Al Campbell Revisited

Most of us know that Al Cambell left us with a wealth of knowledge and information. So, do the rest of you find yourself doing the same thing I do? I will remember something specific that Al wrote about in one of his columns. I will find it in the archives and then spend the next hour re-reading a BUNCH of his columns. So, tell the truth, the rest of you do the same thing, right?

For those of you who might be new here, from the main menu, click on FEATURES, the click on AL CAMPBELL. If you haven't read Al's stuff, you're in for a treat. If you're an old timer here and haven't read some of Al's columns lately I highly recommend it. Spending some time with Al is almost as good as going fishing.

I was fortunate enough to visit with Al a couple of times in Rapid City before his untimely passing. WHAT A GREAT GUY! I sure miss him.

I read Al's columns all the time. He was a wealth of knowledge. He was very practical in his approach to tying and fishing.

Be sure to read JC's articles as well. He's another must read (over and over).

I never had the pleasure to meet Al and will always regret it, but, I have used his tying lessons many times when teaching beginners how to tie flies. Anyone new to FAOL and are interested in learning to tie flies, you need to check out Al's Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced lessons here. Just start with the Beginners lesson and do not skip any steps and you will have learned a lot about the how-to on fly tying. His lessons will also help you to further understand the tying videos better. I love to read his articles and really enjoyed his humor. I miss him very much......

I miss Al Campbell, even up to today. I did the whole 60 part series of his Beginner's, Intermediate, and Advance Fly Tying Lessons. I send Al every fly pattern that was part of his fly tying series.

It was Al Campbell that helped me build my first fly rod.

I got to fish with Al Campbell for three days at the Black Hills Fish-In. The last time I was with Al Campbell was at the 2003 Idaho Fish In. Al Campbell had his fly tying box across from me in the Rumpus Room, when we were dressing fly patterns for the next days fishing. Al Campbell took Cole Martin a high school student from Great Falls MT, who was in my Beginner's Only Fly Swap that year, fishing on the Upper Selway. Al never opened his fly rod case, instead help mentor Cole Martin who caught all the trout that day.

It was Al Campbell that helped me build my first fly rod.

Al Campbell's Field Editor column was a great help to me.

Al Campbell was my mentor, and only after his death, did I find out that I was 5 years older than Al.

I miss Al, but in a special way Al has not really left us. All his articles are in the archives of FAOL, and they are also on my home computer.

~Parnelli