ATHENS, Texas — The sixth annual Fly Fish Texas is scheduled for March 5 at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center here. TFFC has hosted the event each year since 2001. Expert fly fishers from all over Texas will converge to share tips and techniques during seminars and hands-on demonstrations. Participants can tie flies, practice casting and fish for bass, sunfish and rainbow trout in TFFC’s ponds and streams. Seminars will cover fly fishing for bass and carp, fly fishing the Texas coast, kayak fishing, urban fly fishing and fishing small streams in Texas and Colorado. Dutch oven cooks will serve up breads and desserts hot off the coals. Many of the speakers are well known in Texas fly fishing circles. Colby (“Pops”) Sorrells will speak about “Bass Buggin”Texas Style.” Mark Marmon will reveal the secrets to “Urban Fly Fishing,” while Steve Rawls, Marty Cecil and Ronnie Ray will tell how and where to fish streams in Texas and Colorado. Steve Robbins’ session about “Bream Bustin’ with a Fly Rod” spotlights a fishing opportunity that offers fast-paced action on almost any body of water. Young people make up a large part of the thousand attendees each year, and basic and intermediate fly-fishing classes are the reason. Kids ages 12 and older learn what makes good fish habitat and get to collect and identify bugs from TFFC streams and ponds. Then they learn how to tie flies that mimic those bugs and use them to catch fish using fly-fishing gear provided on-site. Admission to the day-long event is included with regular admission to TFFC: $5.50 for adults, $4.50 for seniors and $3.50 for children ages 4-12. TFFC is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at 5550 F.M. 2495, three miles east of Athens. Athens is 75 miles southeast of Dallas. Sponsors and vendors for the event include the Sabine River Authority, Orvis, Texas Department of Agriculture, Dwight Cooley Foods, Post Oak Master Naturalists, Jimmie’s Fishing Jewelry, Boy Scout Troop 1299, Temple Fork Outfitters, Steve Robbins Backcountry Fly Shop, Steve Rawls Fly Fishing Guide Service, Marty Cecil Elk Trout Lodge, Deborah Wade Dame Julia Fly Tying, Chris Dukeminier Mariner Sails, Jim Partin ArkAnglers and Brooke’s Seasonings. For more information and a schedule of events and seminars call (903) 676-2277 or (903) 670-2222.
