The Holiday Season is a good time to reflect on the past year—cherishing times with family and friends, memorable fishing adventures, moments enjoying all nature offers, and celebrating the great year The Flyfishers’ Club of Oregon has had!
In just over a year, the Club’s membership has grown to over 40 new and active members, with several past members rejoining. The energy and enthusiasm of members – veteran and new – is at a level we have not seen for some time.
In 2025, we held five great dinner meetings with outstanding speakers and high attendance. The picnic was well-attended, the food was superb, and everyone had fun.
The Club sponsored its first-ever “Essentials of Flyfishing Class for members new to flyfishing, which was held in August at Willamette Park. Fifteen attended the highly successful class. Jennifer LaFollette from Royal Treatment Fly Shop did an excellent job teaching the fly-casting portion of the class, and Club member Frank Rodriguez led the classroom portion, covering gear selection, fly selection, and knot tying, among other topics.
Plans for 2026 are already underway, promising another exciting year for our Club!
Here are some coming attractions:
- Jerry Swanson and Paul Franklin have lined up five prominent speakers for the 2026 dinner meetings. Full details and dates are included in another Flyline article in this issue. Be sure to review the 2026 schedule and mark the dates on your calendar.
- In the first quarter of 2026, The Club will hold a membership drive to bring in new members.
- New enhancements to our website will make it easy to schedule and hold fishing and other outings, small informal get-togethers of members around a specific topic or activity, “how-to” classes, and other small events. The Program Committee is planning to coordinate several of these types of events throughout the year. Be on the lookout for more information in 2026.
- Website enhancements will also make it easy for members to contact other members to share information; find a ride to a dinner meeting; sell or buy equipment; seek advice on a topic of interest; seek intel on a fishing option; and, generally, stay in touch.
All of these developments, of course, come at some cost. As a result, and to support continued growth in both the quantity and quality of the Club’s activities, the Club’s Board has raised membership dues for 2026 to $125. This is the first dues increase in over a decade and is necessary to continue bringing in top-level speakers and expanding other offerings and benefits for members. The Board also voted to introduce a Couples Membership to encourage couples to join the Club, with dues set at $200 to provide a financial incentive.
In short, the Club will offer more opportunities in 2026 to continue and to grow our traditions of camaraderie, fishing, conservation and education.
Finally, I would be remiss not to recognize the passing of the torch of two stalwarts within our ranks.
First, after three terms as President of the Flyfishers’ Foundation and 6 years as a Board officer, long-time Club member, and trailblazing first female club member and officer, Janet Arnez has passed the Foundation’s leadership to Sally Bachman. While we are excited about the energy and leadership Sally has already brought to her role as Foundation President, I am also deeply grateful for Janet’s leadership in her many roles over the years and wish her and Kurt an enjoyable retirement.
Secondly, after 15 years (you read that right) as our editor of The Flyline – the vital newsletter of our Club that has kept us all connected and entertained even when we couldn’t meet during the Covid years, Lisa Hansen will be turning over her editing responsibilities to Paul and Kevin. Lisa is our featured member in this month’s newsletter, where she agreed to share a reflection of her 15-year tenure as our editor. I encourage you all to read it. We are all grateful for her dedication and contributions over this long period.
I look forward to seeing you at the holiday celebration next week!
With gratitude,
Mike Radakovich