Well, another great WITO Ohio Statewide Event is in the books. This is my favorite Club Outreach Program because I get to meet so many new people each year and renew friendships with returning students and fellow instructors. This year there were 41 distinct programs for the women to choose from, but only enough time to participate in five of them during their stay. There were 162 students for the weekend with about 40-50 instructors, assistants and staff. Every teacher and staff member was a volunteer who gave of their time and talent to promote all that the outdoors has to offer to women. This is my third year teaching at this event.
I was the lead instructor for two fly fishing/fly casting classes on Saturday morning on the shore of Leesville Lake in Carrolton, Ohio, (Ohiotuber’s backyard) followed by two fly tying classes in the afternoon. Two of our club members assisted me, and were worn out by the end of the day from running all over the waterfront helping the new fly fishers, and from standing on their feet while assisting fly tying students for their 2 hour classes…TWICE! In all there were 13 students for the outdoor classes and 20 for the fly tying. They sure kept us busy, and I had no problem sleeping at the end of the day.
Here are some pics of the ladies stringing up their rods, catching the occasional bluegill and practicing their casting:
Check out the cast of the gal at the top of the picture. She never held a flyrod before that day, and was casting like this after a 45 minute lesson. Amazing natural ability!
Friday and Saturday evenings were taken up the three of us with performing fly tying demonstrations in the Conference Center. Friday was a little quiet like in past years, with only a handful of people moving through the Conference Center, watching us tie and asking questions. Saturday night was almost total chaos. We ended up with students returning from the day classes asking if they could tie more flies, and they brought friends along to learn how to tie their first fly as well. Out came the kits and materials again, and it was just like teaching another 2-hour class. We had a great time helping the new students and providing positive reinforcement for the students returning from the afternoon classes. At the end of the day we used almost 125 hooks, three cards of chenille, ? pack of marabou and a large pile of foam strips and rubber legs (foam beetles with rubber legs were the favorite fly).
Here’s yours truly leading a class of eager fly tying students:
Here’s my friend Tom teaching the ladies some different flies in the evening:
We look forward to returning to this event in 2008 to provide the opportunity for more women to explore the world of fly-fishing. This is a great weekend if you would like to give any woman in your life (over age14) the opportunity to learn outdoor skills.
Women In The Outdoors is an outreach program of the National Wild Turkey Federation. For more information go to http://www.womenintheoutdoors.org/wito/?SUBSITE=wito
Joe
