Good Job, Arron!

Serendipitous events seem to occur with great frequency in my life.  I can’t explain it.  Today was another example.

About a year ago, I was asked to get in touch with the president of the “Headwaters Fly Fishing Club” to see if I could assist them with getting their website back on line.  I did have a chat with Bill MacIvor and we both had good intentions to keep in touch and possibly meet for an afternoon of fly fishing, but we never did touch base again.

Today, I was going through old email and came across the first email that had Bill and I in touch. I thought I may as well give him a call again while I was looking at that email so I rang him up.

The Headwaters Club holds their meetings about 15 minutes from where I live, but in the past, I have just been too busy to commit to joining another club, although I’ve had a desire to find out more about Headwaters and perhaps consider membership. So I thought it was quite an interesting coincidence that after a year, the very day I call Bill, he advises me that tonight just so happens to be the club’s first meeting of the year and I get an invitation to attend.

At first, I didn’t think I really had time to  put away what I was working on and get ready for a meeting I had not scheduled, due to start in about an hour and a half.

Then, Bill mentions to me, “Tonight there is going to be a presentation on Czech Nymphing by a guy with the last name of Varga.”

“Varga?” I asked incredulously.  “Arron Varga by any chance?”

“Yes, that’s it.  That’s his name.”

For those who don’t know, I have fished with Arron many a time, and have counted him a very good friend. Indeed, we have been teammates on The Ospreys for the past few years, however this year for reasons I won’t get into, I resigned from the team and did not participate in the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships.  I had not seen Arron since the beginning of July and dearly wanted to talk to him about some things.

The chances of calling up a guy out of the blue after a year and finding out what I found out – the first meeting, and then not only the first meeting tonight, but also my good friend Arron would be presenting at it were curious. I was still hesitant about going but after being motivated to do so by someone who thought it would be good for me to get out of the office because she cares… I went.

I have to say that Arron did a fantastic job of presenting the subject of Czech Nymphing to a bunch of fly anglers who had never really heard much about the technique and who are more used to casting dry flies on the Upper Credit and many had never even heard of a “three fly rig” before.  He covered everything from the motivation behind the discovery and perfection of the technique (it has to do with discovering the most efficient and effective ways to catch small trout in rivers during competitions), equipment, leader considerations, types of flies to choose and how to balance the flies for the water being fished, the technique itself and even gave up some of his own secrets that helped Arron to perform very well for the past few years at the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships.

Arron spoke for close to two hours to an audience that had his full attention and interest.  Many a good question was put to Arron after his presentation and he expertly handled them all in a thoughtful, engaging and knowledgable way.

For myself, I learned a number of things that I’m looking forward to putting to the test as soon as I can.  As well, I met a great bunch of fly anglers and signed myself up to become a member of the club and am looking forward to the learning, sharing and camaraderie this coming winter.

I have to give thanks to Arron on a personal note as well, for we went out for a coffee after his presentation and discussed a few things that I really appreciated discussing with him.  Thank you, Arron.

If you’re interested in learning more about Czech Nymphing for fly fishing in general and want some instruction, you might want to consider getting in touch with Arron.  Along with instruction, he is now also offering some guiding on rivers in Southern Ontario including The Grand and Conestogo.  At the moment, he has no website but he can be reached at 519.843.5736 or  avarga at golden.net.