The meeting topic was a PowerPoint presentation on fly fishing in Patagonia by Bruce Elliston.  The question and answer session with congressional candidate Heath Shuler went very well.  We had a better than average turnout for the meeting.

 

Tour de French Broad

RiverLink’s French Broad Riverkeeper, Hartwell Carson, is embarking on a two week canoe journey down the entire 219 mile length of the French Broad River beginning on September 6, 2006. The purpose of this trip is to raise awareness about the environmental and economic challenges that are facing our water resources. The goal is to generate significant local and national press, helping to highlight the issues of non-point source pollution. The trip will also seek to promote the river as a recreation resource and to raise money to help RiverLink continue with its mission for the environmental and economic revitalization of the French Broad River as a place to live, work and play.  You are invited to paddle along on specific sections. For more information, click here.

 

Fly Fishing in Alaska

Tim Bumgarner worked in Alaska. Click here for pictures from a trip on the Chena River in the interior of Alaska northeast of Fairbanks.  The fish are Artic grayling.  Tim is the guy in the glasses. Mark is the other guy. The grayling would only hit gray colored flies in sizes 16-18. These were caught on dun's that Tim tied. The Chena is catch and release only, single hook artificial lures.

 

Local Fly Fishers on Television

Kevin Howell made it through the Regional portion of the Fly Fishing Masters Invitational. Eight of the best fly anglers in each half of the country were paired in random team matchups.  For the show schedule, click here.

 

Passing It On

Brad Sprinkle

 

I use my fly tying and fishing as examples in the classroom occasionally.  For instance, I can talk about designing and making fly tying tools and tying a fly in relation to tool design in engineering drafting.  I always offer to teach fly tying after school. I usually have one to three students who are interested each semester.  After several tying sessions, we usually take our flies to the river for the trout to test.  The students are always excited to catch a trout on a fly that they tied.

If you are interested in teaching young people to tie here are a few suggestions from a fly tying online forum.  For beginners, wooly buggers, caddis larva, drowned caddis, hare's ear, and elk hair caddis are good choices.  For younger kids, thread tension can be a problem.  Make sure the bobbins don't hold the thread too tight.  Let the kids break the thread a few times before starting to give them an idea how much tension it can take.

I highly recommend taking the time to teach kids to tie.  Rivercourse, click for link, is a yearly summer event that you can participate in.  Community centers often offer a place for classes like fly tying.  You will give the kids a memory and a skill that will last a lifetime.