PRE: Truckee River One-fly tournament

Three years ago, Jan Nemec and I stood around talking about how great it would be if there were an annual fly fishing event on the Truckee River. We talked about the various formats-one fly, two-fly, one pattern, straight tournament-but we settled on a one-fly tournament like the one made famous in Jackson. The first year was a pilot and we didn't even know if we would gather the momentum needed to carry on another year. It turns out that the response from those 18 who came out to fish was positive, so we decided to give it another go. The second annual one-fly almost didn't happen. I was busy and had virtually no time to plan. The awesome people I have met through the years came through that year and we had prizes to draw in a crowd. The second year only drew a few people, twelve I think, but we had a great time. This year, the third, I find myself getting nervous about having too many people (never thought I would have that problem). The idea of this tournament from the beginning was to bring together the people and businesses that operate in the fishing world and make it a tighter community. What I have learned through the years is that the people come together, but the businesses are not so eager to join forces. With the challenge of getting participants behind me (hopefully), I am looking forward to the next challenge: bringing together the businesses around a common goal.

On that note, I would like to give credit to the businesses that have worked with us over the years: Jan from Orvis (though it seems he's been everywhere), Patti and Chris from The Nature Conservancy (who gave us access to McCarran Ranch), Eric from Sportsman's warehouse and Jamie from Cabela's have been instrumental in helping us raise funds for restoration work on the Truckee. In future years I would like to see this list grow and raise enough money to get a community led project completed on the river. This event continues to evolve and my hope is that one day it becomes a model of anglers, conservationists and businesses coming together for the good of the river. If you have ideas or want to help, please leave a comeent below. Stay tuned for the "POST: Truckee River One-fly tournament" entry coming next week. Wish us luck!

And a special thanks to David calvert for the photos in this post. He is an amazing photographer and volunteered his time and equipment to document our second year. Check out his website to see more 2010 One-fly pictures.