Show hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All Fly Fish Texas activities are free with regular paid admission to the center.

“Fly Fish Texas is a great show and the only event of its kind,” said Walter McLendon of Lufkin, who has organized the show since its beginning. “Other shows cater to people who are already fly-fishers, but we try to introduce people to fly-fishing.”

“We take people from ‘This is a fly’ to ‘This is a fish—you’ve caught one,’” explained Allen Crise, who co-chairs the casting lessons.

Fly Fish Texas emphasizes hands-on learning and immediate application of newly acquired skills. Visitors can collect aquatic insects from the center’s streams, tie a fly to imitate one of those insects under the supervision of a skilled tier, learn to cast it from a certified fly casting instructor, then use it to catch a rainbow trout from one of TFFC’s stocked ponds or streams.

Vendors will be displaying and selling fly-fishing gear, and seminars will brief visitors on where and how to fly-fish in Texas fresh and salt waters for a variety of species. The program will include presentations on fly-fishing locations such as Caddo Lake, the Texas Hill Country, the middle Texas coast and the Bolivar Peninsula.

Speakers will also detail where fish are and how to fish for them, how to fish the white bass run, fly-fishing for carp, flies for spring bass and other species-specific information. In addition, instruction will be available on rigging a kayak for fly-fishing, ferruled leader making, Spey rod casting and double-hauling.

For a complete schedule of activities and seminars plus a video of the event, visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/ and click on the Fly Fish Texas link.

The Dallas Fly Fishers will teach classes for beginning fly-fishers; pre-registration is required and is available by calling Craig Brooks at (903) 670-2222.

Event sponsors include Sabine River Authority, Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites – Athens, Orvis, Temple Fork Outfitters, Red Hat Rentals and Mariner Sails.