President’s Letter

Welcome!

Greetings Fellow Fly Fishers!

Hello fellow Fly Fishers.

Wow! The 2019 Fund Raising Festival (FWF4-2019) at Wild Acre Brewery on April 6 was a tremendous success. Our thanks to all those volunteers that made this event happen. I believe everyone had a blast and the funds that are raised go towards our 2019 programs, which include some great speakers, educational events and enhanced outings. We, as a club, also contribute to charitable organizations such as Casting for Recovery, Reel Recovery, Healing Waters and Patriot Anglers. Your participation in the auction will help fund these groups as well.

Bravery is the word…The outing to Bill Ward’s Ranch on the weekend of April 11 was met with strong winds and rain. Tornadoes were in the area, but fortunately they did not hit the ranch. There was, however, a mass evacuation to the Comfort Inn in Mexia on Saturday night and the warm bed was much better than enduring the elements in a collapsed tent. That being said, the fishing was good and there was plenty of fish for the fish fry. See Bill Hodges’ writeup on all that happened. We also need to thank Bill for hosting this outing and being one of the last to abandon ship.

We have a lot of good things coming up. On May 11, we have a conservation project that helps Texas Parks and Wildlife with a stocking location below Possum Kingdom dam and also improves access to fishing. You should also take the opportunity to get some fishing in that afternoon. Stripers, white bass and largemouth bass are plentiful below the dam. Please see Conservation Director David Hooper’s article in this newsletter.

We also have some great outings coming. In May we get another go at Bill Ward’s Ranch — hopefully without the rain. In June we go to Sargent, on the Texas Gulf Coast, to fish East Matagorda Bay. And, in July we have a non-club event in South Fork, Colo., to fish high mountain streams and lakes. Details for each of these outings are provided in articles in this newsletter.

Our speaker for the May meeting is Donavan Clary, who guides on the Lower Illinois River, A.K.A. Oklahoma’s “unknown jewel.” This river is much like the Lower Mountain Fork in that it is a tailrace. It’s below Lake Tenkiller dam and supports a great trout fishery. The club has scheduled an outing to this area in September as well. Signups will start in May.

Thanks again for helping make the FWF4-2019 a huge success and for your involvement in this club.

Fish on!

Bryce Bezant

President

Fort Worth Fly Fishers