Some thoughts from Jon Lyman, VP of Educational Programs:
”I belong to two fly-fishing clubs in Juneau, Alaska. One is what I call the Gob (good old boys) club, the other is an outdoor skills program associated with the 4-H. The clubs meet for roughly the same period, from October through April, each year, both on Thursday evenings. I can only attend one club each week, and often because of work, I only make one or two meetings a month. How do I choose?
The Gob club ties flies once a month, shows slides and videos of members fishing trips, and has speakers on topics as diverse as pike in the Yukon and the life cycle of rainbow trout. 4-H is composed of four or five volunteer instructors, 20 or so kids and their families: tying flies, building rods, or learning to cast each week. It's probably just me, but I choose, nine out of ten meetings, to attend 4-H.
I am certain that I make this choice because one of my core values is to pass on that which I love. If there is truth in "The least important part of fly fishing is catching fish," then I have to opine that the most important part, for me, and for many Federators, is teaching about fly fishing. BaBa Dioum, a naturalist and environmentalist from Senegal, once said "In the end we will conserve only that which we love; we will love only that which we understand; and we will understand only that which we are taught." I have had his words over my desk for more than a decade. They serve to remind me that the obligation of those who love a difficult sport, such as fly fishing, is to pass on that love and appreciation of craft and art to others. It is why I teach.
But teaching fly fishing, in all of its aspects, is not a simple task. Think of the years you have invested. There are thousands of fly patterns to learn, decades of tying technique to grasp. A frustration to me from conclave was that it took me years of applying before I could get into the thread control class! I think of the years spent learning first that I didn't know how to cast, then the years re-learning casting fundamentals, and the practice I need to get my casting stroke back each spring. The charm of this sport is that it appears so frustratingly simple when done well, and is so darned hard to do well in the first place. This is perhaps the best reason to teach. When we teach, we re-learn ourselves.
When I teach any outdoor skill, I first break down each operation into its simplest parts, then rebuild those components into the whole for the student. Practicing a student-teacher instructional loop allows me to check for understanding and modify how I am teaching to suit the student while checking for mastery. Along the way, I end up learning, both from the insights of the students, and from re-thinking what it is I am teaching.
Effective long-term education is needed when creating a new fly fisher. Mentoring is hard work. The recidivism of beginning fly fishers is the stuff of legend. With our sport, more than any other form of fishing, the learning curve can be frustratingly flat and the tasks appear too numerous. The commitment needed on the part of both student and teacher to create an accomplished fly fisher is daunting. FFF members who choose to teach are to be commended. Hopefully the following pages and links can help you with the task of changing lives through fly fishing
The Gob club ties flies once a month, shows slides and videos of members fishing trips, and has speakers on topics as diverse as pike in the Yukon and the life cycle of rainbow trout. 4-H is composed of four or five volunteer instructors, 20 or so kids and their families: tying flies, building rods, or learning to cast each week. It's probably just me, but I choose, nine out of ten meetings, to attend 4-H.
I am certain that I make this choice because one of my core values is to pass on that which I love. If there is truth in "The least important part of fly fishing is catching fish," then I have to opine that the most important part, for me, and for many Federators, is teaching about fly fishing. BaBa Dioum, a naturalist and environmentalist from Senegal, once said "In the end we will conserve only that which we love; we will love only that which we understand; and we will understand only that which we are taught." I have had his words over my desk for more than a decade. They serve to remind me that the obligation of those who love a difficult sport, such as fly fishing, is to pass on that love and appreciation of craft and art to others. It is why I teach.
But teaching fly fishing, in all of its aspects, is not a simple task. Think of the years you have invested. There are thousands of fly patterns to learn, decades of tying technique to grasp. A frustration to me from conclave was that it took me years of applying before I could get into the thread control class! I think of the years spent learning first that I didn't know how to cast, then the years re-learning casting fundamentals, and the practice I need to get my casting stroke back each spring. The charm of this sport is that it appears so frustratingly simple when done well, and is so darned hard to do well in the first place. This is perhaps the best reason to teach. When we teach, we re-learn ourselves.
When I teach any outdoor skill, I first break down each operation into its simplest parts, then rebuild those components into the whole for the student. Practicing a student-teacher instructional loop allows me to check for understanding and modify how I am teaching to suit the student while checking for mastery. Along the way, I end up learning, both from the insights of the students, and from re-thinking what it is I am teaching.
Effective long-term education is needed when creating a new fly fisher. Mentoring is hard work. The recidivism of beginning fly fishers is the stuff of legend. With our sport, more than any other form of fishing, the learning curve can be frustratingly flat and the tasks appear too numerous. The commitment needed on the part of both student and teacher to create an accomplished fly fisher is daunting. FFF members who choose to teach are to be commended. Hopefully the following pages and links can help you with the task of changing lives through fly fishing
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