Attending a Fish-In

[roberts618]

... This is a continuation of my report ....

One of these two gentlemen happened to be WarrenP of this forum. He and I talked for awhile. WarrenP shared with me one of his Wooly Buggers since I had just lost my last one in a nearby tree branch. With WarrenP was Jack Hise who introduced himself and gave me out of the blue, no questions asked, a nicely packaged, brand new, furled leader. Wow ? a fly and a furled leader ? never had two nicer guys stopped by like that and leave me better off than they found me.

Later I would meet WarrenP and Jack at the monthly meeting of the Lynchburg Fly Fishing Club. For those who have heard of Lynchburg, TN, you probably know there is a fine beverage that is produced there. In fact it is so fine and delicious, that it is world famous. Its initials are JD and I will let you know that does not stand for John Deere. (BTW, another fine beverage is made near Normandy, TN and its initials are GD.) When the fishing is bad, you can probably figure out what some of us do, given these fine locally made beverages. There is nothing better than a Lynchburg lemonade on a hot day. (For some reason or other, a Tullahoma lemonade doesn?t quite sound so good.)

To be continued . . . .

[Slate_Drake_9]

Heritage,

I was planning on stopping by to meet some folks this year, but some stuff came up that changed my plans and I ended up fishing on the other end of the state instead of around home. Probably next year. I think the lodge part would be a blast.

Slate

[roberts618]

... This is a continuation of my report ....


I returned to MI in a few weeks and went about my own business. Out of blue in June, I get an email from Jack Hise inviting me to the FAOL Fish-in. Mind you Jack and I have spent a total of 15 minutes together in our collective lifetimes. While I was somewhat of a skeptic about this whole situation, I like to fish and the AuSable River in MI is my ?home waters.? I thought this is an OK situation and went ahead to get reservations at Rusty Gates? Lodge. I planned to stay for parts of three days and two nights. So I would miss the beginning and ending ceremonies of the MI Fish-In.

Upon my arrival at Rusty Gates? place on the afternoon of July 2, I quickly found Jack and he did the usual round of introductions as we came across various people at the Fish-In. Everyone was very friendly and welcomed me to the group.

A storm moved through the area which stopped the fishing that first afternoon. However, this did not slow down the competitive juices and some people were just waiting for the casting competition to begin. To say some people must have practiced in advance for weeks or maybe months, could be an understatement. This was a friendly or funny or serious competition depending your viewpoint. For me it was friendly and funny. I used the new, out-of-box Scientific Anglers outfit that JC brought to the competition. Seems I was too lazy (or intimidated?) to set my equipment up after I saw rods and reels that I only dream of coming out the back of vehicles. While I scored very low (how low is zero points?) on all the events, there were a few casting pros who earned an almost max score. JC gave the SA outfit to rst who he thought deserved the ?most improved? casting award. For all of you who were not there, rst?s only other previous FF tool till that point was a spey rod and reel. I have heard of hunting bear with a switch, but when you are fish for trout with a Kentucky Long Rifle, what can I say?

To be continued . . . .

[roberts618]

... This is a continuation of my report ....



Overall, I had an excellent first experience at a FAOL Fish-In. I felt there were some people there that I instantly connected with and would like to fish with them again. I am sure if had I more time, there would have been other people connections also. I really enjoyed meeting JC and Deanna and could tell both of them have a true life-long passion about the sport of fly fishing. Thank you Jack, for inviting me to this year?s event. Hopefully, the next FAOL MI Fish-In will be bigger and better.

The End