"Beginner's Only" Class of 2005

[kgilroy]

Steven, Just want to say thanks for a great experience. Sometimes being pushed is the only way one gets better at things. My son and I were looking at flies in Gander Mountain the other night and he said "lets just go home and you can tie us a few for tomorrow, yours look better." For a compliment like that coming from him I can only say thanks to you Steven. to any of you new people out there who might be hesitating about joining this beginner swap, all I can say is, don't wait too long! Happy fishing folks. kev

[dmccabe]

Yes thanks Steven - but now I am lost again, I enjoyed participating and seeing the others efforts, but I started late and therefore was not aware that it would all end way to soon. I have been kicking around an idea in my noggin' - How about a Class of 2005 alumni swap, running concurrently with your beginers only. Same basic rules, 10 tiers, vote for type, carry over count, tie 12, send them in, etc. but the main difference would be we do 10 months so everyone has to host one time. One of the things I liked about the beginners only was that even when I got too busy I had to find time to tie, which actually helped relax me - like hobbies are supposed to do. This format would keep our skills growing and we would all get to experience hosting. If anyone is interested let me know.

Steven - I would be very open to any comments or suggestions you would have on this idea or how to get it set up. You or another highly experienced tier and host would also be welcome to participate and to continue to provide feedback.

Dev

Dev:

Great Idea! Also a nice compliment to those who participated in the swaps. You mentioned one of my theme for the swaps, "Getting you to tie flies"! Another item on my swap agenda, was to get the members outside of their comfort zone, as well as making it a learning experience, but most importantly to have "FUN" doing the swaps.

I like the idea of the "Rotating Duties of Swapmeister", and creating new categories of flies.

I had 9 categories, and sometimes it was hard to choose, which category a given pattern fit into. Sometimes a pattern did not seem to fit any category, while at other times the pattern seem to fit many categories.

Wish you luck in your future fly tying endeavors, as I have watched past members of "Beginner's Only Fly Swap", become "Swapmeisters", hosts of "Regional FAOL Fish-In's" (which was my idea), and have others have written articles for FAOL, including "Fly of the Week" articles.

The best gift a student can give to their mentor (s), is the success of the student from the mentoring lessons given. That is what "Paying Forward" is all about....

~Parnelli

[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 18 May 2005).]