[txbevo]

Anyone have any experience with the Saturday morning fly fishing school put on by Backwoods in Ft Worth? It is a 4 hour class that looks to cover the basics. It only costs $50 and they hold it twice a month. Thinking about checking it out this coming Saturday (10/18) and was wondering if anyone could shed some light on it for me.

[Stephen Woodcock]

I hear its a great class but I could be biased as I teach the class. Basically the class is around 4 hours long but often goes longer if lots of questions come up or if the casting session needs more time. I try and make the whole experience relaxed and fun but pretyy informative.
We often start with a slide show of what fish live where and why, then go onto the casting lesson outside, then back for explanation of equipment then knot tying then fly tying. At the end you should be able to cast well enough and know enough to go fly fish a local pond or river.

hope this helped

[BigCliff]

Welcome to the group Stephen! There's some older posts on here from Davy Wotton you might appreciate more than most.

Folks this is indeed the same guy i mentioned in the DFW shops thread.

Glad to have him aboard.

[txbevo]

I pulled the trigger and attended the Backwoods school this past Saturday (10/18). I would highly recommend the school to anyone who is new to the sport and wants to learn the basics. Stephen did a great job of instructing. He was informative and presented the material well and in an accessible way. Of course, it is only 4 hours long and you can only cover so much in that time period, so the course is basic. There is ample time spent on casting which was worth the price alone. I had considered going to one of the Orvis schools, but I feel this school covered what I needed to get started and I was able to put the extra money I would have spent on lodging and instruction at Orvis into upgraded equipment. Now I have some excellent Simms waders, Cloudveil AquStealth boots, Fishpond double haul chest/back pack, Sage FLi rod (on sale) and Ross Rhythm reel (also on sale). My thanks to Bill who works in the fly shop at Backwoods for recommmending the school and helping me with my equipment purchases. I highly recommend the Backwoods fly shop and the school.

[wtex50]

TXBEVO - Glad you enjoyed yourself and learned alot. Stephen is a good guy and very knowledgable. He also does trips to the coast I believe, if you re into salt water fishing