Meet Our Instructors - Atlanta Georgia School
We’ve Assembled Some of The Best Teachers in The Country
Scott Swartz
Atlanta Fly Fishing School's founder, Capt. Scott Swartz, has been a student of fly-fishing since 1982. He is Georgia's first Master Certified Casting Instructor with Fly Fishers International (FFI) , holds several fly rod world records, and has fly-fished from northern Canada to South America. He provides clinics for Trout Unlimited, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, various boat manufacturers, dealers, marinas, clubs, civic organizations and fishing lodges around the world. Scott is also the past casting chairman for the Atlanta Fly Fishing Club. In addition to the Atlanta school, Capt. Scott shares his passion for saltwater fly fishing at his saltwater fly fishing school in southwest Florida www.floridaflyfishingschools.com.
Mack Martin
Atlanta Fly Fishing School partner and instructor Mack Martin learned to fly cast with a custom bamboo fly rod given to him at the age of nine by his uncle, while working summers at his shoe store in Windsor, Vermont. This started his interest in fly fishing and later became a life long hobby. Mack has fished from the Bahamas throughout the United States to Alaska and has floated many of the rivers in Alaska and has lead numerous trips to Kodiak Island. He has also fished throughout the NWT of Canada and holds two world records. He is the past president and past education director of the Upper Chattahoochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the past Chairman of the Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited. Mack has also served as the National Leadership Council representative for the Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited from 2014 to 2019. Mack is a FFI Master Certified Fly Casting Instructor, a CRBG Certified Professional Fly Rod Builder, and a Master scuba diver.
Bob Foster
Born into a hunting and fishing family, Bob has been a fly fisherman throughout his life. An avid fly tier, Bob has been a fly tying instructor for Orvis as well as other clubs and organizations. As an active member of Trout Unlimited, Bob has served as President of the Upper Chattahoochee chapter, Georgia Trout Unlimited Council President and currently represents the Georgia Council on the National Leadership Council of Trout Unlimited.
Eric Cook
Eric is a FFI Master Certified Casting Instructor from Atlanta. He has over 40 years of fly fishing experience. Being a native southerner, Eric’s fly fishing experiences primarily have been focused on southeastern U.S. waters, targeting every available species from Bluegill to Tarpon. Eric has fished many other destinations from Puerto Rico to Montana, but is always drawn back to one of his favorites – local Georgia waters for common Carp.
Eric is heavily involved in the FFI casting instructor certification program through coaching, certification testing, instructor continuing education and FFI casting program committee work.
Tom Rueping
Tom developed a passion for fly fishing in the late 1970's and became a FFI certified casting instructor in 1994. He then earned the Master Casting Instructor certification in 2010.
Tom served for seven years as the Fly Fishers International southeast region Casting Instructor Certification Program testing coordinator. For five years, Tom was an adjunct professor at Lee University in Cleveland, TN., where he taught both the beginner and intermediate courses in fly fishing. Tom has acquired a wealth of knowledge through study, and through travel. The passion to catch any fish that will take a fly and also the desire to see the beautiful places where they live, has led Tom to fly fish the Rocky Mountain West, Alaska, Canada, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Africa and all over the southeast United States.
Jimmy Harpole
Instructor Jimmy Harpole is a FFI certified fly casting instructor. He has fished most of his life but picked up a fly rod in 1999 and never looked back. Jimmy has fly fished in North America, South America and Europe but one of his favorite places is saltwater fly fishing in Mosquito Lagoon Florida. As a certified instructor Jimmy knows what it takes to help you become a better fly fisher and fly caster.
Ricardo Myer
Ricardo says fishing trips are the best memories of his childhood in lakes and rivers atop the Andes mountains. After completing his obligatory military service he chose America as his new home. As a young man he began to fly-fish and quickly fell in love with the sport, he used the traditional Fly Fishing methods for the better part of 30 years in mostly Southeastern waters. For the past 7 years he has been part and founding member of Team Georgia, a competitive fly fishing team. He now spends about six months of the year out West perfecting his Euro style nymphing skills in challenging rivers mostly in Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. On most days his unique fishing techniques produce record catches while his fellow anglers wonder how he does it. Ricardo will gladly help students perfect their nymphing skills.
Sid Elliot
Sid is a native Atlantan. About 30 years ago he discovered trout fishing on the Chattahoochee River and began fly fishing. His enjoyment led him to fish many of the trout streams in the Southeast and then to wander out west to some of the famous rivers of the Rockies. He also has fished for trout in western Canada, New Zealand and Argentina. About 6 years ago, he ventured into saltwater flyfishing and has done so in the Bahamas, Florida Keys, Louisiana, Mexico and Belize. Recently he began fishing for smallmouth bass in Virginia and Maine. He says flyfishing a small pond for bream and bass is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Sid is a FFI Certified Instructor who has provided instruction at events held by Trout Unlimited, the Atlanta Fly Fishing Club, Boy Scouts of America, PHW (Project Healing Waters), Wounded Warriors and other organizations.
James Serra
James is our newest addition to the team at AFFS. He began his fly fishing passion in 1998 after many years of warm water conventional tackle fishing for bass. His home waters include N Georgia, Western North Carolina and Tennessee. About 10 years ago the western US called him and he enjoys fishing in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Utah. James has been lucky enough to find himself fly fishing in France and Patagonia. His experience is not limited to cold water, with saltwater trips to Louisiana and South Carolina for reds, Florida for Tarpon and Andros for bonefish. James is an avid fly tyer. He is a life member of Trout Unlimited, a Certified Instructor from FFI, volunteers for Project Healing Waters and was involved in Boy Scouts of America, teaching his son's troop how to fly fish. James would say his favorite place to fish is the Missouri River in Montana with his oldest son who is connected to a monster brown trout that was previously sipping spinners from the film.