A Milestone…

Ten years - a decade.

In 2016, a chance encounter on a fishing trip sparked the idea for a unique organization with a simple mission: to enhance, preserve, and protect the communities and fisheries that anglers love.

What began as a small effort to give back to the schoolchildren of Punta Allen, Mexico evolved into YDCCF, the leading organization in the fly-fishing world dedicated to protecting the people and places that give us so much. Our mission is focused on ensuring these communities remain vibrant, resilient places to live, work, and play—and that the fisheries sustaining them are protected for generations to come.

Look around Punta Allen today and our impact is everywhere—the soccer pitch, the playground, and the ongoing work on the community center—all projects we helped bring to life. Twenty years ago, Punta Allen was a modest, seasonal fishing village. Now, it’s a vibrant, year-round community for local residents, supported by tourists and anglers who have helped it grow and thrive.

Over the past decade, YDCCF has weathered highs and lows but never strayed from our purpose. To date, we’ve invested over $2 million across 120 projects and campaigns worldwide.

As we look forward to our next decade, we remain committed to our core purpose while also exploring and embracing new opportunities and programs to grow our impact across the angling world. YDCCF wouldn’t exist without the unwavering support of Yellow Dog Flyfishing, which remains our largest funder, donating a percentage of profits every year.

But the true heroes are the individual anglers—people like you—who choose to give back. Your donations and involvement make it possible for us to continue protecting the waters we fish, the people we meet, and the communities that welcome us around the world. Thank you!

From that first effort in 2016 with an auction to raise funds to refurbish the school bathrooms, our support and partnership with the Punta Allen community has formed the bedrock of YDCCF’s existence.

As the village has grown and tourism has blossomed, we’ve been there to listen to leaders on the ground and help them achieve their goals. From the new playground, to the ongoing refurbishment and development of the Community Center, our commitment to Punta Allen has been a throughline of our first decade, and the village will continue to be a focus for us far into the future.

BROOKS SCOTT, YDCCF Executive Director

Chile

Futaleufú riverkeeper lab project

The Futaleufú and Yelcho watersheds in Chile are world renowned for their whitewater opportunities as well as the fishing. The Futaleufú Water Monitoring Program is a community science initiative managed and coordinated by Futaleufú Riverkeeper that began in February 2020 and continues to this day. For the first time ever in Chile, with a grant from YDCCF, FRK will build a locally owned and managed scientific laboratory to handle the processing of all of the samples collected in the watershed. Given the national and global demand for baseline environmental data, especially in South America’s ecologically diverse “southern cone”, the ability to create, centralize and share laboratory facilities in this remote location will likely incentivize and generate additional institutional and university collaboration, both for research and education and, most importantly, for the long-term protection of one of the world’s greatest rivers, the Futaleufú.

Bahamas

Crooked island mangrove nursery

YDCCF has been supplying funding to assist Bonefish and Tarpon Trust’s Bahamas Mangrove Initiative for several years, and in 2025 our focus shifted to Crooked Island in the far southern portion of the Bahamas. Crooked Island suffered a near total loss of its mangroves during Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. Without a healthy population to help provide the seeds for regrowth, the mangroves have not come back. In a new partnership with BTT, YDCCF has stepped forward to provide the startup funding to build a new mangrove nursery on the island that will begin the process of bringing back Crooked’s mangrove forests. The nursery was built in June 2025 and now houses 10,000 mangrove seedlings that will be planted in 2026 in the area.

Read more about our partnership with BTT here.

Mongolia

Wild salmon center taimen redd surveys

Following their efforts to map the remaining strongholds for Siberian Taimen in 2024 (work partially funded by a YDCCF grant), WSC is undertaking the next step in building a foundation for ongoing conservation of this iconic species. Implementing traditional redd surveys on priority rivers such as the Delgermurun, Onon and Eg, the project will collect population data on a yearly basis; additionally drone surveys using emerging AI technology will deepen the dataset - as well as improve the accuracy, efficiency and consistency of the traditional collection methods. The results will be used to identify critical spawning habitats to guide targeted conservation and protection; additionally the data will support managers in setting sustainable fishery regulations, enabling rangers to protect spawning areas from poaching and disturbance.

Mexico

xcalak community engagement project

Started in 2022 by YDCCF, the Xcalak Community Engagement Project seeks to help the residents of this small village on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico by providing arts, education and English language instruction at the new Esperanza de Vida. Each summer, a weeklong curriculum is presented to the residents, both adults and children, and this has now evolved into a year-round program with teachers visiting the community monthly. This grant is partially funded by Premier Partner The XFlats.

READ THE LATEST →

Alaska

bristol bay guide academy

Started in 2008, the Bristol Bay Guide Academy annually trains 15-18 new guides, predominantly from local indigenous tribes in the region. YDCCF has been supporting this program for several years. The Guide Academy was featured in the 2023 Orvis film “School of Fish”. This grant is partially supported by Premier Partner Bear Trail Lodge and owner Nanci Morris Lyon, who helped create the guide academy in 2008 and remains involved to this day.

Costa Rica

cano negro youth education program

The Rural Communities and Nature Coexistence Youth Education Program seeks to build on an existing environmental education program by taking the top 10 students from the villages of Cano Negro, San Antonio and Aguas Negras, Costa Rica and deepen their education. This program is supported in part by Premier Partner Fly Fishing Costa Rica.

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Bahamas

mcclean’s town rebuilding

Hurricane Dorian completely wiped out the east end of Grand Bahama in 2019. Since then, YDCCF and Premier Partner East End Lodge have been focused on helping the residents of McClean’s Town return home. In 2025, we returned to McClean’s Town for the second Benefit Series event and again raised over $80,000 to support the ongoing rebuilding efforts.

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Mexico

punta allen community center

Punta Allen, situated on Ascension Bay on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is where YDCCF got its start. Our work here continues and we’re excited to be helping to fund the next phase on the redevelopment of the town’s Community Center. This work is partially supported by Premier Partners Grand Slam Lodge and Ascension Bay Lodge and in partnership and collaboration with the Rising Tide Fund.

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Bahamas

mangrove cay community park

The community of Little Harbour on Mangrove Cay on Andros in the Bahamas has been working since 2020 on building a recreational park for residents. A basketball court and bleachers have been completed, as well as a clubhouse with restrooms and, most recently, a new children’s playground. Phase 2 of the project is a state-of-the-art track and field facility. This work is supported by Premier Partner Swain’s Cay Lodge.

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Montana

save wild trout

SAVE WILD TROUT was launched to address the dismal Spring 2023 fish count numbers in Montana’s Jefferson Basin – an area that includes the world-famous Big Hole, Ruby, Beaverhead and Jefferson Rivers – legendary cold-water fisheries that have historically supported an abundance of wild trout. This coalition of anglers, river advocates, concerned citizens, businesses, guides, and outfitters have come together with the focused mission of protecting wild trout for the benefit of all.

The organization released a first of its kind report on the current stressors on the fisheries in the basin in July 2025 based on their research and monitoring efforts in 2023-24.

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Montana

Montana TU Camp Program

Montana Trout Unlimited’s goal is to conserve, protect and restore Montana’s cold water fisheries and their watersheds. Each year, they host a youth conservation camp where children have the opportunity to learn about fly fishing, conservation and advocacy.

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Montana

guiding for the future

Administered by the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana, G4F provides advanced levels of knowledge and skill development for professional fishing guides and outfitters. The program’s goal is to inspire dedicated stewardship of aquatic ecosystems while increasing knowledge, professionalism, and ethics of fishing guides, outfitters, and the fly-fishing industry throughout Montana.

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Bahamas

fish for change scholarships

F4C’s mission is to use fly-fishing as a platform to make the world a better place by uniting a diverse group of students in wild fisheries where they engage in a variety of initiatives that promote Connection, Education, Conservation, and Exploration. Weeklong programs happen each summer in Honduras, Mexico, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and Colorado. Part of the curriculum includes partnering with local organizations in each location to participate and learn more about ongoing conservation initiatives. YDCCF’s grant supports scholarships annually for 2 Bahamian students to attend the program at Soul Fly Lodge.