Fly Tying

The Classic will showcase some of the top fly tiers across the Gulf Coast region as well as nationally-recognized tiers from across the country.  You can sit and watch from dozens of experienced tiers with a wide variety of patterns used for everything from coldwater mountain trout to bluewater species.

Here is the list of committed tiers, with their bios (to be updated routinely):

Featured Fly Tiers

Fred Hannie, Sr. 

Fred is from Lake Charles, LA, and owns and operates a dental laboratory, creating dental prosthetics that mimic human anatomy. The hand to eye coordination required to create believable prosthetics has been useful when applied to his favorite passions: fly tying and artwork. Fred ties imitative flies that closely resemble their living counterparts. He has won numerous fly tying contests and many “Fly Tier of the Year” awards. Fred’s flies have also caught the eye of Hollywood, where his creations have been used as props on television and film sets. Fred is a life member of the Fly Fishers International and currently serves as Vice President of the Gulf Coast Council and Fly Tying Director. Along with writing magazine articles, Fred has just published his second book on fly tying—Uncommon Flies (2021). This book follows his first publication, Fly Tying with Monofilament (2015).

Jerry Coviello

An accomplished fly tier, and a FFI Buz Buszek Fly Tying Memorial Award Recipient, Jerry is pasted Fly Fishers International Fly Tying Group Chairperson, He is a columnist for Fly Tyer Magazine and recognized by Fly Tyer Magazine as a Master Fly Tying Instructor. He serves as the President and newsletter editor for Delaware Valley Fly Fishers. He creates fly tying learning documents for the FFI Learning Center and develops Fly Tying Workshops for members to learn how to tie flies. He has a YouTube Channel “Jerry’s Fly Tying Tips” that has over 100 fly tying videos to teach how to tie flies.

Ron Foreman

Ron is a member and current Treasurer of the Contraband Fly Casters in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He is a member and supporter of the FFI, and a member of their Fly Tying Group. Ron has also served on the Gulf Coast Council as a former Treasurer and Fly Tying Chair. He is also a member of the Gulf Coast Fly Tyers. Ron has been involved in fly fishing since his high school days. He grew up fishing small streams and creeks in Louisiana. He is an avid bass fisherman having fished numerous lakes throughout the midsouth. After moving to the Lake Charles area, he began saltwater fishing. His passion now is fly fishing for reds, specks, and flounder. Also, Ron takes trips to cold water fisheries to try for rainbow and brown trout. He is a Sowbug tyer, and has tied at other fly fishing shows throughout the south. Ron enjoys tying flies and teaching a newcomer to tie. Ron is always looking for ways to promote fly fishing, fly tying, his local club, the GCC, and FFI.

Flip Siragusa

As a youngster in the 1960's, I fly fished in ponds along the Mississippi River. My Dad had an old Wright and McGill fiberglass rod that was about as limber as a wet noodle. We'd take wine bottle corks, chicken and quail feathers, sewing thread and model paints and make our own small popping bugs and catch 100's of small bream with the occasional keeper. I look back in amazement at the equipment I started with compared to what it is available today. During my 30 year career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I developed a renewed interest in the sport of fly fishing. I learned fairly quickly to tie my own flies and even make my own rods. I found it much more fulfilling to catch fish on something I made myself. As for me, I'm perfectly satisfied being in the marsh all day chasing redfish in skinny water, placing a well made fly in front of them and watching with exhilaration as a fish charges it.

Dustin Schouest

Dustin comes from a long line of mariners on the Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish coast: his grandfather a tugboat captain and his father a life long angler, shrimper, and short time charter captain. Dustin embraced the fly fishing hobby in the early 2010s, and it changed his entire perspective on life. Between tying flies for the favorite flats species of Louisiana, he has been published in The Drake, and may even appear in the May edition of Southern Culture on the Fly. He aims to always find beauty in nature, even in the darkest things, and tries to articulate it thru writings, photography, and the occasional painting.

Gary Phaebus

I’m a volunteer tyer for Project Healing Waters Pensacola, and an instructor at Fly Fishers of Northwest Florida. I have been a feature tyer at many regional shows including Biloxi, and Crystal River. I am representing both clubs listed above.

Ed Lash

I’m 65 and grew up in the Midwest. At that time, the natural progression for a fisherman was to become a fly fisherman as the pinnacle. Homer Circle, Ted Trueblood, etc were examples. I started tying deer hair flies for myself and my teachers when I was in 7th grade… so it’s been a while. Things are really different now. Materials are greatly advanced, both fur and feathers. No more waiting 6 weeks to get a partial order from Herters. The “new” flies are gorgeous, perform well, and seem to float indefinitely. Weirdly enough, I’m not convinced they catch fish better. I’ve tied flies in a lot of different places and meetings since retiring 9 years ago. So I guess I’mq ualified to tie in about any gathering that is deer hair or natural materials.

Patty Lueken

Patty lives in Mountain Home, AR, and is a founding member and chair of FFI Women Connect. She also serves on the FFI Board of Directors. In 2021, she headed up the FFI's first-ever "Virtual Expo" that allowed members and other fly anglers across the globe to share in fly tying, casting, education, conservation and other shared interests. That same year, she was awarded the prestigious "Fly Fisher of the Year" award by FFI for unusual devotion and outstanding contributions to the organization. Patty loves to fish and has fly fished across the country.

Tom Logan

Tom is a retired certified wildlife biologist from Tallahassee, Florida who specialized for more than 47 professional years in the research, recovery and management of threatened and endangered wildlife species. He enjoys tying classic trout patterns and fishing them for southern bream and bass in his home waters, as well as for trout in the Smoky Mountains, Sierras and other streams of the western United States. He also ties Atlantic salmon flies, but has a special interest in tying historic and modern soft-hackles and other wet patterns. Tom teaches fly tying classes in Tallahassee, has taught tying workshops at events of Fly Fishier International (FFI) and demonstrates fly tying at several FFI Council events each year. He also has presented programs on the Laws Pertaining to the Possession and Transportation of Natural Fly Tying Materials. The Southeast Council of the FFI awarded him as the “ 2004 Tyer of the Year” , and he received the “ Silver King Award” from the FFI in September 2013 and the “ Conservation Award” in 2015. He was presented the “ FFI Award of Distinction for Leadership & Service” by the FFI Board of Directors in 2021. Tom is a life member of the FFI and an FFI Certified Casting Instructor. He served as Chairman of the FFI Board of Directors from August 2016 to July 2020 and Chairman of the FFI Fly Tying Group Board of Governors. Tom currently serves as Board Chairman Emeritus, Senior Advisor for Conservation to the Board, Chairman of the Board Conservation Committee and Vice President of Conservation for the Florida Council of the FFI. Tom teaches fly casting and tying and writes articles on the Biology of Fly Selection.