Patrick Weaver

Patrick Weaver

Patrick Weaver

I began my outdoor education at a young age in Indiana.  I was fascinated with hunting and fishing.  My father was a bird hunter and had a subscription to Sports Afield magazine.  The magazine had a series of articles on fly fishing, and I was hooked.  As a kid growing up on the banks of a trout stream in Northern Indiana, I had a playground for fly fishing.  I caught my first trout on a Royal Wulff Wet Fly.  My outdoor education took a big jump forward when I moved out west.

At age 19, I moved to Colorado and was blessed with a landlord who loved to fly fish.  Tom would take me fly fishing all over the Front Range of Colorado.  He was a master dry fly angler.  Tom taught me the finer points of dry fly fishing for trout, for example, a fly first presentation.  The western fishing scene inspired his love of dry fly fishing.  Tom was a true outdoorsman and a great mentor. 

My wife and I moved to North Carolina in 2002.  Here I met Joe.  Joe was a master at angling with nymphs.  The first lesson Joe taught me was on stealth.  I stepped out of the truck and was hit in the face with a camouflage shirt.  All Joe said was, “Here, wear this if you want to fish with me.”   Patrick learned a valuable lesson on stealth that day.  But that wasn’t the only lesson Joe taught him.   Joe would go on to teach him many more lessons before he passed. 

Since then, I have fly fished in over 20 states, targeting many species on a fly rod.  I have pursued steelhead in NY, snook in Florida, smallmouth bass, and trout in all types of waters from the challenging Elk River in WV to small mountain trout high up in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. 

My fly fishing adventures and education transitioned into professional work.  My formal education began with a BS degree from Indiana University at South Bend in Secondary Education with a major in Biology and a minor in Physical Sciences.  This led to my first teaching position as a high school science teacher.  While there, I taught biology and physics and coached track.  I also worked with the state as a river monitor surveying aquatic macroinvertebrates.  I completed an MA degree in 2006, with a specialization in Integrated Judgement in Risk Management.  Combining his formal training with his knowledge of fly fishing, I started a fly fishing program for the Asheville School.  I worked for the State of North Carolina as a fly fishing instructor for five years before the education center closed.  While there, I developed a series of fly fishing courses and personally instructed hundreds of people.  I worked as an adjunct professor at Brevard College, instructing in the Wilderness Leadership program.  I have been guiding and teaching fly fishing since 2004.  Always looking for opportunities to expand my knowledge, I completed Mac Brown’s Guide School.   I have a personal library of over 70 books on fly fishing.    

In 2025, I published the book, “Hatches of Pisgah Forest, a Guide to Insects and the Flies that Catch Them.” This book not only presented the major hatches along the east coast, but also his system for discerning which fly to use and how to fish it. 

I have been fly fishing for over 40 years and have been instructing for over 30 years.  I bring a passion for fishing, as well as teaching.  I strive to provide unique experiences that will improve your angling and help you obtain your goals as a fly fishing angler.     

Certifications and Training

• Completed Mac Brown’s Guide School

• Wilderness First Aid Certified

• Wilderness First Responder Certified 2003-2015

• BS Secondary Ed, Biology and Physical Science, IUSB

• MA Risk Management, Prescott College