On Saturday, September 28, 2024, John Froelich and I were fortunate to attend the National Hunting and Fishing Day at the Salato Wildlife Education Center near Frankfort, KY; an event that typically draws 600+ attendees.
On the way there John and I were discussing that DCFF has 60 new members this year and how best we can engage and retain these newest members. We are growing!
John, as always, was a natural with the kids and parents with many asking us where they can learn how to fly fish and tie flies. Though DCFF is miles away from Frankfort, there was significant interest and we handed out maybe 50 DCFF cards. John tied 30+ flies that morning, some better than others as he forgot his reading glasses! What was that G. McDaniel once said? “Do you want me to tie flies that look good or tie flies that catch fish?!” ….enough said.
One of the most rewarding experiences for me being a member of DCFF are these events – ones where we are turning over what we know and our love about fly fishing to the next generation.
It was also great to talk to Chad Miles later in the morning and hear again the excellent time he had with former third district commission member and our President Ralph Swallows earlier this year. If you missed the show, then here is a link: https://ket.org/program/kentucky-afield/white-bass-squirrel-hunting-new-technology.
Below are the pictures I took during the event and the door prize winners. DCFF donated a book, A Fish Ate My Homework and one of the family members had already started to read it!
On the way back I reflected on our trip and later that evening I dug out the current book I am reading, On the Spine of Time, by the late Harry Middleton and thought I would share a couple of paragraphs with all of you, printed without permission:
“Too often have I turned to the earth for some kind of dramatic statement. What is here is here and yet we search for the eccentric, the bizarre. We dissect and analyze, probe and examine, slide the earth under a microscope’s lens hoping to find a code for miracles. Meanwhile, the sun shines and rivers rush and trout rise, and every hour of every day there is a real magic show of light and shadow and the dance of time. Nature is a grand balancing act, life in pursuit of a homeostasis it never quite achieves because its energy is always pushing it further on, tipping the balance, first one way, then the other.
Down here, down on this Alabama hillside, it doesn’t take much to upset the fragile disposition of my vestibular sensors. Traffic jams, bills to pay, love gone sour, a leaky roof, a truck with a whimsical starter, and, instantly, my sensors go haywire and I am as clumsy as a drunk haplessly trying to get up a down escalator. This is my body’s way of telling me it is time to pack the fly rods and backpack and get back into the mountains, back up along a good trout stream where I can enjoy the company of trout, which, for the most part, live a far saner and more well-balanced lives.”
Contributed by Jeff Daiber, DCFF Conservation Director
