Today some members of the Lynchburg Fly Fishing Club spent the afternoon helping a local group of boy scouts on their way to a Flyfishing Merit Badge.
WarrenP began with a lesson in fly tying on the edge of the West Branch of Mullberry Creek just out side of Lynchburg, TN. The next step toward the Merit Badge will be to catch a fish on the Fly they tied. A good old Black Wooly Bugger.
Rhonda Page from Tim's Fly's and Lie's in Lynchburg gave a very good lecture on stream safety and manners. She also demonstrated how to remove a hook using a hook stuck in a piece of card board and a length of line. Each of the Scouts took a turn at removing the hook with fairly good success.
Bob Shanks demonstrated the basic knots from attaching the line to the reel to tying on the fly. Again each of the Scouts was required to show that they could tie each knot.
The last lessons of the day were the casting. This was my section and I'm glad no one got pictures!! It had been a long afternoon and I think this is where some of the boys wanted to start so it was a bit like herding cats for a couple minutes!! But, by the end of the session they all were showing some improvement and just need some practice on the basics.