The South Sound Fly Fishers Club depends on the work of its members. Here are the current year’s Board of Directors.
I grew up fly fishing with my dad on the alpine lakes of Mt. Hood, Oregon and have been trying to improve ever since. I recently retired from the Army after 20 years in Special Operations Aviation and have found a lot of free time to work on my cast! The past 5 years I have been involved with a few veteran organizations which focus on getting service members out on the water and learning all styles of fishing. I enjoy the relaxation of drifting down a river, and I always have extra fly rods on my boat! Most of the time I find that veterans learning how to fish prefer to Fly Cast over other methods. I am a graduate of the Gallatin River Fly Fishing Guide School in Montana and love taking trips to catch and release on the Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Madison rivers.
Max is our Vice President for 2024. He has been a club member for a number of years and has also been the Education Chair at one time.
I began fly fishing about 20 years ago in Texas. For the first few years I fished with flies that were given to me. I decided to try tying my own after watching others tie. I learned a lot by trial and many errors, but I was fortunate to be able to learn from some master fly tyers in the north Texas area. I passed the Silver Tyer level of the International Federation of Fly-fishers (IFF) a few years ago and might start working on the gold level one of these days.
When I retired my wife and I moved to Olympia. We are enjoying getting to know the area and discovering new fishing spots. These days I spend as much time in front of my fly tying vise as I do fishing, but I hope to change that in this new year.
Secretary position is currently vacant.
As a “service brat,” college student, and member of the USAF, I did not live anywhere for long until I was 30 years old. In 1977, I moved to Richland, WA, to work as an engineer at the Hanford Site and stayed there for over 40 years. In the late 1980’s, I first found fly fishing and,a few years later, fly tying. I enjoyed wading into streams and rivers to catch-and-release trout in eastern WA, eastern OR, and western ID. I moved to western WA in 2022. During some of my time in Richland, I was a member of a fly fishing club and enjoyed the activities of the club, particularly the meeting speakers and the support activities related to children fishing and veterans. On this side of WA, I am looking forward to fishing new waters, including salt water. I also look forward to helping SSFF where I can.
Dalton is one of our new Board Members for 2024.
Randy has been a member of South Sound Fly Fishers since moving to Olympia in 2002. He enjoys teaching casting to beginners. He loves to see it come together when students competently cast and catch their first fish on a fly. If they built the rod and tied the fly it’s even more rewarding!
Dave took up fly fishing after retiring in 2022. He joined the South Sound Fly Fishers club in 2023, and currently serves as the club’s newsletter editor.
Vic Andrade moved from the Midwest to Washington in 2016 after retiring from a career in IT. He joined the SSFF after taking the Introduction to Fly Fishing Class in 2019. He uses his experience in maintaining his blog about his cross country bicycling adventures to maintain the club’s website and Facebook page.
I grew up in the Seattle area and fished as a youth for many years. As time moved on and I completed my working years, I retired in 2000 and discovered fly fishing. It wasn’t long before I became active with PSFF in 2001, a Life Member of the FFI in 2002 and BOD member of the WSCIFFF in 2003, and a BOD member for SSFF in committing to various officer responsibilities. I am presently the Government Affairs Chairman for the WSCIFFF. 13 years ago I became a Co-Director of The NW Youth Conservation & Fly Fishing Academy in Lacey, WA. Along with Jim Brosio, we assumed the responsibility of continuing the Academy, after the founder, Dick Nye retired. The Academy is for boys and girls 12-16 years old, conducted for one week, usually the last week of June. I have been proud to conduct the Youth Programs at the annual FFI National events. I am proud to have received the Lew Jewett Memorial Life Award from the FFI. The future of our FFI organization is in the future of our youth.
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can always build our youth for the future – FDR
Doug Dunster grew up in Montana and has been a Washingtonian since 1967. He is recently retired after a long career as an environmental consultant. He started fly fishing in the mid-1970’s while at Central Washington University where he got a MS in biology. His Masters thesis was a study of pesticide effects on Stoneflies in Northeastern Oregon streams. How can you study stoneflies and not fly fish? He cut his teeth flyfishing on the Yakima River and eastern Washington lakes, with trips to fish Montana rivers, the Deschutes and Grande Ronde in Oregon, and various locations in Alaska. He chased steelhead for many years and felt the thrill of the take and headshake from some big beauties. Most fly fishing these days is in lakes from a pontoon boat as an old back injury hinders how much he can fish standing up anymore.
Kevin describes himself as a “self-inflicted” fly fisher starting in the late 1970s in Colorado. His current focus is on quality – quality of the experience, camaraderie, and the fun of the day. On his recent trip to our Kennedy Creek he caught the little 6‑inchers with (very nearly) the same excitement as when he describes catching 20‑plus inch trout. It’s all wonderful.