"The Wonders of Fly Fishing" at Bass Pro Shops

by Peter Nardini

AMFF Executive Director Cathi Comar and Communications Coordinator Peter Nardini traveled to Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro, MA this weekend bringing their Museum exhibition “The Wonders of Fly Fishing” on the road. The event offered the complete historical experience with artifacts from the Museum and incorporated a Massachusetts flair bringing Gurglers and other flies from their collection that were tied by the hand of the late great Jack Gartside. Cathi Comar gave a fantastic presentation on the role of women in fly fishing (A Graceful Rise) and offered some insight on our upcoming project with her talk on the history of saltwater fly fishing. Friends of the AMFF Bob Selb and Dana Gray were on hand for gear appraisals and AMFF Ambassador Mike Rice of Mud Dog Flies was on the vice tying his exceptional saltwater patterns next to the display of the Gartside flies. The AMFF thanks Mike, Dana, and Bob for donating their time and contributing to a fun event as well as Bob Berkowitz and Bass Pro Shops Foxborough for being such gracious hosts. Be sure to catch Mike Rice demonstrating his saltwater patterns again at our 8^th Annual Fly Fishing Festival on August 8^th.

The fun continued on June 20^th as Communications Coordinator Peter Nardini traveled to Bass Pro Shops in Utica, NY for their “Go Fishing” event. Along with other fun activities provided by Bass Pro Shops, Peter helped the kids master the art of tying the “clown fly”.  Thank you to the wonderful staff at Bass Pro Shops Utica for making this happen and hopefully we inspired a few little anglers to come over to the good side and pick up a fly rod.

The "Clown Fly" or Funnyflus Jesternum occurs in plentiful, colorful hatches throughout the year