And The Reel Winner Is

Last year when the Blue River Fly Classic raised $2,495.00 I thought we had probably peaked as far as the amount of money we would ever raised.  At last years event we had two vintage bamboo fly rods along with a beautiful piece of fly fishing artwork that we auctioned off.  Those items accounted for $500.00 by themselves.  This year we were void of such auction items.

So you can imagine my surprise when the Classic this year surpassed last years total.  This years event raised $2,550.00 and therefore the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife is a winner!  The proceeds from this event along with the $1,320.00 raised by Chris Adams and his Bubba Buggers For Blue program will hopefully qualify for federal matching funds, and if so the end result will be around $15,000.00 to the wildlife department.

There were all kind of winners this past Saturday.  The early bird award went to Jon Paul Griffin.  Jon Paul received at $25.00 Bass Pro gift certificate for getting his entry in first.  The winner of the Guess The Mystery Fly game was Brodie Reed.  Brodie will receive Fishpond's Headgate Tippet system. 

Boone Merhman and Chris Adams were both big winners in being awarded the Spirit Of The Blue award for their outstanding efforts in supporting Blue River this year.

Everyone that had the pleasure of eating Vernon Forrester's chuck wagon food was a winner!  The food this year was off the charts!

Ralph Fullenwider is always a winner and on Saturday he was named the Keeper Of The River for 2015.  This award has only been awarded one previous time and the first recipient was Harold Beck.  Harold had the pleasure of announcing Ralph as this years recipient.

Thanks to the generosity of a good number we had a lot of giveaway prizes this year.  The crown jewel of the giveaways was a Cabela's fly rod and reel donated by Dan Ham of Ada, Oklahoma and Dallas, Texas.  That sweet package went to Andrew Weatherford.
Then there were the competitors in the Blue River Fly Classic.  After five hours of hard fishing we had the top three finishers.

Coming in third place was Scott Dittner of Marlow, Oklahoma.  Scott received a $50.00 gift certificate from Backwoods in Oklahoma City.

Coming in second place was Eric Nunn.  Eric received a $100.00 Bass Pro gift certificate.

1st place went to Walker Hairston.  Walker hails south of the Red River and has become one of our favorite fly guys on Blue River.  Walker received an Umpqua Fly Vest for winning the Blue River Fly Classic 2015.  Thanks to Tailwaters of Dallas, Texas for donating the Umpqua vest.

And then there is the reel winner.  The big winner in all of this is Blue River.  How awesome must it be to be loved by so many from so many different places.  The more people that come to this river results in more people getting love bit.  And the more people star struck by this river results in more people wanting to see the Blue always healthy and safe.  Again, how awesome it must be to be so loved.

Here are some pictures from this weekends event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finals Words For Classic 2015

The Blue River Fly Classic will be this coming Saturday, March 7th.  The Weather Channel is showing sunny skies with a morning temperature of 33 degrees warming to a balmy 59 with north east winds whispering at 5 to 10.  Sounds like nice fly fishing weather.

Contestants should of course bring their normal gear as if they were on any fly fishing trip to Blue river.  In addition, we ask contestants to bring a chair to sit in during lunch and their choice of drink. 

Here is how the day will unfold.  The contest begins promptly at 7:30 and we ask contestants try and get there by 7:15 if possible.  We will meet in the main parking lot of the campground area by Hughes Crossing. 

Harold Beck will once again serve as our Master of Ceremonies.  At 7:25, Harold will present his opening remarks and go over the rules of the contest along with explaining the score card.  Then, the winner of the "Guess the mystery fly contest" will be announced and the Early Bird gift will be awarded.  Michael Mercurio and Michael Lanning will then announce the pairings and contestants will be given a zip loc bag with their two mystery flies, score card, and ink pen. 

All contestants must return and turn in their score cards no later than 12:30 at the same spot they were given their score card that morning. 

Vernon Forrester and the Forrester cooking team will have our lunch ready between 12:30 and 1 p.m. On the menu is cowboy style chicken fried steak, cowboy potatoes, creamed spinach, an additional side and of course Vernon's wonderful desserts. 

Matt Gamble will be on hand to bring everyone up to date on the trout stocking situation and to answer any questions anyone might have.

Michael Mercurio will be in charge of adding the score cards.  Michael Lanning will be in charge of the tie breaker log.  Charlie Wright will announce the winners beginning with 3rd place, then 2nd, and finally the winner of the Classic 2015.

Prior to the announcement of the winners, there will be a number of thank you announcements to be made and special awards will also be announced.  Harold Beck will also announce and present the Keeper Of The River 2015 award.  Yours truly and Scott Dittner will announce two special awards for 2015.

There will be a number of give-a-way prizes to be distributed and this will take place after the winners are announced. 

Classic 2015 t shirts will be given to all contestants and we will call it a day.  It's all going to be a lot of fun.

Classic Entires Are Closed

The February 15th deadline for entering the Blue River Fly Classic has arrived and entries are now closed.  We have reached our threshold of how many can compete in this event and the numbers are quite manageable.

Final instructions will be posted soon on this blog and through email. 

See everyone on the river March 7th.

The Mystery Fly Is Named

With two more clues to go we now have a winner in the Guess The Mystery Fly game.  The winner will be named at the Blue River Fly Classic and will receive one of Fishpond's latest tools.  It's a pretty cool little tippet holder called the Headgate.

Clue #5 would have read:  It could be said the Mystery Fly is "storied".

 

Clue #6 would have read:  The Mystery Fly could be called a "show me" fly.

 

Congratulations to the winner. 

Guess The Mystery Fly - Clue #4

It's time for the Guess The Mystery Fly game.  The winner will be the first person to correctly identify the name of the mystery fly.  You can submit your guess one of three ways - email fishingcowboyblue@yahoo.com or post your guess here in the comments or post your guess on the Blue River Fly Fishers yahoo site. 

Good luck!

The Mystery Fly can be fished on the surface or pulled under and fished like an emerger, swung like a wet, or weighted and bounced off the bottom.  What is the name of the Mystery Fly?

Guess The Mystery Fly - Clue #3

It's time for the Guess The Mystery Fly game.  The winner will be the first person to correctly identify the name of the mystery fly.  You can submit your guess one of three ways - email fishingcowboyblue@yahoo.com or post your guess here in the comments or post your guess on the Blue River Fly Fishers yahoo site. 

Good luck!

The Mystery Fly is considered a dry by most, but also has terrestrial and attractor characteristics.

Guess The Mystery Fly - Clue #2

It's time for the Guess The Mystery Fly game.  The winner will be the first person to correctly identify the name of the mystery fly.  You can submit your guess one of three ways - email fishingcowboyblue@yahoo.com or post your guess here in the comments or post your guess on the Blue River Fly Fishers yahoo site. 

Good luck!

Clue #2.  The mystery fly is known better, and used more, on a regional basis rather than nationwide.

Guess The Mystery Fly - Clue Number 1

It's time for the Guess The Mystery Fly game.  The winner will be the first person to correctly identify the name of the mystery fly.  You can submit your guess one of three ways - email fishingcowboyblue@yahoo.com or post your guess here in the comments or post your guess on the Blue River Fly Fishers yahoo site. 

Good luck.

Clue #1.  This fly originated in the 1950's.