Heather Mullee Barber is the Executive Director of the Bitter Root Water Forum.  During her nine-year tenure she has significantly increased the organization's ability to complete on the ground restoration projects and provide quality watershed education.  

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Jessica loves to capture life unfolding in front of her lens. Jessica has also been published constantly in varying, Sports Fishing Magazines, whether that’s conventional or Fly fishing. With an editorial based shooting style, Jessica has been Professionally Photographing in the Sports fishing for over 10 years. 

On Thursday March 5th, during the International Fly Fishing Film Festival, a special treat, a screening from local filmmaker and photographer Jessica Haydahl Richardson, “Dropped in the Pacific” a short film chronicling local women’s fishing adventure to Christmas Island. Her slide show presentation will not be disappointing.

Jessica currently resides in the Bitterroot of Montana.

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The Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission will meet Monday, Jan. 6 to discuss a few items of official business and to hold a work session.

The commission will consider a bull trout harvest closure on Lake Koocanusa and a petition to allow hovercraft on the Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers, along with the White Rock Coulee right of way easement and Helena urban deer plan quota ranges.

Eddie Olwell has also been the featured guide on an episode of the long running television show Fly Fishing the World. Eddie has a great passion for rivers and a strong conviction for preserving these cherished resources. He spends much of his free time volunteering with local conservation groups to preserve natural resources and our hunting and fishing heritage.

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The first official Hamilton Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing event will be on 16 DEC at 6:30 PM located at the Sapphire Homes conference room in Hamilton.  The event is for all registered PHW participants and volunteers.  Veterans interested in joining PHW are also invited to attend.  Please RSVP to scott.roberts@projecthealingwaters.org.

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Speakers Matt Bryn, Retail Manager, and Rick Marcum, Outfitting Manager, Grizzly Hackle talk about their passion for fly fishing leading to different target species.

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Helfrich covers the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, the Main Salmon in Idaho, the Wild and Scenic Rogue River in Oregon and the Owyhee River Canyonlands.  Known for rowing classic wooden boats on the rivers, Helfrich also makes use of rafts during low water to enable great fishing adventures.  https://www.helfrichoutfitter.com/helfrich-history/

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There are few people in the country with as much in-depth knowledge of fly fishing, fly casting, and fly tying as Bob Jacklin. Bob is a world class fly fisherman, fly tier, and a Certified Master Fly Casting instructor with the Fly Fishers International. 

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Mark is also a full time Paramedic with Marcus Daly Ambulance service. Since 1998  he has been a volunteer member of Ravalli County Search and Rescue and has participated in hundreds of search/rescue missions encompassing the mountains and waterways of the valley, day or night and in all weather conditions. 

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Come one, come all, come early to be sure that you get a seat for the world famous  FFB slide show, organized and orchestrated by Bob Prince, teacher, musician, guide and former FFB president.  Here is a chance to see friends and colleagues fishing and perhaps even catching fish.  Photos will be augmented by an often witty, sometimes hilarious commentary.  Come see the membership in action. 

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Greg will show us why Christmas Island is considered one of the top saltwater flats fishing destinations in the world. The atoll surrounds a pristine lagoon with stunning beaches, extensive bird life and a friendly Micronesian culture. And the fishing! Within the lagoon are bonefish and a variety of trevally species including the tackle busting Giant Travelly.

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This presentation will focus on catching king salmon on a fly in an amazing fishery the Kanektok
River, Alaska.

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Alice Owsley owner of Riverside Anglers, Inc. is making her way from West Yellowstone to our meeting on Oct 2. This will be a super presentation since it will also focus on her adventures as a long time snow coach tour driver in the Park!

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Alice is an accomplished fly tier and loves trying out new patterns on the water. Alice enjoys teaching clients new tricks with the fly rod like reach casts, tuck casts and how to properly present a fly when Montana’s afternoon winds begin to blow. She also teaches spey casting.

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A presentation from the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers will include an introduction to the national organization and a summary of the Montana Chapter's activities. They believe that streambed walking access, so essential to our outdoor opportunities, is not being discussed or defended at a national level – and in some states, sportsmen are literally losing ground.

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Skip Morris is among the most prolific fly-fishing and fly-tying authors alive—his name is known to anglers around the world.

He has written eighteen books on fly fishing and tying, including the established standard beginning fly tier's volume Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple, and The Art of Tying the Bass Fly, Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes (with lake-fishing guru Brian Chan), Concise Handbook of Fly Tying, and Fly Fisher's Guide to Western River Hatches. 

Read more: http://www.skip-morris-fly-tying.com/skip-morris.html#ixzz5CfJ4tWYB

Have you ever helped someone loading groceries or a bag of dog food? Feels great doesn't? We need your support to make an enjoyable fishing day for those without the means. Please let your president know if you can support this worthy cause: je@shuttleworthje.com 

The June program is titled “Lake Fishing” and will focus on equipment, locating fish, and specific methods and techniques for fooling fish in still waters. Although there are numerous food sources available to trout in lakes Denny will concentrate on three of the most abundant and usually available sources – Chironomids, leeches and Callibaetis mayflies.  Although he will discuss several techniques for fishing imitations of each food source Denny will concentrate on a single technique that is effective for all three and is simple to learn and execute.

If you want to try 'Fishing with a Fly' click the pic for more info. Classes are held the first 4 Wednesdays in May from 6 - 8:30 PM at Corvallis High School. Contents include, classroom information (i.e., preparation, identifying fishy waters, knowing what flies to use and being safe), and understanding how the fly rod is different than a conventional rod then applying the concept to fly casting.

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Registration Forms for the Clinic are available at Freestone Fly Shop and Chuck Stranahan's Fly Shop, in Hamilton MT.  Bitterroot TU Members and FFB members $35; non-members $50.

TOPIC: Fly Fishing Alaska's Great Rivers including the Kvichak, Naknek, Togiak, Kanektok and Kenai River

TOPIC: "Dry River Channel, Fishing and Writing, and a River." 

Professor Weltzien is interested in regional literature and is a champion of Montana literature, which he believes is wedded to the landscape.  He edited The Literary Art and Activism of Rick Bass and The Norman Maclean Reader, which included several unpublished works by Maclean.  He also was a featured speaker at the annual "In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Festival."  Maclean and A River Runs Through

Tips and techniques to fish better from a drift boat.  This presentation illustrates the differences between wade and float fishing with insights to maximize your next float fishing experience.  Specific skills such as casting, mending, hook-sets, and fighting fish from a boat are covered in depth. 

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Come one, come all, come early to be sure that you get a seat for the world famous  FFB slide show, organized and orchestrated by Bob Prince, teacher, musician, guide and former FFB president.  Here is a chance to see friends and colleagues fishing and perhaps even catching fish.  Photos will be augmented by an often witty, sometimes hilarious commentary.  Come see the membership in action. 

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He is also honored as KPAX's One Class at a Time winner! Paste the following link to your browser:

 http://www.kpax.com/story/37177833/one-class-at-a-time-stevensville-elementary-school

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In her tenure, the Water Forum has completed six River Clean Ups, removing more than 12,000 pounds of trash from the Bitterroot River and completed more than ten restoration projects . Heather will discuss the Water Forum’s work bringing the community together to protect, enhance and restore the watershed we all rely on. Along with an update on ways that the Water Forum is improving water quality and fish habitat, Heather will look for input as to what the Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot see as the most pressing issues of concern for local our water resources.

For more info, click the button below.

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Also, don't forget the Forum's Holiday party tonight December 12th.

Come to elect your officers and enjoy appetizers.

Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot is pleased to host Sean Gallagher as our speaker for October 3, 2017 at 7 PM at BJ’s Restaurant in Hamilton, MT.

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Sean's digital slide show includes a number of never published photos mixed with images from WILD STEELHEAD and steelhead country. All of them have a story. “This is a book of experiences. It is about the lure, the lore, the tradition, the culture that has evolved around—and most of all the characters I have met while pursuing steelhead throughout the last 50 years.” Join us and take a look behind the scenes at the making of the largest ( two volume) steelhead book ever published.

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Sean has a memorable connection to Montana besides special friendships. His grandfather, an avid trout fisherman, was born and raised in Montana. During the early 1960s he tutored Sean in all things trout, including the art of fly casting.

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WILD STEELHEAD review quotes:

“ Once in a while a book comes along that so resonates as to change the way you view things. Wild Steelhead is such a book. It makes me remember why I became a steelheader, and reconnects me with all those things that are elemental to my steelheading experience. I have not had an angling book get under my skin in this way since Trey Combs’s Steelhead Fly Fishing. It really is that good...

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"Some books really don’t require much patience—the good stuff will jump right out at you because there isn’t much of it. Wild Steelhead isn’t like that. It is a book to cover slowly, with patience and care, preferably accompanied by a good single malt..."

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“If Wild Steelhead is the final work to come out of the greatest era of the literature of steelhead fly fishing that began with Trey Combs's Steelhead Fly Fishing, Combs's and Gallagher's works are the bookends...”

Is it worth 150 bucks? Every penny.”

  - Dana Sturn, Spey Pages

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“It is not much of an exaggeration, if any, to state that these two volumes represent the greatest collection of steelhead photographs, techniques and lore ever compiled in one place...”

  - Western Washington University (Special Collections Library)

Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot is pleased to welcome Jesse Riding the General manager of Rainy’s Flies. Rainy’s is one of the largest commercial fly tying operations in the country and operates at a worldwide scale. The company was started by Jesse’s mother, Rainy at their kitchen table.

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The title of Jess’s presentation is “Fly Tying on a global scale: from feather to fish". He will describe what it takes for large companies to mass produce flies and market them all over the world. He will also discuss what to look for in a commercially produced fly, historic trends in flies, and the general business of fly tying.

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Also joining Jesse will be Dick Sagara from Temple Fork Outfitters. Dick will provide a brief demonstration of some casting techniques. He will also have examples of the rods we are evaluating for the Buggers program for you to try.

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Title of the presentation:

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From Beginning to End: A Trip through the Seasons

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Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot is pleased to welcome Cam Coffin as our dinner speaker for our May 2nd meeting.

This presentation takes you through the entire fishing season in and outside of Yellowstone Park.  It will cover many of the major streams and lakes and their hatches as well as many overlooked and not so obvious fishing opportunities that Yellowstone Country has to offer.  There is no way to cover all of the rivers and lakes in the area so Cam will talk about the ones that he personally loves to fish!

Cam will also briefly talk about his saltwater trips that for the past 20 winters the shop have offered.  This includes saltwater trips to Belize and Mexico both of which are world class bonefish, permit and tarpon destinations. 

Cam was born and raised in West Yellowstone Montana and started fishing when he was 10 years old with his dad and 4 brothers.  He started working and guiding for Craig Mathews in 1989 and have been at Blue Ribbon Flies ever since.  During these past 25 years he has guided between 110- 160 days per year.  He has guided all throughout Yellowstone Park and several rivers in Montana such as the Madison, Yellowstone, Missouri, Beaverhead, Ruby, Big Hole, Boulder, Stillwater, and Bighorn to name a few.  In 2014 he became the proud owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, which he purchased from Craig Mathews. Cam currently lives in West Yellowstone, MT with his wife Kristy and two children Sam and Izzy.

You will not find another place in the world with a larger concentration of blue ribbon trout streams and still waters than the greater Yellowstone area. Over two thousand miles of water are within a short drive of our headquarters in West Yellowstone, Montana.

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TOPIC:  Foam flies and his newly released book, Creations from the River Road: Practical Realism for Tying and Fishing Foam Trout Flies

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Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot is pleased to welcome Tony Tomsu as our April dinner speaker for our April 4th meeting at BJ’s. Tony Tomsu and his wife, Kathi, started River Road Creations, Inc. in 1998. RRC has since grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of wing and foam body cutters. The company also produces other unique fly tying accessories and materials.

Tony’s flies have been featured in Fly Fisherman, Fly Tyer, Northwest Fly Fishing, and Canadian Fly Fisher magazines, among others.  His innovative fly designs have captured the attention of fly tyers across the globe.

In 2010, Tony was part of a two-person team representing The University of Montana in the inaugural World Varsities Trout Fly Fishing Competition. This first-ever university-level world fly fishing championship was held on Lough Corrib in Cong, County Mayo, Ireland. Tony and his partner finished third out of fifteen international teams.

After working as a financial analyst for the University of Montana for nearly 20 years, Tony began working full time for RRC in 2016.

In 2017, Tony released his first book, “CREATIONS FROM THE RIVER ROAD: Practical Realism for Tying and Fishing Foam Trout Flies,” edited by Dale Burk and published by Stoneydale Press Publishing Company. Tony is donating a copy of this book for our raffle the evening of his presentation.

Tony and Kathi live and work near Stevensville in the Bitterroot Valley of Western Montana.

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Announcing, A Fly Fishing Clinic!

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Sponsored by The Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot (FFB) and the Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited (BRTU)

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4 Wednesdays in May , 2017 (5/3, 10, 17 & 24) Corvallis Middle School, 6 – 8:30 PM

• Designed for beginning adult anglers

• Comprehensive curriculum covering all aspects of fly fishing.

• Great value at $50 per person

• Enrollment includes a 1 year membership in BRTU & FFB

• Already a member?  …then your tuition is only $35

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Special Feature!

Casting instruction provided by Chuck Stranahan and his expert staff.

Chuck and Steve Davis are Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Casting Instructors

Sign up deadline - April 15!!

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Limited enrollment so sign up early!

You may enroll  at Freestone Fly Shop in Hamilton or

 Chuck Stranahans Flies and Guides in Hamilton.

You may also mail in your enrollment form plus a check payable to BRTU

BRTU

PO Box 262

Hamilton MT 59840

Questions? Call Greg Chester at 406-363-0033  or Chuck Stranahan at 406-363-4197

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Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot

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March Dinner Speaker    March 7th, 6 PM    BJs Restaurant

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Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot is pleased to welcome Willi Cannell.   Willi and his wife Kat are the owners and operators of Solitude River Trips in Salmon, Idaho.  They specialize in rafting and fly fishing trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho.   Willi will be describing their trips using some of the beautiful photography done by his wife Kat who is a professional photographer.  They are an Orvis certified outfitter.

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The Middle Fork of the Salmon flows through the 2.3-million-acre Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.  The Middle Fork offers wilderness cutthroat trout fishing.  Willi will describe the history, geology and of course the fishing opportunities on the river.  Their company was chosen as the Orvis Expedition of the Year in 2006 and was chosen one of the “Best Outfitters on Earth” by the National Geographic Adventure Magazine.  To learn more take a look at www.rivertrips.com 

Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot are sponsoring a one day workshop on Saturday June 24, 2017.   The featured presenters will be Rick Hafele and Dave Hughes.  They are the co-authors of Western Hatches, which many consider to be the definitive book on this topic

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The course will include a presentation followed by streamside collection and identification of insects.  This is followed by a session on matching the insects with the best flies.  Demonstrations of best fishing techniques for dry fly, wet fly, and nymph fishing will follow.   At the end of the day ,one-on-one casting tune-ups will be available from certified IFFF casting instructors.

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Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided.  The dinner is a Bar-BQ with beer and wine included.  Evening entertainment follows.  The event will be held at Steve Lilburn’s Hannon House south of Darby.   B&B rooms are available through Steve as well as RV spots with electric hook ups.   Tent camping is also available and a restroom is on site.  For reservations contact Steve at riverresortsllc@gmail.com    We will be selling Bar-BQ tickets separately so spouses or others can join us for the dinner and entertainment portion.

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Participation is limited to the first 25 registrants.  Cost is $150 for FFB and TU members and $175 for nonmembers.   

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Sign up at using the registration form on the website of FFB   which is www.flyfishersofthebitterroot.org .   A deposit of $50 insures you a place at the event which is limited to the first 25 who sign up and pay the full program cost.  A portion of the Funds over and above the program cost will be earmarked for a Bitter Root Water Forum Project.

February's meeting will feature a talk from the great Andy Carlson.  You can read a little about Andy below and can find the full bio on his website http://www.andycarlsonbitterrootanglers.com/

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Don't Miss this One!

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Andy Carlson, owner of Bitterroot Anglers, has been an international fly fishing outfitter and educator/teacher for over 42 years; including 11 years orchestrating and outfitting the fly fishing programs at the the Stock Farm, Hamilton , Montana, a Charles Schwab venture . 

He is the inventor of many fly patterns including his most famous the "Purple Haze". Andy has been a trout activist since his college years at Colorado University, Boulder (1972-76). He has also earned the award of Montana Trout Unlimited, Fly Fisherman of the year. Andy and a small group of activists helped create minimum flow waters in the Bitterroot River via the acquisition of stored waters at Painted Rocks Reservoir up the West Fork of the Bitterroot River River, instrumental in managing the River's wild trout populations.

January's meeting will feature the annual slideshow, featuring our club members very best fishy pictures and videos from the past year.  Come ring in the new year with a fun evening of grip and grins, scenery shots, wildlife stills, and a general good look back on the year that was. 

The Program

Tom Reed, the author of Blue Lines, A Fishing Life, and a director at Trout Unlimited will be talking about fishing small streams around the West and about native trout populations. Tom lives on a small stream-North Willow Creek-outside Pony.

The Club Meeting will feature the annual slideshow.  Don't Miss out.  6:00 social hour.  7:00 meeting.

The day after burning a bunch of meat on the grill and lighting off a pile of high explosives.

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We will be having our July meeting this Tuesday, July 5th.

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This month's meeting is an informal one.  Just bring your best big fish stories from this summer and enjoy an evening of comradery with your fishing buddies.  Hope to see y'all there.

The April Meeting is coming up on Tuesday, April 5th at BJ's Restaurant in Hamilton, MT.  Social hour starts at 6:00pm, the meeting begins in earnest at 7:00pm.

The program will feature amazing information on the status of our beloved Bull Trout here in Montana from speaker Wade Fredenberg.  Check out the program description below.

The Program

Wade Fredenberg

Wade is a 4th generation Montanan from the Flathead, who received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. For twelve years he was employed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; first in Billings where he managed wild trout in the Bighorn River and then in Bozeman where he had the good fortune to guide State management on the Madison and Gallatin Rivers from 1988-1992. He became a Fish and Wildlife Service employee in 1992, and has since held a variety of Native Fish Coordinator duties for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service out of Creston Hatchery. He has been involved in bull trout conservation and the ESA workings of Bull Trout since 1992.

As an avid angler and Bull Trout worshiper, Wade will present a series of observations about the vulnerability of the species and highlight the dilemma that bull trout face in trying to “recover” in systems like the Bitterroot where angler use is intense. He promises that even if you don’t like what he has to say, at least you’ll enjoy the pictures!

Tuesday, June 6th's program will feature the great Dave Hughes.  Dave is one the world's great authors, anglers, and teachers of the sport of fly fishing and simply a great guy.  Dave has literally done it all, and has probably forgotten more than most of us know in the first place!

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This is your chance to come and here from a true master of our sport.  We say it every month but seriously.  Don't miss this one!

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Social hour at 6:00pm, with the meeting starting at 7:00.

We will be hosting Chris Clancy. He is the regional fisheries biologist
for Montana and works out of the Hamilton office. He will be giving
us an update on the projects he has been working on this summer.

“Every time an FFB member has a great day on the Bitterroot, a debt of
gratitude is owed to Chris Clancy – and many members probably don’t
know why. I remember when Chris began his career here as a full-time
resource biologist for Fish Wildlife and Parks. A good day’s float
fishing, then, might consist of twenty fish, most of them under 11” and
rarely one over 14”. A couple of fish might be cutthroats – and a 14”
cutty was a rare event.

Over the course of Chris’ work on our behalf we
know what has happened: we enjoy the outstanding fishing that has
made the Bitterroot the third-most-heavily fished river in Montana
today. Come out and hear the latest from Chris – and show your
appreciation for the job he continues to do.” - Chuck Stranahan

For our November program we are privileged to have Dr. Diana Six.

Diana is a Professor of Forest Entomology/Pathology at the College of
Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. Diana is an
editor of numerous professional journals and frequently travels to
Africa as part of her ongoing research efforts.

Diana’s topic will be “What Aquatic Insects can tell you about a
Stream”. She will discuss why insects are an excellent indicator of
stream/ river conditions and a good measure of how stream restoration
is progressing.

Diana is also an avid fly fisher and tier. She is a board member of the
West Slope Chapter of Trout Unlimited and participates in the
Watershed Education Network.

Len Zickler, currently serves as spokesman for the Chairman of the Board Committee of the IFFF and Vice President of the Eastside for the Washington Council of the IFFF.  He is also a member of the Spokane Fly Fishers (SFF) and Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club.  Len is a life member of the IFFF and Trout Unlimited (TU) and an IFFF Certified Casting Instructor.

Len and his wife Dawn moved to Spokane in 2008 to be near their children.  Len currently leads the SFF casting program as a part of the Club’s very successful annual fly fishing school.  Len served the IFFF as the local coordinator for the 2012 International Fly Fishing Fair in Spokane, WA.  

Len is a principal and environmental planner with ProjectTributa, a community planning firm based in Spokane.  He is a recognized expert in the field of Low Impact Development (LID) - a technology intended to promote natural storm drainage management to insure the maintenance of clean, cold water for people and fish. 
  
Len loves to fish rivers and streams of the region including the Clark Fork, Clearwater, St. Joe, Yakima, Upper Columbia, Klickitat, Methow, and the spring creeks of Eastern Washington

Karstetter Classic

August 21, 2016, Darby, Montana

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The fourth annual Karstetter Classic will be held from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Sunday, August 21, 2016, on the banks of the Bitterroot River at 144 Hannon Lane, Darby, Montana, 59829, three miles south of Darby on Hwy 93. The Karstetter Classic is a gathering of those who build, use and admire the classically made bamboo fly rod (both antique and new) and the reels used with them. 

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Many of us own and use bamboo or cane rods in our fly fishing adventures, but it is rare that we have an opportunity to compare the various rods and reels that represent this segment of the fly fishing art. Only by casting them do we understand their true nature. This is an opportunity to do just that on the site casting pond or in the adjacent river. Share knowledge, admire craftsmanship and hang out with some real characters.

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This event was named for Marty Karstetter. Marty lives in Darby Montana where he crafts handmade bamboo rods considered by many to be classic examples of the art form. Well known to the rod building industry, he is also a ceaseless ambassador for their application and use. An opportunity to see and compare examples of a rapidly vanishing fishing style and craftsmanship is rare. Hence the Karstetter Classic, a gathering of classic and classically made fly fishing equipment for those who make them and those who admire them.

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This is a free event held on private property. There is no charge for entrance, parking, display, sale or trades. Display tables may be erected and easy ups are suggested. Rod builders, collectors, and fisher folk who use or want to use bamboo rods are invited. However, this is a hands on event so rods brought should be available to be cast by other participants. There is a casting pond and over 2000 feet of river abuts the property. Dust off that old rod and reel and bring it down.

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The event is being held in conjunction with the Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot annual picnic hosted on site by the club starting at 4:00 pm. Any non club member may join the FFB members for a steak BBQ and open keg with our compliments. Additionally, you may join FFB at $25.00 for a year’s individual membership.

This is our fourth annual. Hope to see you there.