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Founded in 1947, the Pasadena Casting Club is a group of fly fishing enthusiasts dedicated to the art of angling and casting, conservation, education, catch and release philosophy, and camaraderie through Club meetings, outings and events.
HomeSeptember 2013

 

Fourth Annual Blue Ribbon

Fly Fishing Committee:
Expert Panel to Answer Your Questions


 

7:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Pasadena Casting Club Clubhouse



Many of us have been fly fishing for years, but our techniques and tackle may be far from optimum. So we’re sporting Gore-Tex outerwear and nanotech rods, but the reality is our applicable knowledge of technique is still stuck in the Quill Gordon era. This month’s meeting, featuring out Blue Ribbon Panel of Experts, is the solution to bringing you current with the most effective techniques used by the top anglers around.

Rather than focusing on specific waters, our Expert Panel will discuss current innovations in technique and tackle and how to put them to use on stream, particularly in challenging situations. The format for this program is for one of our panelists to be given a topic to discuss briefly and then to share his views. The other speakers may chime in and further questions can flow organically from the audience. I will moderate to help guide the discussion and to keep the questions on topic. Everyone will learn something, from novice to the more experienced. If you have any topics you want addressed, consider emailing them to me in advance at quant@pacbell.net.

This year our panel will be composed of:

• Tom Ishkanian is no stranger to PCC members. Well loved by many, Tom has been a serious fly fisherman for over four decades, and his previous programs have been standing room only. Many of us know Tom as the founder and former manager of the fly fishing department at Sports Chalet, as well as perhaps the most modest master angler there is. In recognition of his contributions and skills, Tom was awarded the coveted Ross Allen Merigold Complete Angler Award several years ago. Tom is also a life member of PCC. Get Tom talking about fly fishing and he gets twitchy and uppity just like a sinner at an old time tent revival meeting - but there “ain’t no excising the demons from within him.”

• To introduce a little “outside blood” into this program, we are happy to welcome David Shaffer, the manager of PCC sponsor Fishermen’s Spot, and no stranger to PCC members. David has been a fixture of the Southern California fly fishing scene since the early 1980s, and has knowledge like no one else. Yes, he’s a little on the modest side, but once you ask him a question, you’re guaranteed to learn something new.

• As a kid in Pasadena, Steve Posner started out fly fishing in local waters and fly tying professionally. We were both childhood rivals and best friends, but his fly fishing skills have grown exponentially over the intervening decades, while mine, uh, have not, uh, grown so fast. As much as I hate stroking his ego, Steve knows his fishing. A tenacious angler, sort of like a heron without a beak, Steve will stalk a specific fish until he hits upon the combination of fly, presentation, and rigging which works.

Join us Thursday, September 12, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. at the Clubhouse. Bring any questions you might have, and be prepared to turbocharge your abilities. Consider bringing your fly rod and showing up early to get in some casting practice.




Seymour Singer