January - Punta Gorda, Belize
May - Fishing and Rafting the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona
August - Silver Salmon Creek, Coastal Lake National Park, Alaska
October - Kingfisher Lodge, Bighorn River, Ft. Smith, Montana

2005
March - Patagonia Region, Esquel, Argentina
August - Silver Salmon Creek, Coastal Lake National Park, Alaska
September - North Bow Lodge, Bow River, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

2006
April - Big Horn River, Ft. Smith, Montana
May - Fishing and Rafting the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona
August - Silver Salmon Creek, Coastal Lake National Park, Alaska
September - Cheeca Lodge and Spa, Islamorada, Florida Keys

2007
April - Steelhead, Wellston, Michigan
July - Northern Pike and Grayling, Manitoba, Canada (cancelled)
August - Silver Salmon, Coastal Lake National Park, Alaska
December - Dry fly fishing for big trout, Somercotes Estate, Tasmania (cancelled)

2008
January - El Pescador Lodge, Belize
April - Kingfisher Lodge, Bighorn River, Montana
August - Nushagak River Camp, Dillingham, Alaska
September - Snake River, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

2009
Jan/Feb - Patagonia, Argentina
April, Welston, MI (cancelled)
August - Nushagak River Camp, Dillingham, Alaska
September - Colorado River at Marble Canyon, Arizona
September, Florida Keys

2010
January - El Pescador Lodge, Belize

Programs are approved by RACE (Registry of Approved Continuing Education), a division of the American Association of Veterinary State Boards. This qualifies attending veterinarians for continuing education credits, a requirement for renewing a veterinary license in most of the American states. Continuing education topics have varied but most programs have been small animal oriented. We have about 5% of our membership as non-veterinarians with the latest chap coming to the Grand Canyon all the way from New Zealand. In all cases, speakers have done an outstanding job, sometimes with little or no audiovisual support. We have taken steps to improve that situation providing quality equipment even at somewhat isolated destinations but drawing charts in the sand such as in the Grand Canyon might be the best available. Fly fishing destinations have for the most part been very good in providing excellent lodging, great food and outstanding fly fishing guides. Listed below are speakers who have given their time as faculty for these programs:

FUTURE PROGRAM PLANNING- Most of the IAFFV members are small animal veterinarians. When equine veterinarians found out about the IAFFV, they asked why fly fishing veterinarians were mostly small animal practitioners and why couldn't we offer something in their specialty? So we added Dr. Rich Forfa, an equine veterinarian from Maryland to the board to help with this process. However, that doesn't mean small animal veterinarians cannot sign up just like we have large animal and mixed practice veterinarians attending programs that are small animal oriented. Being well informed about the veterinary profession is a good thing. Organizers for IAFFV programs come from the membership. A detailed set of organizer policy guidelines is available with two initial requirements. One is that the organizer has been to the destination and the other is that the organizer has attended at least one of the IAFFV programs.

MEMBERSHIP: Yearly membership is $35, 3 years cost $89 and we have married couples membership for both categories. Finding veterinarians who either fly fish or are just starting is not easy. Virtually all of the IAFFV programs have certified fly fishing guides and some of the destinations provide an ideal environment for beginners. For other places, being an intermediate or advanced fly angler will be very helpful for angling success. We have a web site which has been recently renovated, www.iaffv.org that lists information about future programs, lots of pictures, reports of past meetings, special articles, and forms for registration and membership. Program announcements and details are included in the IAFFV newsletter, FLY LINES.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2010 - 2012

Tight Lines,

Don Sawyer
March 2010