Fly Fishing News 18-Aug-2008

When you think fly fishing, "women" is probably not the first word that comes to your mind, but the Federation of Fly Fishers has a program to instruct women, who they say are the fastest growing new-comers to the sport.

The women's program is hosted by Glacier Outdoor Center and was started a few years ago. It is designed for women and taught by women. The program will take beginner to advanced fly fishers, and it getting a lot of attention. Program coordinators tell us that class of 16 was one of their first classes filled for this event, and had a long waiting list. Susie Erickson and Jyl Duffy began fly fishing because of their husbands. They both attended the two day program, and now enjoy it even more.

Go to your sporting good store and pick a combo consisting of a 7 ft. medium action rod and a companion closed face spinning reel. Get a closed face reel because it is easier for a rookie to use. To cast with it you just push the button on the reel, hold it down then release it just at the right instant on forward cast. Easy. With a little practice he will figure out when that "right instant" is. Later on he will want an open face spinning reel because it gives more flexibility in the casting and line management. Nice birthday or Christmas present.

Expert Advice, Hints and Shortcuts From the World?s Leading Fly Fishers to give the book its full title, is edited by Jay Nichols, the former managing editor of Fly Fisherman magazine in the USA. Anyone who is familiar with that magazine will recognise many of its contributors have provided much of the content of this book.

If you ask any fly fisherman if he gets any catfish, he'll probably tell you that he sure does... accidentally! Chances are, he's targeting bass, trout or crappie and a cat gets snagged somewhere along the way. On the other hand, if you ask a catfish...

When club official Brian Pfeiffer began passing out trophies and checks in the Sanford Lake Bass Open Saturday, he noted that the fifth-place total of 18.03 pounds, caught by Chris Schalk of Sanford and Mike Ebach of Grawn, would have taken first place in last year's edition of the event.