A New Year

As Richard Alden Bean notes in this issue’s “The Warm-water Fly Fisher” column, we’re now into that winter phenomenon known as “the show season.” As usual, I’ll be staffing the California Fly Fisher booths at the International Sportsmen’s Expositions in San Mateo (January 12–15) and Sacramento (January 19–22) and The Fly Fishing Show in San Rafael (February 17–19). Rick Bean and his wife, Barbara, will handle the booth at The Fly Fishing Show in Ontario (February 25 and 26). Advertisements elsewhere in this issue indicate show times, locations, URLs, and other pertinent information. If you’re attending any of these shows, please by and say hello. It’s always a pleasure to meet the readers of California Fly Fisher.

And longtime readers of this magazine know that for a number of years we’ve held an essay contest at about this time year. For 2006, however, we’re changing its focus — the contest is open only to kids between the ages of 10 and 15. The prize: one paid tuition to FishCamp, the fly-fishing summer camp hosted at Antelope Creek Ranch by The Fly Shop of Redding (a $750 value). The essay has to be at least 800 words in length and should revolve around some aspect of the sport, such as a fly-fishing experience or why the writer would like to learn to fly fish. Manuscripts should be sent electronically to the e-mail address in the upper left corner of this magazine by March 20th, although we’ll certainly take ’em if delivered by snail mail, FedEx, or any other method. Please make sure the essay indicates the writer’s name, phone number, address, grade, and school. The winning essay will be printed in our May/June issue. For more information on FishCamp, visit www.flyfishcamp.com.

One final note: on February 18, Marty Seldon will be inducted into the Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fisher’s Hall of Fame. Marty has been a tireless champion for game fish over the decades; his induction is clearly deserved.

Richard Anderson
Publisher and Editor