Instructional Staff
The Kinzua Fly Fishing School is an instructional camp organized and taught by Carl Zandi, Steve Skvarka,
and guest instructor Joe Humphreys who all have years of fly tying, fly fishing, teaching, and coaching experience.
Carl Zandi
Carl has over 40 years of experience with fly tying and fly fishing, as well as 38 years of experience as a high school social studies teacher and coach. In 1988, Carl attended the Penn State University 30 hour Fly Fishing Workshop, and participated in an 8 hour seminar taught by Charles Meck and Greg Hoover. He co-teaches a one-credit physical education course at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in addition to organizing and teaching the Kinzua Fly Fishing School since 1994 with Steve Skvarka. He has spent thousands of hours fishing for trout in our local streams and rivers in Montana and Idaho.
Steve Skvarka
Steve has over 30 years of fly tying and fly fishing experience, as well as 32 years of experience as a physical education teacher and coach. Steve attended the Penn State University 30 hour Fly Fishing Workshop and participated in the seminar taught by Charles Meck and Greg Hoover. He co-teaches the one-credit physical education course at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in addition to organizing and teaching the Kinzua Fly Fishing School since 1994 with Carl Zandi. His background in physical education and the opportunity to teach fly casting under Joe Humphreys for the past 13 years allows Steve to contribute to the casting ablities of our students.
Joe Humphreys
Joe Humphreys caught the Pennsylvania state record brown trout (15 pounds) in 1978. He has taught fly tying and fly fishing for many years at the Penn State University and served as a private tutor for President Carter. He has authored a number of books and magazine articles and has created numerous video tapes on fly fishing techniques. Joe is a guest instructor in the 2-day and 3-day school. The star in “Live the Stream” the Joe Humphreys story, a documentary about Joe’s life and stream experiences. Joe not only has contributed greatly to our schools through the years but has become a dear friend as well.
Ward Baun
Ward Baun is an avid rod builder, fly tyer, and fly fisherman. Ward is a retired teacher and former football coach. He also is a former graduate of the Kinzua Fly Fishing School. Ward has a great interest in entomology and handles much of the on-stream entomology presentation. He enjoys sharing his expertise in our schools.
George Bay
George has taught fly tying and rod building for many years and is an avid fly fisherman in the Bradford area. George teaches and guides for our local fly shop. He is a retired social studies teacher and will be guiding students during the school. We feel fortunate to have George as a friend and vital contributor in our schools.
Ron Buchheit
Ron Buchheit is a professional teacher and avid fly tyer. Ron's interest in fly fishing includes trout and small mouth bass fishing. Ron teaches in our winter fly tying class. He is our deer hair expert and bass bug advisor.
Michael Carl
Michael is an avid fly fisherman and part time fly fishing guide from the great state of Connecticut. He brings a lot of trout and saltwater striped bass experience to our staff. Michael is a dedicated fly fishing guide and instructor and has been a great asset to our schools.
Tom Hughes
Tom Hughes has tied flies and fished for many years around Bradford. He has been a very active leader in our local Trout Unlimited group. A former guide at the local Orvis Lodge, he has held numerous positions promoting fly fishing in our area and across the state. He is a great addition to our staff, as a teacher and guide.
Doug Johnson
Doug Johnson is an avid fly fisherman and has attended many of our past schools. Doug also has been a graduate of a couple fly fishing guide schools in Montana. He is also a bamboo rod builder. He hails from the Jamestown, New York area.
Jeff Bosworth
Jeff was a graduate of our university fly fishing course and numerous fly tying classes through the years. Jeff is very patient and knowledgeable in many fly fishing tactics as well as a very proficient fly tyer. A day on the water with Jeff is a great experience for the novice or experienced angler.
Jim Talarico
Jim has attended nearly every one of schools in the past 30 years. Jim is our concierge for our schools. Not only an avid fly fisher and fly tyer but has become a great friend throughout the years. I believe Jim feels that his job is to make sure everyone of our attendees has a great time and experience. I also believe Jim works at making everyone he comes in contact with to have a great day. Jim is an awesome friend and contributes in many ways to our schools.
Kevin Halstead
Kevin lives in Duke Center, PA and has been fly fishing for many years. Kevin's patience and experience makes time on the water with him a great learning and fun experience
Kristy Lorenzo
Kristy is a middle school teacher and lives in Kane, PA. She instantly became an avid fly tyer as well as angler. Kristy attended attended the Montana Fishing Outfitters guide school and passed with flying colors. Kristy brings great knowledge, experience and enthusiasm and has been a great addition to our staff.
Paolo Iannarelli
Paolo hails from Cleveland, Ohio and has attended a number of our schools in the past. He has grown into an avid and experienced angler. His knowledge and experience adds for a great learning experience with any time spent with Paolo on stream.
Phil Verketta
Phil has taught fly fishing and fly tying in the Cleveland, Ohio area for many years. This experience has made Phil a great on stream as well as in the classroom instructor. We are privileged to have Phil as an instructor in our schools.
Ray Miller
Ray is an avid fly fisherman brings his patience, knowledge and experience to our schools. Ray has been very active volunteering in our state stocking program for a number of years. Ray loves sharing his experience to our students.
Rich Maser
Rich hails from the Pittsburgh area and has attended a lot of our fly fishing schools. Rich is a very experienced angler and has taught fly tying for many years in the Pittsburgh area. He is also very active in his local Trout Unlimited Chapter. Rich helps out in our evening fly tying classes and contributes with his knowledge and enthusiasm.
Steve Phillips
Steve started fly fishing and fly tying at a very young age. His vast experience with both makes him a great addition to our schools. Steve has volunteered with our state stocking program for many years.