Meet Our Leaders
Our club thrives because of the passion and dedication of our leaders, including the club officers and committee chairs below. Each of these roles is crucial in shaping the future of our club and enhancing the fly fishing experience for all members.
By volunteering for a committee, you gain insider access. It gives you a front row seat to all club activities and decisions.
We encourage you to step forward and contribute your skills. Sure, volunteering helps the club. But it also enriches your own experience, connects you deeper with the community, and expands your knowledge of the ins and outs of our activities.
Join us in leading and shaping the future of Olympic Fly Fishers. Here your knowledge, expertise, and efforts make a real difference!
President
Greg Sisson
I have been a member of OFF since 2015, and a board member since 2017. But I wasn’t introduced to fly fishing until 2003. In the two decades and countless waters that have passed since, it has become a passion. My brother-in-law gifted me a basic fly tying kit a few years back. This inspired me to dive even further into the sport, quickly becoming an ambitious fly tyer. It also sparked my interest in aquatic insects. The insight and knowledge I’ve gained as a result have made me a better fisher. It has also deepened my appreciation of the entire ecosystem. When I’m not fishing, I enjoy traveling, woodworking, and bird hunting dogs. As club president, I work hard to keep information flowing between our leadership and members. It’s very important to me that our members feel welcome and supported, regardless of their experience level. I like to say, “This is a club, not a clique."
Vice-President
Vince Portacci
Vince has been a member of OFF since 2020 and is currently our club’s vice-president. His duties include searching out guest speakers for our monthly meetings. He previously served as club secretary and kept the official record of our board meetings while also helping to maintain our member database. In his early years, Vince grew up fishing streams in Appalachia. There he learned blue lining, and still enjoys exploring off the beaten path. Today, his favorite genre of fly fishing is river fishing. He loves to Euro nymph and swing flies using two-handed rods (either for trout spey or steelhead). Vince uses a Hobie Passport 12 pedal kayak to cruise our local lakes, stripping streamers in the spring and fall. Destinations on the bucket list, near and far, include Belize, New Zealand, Pyramid Lake, Omak, and Valsassina in Italy. Vince’s favorite conservation projects include the Cedar River cleanup and moving Coho fry out of their hatchery ponds.
Treasurer
Dave Skaar
Dave has served as Treasurer of our club and foundation since 2023. He first picked up a fly rod in 2001, and a tying vice soon thereafter. Dave quickly discovered that catching a fish on a fly that you created and tied elevates the experience of fly fishing. His favorite outings include fishing the damsel hatch on Dry Falls in the spring, casting to aggressive coastal cutthroat trout with an orange spider on a local stream in the fall, and drifting the Klickitat in search of the elusive steelhead. Tying flies on his bench in the dead of winter, dreaming of warmer days on the water, balances out the year.
Communications Director
Ryan May
Ryan joined our club in 2022 after accepting the difference between the mechanics of fly fishing and the techniques required to actually catch fish. He’s grateful for the club and its supportive members who are endlessly willing to pass on their individual expertise to make him a better fisherman. “There’s no substitute for a club like this," he says. “Online videos and articles offer helpful tips. But they’re missing the camaraderie and mentorship that deepen the learning, enrich this experience, and connect us with the timeless kinship unique to fly fishing.” Since joining the club, Ryan has taken up fly tying, completing both our beginning and intermediate fly tying classes. He’s currently filling his fly box full of chironomids after a trip to Douglas Lake Ranch and seeing firsthand how successful you can be by matching the hatch. Ryan is also a member of our conservation committee, through which he became a Forest Steward for Picnic Point with the Snohomish County Healthy Forest Project in 2023. He welcomes anyone who’d like to join him for a scenic hike and some fly fishing along one of our local rivers, a quiet lake, or the shores of Puget Sound.
Secretary
Paul Goldberg
Paul has been a member of OFF since 2021, and currently serves as club secretary. He is responsible for keeping the official record of our board meetings. Paul is relatively new to fly fishing. His past experience has been predominantly flounder and mackerel fishing north of Boston (where he is from) and freshwater bass fishing in Northern Maine (yes, he used spinning rods!!). Today, he enjoys spending his time fly fishing and tying. He goes lake fishing with OFF and is eager to learn to fish rivers. His favorite fly fishing, however, is with his son who lives in Bend, Oregon. Paul’s fishing dreams are to fly fish for tarpon and bonefish in Florida, and for salmon in Alaska.
Conservation Chair
Ed Kellison
Ed became involved with OFF in 2014 when fly fishing and casting classes were offered in Edmonds at the Frances Anderson Center. With heavy foot traffic on the waterfront, Ed was glad to see the casting instructor wisely decided not to allow hooks on novice lines during practice. Shortly after, Ed began participating in the club’s fly tying classes. Ed has served as OFF’s vice president and, most recently, as our club president through 2022. He is currently our conservation committee chairman. In this role, Ed is working to further involve our club in programs that benefit local waters and conservation efforts in a direct, hands-on way. On stillwater lakes, Ed fishes from his pontoon boat. But he also enjoys walking and wading in streams. When not on the water fly fishing, Ed can be found on the golf course, camping, traveling with his family, and spoiling his five grandchildren.
Education Chair
John Wendt
John is one of our most senior club members, originally joining OFF in 2011. He is currently our education chairman and instructor for the club’s popular fly tying classes. This role tasks him with selecting the patterns for each session as well as assembling the individual kits of materials given to each student. He also recruits club members to volunteer their help and expertise each week within the classes themselves. John has served as OFF’s president and vice president. For nearly four years, he also helped plan and book guest speakers for our club meetings, organized the club’s annual Christmas party and auction, booked a caterer for our meetings, and purchased and stored the beverages in between. Chironomids are one of John’s favorites when fishing stillwater lakes with his pontoon boat or wade fishing rivers in Montana and Washington. Alongside several other OFF members, he also organizes an annual trip to the Douglas Lake Ranch in British Columbia. John’s favorite time to fish is when the bite is on!
Membership Chair
Bob Chaffee
Bob is our membership chairman. He has been associated with OFF on and off for 15 years and has seen many changes during that time. As membership chairman, Bob writes welcome letters, arranges for membership badges, and assembles the fly boxes gifted to each new member. Growing up in southern Montana, Bob fished a Herter's fiberglass fly rod. He also tied his own flies – some of which he sold to fly shops – and now enjoys helping new students learn to tie. A memorable highlight from his early years fishing was landing a 7-pound steelhead on the Stilly. Bob prefers rivers to stillwater lakes and says the Montana rivers spoiled him. These days, he fishes from his frameless pontoon boat, and on overnight outings by ‘roughing it’ in the nearest Holiday Inn (with free morning breakfasts). Compared to other clubs, Bob feels OFF is the most congenial and welcoming. He appreciates seeing our members help each other learn about fly fishing and get out on the water.
Outings Chair
Ray Spencer
I’ve been involved in planning family vacations, fishing, and hunting outings for 40 years, including Ontario, Montana, Idaho, Texas, British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington. In my late 20s, I helped plan a 200-mile fly-in canoe trip on the Albany River in Ontario with my fishing partners. Back in the 1970s, we did not have the Internet or the many other resources that we have today. Unfortunately, every aspect of that trip was poorly planned, which inspired me to take control of every adventure going forward. I’m now a very organized trip planner! My goal is to do the same on our OFF outings. In the mid-1980s, I began fishing for salmon and halibut. The boats kept getting bigger, the durations longer, and the distances further from home. In sections, I circumnavigated Vancouver Island, cruising and fishing. Just before covid, I sold my 30-footer and gave up on saltwater fishing. Since then, I’ve had three inflatable rafts and finally settled on my wooden pram. As an artist and woodworker, the wooden pram fits my lifestyle. My first fly rod was a fiberglass Fenwick 7-foot, 7-weight with a Pfluger Medalist reel. I used the mono off of my spinning reels for leaders and thought the fish would strike any floating fly I sent their way. In 1983, I moved from Ohio and my first Washington fishing experience was casting ghost shrimp for steelhead on the Methow River – usually catching my daily limit of two every day. Needless to say, what I’ve learned being involved with Olympic Fly Fishers has significantly educated me as a fly fisher!