Tanner Grimes likes “cat fishing.”
“I catch the cat with a fly rod when I’m fishing,” he said.
The 11-year-old practices his casts in the backyard and “Bob” grabs hold of the line with its paws.
Tanner likes to tie flies too, collecting feathers and bits of fur for his original designs. As a youth member of the Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma Flyfishers, he gets plenty of time to practice.
It was time for fish stories and fly casting on Saturday afternoon as MAKO members gathered at Morse Park. The group held a potluck picnic, offered fly tying lessons to passersby and worked on their casting techniques from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.
“We try to have something [each month] for the members and the family and guests,” said MAKO president George Hammond.
The Joplin-based group tries to work kids’ fishing days around the area, like the ones at Roaring River, the Neosho fish hatchery and Kellogg Lake, teaching children how to tie lures and fly fish. The 40-member group sponsored an individual to the Reel Recovery, a three-day fly-fishing outing for male cancer patients and survivors. Members formed Stream Team 47 that cares for Capps Creek by the Jolly Mill area. They try to have a monthly outing and a monthly fly tying meeting.
“We usually have some pretty serious fishing on our outings,” said Randy Billings.
A certified casting instructor, he gave pointers to the assembled group with a live demonstration. Fly-fishing, he said, elevates fishing to another level.
“It’s the true angling art,” Billings said. “You start with casting, and controlling the cast is another art form, fly tying is a true art form and last but not least the true art form of constructing the rod.”
It is more than just learning to tie flies, members said.
“Then you have to be able to catch the fish,” Hammond said.
Their hobby is part art, part science. Tying flies is art, but master naturalist Chuck Grimes said to fly fish you must know where the fish hide and how to catch them. Hatchery-raised fish will snap at anything, but wild fish may spook at just a line in the water. A fly fisherman may wade out and catch a few bugs, tying his lure to match in order to better attract the fish. There is more sport to the fly-fishing, he said.
