Weekly Meeting Schedule

Dustan Harley was born less than a mile from the Saint Joseph River and can’t remember a time when he wasn’t on the river fishing. He grew up fishing on the rivers of Indiana and Michigan and is lucky enough today to spend most days on those same rivers. He founded Ripple Guide Service in 1999 to give fishermen an unforgettable experience. He guides the rivers of Indiana and Michigan for steelhead, salmon, trout, smallmouth bass, pike, and just about anything else that swims. Dustan has also spoken to fly fishing clubs from Tennessee to California. When not on the river, he can be found fishing with his children or designing new flies for the fish he loves to fool.

Visit Ripple Guide Service

Our  Treasurer, Denton Morris, is always giving us more bang for our buck! And while there is no buck (or even bucktail) in his Stone Fly patterns, he is going to lead us on two separate flies to tie. And that's a great value!

Join us as Denton leads on a tie-along of two very fishy looking patterns. These flies look really fun to tie, and you're sure to pick up a couple new skills. Denton definitely knows a thing or two about catching trout!

Our good friend Mike Richardson from Whitetail Fly Tieing will be joining us for unique tie along of The Wonder Wing pattern. We have enjoyed Mike's presentations in past years, such as his last year's demonstration of his Zonker stripping machine. But now you will get to see what a talented fly tier he is, too!

Bring your tools and you'll be sure to add another technique to your skill set.

By the way, if you have not visited Mike and Nancy's unparalleled fly shop (either in person or online) you are missing one of the best shops in the country. And it's right in our back yard.

Visit Whitetailflytieing.com

Please join us for this very special meeting. DRiFT and The Tie-a-thon have formed a strong relationship over the past several years. We have tied thousands of flys each year for a worthy cause. For the first time, we will be presenting the thousands of flys tied by DRiFT members directly to Tim.

The Tie-a-thon was founded by Tim Scott of South Bend, IN and with Terry Wittorp of Dowagiac, MI in the fall of 2006 when Kalamazoo Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited (KVCTU) needed flies for their Youth Camp.  The Tie-a-thon concept asked tyers to produce 100 flies of one pattern and donated them so the kids could fish. When the first Tie-a-thon wrapped up, in the spring of 2007, tyers donated 2,500 flies to KVCTU. From that first event, tyers were interested in continuing the Tie-a-thon, and 13 years later, tyers have donated over 131,500 flies to 16 different non-profit organizations and good causes which use fly fishing for either therapy or education.

Tim Scott has been fly-fishing and tying for 26 years. He and his wife Karen are 26-year residents of South Bend, Indiana, where they live a block and a half from the St. Joseph River and where Tim chases smallmouth and steelhead. Fly fishing and fly tying has been the center of Tim’s spare time, when he is not working as the Director of Material Management for a Goshen Indiana Tier 1 automotive parts supplier. Tim is also a three term South Bend Common Council member and the President of the Council, but he still finds time to fish about 75 days out of the year and tie flies almost daily. He and his wife travel often to Colorado, Michigan and their home state of Missouri, where fly-fishing is always part of their trips. Tim has a photojournalism degree from Mizzou and has been published in the Drake and Catch magazines.

Visit The Tie-a-thon Facebook Page!

Join us for a special guest presentation from our good friends at Orvis Chicago.

Ray Bley is a Chicago area fly angler and fly tier. He grew up fishing the lakes and rivers throughout the City and Suburbs. Ray’s passion is targeting the the warm water species of the Midwest, especially smallmouth bass. Ray has developed his baitfish pattern to cater to the smallmouth in our local waters.

You're sure to pick up a ton of valuable information and insight from this one...Ray shares a lot of his insight and experience!

Visit Orvis Chicago: https://stores.orvis.com/us/illinois/chicago

We'll end our year with a Big Bang. Join us as we head into the Summer fishing season at our Spring Pizza Party & Fly Exchange. The pizza is free for our members, so bring a healthy appetite -- and of course -- 6 flies to exchange with your fellow members.

As always, there will be door prizes, raffles and surely a surprise or two.  See you there!