Am I alone?

[Ray Kunz]

I'll be 88 next week. I no longer fly fish but still enjoy tying flies and even continue with a tying club I started many years ago when I taught classes.
What I have is multi-hundreds of assorted trout flies but no sets of dozens of any particular fly.
Big name volunteer groups seem more interested in cash contributions or active guys to lead fishing trips. This is fine but it doesn't help solve my problem.
If I give my flies to newbie tiers it will only discourage them from tying their own. The closest I've come to a solution was to offer guys streamside at a very popular fly-fishing only spot to "pick out a bunch" from my box. These guys obviously responded but should really be tying their own.
Does anyone have a suggestion?

[FishnDave]

First....Happy Birthday, Ray!

Flies get lost to snags or destroyed by fish. Giving some away to anglers who would actually use them wouldn't necessarily discourage them from tying their own as they needed replacements or wanted to try other patterns. That seems like a good use for your flies.

And not all fly anglers have the time or desire to tie their own. To many of us it seems the flyfishing and fly-tying go hand-in-hand, but not everyone sees it that way. Some folks simply buy what they need, or have fly-tying friends tie for them.

There are Casting For Recovery (injured U.S. vets) groups across the U.S. that I'm sure would appreciate your flies. There's one here that has been meeting every Tuesday evening at a local pond.

Another suggestion is local boyscout groups...maybe they could use some of your flies as "go-bys" when they are working towards their fly-tying badges?

I think its great you are looking to thin your stocks and wanting help others in the process.

[sagefisher]

Ray,

I over the years I have donated thousands of flies to various non-profit fly fishing organizations when they have fund raisers. The flies don't have to be the same as long as they are in the same class (like trout flies or saltwater or bass, etc). People love bidding on flies in silent auctions and buy raffle tickets for flies in raffles. I buy fly cups and place a dozen flies in each cup. The organizations make money, I get a tax write off and the pleasure of knowing someone is going to go out there and catch some fish.

You should be able to donate to some around your area, or you could send them to me as a donation to the International Federation of Fly Fishers. I would arrange for a thank you letter which would state your donation and you would simply fill in the value of the donation.

Whatever you do I guarantee there are a lot of people out there that would appreciate your flies.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[NJTroutbum]

Project Healing Waters is always looking for flies. May be a possibility.

Ralph

[Steven]

I've donated through my local Orvis fly shop to Project Healing Waters.

[whatfly]

Donating to non-profits is the way to go, as others have mentioned. Casting for Recovery, Federation of Fly Fishers, various vet groups, or your local fly clubs' annual dinner are all easy choices.

[gerri]

Hey, don't forget Casting for Recovery, the breast cancer flyfishing group that is for both men and women.

[NJTroutbum]

Yes, casting for recovery also.

Usually they al ask for certain types of patterns, so you can divide and conquer.

[ELHead]

How bout one of each pattern along with recipe to newcomers to the sport to encourage tying.