Making Strides with the 2026 IGFA Youth Fly Fishers Program
IGFA Education Director, Lisa Morse, and IGFA Online Education Specialist, Alexis D’Azevedo, recently returned from Wyoming, U.S., after a week-long excursion progressing the Youth Fly Fishers program to new levels. What started as a program that donated fly rods and equipment to various partners through support from Greys and IGFA Trustee and Hall of Famer Andy Mill back in 2022 has now grown into a Passports to Fly Fishing program complete with fly fishing education and equipment, as well as valuable partnerships with other like-minded organizations to educate, equip, and engage youth in the sport of fly fishing.
For the first stop in Wyoming, IGFA Education staff traveled to Jackson Hole to support a 2-day fly fishing program alongside the Jackson Hole Fly Fishing School (JHFFS). First introduced to the IGFA by IGFA Chairman Roy Cronacher, JHFFS has been hosting free fly fishing seminars during the summer over the last few years using their donation of Greys fly rods. But with interest growing in their multi-day programs, the IGFA and JHFFS worked together in 2026 to provide a scholarship-based 2-day Trout School for 10 local youth from Teton Youth & Family Services. Even though every youth was an avid angler with spinning gear and had caught a fish before, they had never caught one with a fly rod. However, that changed in just two days when everyone caught their first fish on fly!
What was even more impressive, the educational content and strategic delivery the guides at JHFFS provided throughout the two days was extremely impactful and lifechanging for these youth. Beginning at their schoolhouse, the program progressed from a conversation about fish identification, conservation concerns facing native trout species, entomology and knowing what flies to choose, and setting up fly rods to then fly casting and hook setting practice. The day ended with a walk down to the Snake River to learn where to find fish and where to cast.
The concepts and new knowledge of what to cast, how to cast, and where to cast were then put to the test on the second day for the drift boat trip down the Snake River. Two to three youth joined a JHFFS guide on each boat to float down the river, taking turns casting a line. By day's end, 100% of the group had landed a fish, with the native Snake River cutthroat trout marking their very first catch on a fly rod!
Not only did each participant catch their first fish, but the confidence in various fly fishing skills also grew 147%! According to their pre- and post-surveys, skills that grew the most were setting up a fly rod (270% growth!), fly fishing on their own (196%), and casting a fly rod (180%). Confidence in understanding ethical angling, tying a fishing knot, and understanding where to fish showed significant improvement, with 142%, 94%, and 89% growth, respectively. The IGFA would like to thank the guides at Jackson Hole Fly Fishing School for their tremendous efforts in educating, engaging, and truly connecting with these youth, and as one participant put it, “I loved it all, from learning about the creatures to learning to cast and catch properly, to boating and fishing all day. It is simple and fun and got me back into fishing.”
Another participant confessed, “I always wanted to learn to fly fish, but my dad never let me use his fly rod.” In addition to providing scholarships for these youth to participate in the 2-day Trout School with JHFFS, the IGFA equipped Teton Youth & Family Services with a donation of Greys Cruise fly rods to keep at their facility for youth to “check out” and continue fly fishing throughout the rest of the summer. The mission of this scholarship-based program was to go beyond the two day educational experience and provide the basic equipment needed for them to keep going, learning, and engaging with the sport.
After the program with Jackson Hole Fly Fishing School, the IGFA traveled over to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. There, IGFA staff met with Johann du Preez, Executive Director of Indifly, and the Trout Unlimited Costa 5 Rivers students for another Youth Summit on the Wind River Reservation to continue guiding indigenous communities towards sustainable futures through fly fishing ecotourism. The IGFA, Indifly, and Trout Unlimited worked with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribal Fish and Game to host a Passports to Fishing event at Ray Lake with TU Costa 5 Rivers students leading the educational stations teaching youth about gear, flies, knot tying, ethical angling, casting and safety.
The next day, the annual community fly fishing day was held at the St. Lawrence Basin where tribal youth were taught more fly fishing fundamentals through the Passports to Fly Fishing toolkit and then were paired with a TU student who helped them cast, catch-and-release trout, and teach them the ethics of sustainable fishing. It was an amazing community day. Many trout were caught and most were first catches with a fly rod. As the day progressed, smiles grew larger as connections were made with the sport, the people, the fish, and the water. Indifly summed it up nicely in their recent newsletter, “It is always powerful to see young people gain confidence on the water while learning that these resources are not only theirs to enjoy, but also theirs to protect.”
IGFA staff brought back to their Headquarters in Florida their own valuable connections from their trip to Wyoming. It is imperative to work with like-minded organizations on these educational programs and opportunities to ensure the program has a lasting impact on the youth they reach and on the game fish and their habitats that reside in each of their respective communities. In order to maintain the sustainability of game fish and their habitats, we need these next generations to understand that those resources are theirs to not only enjoy, but yes, also to protect for the future. The IGFA will continue this work developing vital partnerships and hosting impactful programs using fly fishing as a tool to teach new generations of ethical and conservation-minded anglers.
The IGFA is excited to put the final touches on the Passports to Fly Fishing program and send it around the world so more youth can learn this beloved sport, especially those in communities who may not have access to such equipment and educational materials. Please stay tuned for more updates from all our partners in fly fishing education and if you are interested in working with the IGFA, please contact Lisa Morse, Director of Education, at [email protected].
Thank You for Your Continued Support!
To all our supporters, we cannot thank you enough. To all grant funders, donors, and Corporate Partners and Sponsors who support all our IGFA Education Initiatives, we thank you as well for allowing youth to have these opportunities to experience the joys of fishing and to build a passion for venturing outside, where they create memories and lifelong bonds to the sport and to our beloved game fish. This is what creating the next generation of ethical anglers looks like and the village it takes to make it happen.
Thank you for supporting the Passports to Fly Fishing program. If you would like to get involved or donate to the Youth Fly Fishers program, please donate here.