Instructor Bios

Sandy Moret 

Eight times Sandy has been Grand Champion of the Keys' most prestigious fly fishing tournaments, including The Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament and The Islamorada Invitational Bonefish Fly Championship. He has been a regular guest on the Walker's Cay Chronicles with Flip Pallot, The Reel Guys and Andy Mill's Sportsman's Adventures. Sandy’s passion for fly fishing has taken him around the world searching for new angling experiences. He has fished and explored extensively throughout the Bahamas, Central America, the Seychelles, Christmas Island, Palau and also helped pioneer Russian Atlantic Salmon fishing on the Kola Peninsula.

Always a guardian of Florida Keys and Everglades National Park resources and conservation issues, Sandy has served both elected and appointed positions for the Everglades Restoration Act and currently serves on the advisory board of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

Sandy is a past Chairman of the Don Hawley Foundation which provides assistance to Florida Keys fishing guides during times of hardship.

Steve Rajeff 

Steve has dominated competitive casting for 3 decades with 34 national titles and 14 world championships to his credit. His national record with a two handed rod is an astounding 290 feet and he is without question the finest competitive caster in fly fishing history.

For several years Steve guided anglers in Alaska and Montana before joining the G. Loomis Rod Company where he is currently Director of Product Development. In 1988 he became one of the first anglers to ever fly fish the legendary Kola Peninsula for Atlantic salmon.

In addition to being a world class caster, Steve is an excellent instructor and brings a wealth of knowledge to our school.

Steve Huff 

Steve was raised in Miami and as a teen equipped his bicycle with rod racks and nurtured his passion for his snook by peddling from bridge to bridge to follow the tides.

After finishing the University of Miami with a degree in Marine Biology he began guiding in the Florida Keys. Forty years later, he’s still following his passion. Steve continues to guide from Everglades City to west of Key West and is considered South Florida's most highly respected flats fishing guide. He is a powerful and graceful caster, a superb teacher and has guided anglers to more world records and major tournament wins combined than any other skiff guide in fly fishing history.

Steve has always been on the leading edge of innovation, developing the many of the modern flies and techniques that are the standard for permit fishing today. He is a past commodore of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association.

Chico Fernandez 

Chico lives in Miami where he writes, photographs and fishes. He is a meticulous fly caster and the creator of innovative flies such as the "Bend Back", "Bonefish Special" and the "Snapping Shrimp."

A master angler, Chico holds seven world records and consults for Scott Fly Rods Company and Scientific Anglers. His latest book, "Fly Fishing for Bonefish" has become the most highly developed and respected reference on the subject. He has been well published in "Florida Sportsman," "Field & Stream," "Fly Fishing in Salt Waters" and many other fly fishing publications.

Chico is featured in his videos on fly casting and knot tying and is a true pioneer of saltwater fly fishing with global experience and a genuine spirit for instruction.

Craig Brewer 

Craig is a second generation Keys guide who has fly fished all of his life. He began guiding in 1987 and has since been Guide to the Grand Champion of The Islamorada All Tackle Bonefish Tournament twice, as well as guiding the winners of The Islamorada Invitational Bonefish Fly Championship and the Redbone Superfly.

Craig guided angler Eddie Miller to a whopping 15 lbs, 4 oz, fly rod world record bonefish on 8 kg tippet. He also guided General Norman Schwarzkopf to his first bonefish on fly and has served as Commodore of The Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association.

Craig is a superb caster and a talented instructor.

Tim Klein 

Tim has guided Grand Champion's to over a dozen of the Keys most coveted tournament titles including The Women's World Tarpon Fly Tournament, The Don Hawley Tarpon Tournament, The Keys Spring and Fall Bonefish Fly Championships and the Redbone series from Key West to Key Biscayne.

His anglers have also claimed several fly rod world records in Islamorada including Carl Navarre's 15lb, 1oz bonefish, Phyllis Burchell's 25lb, 14oz permit and Diana Rudolph's 10lb, 12oz bonefish on 3 kg tippet.

Tim is extremely patient and an inspiring captain and instructor.

Rob Fordyce 

After attending the University of Tennessee on a baseball scholarship Rob began a full time guiding career and has become one of the sports premiere flats and offshore fishing guides. Multiple times Rob has been guide to grand champion to many of the Keys most coveted fly fishing tournaments including the Don Hawley and Gold Cup Tarpon Tournaments.

His book "Tarpon on the Fly" co-authored with Donald Larmouth, is the best reference ever done on the subject of tarpon fishing with a fly rod. Rob has frequently appeared as a guest angler on the "Walker's Cay Chronicles" and has also hosted a TV show, "The Search for Records".

He has explored extensively for peacock bass in the Amazon and the reef fisheries of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Diana Rudolph 

Diana's first encounter with a tarpon left her "trembling with excitement." After receiving a B.A. in Biology and attending graduate school, she returned to her passion of fly fishing and dominated women's bonefish and tarpon fly fishing tournaments in the Keys for a decade.

In 2004 Diana became the only woman to ever win the prestigious 30 year old Don Hawley Invitational Tarpon Tournament. She currently holds seven I.G.F.A. fly division records including the largest tarpon ever caught on flyrod by a woman. She is a contributing writer for Fly Fishing in Saltwater magazine and on the advisory staff for Sage rods and Rio Products.

Diana is a member of the Board of Directors for the Federation of Fly Fishers and splits time between the flats of the Keys and the rivers and streams of Montana.

Jerry Siem 

Jerry began working at Will Godfrey's original fly shop on the Henry's Fork and developed a real talent for building rods. His first salt water experience came in the mid '70's while tarpon fishing with a hefty fiberglass rod aboard Captain Ralph Delph's Vitamin Sea.

The lure of salt water soon led Jerry to Belize, Baja, the Bahamas, Christmas Island and up and down the east and west coasts of the US. In the Keys he once caught a permit and bonefish on modern graphite rods and completed the grand slam with a 90 pound tarpon caught on a cane rod which he had designed specifically for the task!

He was the on site casting consultant for Tom Skerritt, Brad Pitt and Craig Scheffer in the movie "A River Runs Through It." Jerry is one of the finest fly casters on the planet and lives in Washington State where he is the resident rod designer for Sage.

Raz Reid 

Raz was born and raised in Greenville, SC and attended the University of Miami, where he was a 2 time All American in tennis. He was ranked 5 times in the Top 20 in the US and played World Team Tennis for the Boston Lobsters. It was here that he met his Australian wife, Kerry (who was a Wimbledon winner)....they were both on the same team..and they now reside in Hilton Head SC.

It was in Australia that he was introduced to fly fishing and he has held World Records on fly rod for mutton snapper, permit and currently holds World Records on fly for Bluefin Tuna, Golden Dorado and Dolly Varden. In 1989 and 1998 he was winner of the prestigious Islamorada Spring Bonefish Invitational and has been Runner-Up five times. He also was runner-up to Billy Pate in the 1989 Gold Cup and has been successful in landing a 160lb tarpon on fly. Raz is now the Sales Rep for Sage, Redington and Rio, Tibor Reels, Simms, Umpqua, Smith Optics and many other fly fishing products.

Ted Juracsik 

In 1970, Ted Juracsik met Billy Pate on a trip to the Florida Keys. The two became fishing buddies and Pate shared with Ted the problems inherent in the saltwater reels of the time — corrosion, the uneven action of early drag systems, and simply being overmatched by the power and "reel smoking" runs of larger saltwater prey. Back at his shop, Juracsik applied his tool and die making skills to these challenges. After testing several prototypes, the Billy Pate Fly Reel was introduced and instantly established new standards of quality, design, and durability for saltwater fly reels. The design has proven so sound, that nothing has changed since its inception. Suddenly, the nearly impossible task of landing world-class saltwater fish was not only possible, but pleasurable. Still revered by many as the toughest and most dependable on the market, Billy Pate Reels are manufactured exclusively by the Tibor Reel Corporation to this day.

In 1979, Juracsik moved his manufacturing operations to South Florida, where he also maintains a smaller machine shop devoted to research and development. Tibor reels are made "by fishermen for fishermen," and the Juracsik family is proud their products are 100% "Made in the USA." With the exception of the ball bearings, every part of every reel is precision machined and hand assembled in their Delray Beach facility. Ted's belief in design based on simplicity and functionality goes back to his days as a young apprentice. "The old masters always told me the most beautiful machines have the least moving parts," he says. At the recent International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Inaugural World Record Achievement Awards, Tibor Reel Corporation received First Place honors for the most world records set on their fly reels in 2009 - more than any other fly fishing reel in history. IGFA Hall of Fame fisherman, Lefty Kreh describes Tibor Reels as "the finest saltwater reels I have ever used." They are the prized possession of every fisherman who owns one. Each is capable of delivering a lifetime of virtually maintenance-free fishing enjoyment for which Tibor Reels are famous.