Florida's 2014 Fly Fishing Expo

Back in October the Nature Coast Lady Anglers club was contacted by Capt. Mark Benson and asked if we'd be interested in setting up a table in the Vendor Hall during Florida's 2014 Fly Fishing Expo being hosted by the Plantation on Crystal River.  The goal was to get more women introduced to the sport of fly fishing so promoting the fact that Citrus County has a fishing club (spinning & fly) exclusively for women, was a great way to spread the news.  Naturally we were happy to accept the invitation and made plans to  work out the details.

Getting Prepared

Delores and Marilee teamed up.  Delores, knowing nothing about fly fishing, would man the table and respond to general questions about the NCLA club and Marilee, who is an accomplished fly fisher, would be Delores's counterpart, tackling questions and comments about flies and such.  They put their heads together and made a list of interesting things they could bring to cover a table and attract passers-by.

Let's see:

Business Cards
Business Card Holder
Info Flyers
Guest Speaker Schedule
Laptop (fully charged)
Internet Access
Website Photo Slideshow
Welcome Packets
NCLA Banner
Scotch Tape
Velcro
NCLA Poster
Easel
Name Badges
Chairs
Camera
Guest Book

Think that about covered it!

Over the course of the following days and weeks, Mark continued to give lots of information, guidance, encouragement and advice in order to help the two feel comfortable and at ease behind their little vendor table.  Reading over the schedule of workshops being offered that day, they decided to tag-team manning the table so that each could sign up for a seminar.  Delores registered for "Beginning Casting and Rigging" with Wanda Taylor and Marilee registered for "Tying the Clouser Minnow" with none other than Bob Clouser himself.

Saturday, October 11th arrived and the girls got up early and met for breakfast and then drove to the Plantation to get the day underway.  They found the registration table and collected their name-badges.  They confirmed the classes that they were each signed up for and were given a program with all of the pertinent information about the event along with a map indicating where each session would be held, and then hey were escorted to their vendor table where they began to set up.

Many of the other vendors had already arrived and were set up because they were there the previous day, Friday.  Both Delores and Marilee work full-time so Saturday was the only day they could monitor a table.

by 9:00 a.m. all of the vendor tables were set up....including the Nature Coast Lady Anglers'.

There was a small window of down-time that Delores and Marilee had before they each went to the workshops they had signed up for that day.  They split that time in half and while one was manning the NCLA table, the other was wandering around and visiting some of the more interesting vendors and the wares they had displayed.  One booth of particular interest was promoting the non-profit organization Casting for Recovery.  Their mission is inspiring and their cause is a worthy one. 

A small donation to this great organization is graciously acknowledged by giving the donor a token of appreciation in the form of an adorable white, pink and purple lapel pin.  Very classy, indeed!

From there, it was a brisk walk to make Wanda Taylor's mini-meeting on fly fishing basics just for women. 

Wanda Taylor
is the 1st Woman Master Certified casting instructor by the International Federation of Fly Fishers. She was the 1st woman Orvis Endorsed guide in the southeastern United States. Her genuine love of sharing the sport of fly fishing with others is apparent when you meet her. She was awarded the 2008 FFF SE Council Award of Excellence for her work with breast cancer survivors and her teaching and testing activities for the FFF certified casting instructors program. By working through personal injuries and with other non profits, like Project Healing Waters, Wanda has developed unique and very effective ways to continue in the sport of fly fishing safely and effectively. Her personal goals are to share with you how to prevent injury in transferring from fresh to salt water and "IF" you have injury, how to make minor adjustments in your casting with huge benefits that will guarantee great results for years to come. When she's not on the fly show circuit, Wanda is an instructional guide on the Hiwassee River in Reliance, TN. She has been with the TFO rod company for ten years and is a pro staff member with Chota Outdoor Gear and Aqua Design. Wanda can be contacted via email: [email protected] or facebook

She took a few minutes to introduce herself and describe her experience as she went through the process of becoming a certified fly casting instructor.  It's not an easy certification to obtain.   She then went on to explain each basic part of a fly rod on a very elementary level so that even the most novice of her students would understand.  That style of education was greatly appreciated by the group.
She began with reviewing the parts of a fly rod.

Then moved onto the reel.

She gave a thorough demonstration of how the reel fits into the reel seat of the rod.

Ruth Stokes, a director for the Florida council of the IFFF, assisted Wanda in some of the hands-on instruction.

Wanda instructs on how and why to line up the rod eyes and thread the line through them.

After all of the essential information was covered during the "classroom setting" style discussion. Now it was time to get up out of the seats and physically try some simple fly casting.  Wanda's suggestion to new lady fly anglers was to learn the bilateral style of casting first and progress to more advanced technique from there.  There were several reasons she gave to back up her suggestion:

1...Bilateral casting is visually easier to see. 
2...You can monitor your every stroke and identify your shortcomings and then make a plan to improve them.
3...It is an "energy efficient" way to cast, using your body core muscles.
4...You work on casting and angling skills at the same time.

And then she demonstrated the basic mechanics of a cast for a fly rod. 

Now it was time for the rest of the women to spread out,  allow for a little bit of "elbow" room, and practice their casting style.

After the fly casting practice session was over, all of the ladies gathered back around for a few final words of encouragement from Wanda.  She told the women that her mother was a huge influence on her life, encouraging her in all things and that one of the strongest memories she has of her mom is of the pearl necklaces she wore around her neck.  For that reason, Wanda gave each lady a small pearl pendant to commemorate the lessons they learned today.  Classy Lady !!

She invited everyone to check out a weekend seminar dedicated to fly fishing introduction specifically for women only to be held at Deep Creek Fish Camp and sponsored by SWFT (Saltwater Flytyers) 

So all in all a great day for the NCLA at the Plantation On Crystal River.  Meeting some great folks and casting a line with Wanda Taylor.  What a great way to end the day!