Intermediate/Advanced Dry Fly - Session 1: Classroom Instruction
These sessions are designed for intermediate to advanced fly fishers with existing practical dry fly experience that wish to advance their skills and dry fly techniques. It is scheduled to coincide with the key entomology hatches during the spring season.
We will focus on the observations and learning from over 40 years of in and under stream observations of Gary LaFontaine, using his seminal work "The Dry Fly - New Angles". While the book is unfortunately out of print, it will still serve as our instruction roadmap due to its exceptional and valuable content.
The course itself is a five-part series which includes a 3-hour classroom sessions on Wednesday, March 8, 2023; Wednesday March 22, 2023; and Wednesday April 19, 2023. It also includesa 3 hour hands-on casting instruction of specific dry fly techniques including specific presentation casts (parachute, pile, reach mends, aerial mending, etc.) on Saturday April 1, 2023, which is included in the tuition cost. The final session is on-stream on Saturday April 29, 2023 with TVFF instructors to assist attendees with applying the classroom skills. The on-stream session cannot be registered for separately as leader construction, setup, approach, and basic skills will only be covered in the classroom setting.
This course has required pre-requisites of completion of a TVFF Entomology class within the last five years, as well as a Fundamentals class. We will be talking and discussing dry fly techniques at a high level throughout the class so adequate knowledge is essential as a baseline. Note that a 2023 Entomology class is scheduled in advance of this class beginning on January 11, 2023, if you need to schedule attendance. Please ensure that you have completed the pre-requisites before registering.
Please note that you only need to register for this first session, which includes all sessions, the presentation casting session and the practical on-stream event.
Class Curriculum:
Session 1: Classroom (Wednesday, March 8,2023) – Time 7-9:30pm.
- Primary surface food
- Trout vision and vision cones
- Feeding characteristics and identifying rises
- "The Take"
- The rise process
- Feeding locations
- Reading the water
- When to use different approaches
Session 2: Classroom (Wednesday, March 22, 2023) – Time 7-9:30pm.
- Dry fly construction
- Hatch anticipation
- Proper fly selection according to hatch progression
- Use of emergers vs duns vs spinners
- Sunken vs dun pattern use
- When to not match the hatch
- Use and construction of dry droppers
- Dry fly categories (searchers, attractors, imitators- high and low profile)
- Leaders including hand tied vs tapered (tying in class with blood knots)
Session 3: Classroom (Wednesday April 19, 2023) - time 7-9:30 PM
- Dry fly presentations and casting solutions
- Weather and temperature impacts
- Hooking and landing fish
- Angler and pattern failure
- 10 commandments of stealth
- Mayfly emergers, duns and spinners
- Stoneflies, midges and caddis patterns
- Terrestrial patterns and how to select
- Attractor, searcher, and imitator patterns and when to use
- Animals and wounded minnow patterns
Session 3: Dry Fly presentation casting (Saturday 8:30-12:00 Pm, April 1, 2023)
Session 4 : On-Stream practical session (Saturday, April 29, 2023) – Time 8:30-5:30pm.
Location TBD based on water flows. Pre-requisite is full enrollment including attendance at classroom sessions.
Registration and Costs:
Registration for the first class will cover your enrollment for all sessions, materials to build leaders, tippet, and a full rig for the on-stream session.
Cash price: The cost is $95 for TVFF members. Non-member and Guest cost is $140 (includes an annual membership to TVFF).
You may pay by check or cash directly to the Club Treasurer within two weeks of registration. If you do pay cash you will be put into "Pending Registration" until your payment is received within the two weeks. Late payments will require you to register once again if there is space still available.
Credit Card price: The cost is $97.85 for TVFF members (includes 3% credit card surcharge.) Non-member and Guest cost is $144.20 (includes an annual membership to TVFF plus the 3% credit card surcharge).
Contacts:
Instructor: Rob Farris, 925-286-5502, RFFarris@comcast.net
TVFF Cancellation Policy
To sign-up for a TVFF Event that is currently open for registration and chargeable (as set by the Fishmeister), you must both register and pay online, or via check or cash, within two weeks of registering (sent to the TVFF Treasurer) whatever fee is described for that particular Event (trip) at the time of registration. There may be multiple payments required before the trip is actually taken (usually in the case of expensive trips), but it is necessary that you do make payment in the above timely fashion for the initial amount to secure your position on the trip. However, please note that you are still responsible for the entire amount of the trip if you should need to cancel.
Once you are registered, there are no refunds for chargeable Events and trips. In the situation that a member is, for any reason unable to attend, they may resell their registration slot to another TVFF member (by first pulling from the waitlist if one exists). New participants must come first from the waitlist in the order they signed up. The member cancelling is fully and solely responsible for contacting potential members to replace them and notifying the appropriate Fishmeister.
If an event/trip is fully registered and closed to registration, you may still sign up on the Wait List to be notified if there are any cancellations. In such a case of registering provisionally on the Wait List, you do not have to pay until such time that you clear the Wait List and are confirmed for participation.
