Tim O’Neill on “Fishing the Brandywine, a Tale of Three Rivers”
A detailed look into Tim’s favorite river, Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Brandywine River.
Tim is a master Machinist / CAD designer by trade and worked “part-time” in hunting and fishing-related outdoor stores. He is an accomplished archer, wing-shot, and rifleman, but his true passion has always been with the fly rod. Owner of Norvise Fly Tying Systems.
Meeting April 14, 2022 at 7:00 PM
We meet at the Churchville Nature Center, The Center has lifted the Mask Requirement. No Mask Needed
Delaware Valley Fly FishersPresents Bart Lombardo – Owner of Panfish On The Fly
Bart will cover many ways to have fun catching panfish on your fly rod, what flies to use, and the seasons and equipment needed.
Fly fishing for bluegill and other sunfish species has always been Bart Lombardo’s passion. Collectively known as panfish, these scrappy fighters were made to be pursued with a fly rod. The first fish Bart caught on a fly was a bluegill. Bart said “When the day comes that I can no longer wade a trout stream or paddle a kayak they will be around to be my last.”
Why wait for the annual trip to trout country to pick up that fly rod. You have fish living right in your backyard that are just waiting to grab your fly. Bluegills and other panfish are found everywhere!
Meeting > March 10, 2022 at 7:00 PM
We meet at the Churchville Nature Center. The Center is requiring all in attendance to wear a mask. Please comply with the Nature Center’s request.
Delaware Valley Fly Fishers meeting February 10, 2022, at 6:30 for the Business Meeting. Rick Nyles will present Fly Fishing in Montana shortly thereafter.
This is a great opportunity to learn how to set up a bucket list trip in the Big Sky of Montana. Rick’s 2022 trip is sold out but starting to take clients for the 2023 season.
We meet at the Churchville Nature Center, The Center is requiring all in attendance to wear a mask. Please comply with the Nature Center’s request.
John Shaner will do a fly tying demo on Classic Spider Flies (in the US known as Soft Hackles). His presentation will cover from early 19th-century soft hackle flies to the current day. He will show the history of these flies and how they still work today. John is currently the FFI Eastern Waters Council Fly Tying Chair. John has been fly fishing for as long as he can remember. He caught his first trout on a fly he tied himself in 1965. He grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York and was fishing the Catskill Rivers as soon as he could drive. Over the years John has fished for trout extensively across the US and has made several trips to England to fish the famous Chalk Streams and other rivers. A list of the rivers he has had the good fortune to fish would be fairly long!
He has a special love for Montana and Wyoming and lived in West Yellowstone, MT for a number of years. His favorite rivers are; The Beaverkill and the West Branch of the Delaware in New York, the Firehole and Madison system in Yellowstone National Park, and in England, the Abbots Worthy Beat of the Itchen in Hampshire, and the River Eamont in Cumbria. He has also fished the Bahamas, Belize, and Florida for saltwater species.
He has been in the fly fishing business since 1985 and has managed fly shops, guided, and worked as a sales representative for Orvis, Cortland Line, and since 2008 with Hardy. Currently, he holds the position of Eastern Regional Fly Fishing Manager for Pure Fishing, the parent company of Hardy, Fenwick, and Hodgman. His interest in fly tying goes back to boyhood. He is mostly self-taught but has studied many techniques over the years and has a special interest in reproducing traditional patterns. The Catskill style of dry flies is his first love, but in the past 15 years, his focus has been on British wet flies. He also likes to experiment with new patterns but he is a bit of a traditionalist in his use of materials and seldom incorporates synthetics into his flies, preferring natural silk, fur, and feathers.
John has a special fascination for “Spiders” (Americans call them “Soft Hackles”), and enjoys tying and fishing these simple, elegant, and deadly flies. His other passion is collecting tackle and angling books. His “library” (which is getting out of hand!) is primarily devoted to books detailing the development of flies and tying techniques. John is a member of The Anglers’ Club of New York, The Flyfishers’ Club of London, The Theodore Gordon Fly Fishers, and The DeBruce Fly Fishing Club. Currently, he lives in southern New York State, just a few minutes from the Beaverkill and West Branch of the Delaware.
The meeting is on January 13, 2022 at the Churchville Nature Center, 501 Churchville Lane, Churchville, PA at 7PM.
Delaware Valley Fly Fishers 