Like Whitney Houston sez...

...I believe children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way.

Not children. Well, maybe man-children. Hey, whatever.

Yesterday marked the first of what might be an annual event, a day to take new flyfishermen (and women, if they'd shown up) out for a little introductory lesson.

It started as an idea on paflyfish.com's forums and sort of grew from there. One of the more prolific, and  nicer, posters ran with it and really brought together alot of resources to make something good happen in the parking lot of the old Little Lehigh Fly Shop.

Learnin'

I'd estimate about 40 people showed up, with an easily estimated over half being very new beginners, including a pretty healthy number of guys who weren't even from the board. The day was broken down to a number of classes, from basic equipment, through flies and entomology, to the benefits of Trout Unlimited and conservation.

Of course, the one thing that just about everyone of us could stand a lesson on is casting. We were fortunate to have friend of the forum, and our of our organizer, Dave Rothrock come down to work with not only our newbies, but even our experienced casters. Dave is a a certified master instructor, a liscenced guide, former PATU president and all about wizard on the water, and about as humble a man as you'll meet so I'll skip any further accolades.

Ever watch a guy lay 110' of line
effortlessly?

Dave took the time to work with the group on their casting. From a basic demonstration of laying out a full line, and backing, Dave took the time to explain that if one could do that, with accuracy, then fishing at 60', 30' or even 10' could be done with even less effort. The premise, stripped to its core, was that if one has proper form and timing, and doesn't seek to  mask errors at the more reasonable end of that spectrum, was that you could continue to open up and reach out further and further built off those fundamentals.  From the simplest of pick up and presentation casts, to advanced lessons in hauling, and double hauling, and switch casts, everyone was able to take something out with them.

Watching the back cast helps timing.

As the veteran of some personal time with Dave's casting instruction, I have to say that for those of you who've  never taken the time to work with someone of his caliber, you should consider it. I wouldn't want to turn this into an advertisement for the man's services (and he would hate that I'm doing it), but should you ever get the chance, or the desire, to spend some time honing your abilities, seek him, or a like minded guide and instructor, out. You will be rewarded in the long run.

That about closes up this year's newbie jam from PAFF. We're hoping to do it again next year, too. I think everyone is very happy with the turnout, most of the new guys who left expressed gratitude to all the instuctors, and thankfully the weather cooperated quite nicely with us. The stream was a bit blown out, so lessons couldn't be put to the test, but armed with some new knowledge all of us can get out to really experiment in this coming season.