Woolly Buggers

On April 26th and 27th NOLS Rocky Mountain (RM) held the annual fly-fishing seminar. It was instructor by Jim Ferguson, George Hunker, Molly Semenik, and Alan Pirie. George owns and operates his own guiding service, Sweet Water Fishing; in the summers Alan lends a hand.  Jim co-owns Patagonia Fishing, and Molly runs Tie the Knot Fishing.  With the combined effort the 25 students were in for a highly energetic and informative class. Half of the class was spent inside and the other in the field.  On Saturday afternoon the course took it to Lucky Pond for some hands on experiece.  Catching one fish, since NOLS thoroughly supports catch and release, they were taught how to clean and cook the fish on a whisperlite stove.  Also, involved was sifting the water to find what insects live there. The insects were identified in an entomology class and matched closely to the tackle box.

On Sunday, the majority of the day was spent learning how to fish rivers.  The students were split up, matched with an instructor, and brought to various fishing locations.  There the cast, reading rivers, finding holes, and LNT principles were perfected.  Several students caught fish, but like any angler many did not!