PRESIDENT’S CORNER
June 2019 Wow! What a great time to be a part of our association! Bill Grady gave a fantastic presentation on surf fishing at our last general meeting that left everyone wanting to hit the beach. Aldo Martin has been doing a great job lining up our speakers and this month is no exception. The next general meeting will feature Leiza Fitzgerald from the Coastal Conservation Association. She will be speaking about fly fishing, CCA competitions we can participate in, and, of course, conservation. Aldo has told me that she is bringing lots of stuff to share with our members so please come out and learn about the CCA and its mission. The more participation by us the more likely it will be that Aldo can keep getting top tier presenters like Bill and Leiza! For those that missed the last general meeting you also missed a lesson on how to tie the Clouser Minnow by none other than the creator himself, Bob Clouser! I don’t know what I enjoyed more, the lesson or the stories about Bob and his best friend, Lefty Kreh. The staff at Kay’s BBQ went home late that night! No one wanted to leave. We were so grateful that we decided to make Mr. Clouser an honorary member. He accepted and wants to spend more time with us. We couldn’t be happier. Don Killingsworth and Keith Braun organized a fantastic fishing trip to Wabasso and the Vero Beach area. We had a big turnout of boats and members. I went fishing with Bob Clouser and his girlfriend, Jackie. If you want to see what a beautiful cast looks like you must watch Bob Clouser throw a fly. He made it look effortless. Jackie, who started throwing flies in December, has been paying attention to her friend and mentor. Her skills are outstanding. I’m just glad I didn’t hook Bob or Jackie. I probably would have been expelled! Everyone went to lunch together afterwards. The food was good and the laughter was endless. Our next fishing trip will be in Melbourne so start planning to attend now. With coordination we will have another fun time together. Expect more information soon. The plan is to launch boats at the Front Street Park boat ramp across from Harry Goode’s. We will pick a place for lunch and pair members with boats if they cannot bring one of their own. If you missed the fly tying class Tuesday 06/18 you missed another chance to learn from the legend, Bob Clouser. He told us fishing stories while he taught us to tie another one of his favorite flies. Learning about how plentiful the fish were years ago was difficult to hear but the message from Bob was clear… advocate for change before we lose what is left of our favorite fishing destinations. The information was sobering. Let’s hope that the money allocated for improving the IRL is spent wisely. I was recently in the Philadelphia, PA area. While there I went to the TCO Fly Shop in Haverford which is close to Villanova. I was attending my college reunion. It’s a good thing this store did not exist while I was in college because it would have been a major distraction for me. TCO has several shops in PA and a great website. The store I visited is also affiliated with Orvis. This store opened in 1990. I could have spent the entire day there looking at items and gathering local knowledge from the employees, each an avid fly fisherman. Make sure you check out one of the TCO stores if you are in PA or visit their website if your curious. Speaking of websites… Keith will be adding a link to Bob Clouser’s website from our website. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed. Steve Moon