George Abernathy

With summer in full swing and 50 to 60 percent of the club members gone for the summer, fly fishing trips are still going strong as ever. In the past few weeks several of us have ventured to fisheries on the Rim and to different lakes in the White Mountains. Whether or not you get skunked or land several, it’s hard to relax more than when you’re on the hunt for fish at one of the diverse fisheries in Arizona.

On June 9 Van Newville and I attended the Sun Lakes Lions club (SLFFC) meeting to express our gratitude for them donating $150 to sponsor lunch for the disabled veterans from Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. Members from the Sun Lakes Fly Fishing Club will be hosting the veterans on October 31 either in Ironwood or Cottonwood; thanks to the Lions Club, they’ll enjoy a great lunch.

SLFFC’s webpage is up and running and can be accessed by typing in Sunlakesflyfishing.com in the cursor. Keep in mind that the site is still in the infant stages and is being managed by one of our members, Randy Smith. Hopefully within the near future, Randy will have made enough adjustments so residents and members can access information on previous as well as future trips. The challenge will be to keep Randy’s fingers on the keyboard instead holding a fly rod and fishing. He and his son just got back from the San Juan River in New Mexico and between the two of them, they landed over 50 trout on their guided trip.

Our next meeting will on July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakwood Library. All residents are welcome to join. If you’ve ever entertained the idea of fly fishing or would like to befriend others that do, then SLFFC is what you’re looking for.

“I fish better with a lit cigar; some people fish better with talent.” ~Nick Lyons, Bright Rivers, 1977

Fish On! Fish On!