The Boise Valley Fly Fishers hosted the Western Idaho Fly Fishing for the 19th time to bring anglers together to showcase vendors, teach casting techniques and hold fly tying demonstrations.
"This is the biggest educational event that we do as the Boise Valley Fly Fishers," said Brian Martin, the president of this non-profit. "This year we are focusing on providing knowledge and information to those that have never fly fished before."
If you missed the expo don't worry, the Boise Valley Fly Fishing will have many opportunities throughout the year to go fishing, improve your skills and help with conservation projects.
It requires becoming a member, but that can be done for $30 a year for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for students. George Butts became a member when he moved to Boise and it has paid off.
"Finding Boise Valley Fly Fishers has been a godsend, it’s fabulous," said Butts. "I’ve had people mentoring me for five of the six years since I’ve been up here and I just got more involved, it’s been amazing, I love it."
George highlighted several projects this local club is working on to protect rivers and fish habitat including removing fishing line from the river and trees to protect the fish and birds, they encourage people to clean up the river with their Fill the Net campaign and they have done work to protect the Redds, the spawning ground for fish.
The Boise Valley Fly Fishers focuses on conservation, education and access. They have installed steps to make it easier to get to the Boise River from the Greenbelt at the Diane Moore Nature Center.
The club hosts a monthly meet-up and have several projects lined up for this year as well as fly fishing trips. They certainly have a passion for fishing and they are more than willing to share their knowledge with new anglers.
"I’ve been fishing since I was knee-high to a grasshopper," said Martin. "It’s just very immersive and spiritual for me, it is a meditative experience."
