CICP testing in Lake Charles a success

The FFI Gulf Coast Council hosted a Casting Instructor Certification Program (CICP) testing event this past weekend in Lake Charles.  With good weather, strong participation, and help of several very excellent instructors, the event was a great success!

We had five Master certified instructors at the event. An EDP workshop was given and we all learned a lot about the new MCI exam. For anyone working towards becoming an Master Certified Instructor (MCI) learning the new test will take time. If anyone has questions about the test I will help however I can.

We had two basic CCI candidates achieve certifications, Jim Richards from Texas and Chiaki Seto from Japan.

We had two current MCIs complete the peer performance confirmation requirements for EDP and the L2 EDP workshop. Those being Jim Schneider from Florida and Jeff Ferguson from Louisiana.

The Lake Charles venue is a great test site so make plans for next year. With enough candidate registration we can hopefully have it annually.
Jeff Ferguson, GCC Casting Co-Director

Posted in Casting | Comments Off on CICP testing in Lake Charles a success

Red Stick Day offers something for everyone

Saturday, March 2nd is the 27th annual “Red Stick Day” fly fishing festival, which this year returns to the LDWF Waddill Outdoors Education Center on 4141 North Flannery Road in Baton Rouge. Time is 8:30am to 3:30pm. Admission is free.

Hosted by the Red Stick Fly Fishers of Baton Rouge, an FFI-GCC affiliate club, Red Stick Day is the largest and longest-running event of its kind in Louisiana. Historically, this event has featured some of the biggest names in fly fishing such as Gary Borger, Jason Borger, Ed Jaworoski, Chrystal Murray, Nick Curcione and others. In recent years, it’s featured several rising experts in our sport, such as Zach Matthews, Bill Laminack, Ed Lash and Ben Roussel.

Red Stick Day also routinely features some of the top fly tiers in the region – even the country – demonstrating their skills at the vise.

Continue reading

Posted in Events | Comments Off on Red Stick Day offers something for everyone

New name, new board, new media

A year and a half ago, the International Federation of Fly Fishers took a drastic step. They rebranded themselves as Fly Fishers International and adopted a new logo and a new motto (“Conservation. Education. Community”). While the core values of our organization remained unchanged, the move was done based on extensive research and fly angler surveys.

It was determined that many young fly anglers percieved the “FFF” as a somewhat closet entity. There was a need for more and better communication. It was also determined that a greater focus on education and conservation was needed.

In December of last year, a new board of directors for the Gulf Coast Council was elected. Tom Logan, FFI Chairman, spoke to the board about the new paradigm for the organization. The new board has accepted the challenge! Our first step was to create a new Facebook page that allows all committee members to post relevant news.

The GCC website is now updated as well with a cleaner, simpler, more organized look. But don’t judge a website by it’s cover… this new site will allow committee members to more easily post pertinent information on a timely basis. In addition, it’s now powered by WordPress.  With premium support from our host and the largest worldwide support group of any platform, that’s critical when operating with limited resources.

On the “community” front, we’re working on few ideas to better meet that new aspect of the updated FFI. Stay tuned for details!

Posted in General | Comments Off on New name, new board, new media