Over 20 years ago a lady fly fisher thought that it might be a good idea to use the new medium of the Internet to spread information about fly fishing. She had been fishing since she was a very young girl and had taken up fly fishing in her early adult years. With her then husband, she had been teaching people how to use a fly rod for several years. She was an accomplished writer and had been writing columns about outdoor sports for a national syndicated organization. So, without any real knowledge about how to start an Internet website, like so many things that she had tackled in her life, she set out to do what had not been done. Thus, Fly Angler’s Online was born.

The lady became The Ladyfisher and her husband became Castwell, and with the help of a few computer geeks and several fly fishers that were willing to contribute content without pay and FAOL became a reality. She personally contacted major players in the industry and convinced them that they should invest in this new endeavor by becoming sponsors.

Her purpose was to produce a place where the average angler could share knowledge about fly fishing, fly tying and any other aspect of the sport of fly fishing. The writers were seldom known names in the industry, but they were just regular anglers that had years of experience under their belts and were anxious to share that knowledge with others with similar interests.

There was a bulletin board for anglers to communicate with other anglers, there were fly tying contests and organized fly-fishing gatherings called Fish-ins where readers could get together and meet and fish together. All this, and much more came into being because a lady thought it might be a good idea to start an online fly-fishing website.

Fast forward 20 plus years and FAOL is still available for free to anyone that wants to log in and read the content. There are thousands of archived pages and the bulletin board is still a place where new and old readers share comments and ideas. However, the wheels of time continue to grind on and times have changed.

On May 16, 2019 the Ladyfisher crossed over the river and has gone on, out of sight on the other side. Gone but not forgotten, her legacy lives on through the pages of FAOL and in the hearts and minds of all who knew her, either in person or though the pages of this publication to which she gave life.

In the immediate future FAOL will continue to exist. In honor of her name and her intense desire to provide a forum for the average angler FAOL will continue to post a new home page and allow anyone that wishes to share knowledge about fellow fly-fishers a forum.

Another winter has come and gone. The Wrens are back to their nest building in my garage gutters and soon the Magnolia will bloom.

Finally had a chance to get out when I was free, and it was not raining.

As fly anglers we are illusionists, our audience is the trout, whereas someone like David Copperfield of today or Harry Houdini of yesteryear created their illusions for people and down through time both have been suitably fooled.

Here in my home state of Montana, we are blessed for our untold miles of Blue- Ribbon Trout streams. Every year fly anglers come from across the country and around the world to fish the fabled waters of Montana and test their skills on our various trout species.

Here in my home state of Montana, we are blessed for our untold miles of Blue- Ribbon Trout streams. Every year fly anglers come from across the country and around the world to fish the fabled waters of Montana and test their skills on our various trout species.

High up on the north facing slope of the mountain a tiny rivulet appears from the rock face and slowly begins to flow down the slope. Along the way it disappears into the gravel only to reappear further down the mountain.