Flies And Pies

[SteveP]

I have been thinking about starting a club/organization/group for seveal years now and finally with some poking and prodding from a few friends I got together and have the details ironed out.

We are in Saint Joseph Middouri and will be meeting the 17th of December from about 6-9pm. The premis of this group is simply and open forum to discuss flies/tactis/ideas that have been on your mind, with a group of fellow flyfishers. As of right now there are no membership fees since the room is provided to us free of charge, but we are going to be ordering some pizza (hence the pies... you know pizza pies) at some point in the evening so if you would like to partake bring a five spot with you. This group will open to anyone with a desire to tie flies reguardless of experience level so women and those young folks out there as well as any one with how ever little or however much experience please do attend and ladies don't worry my wife will be there as well so you wont be alone. I have ask everyone that will be atteding to bring with them their vise as well as a few matterials and such to tie a hand full of flies if you do not have a vise I have some that have been made available to us and I have plenty of matterials and hooks as well. The meetings will be held at the Northwest Missouri Regional Conservation Department Office on the campus of Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph. If you would like to attend or want more info please feel free to contact me through this website or you can call me (816)-676-8197.

Again I am not wanting this to turn into some upturned nose kinda elitist club thing, as so many of the clubs and oganizatons I have been a part of in the past in this area have become, I'm just looking for a time and place we all can come together as people that fly fish and such to share our information. There has also been some talk already of a coupe of outings and kids fishing days that will be sponsored in part and with the help of the Missouri Conservation Department as well so keep your ears to the ground for more info to follow in the future. I know there are a good number of folks from the KC area on here and I'm hoping there are a few that are a bit closer to me that may be interested in attending. I have made up a good number of fliers and they can either be found at the office on the campus here in Saint Joeseph or I have left some with a couple of friends at the fly shop at Cabelas in KC so stop by there and talk to the guys and they should be able to help you out as well, or heck like I said just give me a ring and I'll get back to you if I happen to miss your call.

Steve

[jdmidwest]

If you keep it simple, you should have a great time. If you charter a club like FFF or TU amd collect fees, you will have to elect officers and keep books, you will end up with more than you are probably wanting.

The last one I was involved in was just a bunch of guys that got together 1 night a month and tied flies at the local MDC office. We had some fishing trips and a One Fly contest at a local lake. Then, after a while, schedules conflicted and the key holder failed to show up one night. As far as I know, the group pretty well disbanded after that.

The first group I was a part of was a chartered group led by a local fly shop employee. They spent the majority of each meeting electing officers and trying to solve the business part, minutes, financials, planning the yearly Christmas party, etc. At the end, there was hardly enough showing up to elect the officers. We did have a few MDC presentations and a few pro tyers show up for the meetings, and we did clinics, kids fishing days, etc. I don't recall ever tying much at those meetings. The leader would usually spend more each month on the newsletter than the dues were collected. I don't think anyone ever really enjoyed those meetings.

My best sessions have just been a group of guys during the winter showing up at a house or office and tying a few flies. I usually do several of those and have a lot of fun at those.

One thing to remember, if you are going to demo a pattern, bring enough extra materials to give to everyone in the group so they can tye along and make a few for themselves if possible.

[McManus]

I'm among about a dozen guys who get together on Wednesday evenings. During the winter we tie flies--and watch a little basketball, while tying. Ordinarily there are 4 to 6 to 8 of us.

Sometimes we agree by email to tie a particular fly. If one of us is off to a trip to Colorado, or Alaska; we spend weeks tying flies for his trip.

During the summer, we fish at local ponds, and smoke a few cigars. In the summer, our wives and kids sometimes join us.

I think you'll have a great time.

[SteveP]

Glad to hear I'm no the only one that is using the MDC and their willingness to offer time and space for free!!!

I have had several guys say "Well why don't you start a chapter of TU or FFF" or something to that effect and my answer has always been that I don't want to affiliate this group with anything other than pure grass roots. I've just sen to many of those clubs turn out just as jd said, you spend more time electing officers and collecting dues than anything else, and people loose interest. That or they turn into a group that only those that are invited are truely "welcome" and I have seen this effect from both sidesadn it gives those organizations a bad rap, though I feel like i would never do that to anyone I don't want to be responsible for someting like that.

The few of us that have been in this from the original planning stages have wanted to keep is all very laid back and open to anyone that has any sort of interest in tying flies, and or fly fishing.

McManus maybe sometime we could all get together this summer for a little "club vs. club" showdown at James A. Reed for some gills or bass or something. Oh yeah I'm calling you out!!!! Thanks for all the insite and thought both of you.

Steve