P r e s i d e n t ’ s C o r n e r
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)
2016 GSMNP Fisheries Volunteer Sampling Schedule
Recently I had the opportunity to attend fly tying classes with Kelly Galloup and Mike Schmidt, two very talented designers of flies. I love tying flies and have attended many tying classes with great local, regional and nationally known tyers. The tying classes with Mike and Kelly focused on streamer patterns. These flies were not your average Wooly Bugger. All but one of the patterns were articulated flies. Both Mike and Kelly shared their thoughts on effective fly designs and how they expected their designs to work in order to trigger a strike. Most of you have heard of Kelly, the author of books and DVD’s and the owner of Slide Inn on the Madison River, Montana. Mike has been tying since his teenage years and is the owner of Angler’s Choice Flies (www.anglerschoiceflies.com).
I find fly tying is a lot like fly fishing. It’s a great way to escape the current worries and distractions of life. There’s always something to learn and I have found that I really enjoy teaching others what I’ve learned. And it’s a great way to meet folks who are just as passionate about our sport and conservation. In another event, I entered the Ironman Fly Tying Contest sponsored by the Great Smoky Mountain TU Chapter in January. What a great time! The tyers were challenged to create a fly with materials placed in front of them (no advanced knowledge or prep time). During one of the tying sessions we were blindfolded. I managed to win a sweet 10ft., 3 wt. fly rod donated by Syndicate Fly Fishing (http://syndicateff.com), a company headquartered here in Knoxville. It’s a great looking rod and I can’t wait to fish with it this spring. 
Many thanks to all the sponsors. And a special thanks to John Reinhardt for creating and organizing a cool event. Last month, Matt Kulp provided another great program on the State of the Park and outlined upcoming efforts including some new restoration efforts. The need for our continued support through our time, talents and dollars continues to be as strong as ever. Check out Charlie’s article on volunteer efforts.
We’ve added our eighth school to our Trout in the Classroom program. We have big plans and ideas for TIC, but we can’t hope to continue growing without our volunteers. Without exception, every one of our volunteerstalks about how helping with TIC and interacting with the kids has been a great experience. So we need your help. Check out Joyce Frey’s article in the Newsletter.
Well, time to get back to my tying bench and work on those articulate streamers.I hope you can make it to the February meeting. Be safe!
-Mike
