Hello Everyone,
May is now upon us and with that comes the promise of longer days, warmer weather, and warming water temps, and that ever increasing fish activity we’ve all been longing for. Hope you’re making every attempt to get out there and enjoy some time on the water.
Just a quick recap of a few items should you have missed them, or were unable to attend. March 31st we closed out our 3RFF Tuesday Night Fly Tying events for the season. We had very good attendance again this year, tied up some great fly patterns, enjoyed some good food and drink together, and had some great fellowship and camaraderie. Thank You so much to all who attended throughout the tying season and supported this great annual club event. We will start up again this coming October at the Coyote Creek Bar and Grill.
We also wrapped up our annual club auction at the March membership meeting. We had great attendance and participation this year. Everyone had an enjoyable evening, got some great buys, and we sold nearly every single item we had at auction. A generous amount of funds were raised for the clubs coffers to support all of our club functions and events throughout the year. Thank You for your participation and for your ongoing support of your club.
April kicked off our 3RFF Casting Clinics in conjunction with the Eckhart Public Library at Rieke Park in Auburn, IN. Brent Walchuk is our lead casting instructor for these popular events. April 6th saw a chill to the air and gail force winds, which probably kept the first evenings attendance down to 4 or 5 hardy souls. But they showed up anyway. A break in the weather and more ideal conditions for the second session on April 10th, saw 15 people in attendance for what Brent reports as a great evening of casting instruction and a lot of fun and enthusiasm by all who participated. The next casting clinic will be held on Monday May 11th at Rieke Park, 1800 Indiana Avenue, Auburn, IN from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. The clinics are held at the pavilion located next to the baseball diamond facility. Again, these clinics are open to the public and to our club membership. Members please take advantage of these opportunities. Thanks again Brent, and to the Eckhart Public Library for hosting these great events. You can find more information about these clinics by visiting the Eckhart Public Library website.
The April membership meeting saw 28 members gather to enjoy our annual and popular Members Favorite Flies event. We had an enjoyable, educational and fun evening of interactive fly tying with our member presenters. Everyone had a good time socializing after the event with great fellowship and questions and answers from our tyers. Thanks to all who attended, enjoyed the evening and supported your club event. I would like to say Thank You to Johnnie Hanger, Brad Sherrick, Wils Mittica and Dave Conroy for stepping up and sharing and tying some of their favorite fly patterns to make this a successful evening. Thanks guys. April also saw us close out another awesome year of support to the Tie-A-Thon program. Thank You So Much to all those who tied flies in support of this wonderful national program. And Thanks Again to Don Privett for stepping up to be our club liaison and coordinating all the logistics for our club. Great job everyone!
(1): May will see our Board of Directors meeting take place this coming Thursday May 7th at 7:00 pm at the Classic Cafe Event Center located on Hillegas Road in Ft. Wayne, IN. This meeting was moved to Thursday, from the original Wednesday scheduled time, to allow for maximum board participation to oversee club matters. (2): Saturday May 16th we will have a group travel to Middlebury, IN to attend the fund raiser dinner to support the Reel Recovery Indiana, Mens Cancer Fly Fishing Retreat, hosted by the Little Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlimited – LECTU. Three Rivers Fly Fishers is sponsoring a table at this event, which helps introduce men facing the challenges of all types of cancer to the healing powers of fly fishing and time on the water. What a wonderful cause. (3): We will have our General Membership meeting on Wednesday May 20th at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:30 pm, at the Classic Cafe Event Center on Hillegas Road in Ft. Wayne, IN. This is our annual Mini Club Auction/Flea Market, where you can bring items you have to sell, or buy and trade, and you keep the money. This is also our annual outdoor club Casting Clinic event, where you can come and receive personal instruction or just enjoy hanging out and casting with others. There’s been known to have a little friendly casting competition in the past as well. So be sure to bring your rod. Bring your fly tying vises and tie up some flies if you’d like and share your patterns and talk shop with others if you will. We gather both inside and out, as the weather is “usually” pretty nice, and this is also our annual “get out of the house and break the cabin fever” meeting, where we just hang out and enjoy a great evening of storytelling, fellowship, camaraderie, fun and relaxation before the summer kicks off and we’re all out doing other things. So come on out and enjoy an evening together and support your club.
June: We will continue our support of the Reel Recovery IN, Men’s Cancer Retreat and fly fishing event with LECTU in Middlebury, IN on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th. July: OPEN, there is NO scheduled event/outing at this time. The Board received NO ideas, suggestions or volunteers to host an event/outing, or any thoughts on what the membership may want to do for July. August: We will be holding our annual 3RFF Membership Club Cookout and Gathering on Saturday August 15th, 2026 from 10;00 am until 4:00 pm at the Southwest Conservation Club on Bluffton Road in Ft. Wayne, (Waynedale) IN. This is always a great outing and good time, and a great way to connect with fellow members. Thank You once again to Kerry Shipman for stepping up and coordinating this event for the club. September: Plans are moving forward and pending for the annual 3RFF White River Outing and gathering slated for September 11th, 12th and 13th at Canoe Country in Daleville, IN. This is one of our most popular events of the year, so mark your calendars to join us for a great weekend. October: Our Annual 3RFF Tuesday Night Fly Tying will resume at Coyote Creek Bar and Grill. Every Tuesday night, October through the end of March 2027. More club news to follow so stay tuned.
Now into the weeds. I left this part of the April Membership Meeting overview until this point in your club’s “Information and Updates” as I feel it is of – “significant importance”. I will not continue to beat a dead horse much longer, other than to say, that we as a Board of Directors, along with the continual posts you have seen on our club’s Facebook Page, to the continual information listed on our 3RFF website, and the continual reminders you have seen in our club newsletter – The Sink Tip Times, that, for the past two years or more, we have continued to attempt to generate interest in ensuring that this wonderful organization is able to move forward. I’ll put it bluntly, the Board of Directors, simply, and absolutely, can not continue to operate as a “skeleton crew”. I am personally confused by the amount of really good support this club puts forth for all of its outings, events, gatherings, meetings and community outreach programs, yet, it’s seemingly total lack of support, lack of interest, or volunteerism to keep the club going or moving it forward into the future. We have a great club, with a great history – 31 years worth, great people and just great stuff going on. I’m not throwing in the towel yet, I want to be hopeful, but it is concerning to believe that the inevitable may, and could happen, and certainly will happen if the members so chose to take that fork in the road. The bottom line is that no 501c3 organization or club, as we are and need to be, can exist without a solid, intact, functioning, and active Board of Directors in place, period. This is what your by-laws dictate, and what protocol has to be met to ensure compliance with such agencies as the IRS and State gaming commissions who oversee organizations such as ours. We just have to have a functioning Board, period! So the bottom line to move forward is this – YOUR club needs YOU. It needs individuals with the willingness to step up, volunteer, be active, be committed, give of their time, and be passionate about taking this great club into the future. That all being said, I will summarize the elections and voting outcome from the last meeting for all of you below. I believe that without significant change in our club structure moving forward, that the inevitable is on the horizon. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. So…as the bartender at your favorite watering hole says at closing time…”this is the last call”. YOUR club’s future is now in YOUR hands! Thank You for your time and consideration in these matters, and thank you for all of your past support of Three Rivers Fly Fishers – 3RFF. Have a great day and a wonderful week ahead. See you all at the May meeting. Take care.
Summary of the Election and Voting results of the General Membership Meeting held on April 15th, 2026 at 7:00 pm. –
After the meeting was called to order on April 15th, and the Election and Voting process initiated – There were NO nominations brought forth, for ANY and ALL, Board of Director positions whose terms are now up, or are to expire, or that have been open and vacant for a period of time. This has remained the case for all the months prior to which nominations were officially announced as open. When a second and final request was made to the floor for final nominations, there were again NONE. When a final request was then made to the floor, asking if “anyone” was interested in volunteering for ANY positions within the club, there was seemingly NO interest and NO response to the request given. The official Election and Voting process for 2026 for Three Rivers Fly Fishers was then announced as “officially closed” and the President announced that the club would then move forward with the evening’s formalities and resume the meeting with our Members Favorite Flies club event. This portion of the General Membership meeting was a complete success. Thank You.
Summary of the post voting status for the Board of Directors of Three Rivers Fly Fishers as of April 15th, 2026 –
Office of President – No nominations, current President’s term has/will expire at a date to be determined, and WILL be vacated at a date to be determined.
Office of Vice President – No nominations, this office has remained open and vacant for more than two years.
Office of Secretary – No nominations, this office has remained open and vacant for approximately two years.
Office of Treasurer – No nominations, current Treasures term has/will expire at a date to be determined, and WILL be vacated at a date to be determined.
Board of Directors – Member Position(s) – No nominations, there are currently four Board Member positions now seated and active. Two of those Board Member positions, their terms have/will expire at a date to be determined, and then WILL be vacated. A third Board Member position is pending expiration, but is still currently active.
Board of Directors – Member Position(s) – No nominations, this Board Member position has remained open and vacant for approximately four years.
The (current) Officers and Board of Directors will now meet to discuss a course of action(s) and to discuss future direction(s) and possible resolutions on how to move the organization forward.
In closing, and as always, Get out there! Get involved! Be active! and Enjoy your club! Thanks everyone, Hope to see you on the water!
Most Respectfully and Tight Lines,
Kevin Curtis – President
Three Rivers Fly Fishers – 3RFF
Ft. Wayne, IN