Fishing, Community, Conservation
Those three words define what it means to be an FFI member.
Despite two years of pandemic most of us have figured out safe ways to gather outdoors and fish. And pandemic didn’t halt the
ability of affiliated clubs to sustain conservation efforts and for Washington FFI members to raise a substantial share of funds to
conserve the Ebsen Fishing Access site on the Grande Ronde in Eastern Washington. Now many clubs are joining a separate
campaign to raise funds to acquire the Yakima River Ranch on the river of the same name in Central Washington.
What’s been missing from the core list of FFI values is community. Now, we’re turning that around too.
The Washington State Council of FFI will resume in-person events with a Casting Fair Aug. 13 at Lake Ballinger Park in the
Mountlake Terrace neighborhood of Seattle. The day-long event will offer a walk-in casting clinic, a skills development course
and four detailed classes in specific casting skills taught by FFI certified instructors. In addition, FFI will host some of the best
fly tiers in the Pacific Northwest in a rotating series of tying sessions that will go on inside the Lakeview Room at the Mountlake
Terrace Senior Center at the site. There also will be information and programs for FFI’s Women Connect, FFI Youth Programs
and displays by Project Healing Waters that serves disabled veterans. To keep us all on our toes, we will have a coffee truck on
the site in the morning and a taco truck for lunch and refreshments in the afternoon.
With the exception of the detailed classes in specific casting skills, the program will be free. Want help solving that annoying
tailing loop problem you’ve got? Want to figure out the double-haul or develop a better roll cast? We’ll offer help on Aug. 13 at
Lake Ballinger. Bring your questions to the walk-in clinic and spend time with a Certified FFI Casting Instructor. The process
will be simple. Bring your own rod. Stop at the registration desk when you arrive and describe what you want to learn, or the
problem you want to address. You will be matched with an instructor either individually or in groups of 2 or 3 to work on the
skill.
There may be a brief wait for time slot with an instructor. If so, head to the casting skills development area where you can do a
series of drills, cast to targets or do a variety of other skills challenges. Bring a buddy and make a day of it. Better yet, bring your
whole club and make a day of it.
For the best experience, register for one of the four detailed classes in specific casting skills. Those 90-minute sessions – two in
the morning and two in the afternoon – will provide you with the concise instruction that FFI is known for. Classes will be
delivered by Certified FFI Casting Instructors. Our Summer newsletter will contain a complete list of classes and instructors who
will join us for the day. The fee for each class will be $35 per person. Attendance will be limited. Our summer newsletter will
include links to register online and reserve your spot.
Other that those classes, the day is free to FFI members and the public. Gather your friends and fellow club members and join us.
We look forward to seeing you.
Awards
Elsewhere in this edition of Covering the Drift, there is a story on the new online nomination process for the Washington State
Council’s annual awards. Special thanks to Washington FFI Director and Webmaster Sam Matalone who thought the council
needed a simpler method to nominate colleagues for awards and encourage members to participate. Rather than just talk about
the problem, he fixed it. The result is a simple online form that describes our awards and allows members to fill out submit
nominations online. I encourage you to do that today.
Members affiliated with Washington FFI are engaged in education, conservation and environmental stewardship statewide. Since
the formation of Washington FFI in the 1960s our members and affiliated clubs have played an invaluable role in conserving and
protecting countless acres of stream and river bank. We bring people together in the vigorous defense of ecosystems and
committed efforts to share the best in fly tying, casting and fishing skills. You and your colleagues are the engine that drives that
and FFI awards are a way to say thanks and invite deeper commitment. Please, take a minute today to review the awards and
nominate your friends for there hard work.