Todd Moen spent an extraordinary week in 2012 at the Wulff School of Fly Fishing in the Catskills, staying at the home of legendary casting instructor Joan Wulff. Joan’s story is woven into the fabric of modern fly casting: beginning in her teens in the 1940s through 1960, she won multiple local, regional, and national casting tournaments—often beating all-male fields. In 1951, she became the first woman to win the National Fisherman’s Distance Fly Championship with a remarkable 136-foot cast. She went on to serve nearly two decades as the first female paid spokesperson for The Garcia Corporation before founding the Wulff School in 1979 with her husband, Lee Wulff, the visionary angler who helped pioneer catch-and-release. Today, Joan remains a living legend and a beloved figure around Livingston Manor, where her school still teaches along the storied Beaverkill River, the birthplace of American dry fly fishing.
During his 2012 visit, Todd filmed a comprehensive series of casting lessons with Joan on her property, covering every skill she has refined and taught over generations. He also conducted several in-depth interviews with her, capturing personal stories from her life, her decades of instruction, and the evolution of her craft. Over that week, Todd created more than a dozen instructional films—an achievement that stands as a true career highlight for any filmmaker in the fly-fishing world. Throughout the project, he stayed in close contact with Winston Fly Rods owner David Ondaatje, who was flying in from London after another classic Moen production with Tim Rajeff. Although only a small portion of Joan’s interviews have been edited to date, the collection promises to become one of the most meaningful archives in the sport. More of this legacy project is still to come.
