Level Up
The Orvis Fly Fishing School Maryland and Virginia! Hook Up You’re Fly-Casting AND Fly-Fishing Skills!
We teach the Orvis Progressive Method of Fly-Casting Instruction and specialize in working with novice anglers and anglers looking to improve their skills. We’ll help you learn the latest fly-casting techniques, explore fly-fishing equipment, and focus on how to “fish” your fly. We focus on both saltwater and freshwater fishing. Trout on a pristine small stream; steelhead on a magnificent river; striped bass on the bay; or tarpon, permit and bones on the flats- the Orvis school techniques will help to improve your ability to cast, catch and land all of them. Our clinics combine classroom knowledge with hands-on instruction (and video recording in the two-day class) to help guide you. With 1- and 2-day classes covering everything from casting, flies, rods, reels, and other equipment, it's the perfect opportunity to hone your skills. Plus the guided fly-fishing trip on the 2-day class will test your new skills and is a great conclusion to the school! Our experienced instructors are passionate about passing on their knowledge and helping you become a successful angler.
Where and When
The Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing Schools are held in Kent Island Md, Solomons Island Md and Va. Beach Va. We have local airports, Baltimore Washington, Roland Reagan, Dulles and Norfolk airport. All the airports are a short drive from our locations. All the venues are family friendly resorts and right on Chesapeake Bay. Featuring great lodging, waterfront dining at the local restaurants and different attractions nearby.
Why Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing School?
All our instructors are experienced freshwater and saltwater anglers and love passing on their knowledge and helping you to develop the skills and artistry to be a successful angler. We keep the classes small, and the staff-to-student ratio allows for personalized instruction.
You will have hands-on instruction in:
- Fly-Casting Techniques – including the double-haul, plus video reviews of your casting.
- Rods, Reels, Lines, and Fly Selection – specific to both freshwater and saltwater fishing.
- Knots, Knot Tying, and Fly Tying.
- Hook Setting and Fish Fighting – with an emphasis on “BIG” fish.
- Practice your skills with optional guided fishing on the famed Chesapeake Bay with Rock On Charters.
Our Instructors
Duber Winters
Capt. Duber is an expert angler and fly-tier, a licensed captain, and a certified fly-casting instructor. He spent more than a decade as a professional guide in Florida, where he led fly anglers of all experience levels to successful land saltwater fish such as tarpon, sailfish, snook, and permit-only species. He joined the Orvis Company as a store manager and guide in the Florida Keys.
Kaitlin Groundwater
Kaitlin began fly-fishing at a young age, chasing smallmouth bass in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. She furthered her fly-fishing pursuits after college working at the Orvis Store in Woodbridge, VA, where she taught several fly casting and tying courses. During this time, she also taught several water fly-fishing schools, instructing on both trout and bass fishing techniques. Kaitlin then headed West, where she managed the Orvis Endorsed fly-fishing lodge Madison Valley Ranch in Ennis, Montana, and explored Southwest Montana’s finest trout fisheries, including the Madison, Yellowstone, Big Hole, and Missouri Rivers. Kaitlin has since come back to her fly-fishing roots and is eager to share her favorite Virginia streams with anglers of all skill levels.
Henry Lingenfelder
Henry Lingenfelder has fly-fished fresh and saltwater destinations from Cape Cod to Key West for more than 60 years. He has been fishing the Maryland and Delaware shores since he was a kid. Few know the region’s coastal waters and how to get a fish to eat a fly, like Lingenfelder, 70, fly-fishing manager at Tochterman’s Fishing Tackle on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore. Henry is excellent at helping anglers learn to fly-cast and find the best equipment to suit them. He has extensive knowledge of both salt and freshwater fishing opportunities and locations in the mid-Atlantic region.
Joe Evans
From 1999 through 2006, I served as an Orvis-Endorsed fishing guide on the Chesapeake while freelance writing for various publications and producing film packages for National Geographic Today and other outdoor media outlets. I taught at the Orvis Saltwater Fly Fishing Schools on Cape Cod and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I worked for The Orvis Company and Bass Pro Shops, and then, the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources Fisheries Service. I was editor-in-chief at Chesapeake Bay Magazine for a while. Now, I fish, teach, learn, write, and occasionally produce material for Curiosity Stream.
John Bilotta
Certified master casting instructor (MCI) and two-handed Spey casting instructor (THCI) , hosts destination fly fishing experiences around the world, from Christmas Island to Alaska, India to Greenland to Mexico. Plus, Las Buitreras Lodge: Fly Fishing Argentina. John also was the fishing director of El Pescador lodge for Orvis in Belize
Scott Allen
Orvis Leesburg VA. Store Fishing Manager
United States Air Force veteran, world traveler, FFI-Certified Casting Instructor, and fly-rod builder in his spare time, Scott Allen relishes any opportunity to introduce people to fly fishing, to teach, and to talk about the lifestyle he loves. Though he’s spent the greater part of the last two decades fishing the local waterways of Virginia and Maryland, Scott has hosted fishing trips to Montana and Belize, and has had the opportunity to fish all around the world, wherever his work, whether in the Air Force or as a private contractor for Northrop Grumman after his service, took him. But as he told us, “I will travel anywhere there is water.”
Mark Peeler
Dr. Peeler is a second-generation Annapolis physician who has practiced vascular surgery in Annapolis since 2000. He has fly-fished all over the world and is a VERY patient casting and fly-tying instructor. False Albacore and Bull Redfish in North Carolina, Roosterfish and Marlin off Baja, Giant Peacock bass in the Amazon River, or just casting flies to striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay, Mark is happy to share his knowledge with other anglers.
John Adametz
John Adametz has been passionate about teaching fly fishing and has been fly fishing around the globe for more than three decades. As a navy vet, he says “every new assignment involved an opportunity join a new club and fish new species!” John is a credentialed Master Casting Instructor with Fly Fishers International and serves as Vice President and Casting Chair with Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers. He is Founder of Hawaii Fly Fishers Club and Adametz Fly Fishing Academy. As a volunteer, he is involved with Brotherhood of the Junglecock, Project Healing Waters, and the Virginia Beach Schools Environmental Studies Program, where he teaches fly casting. Favorite fly: the one that fish are eating. Most memorable trip: Taimen in Mongolia. Most challenging fish to catch: bonefish in Oahu. Motto: Any fish caught is a good fish, any day fishing is a good day!
FAQ
Our instructors all started as novices, just like many of our students. They know how to give you a good foundation to build on that will get you out on the water. They love fly-fishing and want to share the excitement they feel with you. We use individual videos in the 2 day that we send home with you. As you view the videos over the coming weeks, you’ll see how far you’ve come as you continue to practice and further develop the skills you’ve learned in class.
We work with you as individuals. For any students with more advanced experience, we’ll set you up with an instructor who can help refine your technique and get you to the next level. When you complete your class, you’ll be that much closer to being able to hook and land saltwater and freshwater fish on a fly. We will help you with how to fly cast, BUT also HOW TO FISH YOUR FLY AND CATCH FISH!
You don’t need to be super fit or strong to cast a fly. You just need to learn and practice the techniques. That’s what our team at the Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing School will help you do.
Will you be ready to hook and land a trophy giant bull redfish after your class – not likely. Just like if you picked up a guitar and had a day of lessons – you’re not opening that night with Eric Clapton! But you will be ready to go out on the water and throw at some fish, and with practice, that redfish’s days may be numbered.
Fly fishing is a sport and a science. But it is most especially an art form. It is an opportunity to be focused and totally at the moment, maybe to imagine what will come next. As author Fennel Hudson writes, “With a fly rod, anglers are not casting to a fish; rather to a circle of dreams: ripples that spread into every aspect of their lives”
If you have a rod, you want to learn to use, you’re welcome to bring it. We recommend 7, 8, or 9-weight equipment, which is standard in saltwater fly outfits, but it’s not required. All the necessary equipment will be provided. At the Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing School, we use only the Orvis latest and finest fly rods, reels, and lines for casting sessions. It might make sense to learn on our equipment, where you can try different weights and see what works best for you, before investing in your own equipment.
During the two-day class we record your casting sessions and review them with pointers on how to improve your cast. We will provide you with a copy so you can easily take the videos home with you.
You should also bring clothes appropriate to the weather that you can move freely in, as we practice outside, rain or shine.
Fishing appeals to everyone in the family, and we welcome all anglers to attend the Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing School ! We frequently have couples attend together. If you’d like to make it a family activity, we’re glad to assist. Note that this course is best suited for mature pre-teens and above who are accompanied by a parent.
You could try that, but it might be pretty frustrating. There are a lot of techniques to learn, and you can make giant strides by practicing on land first. Trying to learn this skill while standing on a rocking boat adds another level of difficulty. The goal is to relax, have fun and catch fish on a guided trip. So let the Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing School teach you the basics before that first trip.
Why Book Fishing With Rock On Charter Fishing Guides Instead of on your Own?
If you book a trip through us, we’ll try (depending on their availability) to have your instructor for the class join your trip, so you can work together for a day on land before going on the water.
If you book a trip through us, we’ll try (depending on their availability) to have your instructor for the class join your trip, so you can work together on the water. Contact ROCF at (240) 372-1864 or [email protected] top book a trip after your class.
All of our locations have lodging and we have alternate hotels nearby if needed.
Schedule Example
- 8:00 AM - 8:15 AM: Meet and Greet over Coffee.
- 8:15 AM - 8:45 AM Outline and Introduction of the Orvis Progressive Method of Fly-Casting . (classroom)
- 8:45 AM - 10:00 AM: Overview of fly lines, rods, and reels. (classroom)
- 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM: Casting Mechanics: Pick Up, Straight Line, Laydown. Practice and Video Session. (outdoors, hands-Video only on two-day class)
- 11:15 AM – 12:00 PM: All About Saltwater Flies and Fly Tying. (classroom)
- 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM: Lunch.
- 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM: Knots and Leaders. (classroom)
- 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM: Effective Communication with your Fishing Guide, Hook Setting, and Fighting Saltwater Fish. (classroom)
- 2:30 PM - 4:15 PM: 2nd Casting Mechanics (outdoors).
- 4:15 PM - 5:30 PM: Review Casting Videos (two-day classes), Questions & Answers. (classroom)
- 5:30 PM: Happy Hour.
Life happens. We get it. Our Cancellation Policy is as follows:
If the reservation is cancelled 60+ days from your school date, Orvis will offer a full refund back the original method of payment, or the reservation can be transferred to another available school.
If the reservation is cancelled 30-60 days from the date of the school, the customer will have a choice between a refund of 50% or transferring the reservation to another available school. On cancellations 29 days or less there is no refund and no transfer. There will be no refund extended to students who do not attend their scheduled school and do not notify the school within the timeframes listed in this policy. Any reservation that has been transferred to a different date cannot be later cancelled without 100% payment penalty. We strongly urge you to purchase trip insurance.
The cost is: $329 for the 1-day class and $658 for the 2-day class. Includes classroom instruction, gear, outdoor fly-casting instruction sessions, lunch, and graduation happy hour. Students are responsible for Lodging, breakfast, and dinner.
If you’d like to add a fishing trip, on the Chesapeake Bay (approximately 4-5 hours). $675 per boat, up to two anglers. Includes the USCG and MD DNR licensed guide, FSUSA/Orvis instructor (limited number available), drinks, and snacks. Contact ROCF at (240) 372-1864 or [email protected]
The cost is: $389 for the 1-day class and $1289 for the 2-day class. Includes classroom instruction, gear, outdoor fly-casting instruction sessions, lunch, and graduation happy hour. The 2-day school includes a fully guided fly-fishing charter on the second day. Students are responsible for Lodging, breakfast, and dinner.
If you’d like to add a fishing trip, on the Chesapeake Bay (approximately 4- hours). Includes the USCG and MD DNR licensed guide, drinks, and snacks. Contact ROCF at (240) 372-1864 or [email protected]
The bottom line is ... If you want to learn to fly cast and fly fish or improve your casting and all-around fly-fishing knowledge. Plus have some fun...and learn some tips on catching and fighting larger fish. Book your class today!
To book online simply CLICK HERE
Or visit the Orvis webpage for the Chesapeake Beach School or use Orvis Web Link below. https://www.orvis.com/product/chesapeake-beach-maryland-fly-fishing-school/3J3K.html
To book by phone or if you have questions, please call the Orvis School & Reservation Phone (toll free) (888) 531-6213 Mon-Sun 8AM – 7PM EST
Join us at the Orvis Chesapeake Bay Fly Fishing School in 2025.
