CCTU Board Members
President
Alan Alai
I started my fishing passion at the age of ten on the shores of Lake Tahoe where I caught my first trout. Since then I have enjoyed every day on the water. Before we moved to the Cape in 1996, I had been fortunate to fish in streams, rivers and lakes in California, Alaska and Colorado. My Colorado friends introduced me to fly fishing and I have never looked back. On the Cape I fish both fresh and saltwater from a kayak, and if I am lucky I will catch a trout and a striper on the same day!
I joined CCTU six years ago. As a Board member, I have grown to recognize the conservation efforts of TU and the truly incredible work we have done here on the Cape. We have a great volunteer organization that is dedicated to keeping our coldwater fisheries preserved. I am very honored to be part of this great organization.
Vice president
Joe Swaluk
Joe Swaluk is an educator, artist and writer who first joined TU in 1968. His passion for preserving cold water fisheries has never diminished.
secretary
Ed Farrell-Starbuck
In the Bicentennial year, while returning to California for graduate school, my uncle gifted me with a 61/2’ flyrod, reel, line and a box of dry flies. I managed to fool some trout while camping in the Bighorn and Sawtooth mountains, and I was hooked. We lived in northern California for two decades, where I tangled with trout, steelhead and shad using a growing array of flyrods. We moved back to New England 30 years ago, living in Rhode Island and here on Cape Cod, where fly fishing and fly tying took on a decidedly saltwater trajectory. Especially memorable are moments of success and rejection on the Monomoy flats. I enjoy kayaking as a way to be on the water and find striped bass, but I’ve noticed declining success and more savoring of the beauty of this place we call home. I’m fairly new to active participation in CCTU, and am honored to be part of this fine cold water conservation group with such a fruitful legacy.
Zyg Plater
I’ve been carrying a fly rod with me almost everywhere I’ve gone, most notably Peace Corps in Ethiopia and in the Amazon. My favorite place to fish for trout is a secret, north of Yellowstone Nat’l Park. I’ve taught environmental protection law on 8 law faculties. Fired only once — my students and I carried a case through the Supreme Court, trying to save the beloved Little Tennessee River from an economically disastrous dam, using the snail darter, a tiny endangered fish. I’ve been learning to fly cast since 1959. Zygmunt is a Trout Unlimited Life Member.
Josh Wrigley
Josh is a dedicated saltwater fly angler and fly tyer who fishes for striped bass, bluefish, and false albacore. He is a former editor of Tail Fly Fishing Magazine and currently serves as the Assistant Director of Natural Resources for the Town of Sandwich. Josh lives in East Falmouth with his wife Sharon and dog Penny.
Newsletter editor
Roberta (Robbie) Schilling
I was introduced to TU and fly fishing by my fiancé (now husband) in 2012 and learned to fly fish at CCTU’s Fly Fishing School in May of 2013. I joined the Board as a member in 2014. became Vice President in 2017 and served as President from 2018 to 2020. I am now the editor of the CCTU Rollxast and help the chapter with general communications.
TREASURER AND Environmental Conservation Chair
Peter Schilling
Peter Schilling is a Life Member and has been active for more than 30 years with Trout Unlimited. He is a former President of the Greater Boston Chapter and a former MA/RI Council Chair. His passion is fishing for Atlantic Salmon and anadromous trout species.
Board member
Mike Bartlett
Many of my most vivid early memories revolve around dunking
worms for bluegills and yellow perch in a small Rhode Island
pond. I can still remember the rush that came with watching my
bobber disappear beneath the surface of the pond—and feeling
the tug at the end of the line.
My passion for fishing grew through my teenage years, waiting
anxiously every year for April 15—opening day of the Rhode
Island trout season. I didn’t discover saltwater fishing until I was in
graduate school when my brother gave me a nine foot one piece
spinning rod that was signed by a man named Charlie Murat. I
didn’t learn until much later in life that Charlie left a legacy on
Cape Cod that echoes to this day.
I finally discovered fly fishing when I was working summers in
Michigan trying to save the endangered Kirtland’s warbler from
extinction. I stayed in a camp on the banks of the legendary Au
Sable River where I spent many evenings standing in the river
with a borrowed fly rod watching my perfect Sulphur imitation
floating along a current seam untouched while the water all
around me churned with trout feeding on the real deal.
My passion for fly fishing turned into an addiction when I
discovered that striped bass and bluefish would eat a fly, a
transition that nearly left me bankrupt (new boat, new trailer, new
truck) but one that led me to the most gratifying part of my
fly fishing “career.”
In January 2025, I moved to East Falmouth where I live with my
wife Jeannie and my bird hunting buddy Tanner.