Presentations

Donavan Clary is a full time fly fishing guide in Oklahoma. He also guides in Missouri. He has been fly fishing since 1982. Spending an average of 250 days a year fishing, it’s easy to say he’s committed! He has been a volunteer with the Tulsa chapter of PHWFF for a number of years. He also supports and volunteers with KEKOA Outdoors, another nonprofit focused on exposing veterans to fishing and hunting. He is an avid supporter of Trout Unlimited, and very active with the local 420 chapter. His family owns and operates a lodge on Tenkiller Lake in northeast Oklahoma where they offer all-inclusive guide trips for individuals and groups. He loves Oklahoma and the Illinois River. The majority of his time is spent guiding float trips and wading trips above and below Lake Tenkiller for Smallmouth Bass, especially the Neosho strain Smallmouth. He will even take occasional trips on the lake with anglers ready to chase still water Bass on the fly. He is a master at finding and catching large trout, striper, carp, gar and Smallmouth bass on the fly. He holds classes and seminars around the region teaching all aspects of fly fishing and targeting numerous species on the fly.

Chris is the owner and founder of Living Waters Fly Fishing, a fly shop and guide service based out of Round Rock, Texas. He has guided the Texas Hill Country for nearly two decades, and has fly fished the heart of the Lone Star State for over 25 years. In addition to guiding his home state, Chris has been a licensed fly fishing guide in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alaska. Chris is a FFI Certified Casting Instructor, Umpqua Signature Fly Designer, Tenkara USA Guide, and TPWD Angler Educator Area Chief. He is also a pro team member for Whiting Farms, Scott Fly Rods, Dyna-King Vises, and Scientific Anglers.

Chris is dedicated to sharing his passion for the sport and investing in the next generation of fly anglers. He often is a featured presenter and fly tier at fly fishing, outdoor, and community events throughout Texas and beyond.

Chris and his shop have also been featured in several outdoor publications including Trout magazine, Garden and Gun, and Tenkara Magazine. He was also awarded the 2014 Man of the Year from the FFI Texas Council and in the same year, Living Waters was the recipient of the FFI’s prestigious Lee Wulff Award.

In addition to fly fishing, Chris is passionate about fisheries conservation. He co-produced the short film “Unspoken,” to raise awareness for Rio Grande Cutthroat trout conservation. As a result, Living Waters is working with Trout Unlimited as a Gold Level endorsed TU Business to restore Rio Grande Cutthroat throughout their native range. Chris serves as the current State Council Chair for Texas Trout Unlimited and is the Conservation Chair for Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited as well. He is also a part of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the Rio Grande Cutthroat Conservation Team. Chris also serves as a member of the current Texas Freshwater Fisheries Advisory Committee and the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.

Chris is happily married to his wife Emily and together they enjoy fly fishing the world and raising their children in the sport.

Chase Smith is a commercial fly designer who lives in the heart of the Texas Hill Country with his wife and two kids. He ties and sells hundreds of flies through his online store, www.fishchaseflies.com, and designs fly patterns for Montana Fly Company and Blane Chocklett’s Chocklett Factory. Probably best known for tying complicated bass flies like GameChangers and for designing the Spiral Spook topwater fly, Chase also avidly pursues a wide variety of saltwater and freshwater species across Texas. His flies have been published in a variety of fly fishing magazines and have fooled trophy fish across the world. 

Pat started fly fishing at around age 10 with a Martin glass rod and model 62 reel from a kit found at an  S&H Green Stamps store, and his passion for fly fishing has grown exponentially from there. He caught his first fish on the fly, a big redbreast sunfish, on Turtle Creek in Kerrville, on that rig and still has it today. Pat has been fly fishing Texas rivers for over 35 years, and over those years, he’s learned, mostly the hard way, by spending countless hours on the water, how to successfully find and catch our Texas warm water species on a fly. Currently when not guiding, fishing, hunting, or tying flies, (or unfortunately at his regular job) he’s at home near Crawford with his wife and 18 year old triplets. He served as past treasurer and president of the The Waco Fly Fishing Club for several years. Pat enjoys sharing his knowledge of fly fishing and tying with others and teaching this great sport both on the water and off, having made many presentations to fly clubs and fly shops over the years, Pat has also been involved in teaching basic fly fishing and tying skills to college students as well as Scout troops from central Texas. Since 2016, he has been operating his own guide service, Bosque Valley Fly Fishing, guiding fly fishers on the rivers of central Texas and tying custom fly orders.

Grahame has fished the lakes, rivers, and bays of Texas and Mexico for nearly 50 years and purchased his first fly rod in 1986. In 2020, Grahame retired as the Director of Law Enforcement for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department after serving 27 years with TPWD. Grahame is a past State Board Member for the Coastal Conservation Association, past State Chair for Texas Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and received the 2020 Sam Beasom Conservation Leader Award from the Texas Wildlife Association. In 2022, Grahame was appointed to serve a four-year term to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Resources Advisory Committee, was recently appointed as Chair of the TPWD Oyster Advisory Committee, and is the Executive Director of the Texas Conservation Alliance. Grahame is a member of Austin Fly Fishers and Fly Fishers International. Grahame offers guided fishing trips through All Water Guides on many lakes located within the beautiful Texas Hill Country, including Lake Travis, Lake Austin, Lake Buchanan, Lake Bastrop, Decker Lake, and Lake LBJ. Grahame doesn’t focus or depend on fish finding electronics. Instead, he focuses on wind, time of day, water and air temperature, water depth, observation of birds and bait, habitat and structure… and 50 years of fishing experience … trial and error, and success.

Greg DeMars is a retired mechanical engineer who began his fly fishing adventures in the Colorado Rockies in the early 1990s and expanded his range from there, fishing all over the world. From the Devils River in his native Texas to New Zealand’s South Island and the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, Greg has pursued his passion for fly fishing with the analytical mind of an engineer and the creativity of a blues guitarist and songwriter, gaining valuable insight about fish behavior and fly fishing tactics along the way. An award-winning amateur photographer, Greg ties his own flies and enjoys building custom fly rods, cooking dinner for friends, and the occasional wee dram of fine Islay whisky. Greg married his college sweetheart, and they live in the Dallas area.