Fly Fishers International (FFI) has been an organized voice for fly fishers around the world since 1964. We represent all aspects of fly fishing: from the art of fly tying and casting, to the protection and restoration of the natural systems that support healthy fisheries and their habitats. Today, our mission is to ensure the legacy of fly fishing for all fish in all waters by focusing on conservation, education and a sense of community.
The FFI consists of regional councils that bring our mission closer to our members. The Gulf Coast Council (GCC) was founded in 2006 and consists of member clubs and individual FFI members in Louisiana, Mississippi, south Alabama and northwest Florida.
The northern Gulf Coast is home to the Mississippi Delta, the largest estuary system in the country, as well as diverse coastal wetlands that range from brackish marshes to white, sandy beaches. Locations like Venice, LA and Destin, FL are renown for world class offshore fishing. The marshes and inshore waters of the GCC region hold the greatest numbers of redfish and spotted seatrout found in the country, as well as large numbers of sheepshead, black drum and flounder. Our shorelines hold a wide variety of popular gamefish such as pompano, bluefish, jack crevalle, cobia, both species of mackeral and the silver king, tarpon.
The northern Gulf Coast is also home to fantastic warmwater fishing among its numerous backwater lakes, bayous, reservoirs and sandy streams. Species such as largemouth and spotted bass, crappie, bream, pickerel, white bass, even gar and bowfin make up the fly angler’s smorgasbord. The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest, river-driven swamp system in the United States, and its rich nutrients provide the basis for an incredible warmwater fishery. Several lakes in Mississippi and Louisiana are among the top-rated crappie waters in the country.
These fantastic fisheries are the basis for the GCC efforts to preserve and protect. Our waters and species are ideal for fly anglers of all levels, making the basis for us to promote fly fishing education.
If you are not a member of FFI, please join. Your membership not only entitles you to several benefits, such as Flyfisher magazine, but it benefits our efforts to conserve and educate. If you live in the Gulf Coast Council region, your membership in FFI automatically enlists you as a member of the GCC. As such, you become part of our community and part of the effort to fulfill FFI goals within our region.
To join Fly Fishers International (and the Gulf Coast Council), click here to go to the FFI Membership Page.
