Each year the NFA provides two full scholarships to the Northwest Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Academy. The Academy is designed to educate 12 to 16 year old boys and girls about the importance of conservation and resource stewardship and is modeled after the nationally acclaimed award winning Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp held annually in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania.

The curriculum is structured to provide students with a background in fundamental science and includes presentations on ecology, hydrology, aquatic entomology, invasive species, watersheds, wildlife management, and fish behavior. Participants will also learn the essential fly fishing skills that include fly casting, fly tying, fly selection, streamside ethics and etiquette, knot tying, reading water, and water safety.

The Olympia Chapter Trout Unlimited and the South Sound Fly Fishers will again host the Academy at the Gwinwood Conference Center on Hicks Lake in Lacey, Washington from June 24 through 30, 2012.

All NFA members are encouraged to explore these scholarships for their children, grandchildren, extended relations or even neighbors. However the scholarships are also open to the public as an educational service by Northwest Fly Anglers. To apply download an application from the academy site and follow it’s instructions except submit the application either to a NFA board member or mail it to the club PO Box by April 1, 2012.

Scholarships will be awarded by the NFA Exec Board based on application materials, relation to NFA and a desire to sponsor both a boy and girl.

The Advanced Fly Tying Class is for those fly tyers who want help in mastering more difficult fly tying techniques and patterns. Each class will be taught by a different NFA fly tying master who will be eager to share his or her tying “secrets.” The class is kept small do students get lots of individual attention.

DATES AND COST
This five-session class will be held from 7 to 9 PM on consecutive Thursdays beginning March 8th. The class is open to club members and the general public. The class costs $50.

PLACE
Ingraham High School, 1819 N 135th St.. in the Haller Lake neighborhood at the corner of Meridian Ave. N and N 135th St. We’ll be in the staff lounge.

If you have ever wanted to make your own fly rod, then this is the class for you. Now you can have a custom rod with your own kind of compo- nents (grip, reelseat, guides, and thread color). Each students completes the course having made a fly rod for a lot less money than it would cost retail. This five-week class may start in March if an instructor for the class is found.

DATES AND COST
7 to 9 PM on consecutive Thursdays beginning tentatively in March. The class is open to club members and the general public. The class costs $50.

PLACE
Ingraham High School, 1819 N 135th St.. in the Haller Lake neighborhood at the corner of Meridian Ave. N and N 135th St.. We’ll be in the staff lounge.

EIGHT SESSIONS

Peg and Bill Van Natter, Federation of Fly Fishers and American Casting
Association certified casting instructors, have committed to another year of teaching their immensely popular and successful Fly Casting for Beginners. Many club members find the class very useful. The class is one of the most common ways the public finds out about the NFA. Bill and Peg have lots of NFA “Assistant Instructors” to help out.

DATES AND COST
This eight-session class will be held from 6:30 to 8 PM on consecutive Tuesdays beginning April 3rd. The class is open to club members and the general public. The class costs $40.

PLACE
Classes are held at the Casting Pier (pictured below) at the northwest end of Green Lake. There is convenient free parking within easy walking distance of the pier.