Outreach

Conservation

It is an objective of the Austin Fly Fishers to practice and advocate conservation principles and  activities that enhance and support the fly fishing experience for all anglers who fish with the artificial fly. Keystone to this objective is the recognition that biologically sound conservation of our wetland and fishery resources is fundamental to our present and future angling experiences as fly fishers.

Casting for Recovery

Every year, the Austin Fly Fishers sponsor 2 participants in Casting for Recovery retreats held in Texas. The Texas CFR program began in April 2005 with a retreat at Joshua Creek Ranch in Boerne, Texas, about 20 miles northwest of San Antonio. A second retreat was added in 2009 to serve more women from North Texas. Since 2005, the Texas program of Casting for Recovery has held 18 retreats and served over 250 breast cancer survivors from all over the state.

SKIFF (Soldiers’ Kids Involved in Fishing Fun)

The SKIFF program created by Austin Fly Fishers provides fishing experiences to the children of military families. The program was started by former AFF board member Ron Cruse. Ron wanted to give the children of parents stationed at Ft. Hood a fun fishing experience and he worked with Fort Hood fishing guide Bob Maindelle to come up a fishing program designed for them. Ron and Bob’s proposal for the SKIFF program was quickly approved by the AFF Board and the club happily took up the challenge of raising the money to support it. Every year, about 100 children of military families get the opportunity to go fishing, free of charge, on Lake Belton with fishing guide Bob Maindelle. Though Ron is no longer with us, Bob continues his role as fishing guide (holdingthelineguideservice.com) for the program, and thanks to his efforts the program has been a great success. AFF board members Dave Hill and Manuel Pena oversee AFF’s involvement with the program and raise the funds that sustain it. Every dollar raised for this program is used to pay for fishing trips and nothing else.