Beaver Dam Store 10th Annual One Fly_ October 29

[Guest flyfishBDS]

Southern Flyfishers Converge On The “One Fly”

One fly fisher, one fly and finding the biggest fish in the river, that is the Beaver Dam Store One Fly Contest tradition. Around 100 fly fishers from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and Kansas will converge on Northwest Arkansas next month for the South’s friendliest fishing event. Many are regulars, returning year after year and planning several days of fabulous fall fishing on the White River’s world-famous tailwaters around the One Fly. Newcomers quickly become part of the One Fly family.

While winning, losing, or even catching a fish seems barely the point to the social part of the day, this year’s main prize features a superb graphite fly rod from SAGE and a matched SAGE 2500 large arbor fly reel, flyline and backing. The olive green Z-Axis fly rod made its global debut at the International Fly Tackle Dealers Expo in Denver last month. A special prize will also be given to the ugliest fly used. But the heart of the One Fly is in meeting up with old friends and making new ones at this unique annual event.

Renting a cabin for the weekend at the Spider Creek Resort is part of the tradition for many entrants.

The 10th running of the One Fly will be held on the Beaver Tailwater of the White River on October 29, 2006. Started in 1997 by local fishing authority and former Store owner Charlotte Downey the event has grown both in size and reputation.

The One Fly rules are simple:· Only One fly may be used during the contest. Lose the fly to a tree or a trout and your contest fishing is done. We encourage people to keep fishing and have fun.

· Flies only (No jigs) - Longest trout wins – Catch and Release all fish.

· Egg patterns are banned for ’06-07-08 events. Winning flies are banned for three years to encourage innovation and to ensure the competition is fair and even.

· Participants will fish in pairs in order to verify fish length measurements

· Partners will be drawn 30 minutes before start time.

· You must be present at drawing to enter. (Be there 6.30 am)

· Arkansas Fishing license and trout permit required.

· Earliest entry decides tie – coin toss for second tie.

· You and partner must return to store by 12-noon or forfeit first prize.

Fall traditionally offers Beaver Tailwater’s finest fly-fishing. The crowds of summer have left the river; often you can have the river to yourself. And the cooling temperatures and autumn colors along the river valley announce that its big fish time. The big browns and rainbows, who have hidden out all summer, become more aggressive, hungry as they follow their natural body clocks’ demands for more food ahead of winter.

So what fly to choose? The ubiquitous Woolly Bugger, in its many variants, is a White River staple winning all but two One Fly events. Our Beaver Dam Store Buggers (Light Olive) remain a favorite.

“The Woolly Bugger will be hard to beat,” Beaver Dam Store guide Steve Dally said. “It looks like nothing but a big chunk of food, you can strip in it or drift it under an indicator, fish it deep or shallow. But surprisingly small midge nymphs like Charlotte’s Redneck or Razorback Midges and our popular lBryce’s TDM patterns have been proved to take good fish. Scuds and sowbugs are always part of the trout menu on the river. Plus San Juan Worms have been doing extremely well in recent weeks. If it’s hot big hoppers can sometimes lure the bigger fish to the surface.

“But to my mind one of these years, a seriously big trout is going to fall to someone working the river with a “big ole streamer” on a sinking line. Not many people fish that way here but a big chunk of protein can be hard to resist for a big brown, particularly on a overcast cool day.’’

Download an entry form here

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[Guest flyfishBDS]

Ive had a couple of queries from people asking basically whether they are experienced enough to fish in the One Fly.

My response is of course!

""There is also no worries about your experience level, the One Fly is primarily a social event. Yes there is a great prize but its more about getting people together to celebrate their and our love of fly fishing. Every year we have a bunch of new flyfishers, some youngsters, experienced old hands and everything in between.

You will be drawn a partner, who most probably will have a fair bit more experience with you, so you get to learn some things from them. They may also learn something from you.

Some great friendships are made through this process.

Hope you can join us

Steve