How a Workshop Works

The PFF workshops are a gift from the club to the members. For the small pittance of a yearly membership ($35), we get expert advice from some great people. The workshops were what drew me to the club. Being a novice, I knew very little and didn't even know what I didn't know. They provided the basic knowledge and skills we need for our sport.

We have four basic workshops going on now: rod building, beginning fly tying, advanced fly tying, and casting. There may have been more in previous times but these are the current ones. This is how the First Thursdays of the month workshops go.

• About 7:00 on the first Thursday of the month, the first souls begin gathering at the Hillside clubhouse. Each of these early arrivals wonders if anyone has remembered to bring the door key. Assuming someone has the key, we file into the darkened room.
• Someone finds the lights and we begin to set up. There is no one to officially organize the setup. We just seem to know where the tables are and what needs to be found.
• The guy with the key opens the cabinet and brings out the extension cords for the fly tying lights. Most of the time the extension cords were put in wrapped up nicely but sometimes it is just a bag of snakes that needs to be unwound.
• The tables are set up for the rod building, advanced and beginning fly tying.
• About now the rest of the crew begins to show up. We mill around chitchatting away. The interaction of friends, talking about subjects they love, is what PFF is all about.
• The workshop starts without much fanfare. People get down to business. It always amazes me the level of quality that comes out of these events.
• Around 9:00 we begin to break up. Some are getting tired from a day of work. Some are getting hungry, having skipped dinner to make it to the workshop on time. Some skip out citing hunger, spouse, or other important reason. The dedicated few stay to clean up.
• The tables are put away. The extension cords are wrapped up and put back into the cabinet. The chairs are pushed against the wall. The lights are turned out. And, the goodbyes are said.

Thus ends another successful workshop. Most participants come away learning some important kernel of knowledge. All come away with a pleasant experience and will come back again.

The casting workshop was my first learning experience with the PFF. Casting gave me much more than books or videos could ever show. Because I am an engineer, the instructors, mainly Wayne, tried the inertial conservation of momentum theory in explaining the fly line and rod interaction. It sounded slightly more technical than I was willing to deal with on a Saturday morning, but he somehow I did get me the idea.

All of these workshops, both the Thursday's and the Saturday's, have one thing in common; dedicated experts willingly give their time and energy to help others enjoy the sport that defines our club.

As good as they are, how can we make them better? How can we get more participants? Do we need an overhaul of the workshop idea? I would like all of you to think about:

• Why do I go to the workshops?
• Why do I not go to the workshops?
• What would get me to go more often?
• Would another night be better?
• Are there better subjects that would be more interesting?

We have some ideas on possible adders to the events. What about taping casters on Saturday, showing (and critiquing) the effort at the Thursday workshop? (Having my casting shown to the entire club at a regular meeting would be more than my ego could stand.) Would a knot class be useful? Anything else?

I hope you will understand that the workshops are gifts of experience and knowledge that are difficult if not impossible to find anywhere else, especially at our price. Make use of them. You've already paid for most of the cost. The experts would love to have more people. Our sport takes knowledge and expertise. Our club needs involvement.

Keep fishing!

– George Conway