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2007 FFF Southern Council NominationClub of the YearNortheast Arkansas FlyfishersI would like to nominate the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers as Club of the Year. I feel that the education and conservation activities of this club justify this nomination. For the past several years the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers have been very active in conservational activities. We have participated in fin clippings and fish shockings with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. We have built crappie cribs that were sunk in Crowley's Ridge State Park Lake to improve habitat. We have also been asked to help sink Christmas trees in Lake Frierson to help improve habitat in this Game and Fish lake. We have worked with the Nature Conservancy in the protection of the Strawberry River by planting trees. Our club has worked with Tom Bly and the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission on Collins Creek, giving time and money for this worthy catch and release project. For over 10 years the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers have purchased the remaining trout from the Rotary Club's Sports Show in Jonesboro. This has led to thousands of certified disease free trout being stocked in the Spring River, instead of being thrown away into dumpsters. The last several years these trout were used to start the first winter urban fishing program in Northeast Arkansas with the trout being stocked in a Walnut Ridge city pond for children to catch in 2004, in West Memphis in 2005. When improvements were made to Craighead Forest Lake by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, these trout were stocked in Jonesboro to begin a winter urban fisheries program here. We have set up educational programs with several area schools. Twice a year we teach fly tying and casting to eager young men and women at the Nettleton Intermediate School. We have also taught casting and fly tying to Harrisburg Special Education classes, along with doing programs for the Highland School District. We have extended this to include family outings with those students who have participated in our programs at a member's pond. In conjunction with the local Elks Club, we did a Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs seminar. We provided a casting and fly tying clinic for local boys and girls. This was a very enjoyable and successful endeavor for both our club members and the kids who participated in the event. We have also worked with local scouting groups on achieving their fly fishing badge. Since its opening, we have joined forces with the Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center to teach classes in fly tying and fly casting. We were asked to do a program at the opening of the Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center. Before it even opened we helped with the Women in the Wilderness workshop. We have done casting and tying clinics for underprivileged children. We did programs for several nights in August for the National Fly Fishing Week at the Nature Center to introduce Northeast Arkansas to the joys of fly fishing. We feel that this partnership with the Nature Center will be beneficial to all of Northeast Arkansas. On the last Saturday of each month, we have a Fly Tyers Round Table at the Nature Center to teach fly tying and to tie flies for Casting for Recovery. We have ended up having several scouts each month complete the fly tying portion of their fly fishing badge. We had special fly boxes made up for the 15 participants in Casting for Recovery and filled each box with approximately two dozen flies. Several of our members have been asked to help with the Arkansas Casting for Recovery program. Along with the fly donation and membership participation, the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers made a matching monetary donation to Orvis for this worthy cause. Several years ago the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers began a video casting clinic with its members to record their casting and make helpful suggestions. Having Chuck Easterling serving on the FFF Casting Board of Governors, we felt that this was of great benefit to everyone who participated. We have also combined the casting clinic with a knot tying and a beginning fly tying clinic. We plan on doing the video casting clinic again later in the year to see how much improvement participants have made. Through our monthly one bid silent auction fly box, we were able to donate $300 to the Southern Council's Education Fund. Although we were not able to continue with it this year, we hope to reinstitute it in the near future. For several years the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers provided the Thursday night dinner for the exhibitors and those helping set up for the conclave. The food that was left over has been donated to a local Mountain Home Women's shelter. Our club worked to solicit the donation from Tyson for the chicken for this dinner. After co-chairing the 2000 Conclave, we were back to chair the 2005 Conclave with Michael Ames and Michael Lack assuming the 2005 chair positions. We've had several members who put on programs at the Conclave every year and chair various committees. Dennis 'Wild Bear' Reed was the 2004 fly tying co-chair with Slim Mitchell. He has been the tying chair since then. Dennis was also chair of the fly tying coaches until this year. He chaired the fly tying coaches since its inception at Conclave 2000. With our dedication to educational and conservation projects, we feel that we have contributed to the knowledge, enjoyment, and benefits of fly fishing. This has led to the belief that the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers are worthy for consideration as Club of the Year. Respectfully, Dennis 'Wild Bear' Reed |
