Idahoflyfishmn
Well-known member
School of Trout
I apologize for the long post, but anything short would not do the memory justice,
I just returned from a week long fly fishing school/expedition on the Henry’s Fork called ‘The School of Trout’. This venture was the brainchild of Todd Tanner, who set the agenda, managed the schedule, etc… The course was a combination of classroom work, and on the river instruction. Instructors/guides included: Todd Tanner, Tom Rosenbauer, Craig Matthews, John Juracek, Kirk Deeter, Bob White, Tim Romano, Hilary Hutcheson, Steve (Mac) Mcfarland, Pat Gaffney, and Karlie Roland. A virtual “who’s who” of fly fishing instructors. Each morning began with breakfast (7-8:30) with the ‘students’ (12) sitting intermixed with the instructor/guides. Discussion was ‘open’, and as expected often focused on different aspects of fly fishing. At 0900, a formal ‘classroom’ presentation on an aspect of fly fishing occurred (ie: Tom Rosenbauer on fly selection, Hilary on “knots”, etc…). At 10 AM, each morning, John Juracek gave a virtuoso mini-class on casting. This included approximately 15 minutes of lecture/discussion by John, followed by ~ 1hr 45 minutes of ‘lawn’ casting by the students. On the last day of casting, we moved to the water, and casted towards pre-set targets that simulated varied difficult on-river situations. During the lawn casting, the instructors/guides would wander the yard aiding, and helping, while John would stalk the grounds giving inciteful, and often hilarious instruction. At 12 noon, we broke for lunch (came too soon for all). After lunch, we would ‘wader up’ and head out for a different section of the Henry’s Fork, for an ‘on the water’ presentation by one of the instructors. (ie: Reading the Water by Hilary, Streamer fishing by Todd and Tim Romano), etc… We would then fish for a couple of hours, with the instructors/guides providing instruction and comment. At approximately 5:30, we would head back to the lodge, and then meet for dinner at 6:30. Dinner, much like breakfast, was attended by the students, and the instructors/guides, and lively discussion ensued. At approximately 8pm, we would break for another hour of classroom presentation. At about 9, the day was over.
The weather did not cooperate, with wind, rain and snow virtually every day. This however, added to the quality of the experience by providing challenging conditions to practice in.
There was a variety of student experience coming into the course. There were no ‘rank beginners’, with some more experienced fly fishermen (and women). Because of the nature of the course, all levels could be accommodated with personal instruction by the guides & instructors.
In short, Todd is a thoughtful, inciteful and experienced fly fishermen who put together a broad and varied experience for all levels of knowledge and skill. He did a masterful job, and is to be commended for his passion, and attention to detail.
I would recommend this course without reservation. I would consider ‘repeating’ this course, even though at the end, we all received graduation diploma’s!
JTH
I apologize for the long post, but anything short would not do the memory justice,
I just returned from a week long fly fishing school/expedition on the Henry’s Fork called ‘The School of Trout’. This venture was the brainchild of Todd Tanner, who set the agenda, managed the schedule, etc… The course was a combination of classroom work, and on the river instruction. Instructors/guides included: Todd Tanner, Tom Rosenbauer, Craig Matthews, John Juracek, Kirk Deeter, Bob White, Tim Romano, Hilary Hutcheson, Steve (Mac) Mcfarland, Pat Gaffney, and Karlie Roland. A virtual “who’s who” of fly fishing instructors. Each morning began with breakfast (7-8:30) with the ‘students’ (12) sitting intermixed with the instructor/guides. Discussion was ‘open’, and as expected often focused on different aspects of fly fishing. At 0900, a formal ‘classroom’ presentation on an aspect of fly fishing occurred (ie: Tom Rosenbauer on fly selection, Hilary on “knots”, etc…). At 10 AM, each morning, John Juracek gave a virtuoso mini-class on casting. This included approximately 15 minutes of lecture/discussion by John, followed by ~ 1hr 45 minutes of ‘lawn’ casting by the students. On the last day of casting, we moved to the water, and casted towards pre-set targets that simulated varied difficult on-river situations. During the lawn casting, the instructors/guides would wander the yard aiding, and helping, while John would stalk the grounds giving inciteful, and often hilarious instruction. At 12 noon, we broke for lunch (came too soon for all). After lunch, we would ‘wader up’ and head out for a different section of the Henry’s Fork, for an ‘on the water’ presentation by one of the instructors. (ie: Reading the Water by Hilary, Streamer fishing by Todd and Tim Romano), etc… We would then fish for a couple of hours, with the instructors/guides providing instruction and comment. At approximately 5:30, we would head back to the lodge, and then meet for dinner at 6:30. Dinner, much like breakfast, was attended by the students, and the instructors/guides, and lively discussion ensued. At approximately 8pm, we would break for another hour of classroom presentation. At about 9, the day was over.
The weather did not cooperate, with wind, rain and snow virtually every day. This however, added to the quality of the experience by providing challenging conditions to practice in.
There was a variety of student experience coming into the course. There were no ‘rank beginners’, with some more experienced fly fishermen (and women). Because of the nature of the course, all levels could be accommodated with personal instruction by the guides & instructors.
In short, Todd is a thoughtful, inciteful and experienced fly fishermen who put together a broad and varied experience for all levels of knowledge and skill. He did a masterful job, and is to be commended for his passion, and attention to detail.
I would recommend this course without reservation. I would consider ‘repeating’ this course, even though at the end, we all received graduation diploma’s!
JTH
![W10 167 Henry's Fork 7.3[P]s.JPG](/forums/data/attachments/11/11669-13c3df596c319fada5207140795e59fe.jpg)