Recap of the Flyfish Party 2000

On Saturday, March 11, 2000 some of the top guides, outfitters, private fishing water operators and lodge owners in the West convened with our subscribers and friends for a day of fun and festivities at the Spanish Cultural Center in San Francisco.

Party goers came from as far away as the Midwest, which was the case with Mark and Madeline LeGrand from Illinois and Lee Knight from Minnesota. The LeGrands donated a stay at their luxurious Wolf Creek Lodge on the Missouri River in Montana to be raffled.


	Will and Liam Murphy select a playing card during Lee Knight's magic act. (photo by Chris Fong)

For the last three years, subscriber Lee Knight has performed magic to captivate the audience. To allow more people to see close up his slight of hand dexterity, a video camera with a large monitor was set up by Sound Explosion, the professional service that did the sound for the event. Several of our subscribers remarked about the great job Sound Explosion did. You can reach this company based in Alameda at (510/864-2451).

At the last minute, some of the donors of raffle items and game prizes called to say they could not come.

Steve and Gina Abel of Able Quality Products, who always donate Able Reels as prizes for our Reel Game, could not attend because of illness. We hope that Gina is feeling much better.


Ray Beadle (on the right) talks with Hank and Laura Bouma, who came from their H Lazy 6 Ranch near Choteau, MT. (photo by Chris Fong)

Bret and Candy Van Rennselaer of the North Platte Lodge below Alcova Reservoir in Wyoming had pressing business that could not be left unattended. Their donation of a stay at their full service lodge attracted a lot of interest. We'll be making a report on this lodge very soon. The reason they could not come was because of a construction problem at another lodge they are building.

Many of our subscribers were disappointed that Bennie and Connie Johnson of Highland Desert Flies did not join us. A stretch of pleasant days on the Green River below Fontenelle Reservoir brought the trout to the surface to take midges and Bennie got booked to work. He called to apologize for his absence and promised to be at the Party next year. To insure this, he is training some guides on his winter techniques so he can get away and still know his clients will be well cared for.