Author: admin3rff

Hello Everyone,

Following is an overview of upcoming and pending events, and a reminder of some items that will be wrapping up as we head into the Spring and Summer months.

Tuesday Night Fly Tying :  Three Tuesday tying events left for the season. Tomorrow evening the 11th, Tuesday the 18th, and we will finish up our fly tying at Coyote Creek Bar and Grill on Tuesday the 25th of March. Times are 6:30 pm until 8:30 pm. We’ve had a good year of member turnout. Thanks!

Eckart Public Library Outreach Program :  This coming Saturday, March 15th 2025, the Eckart Library and Three Rivers Fly Fishers will again partner for the second in a series of fly fishing and fly tying events. This will be the outdoors Fly Casting Workshop and clinic to be held at the Rieke Park – North Pavilion. 1800 North Indiana Ave. in Auburn, IN. Times are 10 am until 12 noon. All equipment will be provided by 3RFF. Lead casting instructor will be Brent Walchuk, walchukb@yahoo.com, and lead point of contact for the library will again be Valrie Simmons. vsimmons@epl.lib.in.us  You may find additional information and sign up for this event by going to the Eckart Public Library website. Once on the Home Page click on Calendar and go to the March 2025 list of events. There you will find all information and a sign up registration form. There is no charge for this event and is a great opportunity to learn basic fly casting skills.

Also, starting on Monday evening, April 7th, 2025, Brent Walchuk will be hosting a fly casting clinic/workshop from 4:30 pm until 6:00 pm at the same Rieke Park location in Auburn, IN. Brent is planning at this time to offer this event each Monday evening through April. Contact Brent for additional details.

March Membership Meeting :  Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 will be our 3RFF Annual Auction event. This will again be at the Classic Cafe Exhibition Center on Hillegas Rd in Ft. Wayne. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Auction will kick off at 7:00 pm. Please check in at the registration/membership table as you come in. There will be people there to check you in and issue you your name tag. There will be additional people manning the auction registration tables to sign up to bid, and receive your bidding number. You must be registered and have a bidding number to bid on auction items. We will need member volunteers to act as runners, and are still in need of an auctioneer if you have that skill set, you don’t have to be a pro, and would like to help your club out and bring a little humor to the evening as well. As a reminder this meeting and auction are open to Members Only. Thanks in advance for your support and donations.

Custom Ron Barch Bamboo Rod Raffle :  As a reminder we will be drawing for the Ron Barch Rod at the Membership Meeting on Wednesday March 19th, 2025. You can still purchase raffle tickets until that time. Please consider purchasing a ticket to help support your club. Thank you.

Tie-a-Thon :  For those participating in the Tie-a-Thon event, this is a reminder that this will be closed as of April 12th, 2025. All flies need to be turned in prior to that date. The official POC for Three Rivers Fly Fishers is Don Privett. Please be sure you get your flies to Don asap. Thanks to all who tied.

April Membership Meeting :  Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 will be our annual “Members Favorite Flies” event. This has always been a popular evening for everyone. If you’re planning on tying that night please let one of the Board Members know. We need to know what fly you’re tying, and be prepared to present a little history/information about your fly. If you want to submit a picture or hand out a fly recipe that would be great. We will post additional information about who all will be tying and the flies that will be tied in an upcoming schedule. This is normally limited to about four tiers due to time constraints, so get your name in the hat if you want to participate, so we can plan accordingly. Thanks for your support, and we’re looking forward to a fun evening of seeing what your fellow members have to share at the vice. Doors open at 6:30 pm, meeting starts at 7:00 pm. Classic Cafe.

May Membership Meeting :  Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 will be our annual “Members Mini Auction” and informal fly casting clinics. You bring your stuff to sell and bring your own fly rod for some fun lawn casting and instruction. More info to follow. Doors open at 6:30 pm, meeting at 7:00 pm. Classic Cafe.

Michigan Anglers Base Camp :  This may be of interest to many of our members. It has generated some good conversation so far. I think a couple of members may have already signed up. It is a wonderful opportunity, and I’ve heard rave reviews about it, to fish some of the best waters in the US. This is a fly fishing only camp. You stay at Camp Rotary (Boy Scout Camp) outside of Clare, MI., in the heart of trout country. It is considered to have one of the clearest spring-fed lakes in the country at 550 acres. The facility is 1100 acres, and gives you access to some of the finest rivers and streams in Michigan, if not North America. They have four, week long, 2025 sessions available. We will have follow up information, but to get you started go to:  mittenoutdoors.org/anglers-basecamp   or go to:  anglers@mittenoutdoors.org   This is a pretty cool deal! Check it out! Thanks to the Derby City folks for the tip on this one.

Elections :  As a reminder elections are forthcoming. This is an important function of any organization. Please consider where you may fit in, or where your service to the club may be most needed, to move the organization forward should you have an interest in serving. Think about who you may want to nominate for a position on the Board of Directors and discuss it with that individual. You must be a paid member in good standing to be nominated, elected and to serve. Please give it consideration, it is a necessary and important duty. And every organization needs new and fresh ideas to flourish and progress. We currently have several vacancies/openings that need to be filled. Current Board members now serving, if your term in office is expiring, it is time to decide if you wish to be nominated for an additional term, or you are stepping down. Thank you all in advance for your consideration and support of your club. 

Membership Dues :  This will be the final courtesy reminder that your calendar year 2025 membership dues are NOW due. You may send them in as always if you are not attending the monthly meeting, or they must be paid in full PRIOR to the March 19th meeting if attending. Additionally, we have numerous members who have not completed your club liability waiver form. You MUST have a waiver form on file to attend 3RFF club functions and outings. Please be sure your waiver is filled out and sent in with your dues, or updated when you attend the meeting. Get this done. Thank you.

In closing, thanks to everyone for your continued support of Three Rivers Fly Fishers. Hope this finds everyone doing well and have a great week ahead. Until next time, get out there, get involved and enjoy your club. 

Most Respectfully and Tightlines,

Kevin Curtis – President

Three Rivers Fly Fishers – 3RFF

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick reminder to all as we finish out the month of February and head closer toward Spring.

February’s guest speaker : Jason DeArman. Jason will be our speaker tomorrow evening, Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, for our monthly membership meeting at the Classic Cafe Exhibition Hall here in Ft. Wayne. The doors open at 6:30 pm and the meeting starts at  7:00 pm.

Jason DeArman is the Founder, Owner and Head Guide of Two Forks Guide Service based out of Noblesville, IN. Jason guides extensively on the White River, and is actively involved with conservation efforts on the White, as well as other rivers and streams throughout the watershed. Jason is also active in various conservation groups such as the Indiana Wildlife Federation. Jason was a previous Guide/Outfitter vendor at last year’s Ft. Wayne Fly Fishing and Tying Show, and was slated to be one of our headline speakers at this year’s show. Several of our Three Rivers Fly Fishers members have taken a float trip with Jason, and have given rave reviews. Jason will be presenting a program on :  “Summer Time Dead Drifting for Smallmouth” . Members, come on out for the evening, and enjoy a float down the river with Jason and help promote your club.

February Community Outreach Program : Just a reminder that Thursday evening, February 20th, 2025 will be one of our outreach programs with the Eckhart Public Library in Auburn, IN. This Introductory Fly Tying event is being presented by the Eckhart Library and Valerie Simmons in partnership with Three Rivers Fly Fishers. As many of you may remember, we partnered with Valerie and the Library last summer for an introductory fly casting, fly tying clinic which was very well received. Thursday night’s event will be conducted at the library building, and will be presented by Brent Walchuk, Bob Womack and Bob Menefee at this time. This fly tying event is completely booked, but for additional information, future events and how to sign up, go to the library website. There will be a fly casting clinic presented On Saturday, March 15th, 2025 through the library system and 3RFF. Sign up and information will be available on the library’s website as well. We will also post additional information as it becomes available. This is a wonderful opportunity for those wishing to learn the basics of fly tying and fly casting, and I would encourage both our members and the public to get involved with these events.

For those that may be interested, we have gotten positive feedback from the new staff at Big Brothers Big Sisters. As soon as we can establish a date for an event we will post that information. We will, as in the past, need support from the membership body as well as the Board. I anticipate this will probably happen on a Saturday, sometime this summer, but will update as we establish more of a relationship with BB BS moving forward. Just wanted to get the information out there for all to think about. This has been a great program for us in previous years.

Elections : We all need to be thinking of upcoming elections and getting back on track with proper election protocol and following election guidelines. Members, you need to be thinking about nominations, who you may want to nominate, or if you yourself want to be nominated for a position on the Board of Directors. Current Officers and Board Members, you need to give consideration as to whether you want to continue in your current role, or wish to be nominated to continue in that role, if your term is expiring this cycle. All, please think about how you may want to get involved to help move your club forward. The term for the office of President is coming due and is a one year term. The Vice President position is open. The Secretary position is open. Two of the Board member positions, a two year term, their terms are coming due. Additional Board members are always welcome and needed. You only need to be a paid member in good standing to be considered for election and to serve. Remember, the club can not continue moving forward, be viable or healthy, conduct business and plan events, or…even exist, without a Board of Directors in place who are willing to fill those roles and be “active” in those roles. Thank you for your consideration and support.

Membership : The Board would like to offer a friendly reminder that membership dues were due on January 1st, 2025. Any individuals who have yet to pay, and need to pay their dues for the year 2025, may still do so at the monthly meeting, or you may still send them in, if not attending the meeting. As a reminder, the club, its functions and events, the guest speakers we pay for, the outings we hold and the food and beverage we provide are supported by you, the paid members in good standing, and are for the members who support their club through their dues. Should you wish to remain a part of this great club and enjoy the benefits we have to offer, we will have people in place at the meeting to accept your dues payment, verify current member status, and then you will be issued your name badges. Please stop by the registration table and check in upon arrival, and we hope you enjoy the meeting and thank you in advance for your cooperation and supporting your club. As previously mentioned when discussing the elections, the same applies, we can not continue to grow, be viable and healthy as an organization, provide for outings and events etc, without the continued support of our dues paying members. Thank you.

Rod Raffle : With the unfortunate cancellation of our 2025 Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Show, we had to make the decision to adjust our drawing date for the Ron Barch Custom Bamboo Rod we are raffling. The Board has voted to move the drawing to the general membership meeting on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. Raffle tickets may still be obtained and sold through that date. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

In closing, I hope this finds everyone doing well, and Thank You all so much for your continued support of Three Rivers Fly Fishers. Hope to see you all at the meeting. Until next time, get out there, get involved and enjoy your club. Have a great week.

Respectfully and Tight Lines,

Kevin Curtis – President
Three Rivers Fly Fishers – 3RFF