Hello Everyone, it is Fly Fishing Event season in Texas and it’s about to get very busy around here. Please consider this your invitation to attend these events with me.

Here is what I have on my calendar, but I’m sure that I have missed something. Except for the DFF auction (worth attending if you are able), all these events will have opportunities to improve your casting skills. I plan to be one of the casting instructors at these events.

Here’s the Calendar:

- Troutfest TX - February 16 - 18 – on the Guadalupe River near New Braunfels, TX.
- Texas Fly Fishing and Brew Festival – February 24 -25 – Mesquite Convention Center, Mesquite, TX
- Red River Rendezvous – March 1 – 2 – Eisenhower State Park on the shores of Lake Texoma
- Trinity Flyfest – March 9 – Trinity River in the middle of Fort Worth
- Dallas Fly Fisher’s Auction – March 11 – Plano Convention Center
- Zoom Casting Session – March 13 << I will be hosting a Zoom session with the Texas FFI council on “Curve Cast and Curve Mend” casting skills – Please join me!
- Texas Council Fly Fishers International (IFF) event – April 20 – in the Waco area (details TBD)

Here are the Details:

> Troutfest TX (Feb 16 – 18) – Troutfest is hosted by the Texas Trout Unlimited club with support of Fly Fishers International. It is a three day free event and this is the largest fly fishing specific event in the state. It just keeps getting bigger every year. Multiple casting instructors will be offering casting classes throughout the day. I will be teaching several casting topics during this event. If you’re interested in some other casting skill, come find me and we’ll work on it. I have a lot open time this year. The location is Lazy L&L Campground, 11699 River Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78132.
Troutfest TX 24 | Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited (grtu.org)

> Texas Fly Fishing & Brew Festival (Feb 24 – 25) – I will be offering fly casting classes at this event. This event gets bigger every year and it has a lot to offer with nationally known speakers, presentation, specialty classes, casting classes, casting demonstrations, fly tying classes, fly casting demonstrations, a women’s fly fishing symposium, fly fishing guides, and a variety of vendors.

This year’s speakers include Pat Dorsey, Jason Randall, Brian O’Keefe, MeChelle Duffy-Pope, Julie Mattson, the USA Women’s Fly Fishing Team, and Bill Gammel. Some of the featured fly tyers include Lee Blanton, Allen Rupp, Jeff Rowley, Kevin Hutchison, George Sabol, Steve Maldonado, Troy Basso, and the Roadkill Roundtable team. The casting instructors include Bill Gammel, Julie Mattison, Rex Walker, and the Good Fly team. Multiple vendors attend this event and I don’t know who will be there this year, but the Dirty Water Fly Shop pretty much brings their entire inventory to the show and The Hair Company has the largest variety of hair and fur for fly tying that I have seen anywhere. If you tie flies these two booths are worth a visit.

This show offers the opportunity to learn from multiple fly fishing/tying/casting experts, you can visit with guides, test cast some fly rods, and more. I will be teaching four casting classes and I will do a casting demo on the casting pond Sunday morning. Come see me and say hello!
TX Fly Fishing Festival

> Red River Rendezvous (March 1 – 2) – The Red River Fly Fishers have been hosting this event in Eisenhower stat park under various names for almost two decades. It is primarily a fly tying event and it attracts some of the area’s best fly tyers. But, fly casting of some sort usually breaks out on the front lawn. This is a fun event. If you tie flies, bring your vise, if you don’t tie, come anyway and meet some other fly fishers (there aren’t that many of us around here.) The event is free and the park often waives the entrance fee if you tell them you are attending it (but, I don’t know if they are doing that this year.)
Red River Fly Fishers – Red River Fly Fishers | Sherman, Texas (rrff.org)

> Trinity Flyfest (March 9) – The Flyfest takes place on the Trinity River in the middle of Fort Worth. Multiple FFI casting instructors will be offering casting classes throughout the day. There is a fly fishing competition, fly tying demonstrations, vendors, and you can go fish the river.
Home - Trinity Flyfest

> Dallas Fly Fisher’s Auction (March 11 – 5:30 to 8:30) – Plano Event Center, 2000 E. Spring Creek Pkwy., Plano, TX 75074. The Dallas Fly Fishers will be host their auction on March 11. If you need or want some more fly fishing gear, rods, guide trips, or pretty much anything fly fishing related, this is the place to be. If you are not a member, tell them that you are my guest and both of us may get a discount on the admission price. Everyone is welcome and invited to attend.
Auction (dallasflyfishers.org)

> Casting Session on Zoom (March 13 at 7:00 to 8:00 pm) - The Texas IFF Council will be offering Zoom based Fly Casting topic sessions and I will be leading the one on March 13. I don’t know the meeting details, but please add this one to your calendar and plan on joining me. I will post the meeting details as soon as they are available. Everyone is welcome to attend.
***
Hello Everyone, this is an invitation to join us for a casting discussion about “Curve Casts and Curve Mends”. There are fishing situations where an intentionally curved fly line will catch more fish than a fly line cast in straight line.

We will cover multiple casting techniques used to make a Curve Cast and how to make an Aerial Mend Around a Target. We will discuss both "How To" and "When" to use them. The “When” is the key focus of this presentation, because these techniques are very effective for catching both Trout and Bass. A Curved Cast presentation can be irresistible to black bass and we will discuss some of those situations.

This presentation is appropriate for all casting skill levels. We will cover the basic skills to allow a beginning caster to start fishing with these techniques and we will also discuss the subtle details that will help a more advanced caster to master these skills. Come join us, it will be fun evening.

***

It’s about to get busy around here!

Come join us,
Rex
FFI CI

From everything I have seen, and now heard, the TroutFest in New Braunfels is THE SHOW for Texas fly fishers. Last weekend was no exception.

I’ve been twice and I have enjoyed it. Worth going for sure.

Ran into a few friends for sure and saw some unusual items for sale at this event. It is in a terrible location, and the drive is the deadliest thing I have done in awhile, but maybe that's just the old-man-get-off-my-lawn talking ... That Convention Center is pretty rough though.

This went downhill after moving it from Plano. I'm not sure if the location was the complete cause, but it is not the same as it was in those early years.

The convention center is kind of dumpy and LBJ is nothing short of rolling the dice with your life.

This is just one bonehead's opinion, but if next year is a repeat of this year, I wouldn't even bother with the effort of putting it on again.

FlyFest in Fort Worth is quite a lot of fun. March the 9th!!! Come on over to FW!!!!

Yeah I think you are in the majority with your opinion! Honestly, just a terrible location.