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I am from Spokane, WA, which is in the eastern part of the state where it doesn't rain all the time. At 78, you might say I am a mature (old) member on this team. My home club is the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club. I have been a member of the FFF for many years and am currently VP Communication for the Washington State Council FFF.
The cutthroat trout in the Colorado high lakes forced me into fly tying in 1959-60. They wanted little flies, circa 22, and none of the shops in the Denver area carried them. I tie trout flies of all types and a few saltwater patterns.
After retiring in 1989, so many volunteer opportunities came my way that my fishing suffered. I have been trying to cut back, but when this offer came by, I agreed. Now I edit only one newsletter and maintain two web sites, www.washingtoncouncilfff.org and www.ieffc.org. Educational activities include teaching fly tying and maintaining the FFF Fly of the Month web pages. For years I wrote a weekly fly tying column for a Spokane fishing and hunting newspaper. My recent demonstration tying has been has been with umbrella hooks, quill bodies, and a few regular patterns.
You might have seen me at Conclaves photographing tiers as they work. There are many great tiers in the FFF who are not on the well known list. I try to introduce them to the FFF membership, pass on their ideas and introduce some new materials. Also I try to show that there are many ways to tie a fish-catching pattern.
Photography is a hobby, and I teach alpine skiing.
I have proposed some things to enhance the FFF fly tying pages.
Bob Bates (you may reach me at bob-bates followed by the at "at"
sign followed by msn.com)
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