“I said, ‘For pike?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’
“A half hour later, after I had landed a 40-inch pike, I was hooked.”
Oertel said he hasn’t fished with anything but a flyrod since, except for a few times when it has been very windy.
Most fly fishers will tell you all you have to do is try it once and you get hooked. Even if the fish don’t always get hooked, the fisherman does.
“You have to love the whole process,” Oertel said. “I tie my own flies and have built some of my own rods, and bringing it all together with fishing is just a neat experience.
“I enjoy the quietness,” Oertel explained. “Sure, I like to go on trips with other guys, but when you fish on a river, there is a certain solitude. I love being outdoors.”
After Oertel, 71, retired from Minnesota Corn Processors in 2002, a friend got him back into fly fishing (he had tried it as a boy) and he became a member of the Miami Valley Fly Fishers, a Dayton-based non-profit club that promotes fly fishing in the area. This year he is president of the club.
“We have a great time and we are always looking for new members,” Oertel said.
Only two things are required to be a member: an interest in fly fishing and $30 annual dues. From there, it’s just a matter of how much time a person wants to invest.
The club offers its members free fly-tying lessons, from beginners to advanced; monthly dinner meetings with speakers; fly-tying sessions and club-sponsored trips to some key fly-fishing spots in Ohio and around the country. There also are weekly fishing outings in the area and monthly casting lessons and practices in the summer. Memberships for children up to 18 are free when sponsored by a member.
The fly-tying lessons will be held weekly, starting in January at the Gander Mountain store in Huber Heights. They are taught by experts Bill “Woody” Woodward, Bob Cain and Dale Stephens.
If you don’t own a fly-tying kit, the club will loan you one for a $35 deposit. The club pays for all materials.
Miami Valley Fly Fishers started in 1975 with a goal of, “Cleaner water and brighter streams.” Currently the membership is at 167.
For more information about MVFF memberships or lessons, call Oertel at (937) 293-7890 or John Young at (937) 890-2578. Or visit the club’s Web page at mvff.tripod.com.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2409 or jmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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