San Diego Fly Fishers San Diego Fly Fishing Club Fly Fishing Club San Diego
Activities
Click on a link in our activities table below or scroll down to find an activity of interest.
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Monthly Meetings
The San Diego Fly Fishers meet on the first Tuesday of each month at the Southwestern Yacht Club in Point Loma (see map). Meetings start at 6:30 with a few announcements and then the evening’s speaker. Feel free show up around 5pm to meet with club member and to enjoy the SWYC's restaurant and bar.
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In addition to presentations by guides on "Blue Ribbon" trout waters, we have experts on fly fishing for other species, conservation efforts and fly fishing techniques. The meetings are open to the public. Click here to find out about the speaker at the next monthly meeting!
Free Fly Casting Lessons
Every Sunday SDFF offers a free flycasting clinic at Lake Murray. The clinic begins promptly at 9AM. Plan to arrive a little early so you won't miss the beginning of the clinic. You can use your own equipment or borrow club equipment from one of the certified instructors. SDFF is very proud that it is one of the few clubs in the country that offers this service free to the general public.
To get to the clinic, exit I-8 at Lake Murray Blvd and drive northest to Kiowa drive where you turn north. A little ways up Kiowa is the entrance to the Lake Murray road/parking system. Stay on the main road around the 1st little bay (see map) which will take you to the main parking lot. Find your way to the northerly side of the parking lot and locate the little covered patio area where the clinic meets.
Questions? Contact our fly casting clinic leader.
Fly Tying Congress
Club members who tie flies (or want to) meet by zoom once a week to help each other learn how to tie new patterns. Though we do not offer formal tying classes, anyone wishing to learn or improve their fly tying skills should contact our fly tying congress coordinator who will advise them on materials and preparation you would need for an upcoming session.
And .... if you tie your own flies .... check out our Fly of the Month Archive where you might find a new fly pattern you'd like to learn!
Outings
SDFF plans & organizes both long distance and local trips for our members. Club sponsored trips include single and multi-day trips. There are annual Montana and Baja trips. And many more. For more information, contact the club's events coordinator.
Monthly Newsletter
A member’s nominal annual dues includes a subscription to the club’s monthly newsletter, the Finny Facts. Finny Facts tells members about all of the upcoming events. It features articles from our president, regular reporters, and biology & conservation experts. In addition, the phone and address list of all members is annually distributed with the newsletter. The club welcomes articles from any of its members. (Contact our newsletter editor to submit articles). Members may elect to receive the Finny Facts over the Internet! If you are a member, contact the club's membership chairperson and ask to be signed up for the Internet version of Finny Facts. Archived issues of the monthly newsletter may be found online here. Only members are able to receive the latest few editions, but anyone may access older editions going back many years. Fly Tiers !!! Our monthly newsletter often has a 'Fly of the Month' article and many of these may be found on this website in the Fly of the Month Archive.
Conservation & Public Service
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Conservation & Public Service
The club’s conservation chairperson organizes interested club members for a variety of projects. Here is a sample of some of the club’s conservation activities.
The club is active in many hands-on conservation efforts in San Diego County and the Eastern Sierras:
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Restoration of local streams designated as potential steelhead recovery habitat, including the upper tributaries of the San Diego, San Luis Rey and Santa Margarita Rivers
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We work with the South Coast Steelhead Recovery Project team, assisting with visual and genetic surveys of local wild trout populations.
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SDFF has adopted an alpine meadow and headwater stream in the Golden Trout Wilderness. Our volunteers maintain the USFS cattle exclusion fence with twice yearly work trips. For this activity, SDFF has been awarded a
Certificate of Appreciation from the USDA -
Teaming with CDFW and the San Diego River Park Foundation we sponsor dozens of Trout in the Classroom projects each school year. We provide the classrooms with sterilized aquariums, filters and chillers and assist teachers in operating the system. Our volunteers also deliver the trout eggs, provide educational materials and assist with the fish release.
​SDFF donates funds to support:
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Various GoldenTrout Wilderness conservation projects
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The San Diego River Park Foundation headwaters restoration efforts and education programs
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Cast Hope
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The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), California
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The Hubbs Sea World Research Institute’s white seabass and halibut recovery projects
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The Living Coast Discovery Center’s native trout exhibit
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Trout in the Classroom
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The South Coast Steelhead Recovery Project., a joint project with Cal Trout, Trout Unlimited, CDFW and NFWS
Some of our past conservation efforts:
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SDFF established the wild trout display at the Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista CA and has provided continuing financial support, maintenance and upgrades.
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SDFF volunteers participated in a genetic survey of all of the known trout populations in San Diego County to locate the few remaining steelhead populations. We also performed monthly water quality monitoring to determine the best streams for potential steelhead recovery.
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SDFF volunteers assisted CDFW in restocking trout into our local headwaters after devastating wildfires.
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SDFF provided funding assistance to the San Diego River Park Foundations purchase of the historic Fisherman’s Camp property on Boulder Creek, near Descanso CA. Our members have volunteered hundreds of hours restoring the riparian habitat and educational venues on that beautiful headwater property.
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SDFF volunteers assisted USFS in the Forks of the Kern trail restoration after devastating wildfires in the Golden Trout Wilderness.
"The Wednesday Bay Fishers"
There is a group of dedicated fly fishers in the club that meet every week on Wednesdays to ply our local salt water bays in float tubes and kayaks…guess you could call them the “Salty Bunch”. They rotate around sites including Shelter Island, Glorietta Bay, Tidelands Park, Liberty Station, Pepper Park, Bayside Park, J St. Marina and Grand Caribe. The spotted bay bass is the usual catch but also halibut, mackerel, corvina, bonefish and barracuda fall for the salt water flies. They launch around 7 am and fish 3-4 hours depending on the bite and break for lunch and “fish stories”.
All SDFF members are welcome to join at any time. To get on the mailing list for each week’s location, tide information, weather conditions, and recent “hot” flies, send a message with your email address to Secretary@sandiegoflyfishers.com. SDFF members can follow pictures and reports of the group’s outings on the SDFF page on FaceBook.
Facebook Group
The SDFF Facebook Group is an active group of fly fishers. You can find it here. or you can find it by going to Facebook and searching for 'San Diego Fly Fishers'.
Project Healing Waters Program
SDFF is proud to be part of the national Project Healing Waters program in San Diego. This program serves the wounded members of our armed services. We teach them to fly fish.
Our program consists of a two session lecture course on fly tying and knots, then a fly casting clinic and finally a fly fishing outing. We also provide an 'Evening Fly Fishing Program' on the 1st Wednesday of each month that will explore the sport of fly fishing in depth and allow those interested in fly fishing to become more skilled and knowledgable.
Check our calendar for upcoming PHW activity dates, and for more information, or if you'd like to volunteer to help our course leader help our wounded warriors, contact our PHW program leader.
Rod Building Class
Throughout the years SDFF has sponsored Rod building classes. in most recent years at the San Carlos Rec Center.
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Stay tuned for the next scheduled class.
Annual Banquet, Fishing BBQ's
and Prize Drawings
SDFF holds many events to help raise money for the club and to enhance the social benefits of being a member. The Annual Banquet is a party for members at one of San Diego's fine dining venues. As of 2010, the club has added "Fishing/BBQ/Potluck" outings to local bays and shores both as a social attraction and to encourage members to enjoy and/or learn about marine fly fishing. SDFF holds prize drawings at its monthly meetings. In addition, we host our Annual Fundraiser at our March program meeting which includes a Raffle & Silent Auction where attendees may go home with high quality fishing gear or guided fly fishing trips. The proceeds from the Annual Fundraiser are the major basis for the club's ability to support its conservation goals and to fund its activities.