As it has for the past seven years, the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy will host 15 Bristol Bay area youth next month, aiming to give them skills and knowledge that could translate into a career as a sport fishing guide in their backyard.
Nearly a dozen graduates have found work at Bristol Bay fishing lodges or as independent guides, according to Tim Troll, director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust and co-founder of the academy. Eight of them are working today.
“But we are really aiming to do much more,” Troll said. “We want to open up doors to fish-based jobs for young people and keep more of Bristol Bay’s tourism revenue in local communities.”
The week-long course, offered free of charge to the selected students in the region, teaches fly fishing, fly tying, guiding basics, etiquette, conservation, fisheries management and more.
Read more about this terrific initiative in a story from the Alaska Dispatch News.
