Al Quattrocchi (aka The Qman) was born and raised in Brooklyn where he developed his love for fishing early in his childhood while living in Sheepshead Bay. As a teenager he spent his formative fishing years on party boats, piers, bridges, beaches and jetties off Sandy Hook, Breezy Point, Rockaway and Jamaica Bay chasing striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and fluke.

After moving to California in the late seventies to attend college he was inspired to switch to the fly rod and fly fish the surf after years of reading articles written by his saltwater mentors; Lefty Kreh, Bob Popovics, Lou Tabory and Nick Curcione. Al’s articles and fly patterns have been published in Fly Fishing in Saltwaters, Fly Tier and Saltwater Fly Fishing magazines.

Al lectures and presents to many fly fishing clubs and fly shops in Southern California. He hopes to bring more younger people into the sport of saltwater fly fishing through the “One Surf Fly” event which he created to help keep the sport he loves alive in Southern California. The OSF brings the saltwater fly fishing community together by supporting local fly shops and non-profit organizations that support the sport of saltwater flyfishing. Al also directs the Double Haul Ball with many of his fly fishing buddies in Long Beach once a year. The DHB is a full day of seminars, fly casting and fly tying instruction, created to help anglers bridge the gap between freshwater and saltwater flyfishing.

Al Q and friend Conway Bowman host the Carp Throwdown at Lake Henshaw, San Diego each June. This event is mainly a sight-fishing tournament for carp and has been widely recognized across the country. The tournament is timed around the hopper hatch. Carp previously viewed as trash fish are becoming very popular with fly anglers these days. They are every man’s gamefish and test your fly fishing skills, especially when you catch them on the surface with hoppers.

As a pro fly tier Al Q currently has two fly patterns in Umpqua’s Surf Fly Series. The Qs Beach Bug along with the Q’s Corbina Candy are two of the best selling surf flies in Umpqua’s Surf Fly Series. As an avid fly angler, fly tier, artist and photographer he continues to draw inspiration from the sea and hopes to grow the sport of fly fishing the surf, one person at a time.

Al Q resides in Westchester, CA with his wife Janet and daughter Quinn. He is a creative partner and art director at Tornado Design located in the historic Helms Bakery, in Culver City. Tornado Design is an award-winning design firm that specializes in branding and creative solutions for businesses, from start-ups to well-established firms.

Al’s fishing blogs:
www.onesurffly.com, www.alquattrocchi.wordpress.com, www.carpthrowdown.com

www.tornadodesign.la