Presidents Message October 2008 - "Cornucopia"
by Joe Filer, AFF President 2008
Guadalupe Holdover (or not!)We have all felt it this past week or so. Our summer has been pretty warm so the early morning temperatures are surely a sign of the “arrival” of the cooler parts of our year, the fall. Fall usually reflects a tremendous time of the year for us South Texas fly fishers. Lots of things to do and more energy because the heat is finally slipping away with the shorter days.
I decided to change up this month and speak to a bunch of things that are worthy of a little attention. As with all things, we have some good news and a little not so good. First the good!
Thanks to Stacy Trimble and all the ladies who joined us for our September meeting which traditionally (if two straight years qualifies) focuses on Women in Fly Fishing. As mentioned during the evening, Todd and I missed last year’s meeting due to a previous “commitment”. We were both looking forward to this meeting after hearing about the success of the 2007 event. I was especially impressed by the energy and excitement that was bouncing around the room during the meeting. We really need to commit to keeping that energy alive throughout the year by seeking every opportunity to facilitate additional involvement by the ladies (and kids too!).
October has some interesting events scheduled as trout season approaches and saltwater fishing slowly gets even better. Yes, you heard that right. Todd reminded us all at a recent Tuesday evening Tyers and Liars that this was his favorite part of the year because all us hunters were off the water. There is no way we should allow Todd to have all this great redfish action to himself. In fact, let’s make him take some pictures so that we can include them in the newsletter every month. He always likes to accommodate.
Our AFF October meeting will feature Billy Trimble. Billy’s presentations to our club are always interesting and I seem to learn something new at every session. Tie up some redfish flies for our Fly Raffle. It would be great if we had so many flies that even Cliff got one. Blind hog, acorns and all that….
The annual GRTU October meeting is going to be very special leading into a new season of rainbows on the Guadalupe. Dave and Emily Whitlock are going to be the guests at the GRTU meeting this month. If you have never had an opportunity to meet both of these folks, by all means do so. They are both truly ambassadors of our sport in every way. Contact Andy Niland for more info or visit the website at www.grtu.orgfredericksburgflyfishers.org/oktoberfisch.html.
Oh, and if that was not enough to think about….. We are starting our process to gather items for our annual Christmas Party to be held in December. If you want to donate items for our raffles, please contact Rob. If you have access to folks who would like to contribute please contact me or Rob as we are starting the planning process now to meet with folks to solicit contributions.
Enjoy the bounties of October. As you enjoy these times ahead, please take a moment to think about those folks who are less fortunate. I would love to see us send the Houston guys a little “love”.
Tuesday nights at the church are always fun. Stop by.