CARRY THE LEGACY · NO FLY FISHING EXPERTISE REQUIRED TO APPLY
Become a Harvey Leader
Our certified instructors carry the name of George Harvey - Joe’s mentor and the man who built fly fishing education in America. If you can commit to learning the method, we’ll train you to teach it.
WHY ‘HARVEY’?
A Name That Means Something
George Harvey was Joe Humphreys’ mentor and one of the great pioneers of American fly fishing. He created the tuck cast - the cast that gets a nymph to the bottom where the fish live - developed the revolutionary Harvey leader formula, and built the first accredited fly fishing course in the United States, at Penn State. Joe inherited that course, and that responsibility, and carried the method for the next 70 years.
So our teaching staff are not called instructors. They are Harvey Leaders - carriers of a 70-year legacy, mentors who teach observation before action, and stewards who build conservation advocates, one young angler at a time.
WHAT GEORGE HARVEY GAVE THE SPORT
✓ The tuck cast - still how we get flies to feeding depth
✓ The Harvey leader formula that transformed modern fly fishing
✓ The first accredited fly fishing course in the US
✓ A student named Joe Humphreys - who taught tens of thousands more
WHO SHOULD APPLY
If You Can Commit, You Can Lead
No fly fishing expertise required to apply. Harvey Leaders come from every corner of the community - we provide the method, the training, and the roadmap.
TU Chapter Volunteers
Trout Unlimited’s 300+ chapters are the backbone of the program. Bring a proven youth curriculum to your chapter’s conservation mission - many chapters struggle with youth engagement, and this solves it.
Fly Shop & Bait Shop Staff
Become your community’s home for youth fishing. Run lawn clinics at the shop and field sessions on local water - and build the next generation of customers while you’re at it.
Teachers & Trout in the Classroom
Your students raise trout from eggs in the classroom. Stream School is the field experience that completes the circle - biology, watershed health, and the skills to meet those fish on the water.
Scout & Youth Org Leaders
Scouting America, Girl Scouts, 4-H, Big Brothers Big Sisters, YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs - the curriculum maps to merit badges, outdoor skills programs, and mentoring activities.
Camp Counselors & Outdoor Educators
Run the 5-Day Summer Camp or fold the Weekend Series into your existing program. Full lesson plans, age tiers, and safety protocols mean you never improvise.
Parents & Community Volunteers
You don’t need to fish to start. The certification teaches you everything - from the thumb squeeze to the wading rules. Commitment matters more than experience.
THE CERTIFICATION PATH
Five Steps to Certified
From application to your first cohort, the path is structured so you never improvise - you follow a roadmap built from Joe’s actual teaching.
Apply Online
The 5-minute application below. Tell us who you are, who you’d serve, and which format you want to run. No fishing resume required.
Training Intensive
A deep dive into the philosophy - why we teach observation before action - plus how to teach each of the five casts to each age group (6-10, 11-13, 14-17), age-group pacing strategy, and the safety protocols: eye protection, wading rules, the buddy system, and instructor-to-student ratios.
Practical Exam
Demonstrate the casts and knots, then teach a mock lesson. You’re certified when you can execute the skills and teach them to the standard.
Run Your First Cohort
Launch with the full curriculum roadmap - week-by-week lesson plans, printable homework, and scorecards. Quarterly support calls and curriculum updates back you up.
Annual Renewal
A yearly refresh keeps your certification current as the curriculum evolves with field feedback.
THE BAR EVERY HARVEY LEADER TEACHES TO
90%+ completion. The target: nine in ten students finish the program they start.
Skills unsupported. Students execute each skill - casting, knots, reading water - without help, verified on the scorecards.
Parents agree. Parent NPS above 40, with 80%+ saying they’d recommend the program.
APPLY NOW · 5 MINUTES
Harvey Leader Application
Tell us who you are and who you’d serve. We review applications on a rolling basis and respond within a week.
“Kids are the future of this wonderful sport.”
- JOE HUMPHREYS