Franco Vaccarino

I hope for a tying school that provides codified foundations to offer guidance that primarily considers the practical usefulness of flies in fishing.

I started fishing in the Lanzo Valleys at eight years old, initially with touch fishing and then with nymph fishing. Around the age of 14, I began to appreciate fly fishing and started reading some books from that time. Among the first were ABC della pesca a mosca by Alessandro Menchi, La pesca con la mosca artificiale by Carlo Rancati, and a small tying manual by Tony Whieldon. Besides making maggots for chubs and nymphs, already in ’89 I began to appreciate the tying of artificial flies for English-style fishing.

In ’93, I started fly fishing, abandoning all other fishing techniques, and with small collaborations with a shop and several fly fishing catalogs in hand, I began studying tying techniques and materials.

From autumn ’93 until 2004, I was part of CIPM Torino before founding a small club in the Lanzo Valleys near Robassomero, initially as CIPM and then as ASD Valli di Lanzo, of which I have always been the president. I participated in several tying competitions starting in ’96, often placing among the top contestants.

I was a level two casting instructor at the national CIPM school. I published several articles on fly fishing in Confluenze and Fly Line magazines. I collaborated on drafting information about artificial flies for CIPM instructors alongside Paolo Venturi, then master of the National CIPM School. Since 2004, I have assembled fly rod blanks and built handles and reel seats.

I worked with the Natural Science Museum of Bergamo on research about caddisflies in my valleys, cataloging over 135 species. I am an honorary member of Unpem Piemonte and a former member of IFTA.

I advocate for a tying school that gives codified foundations to provide direction with a focus on the practical usefulness of flies in fishing. For this reason, I joined the UNPEM tying school.