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Local fly-fishermen shared their passion for the sport with the younger generation Saturday at Morse Park.
Tallis Parker, 9, made an assortment of flies, then spread them out to inspect.
“You can catch little things,” Parker said.
Steve Werries had him start out by tying a wooly bugger and an assortment of foam flies, the latter float along the surface.
“They’re pretty fishable,” Werries said.
Parker said he planned to share with his younger sister, who managed to catch a crawdad.
“We go fishing whenever we get time,” Parker said. “Almost every day, literally.”
Engaging youngsters in the outdoors is part of the mission for the Missouri Arkansas Oklahoma Fly Fishers.
“We try to keep the fly fishing club family oriented if we can,” Werries said.
Through different group outreaches the MAKO group tries to bring programming about fly tying, casting, environmental control to young people.
“We’re more than interested in that,” Werries said.
Instead of focusing solely on sports, he hopes to see more young people involved in fishing, hiking and backpacking.
“That’s something those kids can do the remainder of their lives,” Werries said. “If you want them to get outside teach them to get outside.”
The three-miles-long Morse Park is a great resource, he noted.
Part of that resource will see a change as MAKO works with the city on a Missouri Department of Natural Resources grant to add prairie and repair riparian areas in the park.
“This is a great deal for Neosho if they’ll just take hold of it,” Werries said.
Nature project
Funding has been approved, but it will take time before people notice a difference in the park, members say.
A strip of warm season prairie grasses will run along La-Z-Boy Drive, but first the existing grass has to be killed off. Right now, the group is waiting for rain. Spray to kill off the existing grass will not be effective until things green up again, said Scott Swope.
“We want to get rid of all that and start fresh,” Swope said. “It will be native grasses – more heat and more insect resistant.”
A second application in the fall will kill off the remaining grass. This winter, the group will order seeds to sow in the spring.
“It’s going to look a lot worse before it gets better,” said Chuck Grimes, Missouri master naturalist.
Local naturalists are preparing tree seedlings to hold over winter for the park. A new walking trail to be put in by the city will be lined with dogwoods.
Local fly-fishermen shared their passion for the sport with the younger generation Saturday at Morse Park.
Tallis Parker, 9, made an assortment of flies, then spread them out to inspect.
“You can catch little things,” Parker said.
Steve Werries had him start out by tying a wooly bugger and an assortment of foam flies, the latter float along the surface.
“They’re pretty fishable,” Werries said.
Parker said he planned to share with his younger sister, who managed to catch a crawdad.
“We go fishing whenever we get time,” Parker said. “Almost every day, literally.”
Engaging youngsters in the outdoors is part of the mission for the Missouri Arkansas Oklahoma Fly Fishers.
“We try to keep the fly fishing club family oriented if we can,” Werries said.
Through different group outreaches the MAKO group tries to bring programming about fly tying, casting, environmental control to young people.
“We’re more than interested in that,” Werries said.
Instead of focusing solely on sports, he hopes to see more young people involved in fishing, hiking and backpacking.
“That’s something those kids can do the remainder of their lives,” Werries said. “If you want them to get outside teach them to get outside.”
The three-miles-long Morse Park is a great resource, he noted.
Part of that resource will see a change as MAKO works with the city on a Missouri Department of Natural Resources grant to add prairie and repair riparian areas in the park.
“This is a great deal for Neosho if they’ll just take hold of it,” Werries said.
Nature project
Funding has been approved, but it will take time before people notice a difference in the park, members say.
A strip of warm season prairie grasses will run along La-Z-Boy Drive, but first the existing grass has to be killed off. Right now, the group is waiting for rain. Spray to kill off the existing grass will not be effective until things green up again, said Scott Swope.
“We want to get rid of all that and start fresh,” Swope said. “It will be native grasses – more heat and more insect resistant.”
A second application in the fall will kill off the remaining grass. This winter, the group will order seeds to sow in the spring.
“It’s going to look a lot worse before it gets better,” said Chuck Grimes, Missouri master naturalist.
Local naturalists are preparing tree seedlings to hold over winter for the park. A new walking trail to be put in by the city will be lined with dogwoods.
MAKO is coordinating several groups for the effort and overseeing the grant contractors.
“We’re just kinda stewards of it,” Grimes said.
Swope hopes to get a project to prevent bank erosion going in the future, but for now trees and new grasses are on the agenda.
Eventually, trees will grow east of the Lampo building and the grassland area will grow 18-inches of native grasses and wildflowers and the city will not need to mow as much.
“Next summer they’ll see something. It’ll be another year before it’s established. It’s going to take a while,” Swope said. “Two years from now, there will be a big difference.”
The MAKO group meets at 6:30 p.m. twice a month at Abbey Title in Joplin. The first Wednesday of the month they host a business meeting – often with guest speakers – and the third Wednesday of the month is dedicated to fly-tying. At their first meeting of August, Mark VanPatten will talk to the group about rock snot.
