Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing

The San Gabriel Fly Fishing Club Board of Director's and members, by unanimous decision, volunteered Sherman Winters to act as Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing - Coordinator to represent the club at PHWFF area events and functions. While Sherman is away for the summer doing field research and collecting valuable data (fishing) in Colorado , Rod Viator will act as PHWFF - Liaison to Bill Adams at Fort Hood, Texas. There will be fly tying and rope tying workshop at Fort Hood on Thursday, July 15, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for those interested in attending and participating. For further information, please contact Rod by telephone at 512.244.3190 or email rjviator@gmail.com for specifics. In addition, Chris Johnson of Living Waters Fly Fishing Shop has placed a PHWFF Donation Basket in his shop for those wanting to make contributions in the form of fly tying materials for our soldiers. Chris started the donation off with over 1,500 hooks! of various sizes to be used in the flying tying clinics. Mr. Bruce Olson of Umpqua Feather Merchants has donated 5-Metz neck packages to PHWFF Fort Hood program. Mr. John Sherry of the J.E. Sherry Co. Inc. has donated Fishersman's Ultimate Knot Guide as training aids for PHWFF workshops. Many thanks to all!

Activity update, July 19, 2010 - Rod Viator

SGFF Club members Rod Viator and Bob Brooks met with Bill Adams, PHWFF Coordinator at Fort Hood, for a fly tying workshop on July 15th, at the Fort Hood installation. “The Project’s program provides basic fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying and rod building classes and clinics for wounded and injured personnel ranging from beginners to those with prior fly fishing and tying experience who are adapting their skills to their new abilities.” Several cadre of the WTB (Warrior Transition Brigade) along with their soldiers participated in this event. On June 29th, fly rods and reels were awarded to two soldiers who started with the PHWFF program, to see them on their way home after earning their medical discharge orders. More information about this event and previous clinics can be viewed on Bill’s PHWFF web pages at Fort Hood Heroes: Tying Flies for Hot Fishing in Texas! There will be another fly tying workshop at Fort Hood on Thursday, July 29, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for those interested in attending and participating. For further information, please contact Rod by telephone at 512.244.3190 or email rjviator@gmail.com for specifics.

Casting For Recovery. April 16-18, 2010 - Randy Johnson

Note from the President

As you know, the membership of the SGFF voted this year to make a $1,000 donation to the Texas Casting For Recovery (CFR) program, and to make a donation each year, pending annual approval of the membership. This program provides retreats for women who are breast cancer survivors, and our annual donation is targeted to sponsor a Williamson County woman to the South Texas retreat at the Joshua Creek Ranch in Boerne. This year we sponsored Mona Williams, the wife of Bob Williams, one of our members. In addition, two of our members, Mike Howard and Ken Kahanek, volunteered as fishing guides for the retreat this year.

As a result of our donation, and the work of Mike and Ken, we received two thank you letters from CFR, and a very nice thank you card from Mona. The links to each of these are below. One of the letters included the following:

"Your funding support and willingness to share your love of fly-fishing with the women attending our retreats means a great deal to us."

All of us in the SGFF should take pride in our support of this worthy cause.

Links (pdf): Letters, Card

Fly Fishing education at Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp, Aprii 17-18, 2010 - Don Johnson

Several of our members went down to Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp near Bastrop over the week end to help the scouts work on their fly fishing merit badge. Pete Dossing and Richard Garlick where there Saturday morning, Bob Brooks and myself on Saturday afternoon, and Bruce Wilks and Tim Nickels covered the Sunday morning session. In each of the three sessions, lasting between three and four hours, we helped a different group of about fifteen scouts work on the requirements for their fly fishing merit badge. At the beginning of each session we showed the scouts how to rig up a fly rod and reel, demonstrating the knots to tie the backing to the reel arbor, to tie the backing to the fly line, to tie the leader to the fly line, to tie the tippet to the leader, and to tie the tippet to the hook. Then we went out onto the lawn to let the boys use our club rods to try their hand at fly casting (it is not often you get to see six open loops in the air at the same time!). Finally we took the boys down to the lake for a few minutes each on the water, practicing stripping and hook setting.

The threatening weather held off enough to allow all sessions to be completed, and the boys seemed to be interested in fly fishing.

Fly fishing education at Boy Scout camp Tahuaya, September 16, 2009 - Kent Conner

Area Boy Scout leaders gathered again this weekend at Camp Tahuaya for a series of short classes designed to familiarize the leaders with outdoor activities related to scouting merit badges. The scout leaders were organized into four groups with about twelve people per group. On Sunday the groups rotated through four teaching stations (kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, and fly fishing), spending about ninety minutes at each station. Al Desjardin and Kent Conner, representing the San Gabriel Fly Fishers, were there on Sunday to man the fly fishing station and give an introduction to fly fishing. During the first portion of the class we discussed the difference in fly casting and either bait or spin casting. Then Al gave a quick explanation and demonstration of fly casting. The San Gabriel Fly Fishing club provided six rods to use for practice. Most of the class session was spent practicing their casting technique. We had people who had never picked up a fly rod to some fairly adept at casting. After casting for about an hour, we had a question and answer period. Most of the questions were about the cost to start fly fishing.

The scout leaders enjoyed the classes and were generous with thanks for our help. Several people said they plan on taking up fly fishing as a hobby. The function leader said the feed back from the participants was very positive. They appreciated getting to do something right away rather than listening to someone talk for twenty to thirty minutes as they had been doing all weekend

We had several people express an interest in possibly joining our club. I also got a contact with a local Boy Scout Troop which will need some help in teaching Fly Fishing in order for the boys to earn a merit badge

Fly Casting Education with Georgetown's 2008 Outdoor Family Workshop - Al Desjardin

Texas Parks and Wildlife and the City of Georgetown Parks and Recreation hosted the third annual Texas Outdoor Family Workshop. Located in parkland near the Challenge Course off of Booty Road, the workshop offered families the opportunity to learn about a variety of outdoor activities from camping to kayaking. Two San Gabriel Flyfishers - Al Desjardin and George Kurhajec - provided a beginners session on fly fishing to several families. The weather was great and a good time was had by all.

Fly Casting Education with Georgetown's 2007 Outdoor Family Workshop - Keith Lovin

The City of Georgetown held its Outdoor Family Workshop on Saturday, September 22. They requested someone to provide instruction in fly casting. Bob Brooks, Tommy Griffiths, and I volunteered. The workshop is a two day program designed to give families an opportunity to learn various outdoor activities including such things as a ropes course, wildlife identification, recognition of animal tracks, shooting, survival techniques, fly casting, etc.

The clinic was held at Booty's Road Park Pavilion just downstream from the dam at Lake Georgetown. We offered two hour and a half sessions and instructed a total of 13 students ranging in age from about ten years to young adults. We enjoyed having excellent students all of whom seemed eager to learn the delights of casting a weightless fly with the grace and elegance that a nine foot graphite rod makes possible.

Fly fishing education at Boy Scout camp Tahuaya, September 16, 2007 - Don Johnson

Area Boy Scout leaders gathered this weekend at Camp Tahuaya for a series of short classes designed to familiarize the leaders with outdoor activities related to scouting merit badges. The scout leaders were organized into four groups with about twelve people per group. On Sunday the groups rotated through four teaching stations (kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, and fly fishing), spending about ninety minutes at each station. Brooks Bouldin and Don Johnson, representing the San Gabriel Fly Fishers, were there on Sunday to man the fly fishing station and give an introduction to fly fishing. During the first portion of the class Brooks and Don gave a description of flies, lines, leaders, rods, and reels and then gave pointers to books and web sites that provide further information. Then Brooks gave a demonstration of fly casting. The Boy Scouts had provided some rigged fly rods and Books and Don brought a few of their own, and, after Brooks’ demonstration, each of the leaders took a rod out onto the lawn to try their hand at casting. Brooks and Don circulated trying to give at least a few minutes of one-on-one help to the novice casters.

The scout leaders enjoyed the classes and were generous with thanks for our help. We didn’t turn out any expert double hauling fly casters, but several people said they plan a deeper investigation into fly fishing as a potential hobby. Some folks were from the Georgetown area and said they might show up at a future meeting of the San Gabriel Fly Fishers.