It was a fun day down in South Bend, Indiana delivering a full day fly fishing seminar for the St. Joseph River Valley Fly Fishers. The weather was beautiful. There were a few clouds but hardly any wind and a comfortable temperature of 80°. We had a wide variety of students ranging from beginners and intermediates to men, ladies and kids.
The day began by entertaining the 40 students for 45 minutes with “Four Seasons of the Yellowstone Trout Bum”. This PowerPoint presentation always gets the blood flowing. I needed it. We began at 9 AM sharp which for me was like 7 AM. From there we headed outside where I gave my “Fly Casting 101” casting demonstration.
When I give full day seminars everyone brings a fly rod. After my demo about 30 of my students spread out on the lawn and worked on their casts. Some of my students already know the basics so they helped me work with the group. I’m pleased to say everyone had the basic overhead cast and false cast down wonderfully.
The organizer for the big event and longtime friend, Terry Wittorp, had the grill going while I was teaching. At noon sharp the bell rang and we reeled in the casting class for a scrumptious pork tenderloin lunch. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that most fly fishing clubs do it up right at the meetings that I speak at.
After lunch I broke into knot tying class. I’m always amazed how much folks enjoy this. Even the intermediate and advanced anglers like knots because I teach how to rig two flies. While many have a way of doing this I think the way I teach it works best.
My full day seminars generally include five presentations. After knots I demonstrated “Tricks for Casting in the Wind and the Double Haul” then went back inside for one more PowerPoint presentation. I like to blow everyone out of their seats with “Fly Fishing Through Midlife Heaven” to end the day. Beginners especially can’t believe all the amazing species and destinations there are out there in the world. Today I showed pics from Tanzania, India, Sudan, Guyana and a few polar bear and Arctic char photos from last week up at Ungava Bay.
After I finished Terry and I along with seven other club members headed north – north to Wellston, Michigan where we’ll smallmouth bass fish on the Manistee River. We stopped along the way at the famous Barski’s Restaurant and Bar for burgers in Baldwin.
Keep on movin. Life in the fast lane is fun!
If you need a guest speaker at your club contact me for a full day seminar or a one-night presentation.
Hi Jeff:
Hope you had a good time in the mitten state. If you ever need a place to stay in Grand Rapids, give me a holler.
Hope to see you at the Onefly.
Jim, great to hear from you and always, sorry we couldn’t hook up. You will see me in the One Fly – angling again!