Flyfish Party 2001 Highlights and Prize Winners

Jim Vincent of the Rio Line Company donated four Rio fly lines, three of which we used as Game Prizes and one as a Door Prize.

• Bill Tate of the Dunsmuir Fly Fishing Company in northern California donated to the Party a water purifying kit, two Dunsmuir Fly Fishing Company hats and two shirts.


Mike Fong announces Party prize winners

• "The Inside Angler" gave away four videos entitled "Flyfishing - New Challenges" by Mike Fong. These were primarily given away to the youths who attended the Party.

• Mike Lawson of the Henry's Fork Anglers in Last Chance, Idaho donated a guided trip to be raffled, but he also gave us one of his videos and a copy of his "Fly Fishing the Henry's Fork" co-authored with Gary LaFontaine to be used as Door Prizes. Both Gary and Mike signed the book. If you fish the Henry's Fork, this book is essential reading. It can be ordered directly from Greycliff Publishing Company, PO Box 1273, Helena, MT 59624, (800/874-4171) and web site: www.greycliff.com.

• Greycliff also gave us a copy of "Fly Fishing the Pacific Inshore" by Ken Handley.

At 11:15, Lee Knight of Exhibitor Magazine dazzled the audience with his slight-of-hand magic. Lee once worked as a professional magician for major corporations at international trade shows and keeps in practice for "The Inside Angler" Party.

At 11:45, The Iberia Catering Company began serving the meal. Guests had either Seafood Paella, New York steak or a vegetarian preparation for their entrÈe preceded by a mixed green salad. Red and white wine were served and we had a delicious flan for dessert. The Iberia Catering Company did a tremendous job, as usual, and many attending said it was the best meal they ever had at such an event.


Guide Dan Glines (left) compares notes with David Armocido, who guides part-time when he isn't teaching in Colusa, CA.

As the final course was served, we began showing slides of the 26 donated Raffle Items. This show was concluded at 1:45 followed by a short period set aside for those who had not yet played the games.

GAME PRIZES
At 2:00, we awarded the Game Prizes. For the REEL GAME sponsored by Abel Quality Products, the prizes were an Abel Point 5 Reel, an Abel TR-1 Trout Reel, an Abel All Purpose Bag, a Fenwick World Class 45DM Reel and a Fenwick World Class 78DM Reel. In order to have a chance in the drawing for the prizes, contestants had to throw a ping-pong ball through one of the perforated holes in a drawing of an Abel Reel. It looked like an easy thing to do, but it wasn't. To see the complete line of products by these two companies, secure one of their catalogs or log onto www.abelreels.com and www.fenwick.com.

In the FISHING GAME, where contestants caught paper shaped fish with a magnet attached to a length of line from a bamboo pole, the prizes were fly rods donated by some of the leading manufacturers. In no particular order, there was an Orvis Silver Label TL 906 along with a Battenkill 5/6 and a Wonderline. The Orvis Silver Label series brings quality at reasonable prices. To view the entire Orvis line of products, log onto www.orvis.com


Corin Fong presents Abel reel to a beaming prize winner.

Gary Anderson provided us with a custom built 905 Sage Rod. Gary is the largest buyer of Sage blanks in the country and his rods are in great demand. He can be reached at Anderson Custom Rod, 1976 Foots Creek Road, Gold Hill, OR 97525, (541/582-4318), and e-mail: garyand@internetcds.com

G.Loomis sent a FR1089 Nautikos 3-piece fly rod. This rod is designed specifically for use in salt water with corrosion resistant fittings and a taper than can propel heavy flies into strong winds. It is remarkably light, yet very powerful. G.Loomis catalogs are available through fly shops or you can log onto www.gloomis.com

Fenwick sent a Techna AV 905, their top-of-the-line rod. It has an aramid veil, the same material used in making bulletproof vests, encasing high modulus graphite. These rods are durable with fluid action.

Redington provided us with a 595 Wayfayer, one of their new 5-piece fly rods. Besides rods and reels at attractive prices, Redington has widened its line to include clothing. Check out their products at www.redington.com

John Christlieb of the JC Rod Company donated a Classic Glass Rod 705. In addition to glass rods, John has a complete line of graphite rods too. For more information about JC Rods, contact John at 1112 10th Avenue East, Twin Falls, ID 83301, (208/733-9583), e-mail: jcrods@pmt.org" and web site: www.jcrods.com.

Umpqua Feather Merchants sponsored the Fish Game. This was an instant winner contest where contestants drew 35mm film canisters from a fish piñata. If the slip of paper inside the canister read "Keeper," you were allowed to select one of the displayed prizes on the spot. The prizes included two UFM Hatchboxes, which are wooden, fly boxes filled with a large selection of flies picked specifically for a particular species of fish. One of the Hatchboxes was for Rocky Mountain trout and the other was for bonefish. UFM also donated five copies of "Fly Patterns of Umpqua Feather Merchants." If you are online, you can view UFM flies at "Fly Gallery" at www.umpqua.com or pick up "The Umpqua Enflyclopeida" at your local fly shop.

Some of the other prizes for the Fish Game were two picnic baskets filled with snacks and wine donated by "The Inside Angler," a copy of "Favorite Flies and their Histories" by Mary Orvis Marbury donated by TIA, Rio fly lines, SA fly line backing and leader packs by UFM..

RAFFLE ITEMS
At 2:30, we began drawing the winners of the Raffle items and announcing the winners.

John Davis of Sparks, NV won the guided trip with Jay Fair at Eagle Lake.

Barbara Lafflam from Agoura, CA won the guided trip with Lee's Ferry Anglers on the Colorado River. Two years ago, the Lafflams won three Raffle items. It was decided then that we would limit winners to no more than two items in future drawings.

Al Gikkas of Novato, CA was the lucky winner of the stay at the North Plattle Lodge in Wyoming. To learn more about the North Platte Lodge, look at their listing at "Recommended Services" in this web site.

Timothy Bonner of Oakland, CA was actually a triple winner as his name was drawn for the stays at Sugar Creek Ranch, Lava Creek Lodge and a guided trip with David Armocido on Stony Creek. Under the rule that no more than two Raffle items could be won, Timothy graciously returned his trip with David Armocido so another name could be drawn. The winner of David's trip was Joseph Armstead from Mountain View.
Sugar Creek Ranch is listed at "Recommended Services."

Tony Fiore of Daly City, CA won the fishing at Wilms Ranch in Pope Valley; CA.

Dr. David Hald from Reno, NV won the stay at H Lazy 6 Ranch near Choteau, MT.

The Ikemotos from Salinas, CA come to our Party annually and this year, Ted and Edith won the stay at McCoy Cattle Ranch with a half of a day of guiding by Frontier Anglers in Dillon, MT.

David Armocido of Colusa, California is a charter subscriber to TIA and has donated a guided trip to Stony Creek for our Party each year. He was the second recipient of the Lee Wulff Memorial Conservation Award and he won the stay at Wolf Creek Lodge with a day of guiding with Tim Plaska of Missouri River Expeditions.

Jim Karsant from Walnut Creek, CA won the stay at Yamsi Ranch in southern Oregon. Each year, the Hydes do more stream restoration work on the upper Williamson River on their ranch and the fishing becomes even more productive. Yamsi Ranch is listed at "Recommended Services."

Dr. Robert Belt of Laguna Beach, CA won the guided fishing with Bennie Johnson on the Green River below Fontenelle Reservoir in Wyoming. Missouri River Expeditions, Bennie Johnson is featured in our sample report.

The Delta Lodge donation from the upper Sacramento River was won by Bill Clark from Orangevale, CA.

Peter Williamson from Los Altos, CA won the guided fishing with Kiene's Fly Shop in Sacramento.

John McCosker, scientist in residence at the Steinhart Aquarium, won the stay at Different of Abaco, Nettie Symonette's wonderful retreat in the Bahamas. To learn more about Nettie's place, log onto www.differentofabaco.com

Janet Dean of Sausalito, who helped us with the Fishing Game, won the stay at Big K Guest Ranch near Elkton, OR. Big K is one of our "Recommended Services."

Paul Wilms is a charter subscriber to TIA and has donated fishing on his ranch in Pope Valley each year. He won the guided trip with Captain Brian Wilson of Marin Islands Angling Adventures, who specializes in trips for striped bass. Capt. Wilson has already reported catching spring-run schoolies in the North Bay. Last year there was a solid, spring run of striped bass in South San Francisco Bay during April and May. Some flyfishers fishing from boats caught up to forty school size stripers a day up to seven or eight pounds. Check out Capt. Wilson's listing at "Recommended Services".

E. F. Siemon of Walnut Creek, CA won the stay at Broken Arrow Lodge on the upper Ruby River in MT. Anglers staying at Broken Arrow have private access to a section of the river not available to most anglers. Broken Arrow Lodge and Upper Canyon Outfitters are listed at "Recommended Services," which has direct links to their web sites.

M.D. Pearson from Saratoga, CA won the guided fishing on either the upper or lower Sacramento River donated by The Fly Shop in Redding.

Dan Gline's donation of guided drift fishing on the Madison River in MT was won by Claude Beam from Santa Rosa, CA.

John Murray from Susanville, CA had the lucky ticket for the stay at Applegate Lodge with guiding from Andy Zwan from High Country Fly Fishing.

Pete Anderson from Piedmont, California, a charter subscriber, won the stay at the South Fork Lodge in Idaho, which included a day of guided fishing.

Randy Johnson, who guides in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee area, donates his services each year for our Party. His trip was won by Clyde Laird from Los Gatos, CA.

John Ying from Grandview, MO won the stay at the Henry's Fork Lodge with guiding from Henry's Fork Anglers. Henry's Fork Lodge is listed at "Recommended Services." This combined donation was one of the most sought after trips in our raffle.

For the last two years, Jack Trout has been in Chile during our Party, but he has made a donation. Phyllis Apfel from Santa Rosa, CA won a guided trip with the Jack Trout Guide Service coupled with a stay at the McCloud Hotel.

Phil Rutschow from Modesto won the donation from Rick's Lodge on the Fall River in CA. This donation was received late and not listed on the Raffle Tickets. Rick's Lodge is also included at "Recommended Services."

Guests attending the Party won fifteen of the twenty-six donated items. The remaining eleven winners have been notified by mail. Congratulations to all the winners.

Many donations were from businesses that are heavily booked and they advised us to notify the winners that making reservations as soon as possible would be wise.

"The Inside Angler" wishes to express its deepest gratitude to everyone who participated in our Party, from those who made generous donations of items for prizes and raffle to those who purchased Raffle Tickets.

We personally thank Janet and Floyd Dean who helped us with the Fishing Game, Jan and Carole Kurahara who took care of the Reel Game and Mary Farr and Melissa Kurahara who did the Fish Game. Wes and Linda Wada, who are the webmasters for www.InsideAngler.com, helped with the Party setup and documented the event with photos.

A special thanks goes to Yolanda Ottley who helped us with the accounting of the Raffle Tickets. Richard Dudzinski of A Sound Explosion, 253 Riddel, Alameda, CA 94502, (510/864-2451), e-mail: ahsumdj@aol.com and web site: www.asoundexplosion.com did a terrific job with the sound.

The greatest thanks goes to those who took the time to attend our Party. Without personal participation, there couldn't have been a Party no matter how much effort was expended to organize the event. Chris and I hope that all of you enjoy many memorable moments while flyfishing this season.

For those of you who could not attend the Party, we have some Orvis discount coupons available. If you would like to have one, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and we will make sure you receive it.

The Inside Angler
PO BOX 31282
San Francisco, CA 94131-0282

to view the additional details of the Flyfish Party 2001 donor guides, lodges, and resorts click here.