OAP Teaches Members How to Get Started With Fly Fishing

After a hiatus from offering MAC members classes in fly fishing, in April the Outdoor Activities Program hosted both fly-fishing and flytying classes for beginners. The two-part fly-fishing series, Get Hooked: Fly Fishing for Beginners and Get Knotted: Fly Tying for Beginners, was well attended and a huge success!

The fly-fishing class was taught by MAC member and veteran flyfishing angler Todd Stevenson. The two-day class covered topics such as fly-fishing gear (rods, reels, lines, waders, etc.), casting techniques, river anatomy and ecology, river etiquette, and much more. The four-hour lecture was followed by a two-hour casting clinic at the Westmoreland Park Casting Pond located in southeast Portland, where members learned basic overhead and roll casting.

Susan Bladholm, MAC Board trustee, attended the class and said, “This class was fun and informative and reflected the expertise of our member-instructors. Todd is very informed and kept the class approachable for us. His presentation was extremely professional, and I believe the market value of the instruction is $250. I’m eager to try out what I learned this summer on the streams of Central Oregon.”

The two-part fly-tying class was taught by Nick Wheeler from The Portland Fly Shop and focused on teaching members how to use fly tying tools to tie five common flies (e.g., San Juan worm, foam elk hair caddis, and wooly bugger) found on rivers and lakes in the Pacific Northwest. Members who completed the class were offered a discount from The Portland Fly Shop on fly-tying materials. Longtime MAC member Sue Rimkeit attended and enjoyed the fly-tying class. “Nick was very knowledgeable, easy to work with, and had a wonderful sense of humor,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”

MAC hopes to continue offering fly fishing classes in the future, so stay tuned for more!