The 2006-2007 4-H year marks the third year of this project. Prior to this year, the focus was strictly on the craft of fly-tying. This year, we will be adding in more activities associated with the rewarding sport and craft of fly-fishing. For those of you unfamiliar with fly-fishing, it differs from regular fishing in that the skills required to catch a fish relies on the accurate presentation of the fly, a knowledge of entomology (the study of insects), and different methods for keeping the fish on your line.

(Insert here a picture of a bait fisherman, and a separate picture of a fly-fisherman casting).

Our activities this year will include one or two trips to the Golden Gate Park fly-casting ponds. Here, we will be attending free lessons by fly-casting experts. I’m expecting we’ll have additional practice time at Oceana High school at dates to be determined. Every year, we take a field trip to the San Mateo County Expo Center for the annual “Sportsman’s Exposition.” This is a blast for everyone and anyone who is interested in fishing (all types), hunting, bird dogs, dog training and fly-tying. Many experts in these fields come to the Expo to demonstrate their skills. Of greatest interest to our project is the fly-tying exhibit. This is where 4-H kids get to see some top-notch experts tie really fancy flies while giving advice on improving your own fly-tying. It’s really quite something to see. We are also tentatively planning a trip to the Half-Moon Bay trout pond to practice our skills and see what it feels like to have a real fish on our lines. And we couldn’t have this project without a couple of sessions on learning how to tie our own flies. This is a skilled craft and even if you never want to fish, it’s just plain fun to make a fake insect out of fur and feathers. What’s even more rewarding is to catch a fish on a hand made fly! Two of our fly-tying project kids one awards for their hand-made flies at fair over the summer!!

We’ll also spend a session talking about trout conservation and environmental aspects of this type of fishing. We have access to some life long fisherman who would love nothing more than to come talk to us about the “catch and release” philosophy.

We’ll be working with a Marin County based group this year called SPAWN (Salmon Protection and Watershed Network). We’ll take a walk with a naturalist along San Geronimo and/or Lagunitas Creek in Marin County where they have an active program to restore creek habitat and rescue Coho Salmon. We’ll also participate in a creek restoration work day. Check out the fun we had last year at this event.

Resources
SPAWN Website
SPAWN Habitat Restoration Project
SPAWN’s Latest Salmon Updates, including photo of river otter snacking on a Coho salmon
Bay Area Coho Salmon Listing Changed to Endangered