He has also been a FFI Certified Casting instructor since 2009. Mike has been involved in the outdoors since he was a kid with his dad, and his first bream was on a fiberglass fly rod on Cross Lake made by his dad.
He rediscovered fly fishing with a passion, again with his dad, in 1992, which has been a borderline obsession ever since! Mike caught his first trout on a Tellico nymph pattern his dad taught him to tie. He has taken on the challenge of Tying Chairman of the FFI Texas Council in hopes of promoting fly tying across the state and advancing the new programs of the FFI. He has served as FFI President, on the board of his local club, East Texas Fly Fishers, and as Regional Director of the FFI Southern Council, and the Texas Council. He is also a member of the FFI Fly Tying Group. He and other tyers started a new group to have regional tying events in a four-state area. The ArkLaTexOma Fly Tyers, organized a little over a year ago, has monthly tying events on the second Saturday of every month at Bass Pro in Bossier City and has sponsored five fly tying/fishing events in three states with at least three more coming soon! Membership and input are welcome from everyone: check them out at ArkLaTexOma Fly Tyers on Facebook or their webpage for more information. If you have any ideas for improving tying events, contact Mike at: 903.353.3357 or [email protected].
The fly tying process is the simple process of binding various materials to a hook with thread.
The art of tying is about producing flies in a way that most closely mimics natural prey.