Instructional Staff
The Kinzua Fly Fishing School is an instructional camp organized and taught by professional teachers
who have years of fly tying, fly fishing, teaching and coaching experience. All instruction is provided by professional teachers.
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 will be a guest instructor in the 3-day school.
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.
Frank Harrington
Frank was Steve's long-time assistant football coach and friend. He started fly fishing as a youngster. A day on stream with Frank is not only a learning experience, but also a really enjoyable time.
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. 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 he has attended many of our past schools. He hails from the Jamestown, New York area.
Ray Geary
Ray is the latest addition to our staff. He is an avid fly fisherman and fly tier. His enthusiasm for our sport and his expertise has been a great addition to our staff.
Chris Skvarka
Steve's oldest son, Chris, has been fly tying and fly fishing since he was 7 years old. He attended the first Kinzua Fly Fishing school at the age of 14 and was fined tuned by Joe Humphreys for the next 6 years. Chris is an avid fisherman and fly tyer, as well as our resident physician.
George Songer
As Administrative Assistant, George has the responsibility of making sure all needs are cared for during the school. George does all the behind-the-scenes tasks ensuring success of the schools.
Scott Zandi
Scott Zandi, Carl's youngest son, has been fly fishing and fly tying since a youngster. Scott was tying and selling his flies to his teacher as an elementary student. Scott has spent many hours pursuing trout in our local area and now lives in Slippery Rock, PA. Scott is an excellent addition to our school and enjoys sharing his skills and experience with others.