Is there more to fly fishing than just catching fish? Absolutely! Join us as we take a look beneath the surface at all that fly fishing has to offer. During this introductory clinic, young anglers will receive complete casting instruction, gear education, knot tying, proper fish handling and catch and release, and of course fish!

Program details:

• This clinic is completely outdoor based. Anglers are to be prepared EACH DAY for weather conditions.
• Anglers are required to bring a full water bottle with them, sunglasses, and a snack or lunch, each day.
• Anglers will be assigned a rod and reel (by labeling cases) for the duration of the program.
• Equipment stays at The River Center after each program.
• Clinic is open to children grades 5-8 and is limited to 10 anglers.

This Youth Fly Fishing Clinic is being offered in partnership with Taylor Creek Fly Shop!

Beck Brooks grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Northern Arkansas. He was raised fishing the meandering smallmouth streams and the famous White River that cut through the oak and maple forests of the Ozarks. As he grew older, he fell into the black hole of fly fishing because of his parents’ tutelage and a local mentor named Bill White. This was appropriate, because most of the time he and Bill haunted the White River and its never ending tributaries during their outings. He looked west in search of colleges that would fulfil his need to wet a line and ski champagne powder, and Colorado College in Colorado Springs was the perfect match. The South Platte and Arkansas Rivers were right out the back door and Summit County was just a puddle jump on the weekends. During college, summer vacations he spent his time in the Roaring Fork Valley working at the Maroon Creek Club and chasing the green drake hatch. Beck now spends the majority of his time (when he isn’t behind the counter at Taylor Creek) in the high alpine or chasing fish all across the United States and the world. Beck loves to get back to Arkansas to spend time with his family and teach his younger brother, Merritt, the way of fly fishing. 

Christina Medved is Director of Community Outreach at Roaring Fork Conservancy. She has waded into many rivers across the U.S., Peru and Costa Rica, in search of fish food called macroinvertebrates. In the last 25 years, Christina has taught thousands of people how to identify these aquatic organisms (fish food!). Christina was born and raised in Cleveland and did a lot of spin casting with her family on the many lakes and ponds that make up Northeast Ohio. (To this day she still believes her big brother is the best angler she knows!) She was used to catching bluegill and bass, but it was when she moved to Colorado that she started putting her aquatic insect knowledge to the test with fly fishing our world-class rivers. Her favorite fly to tie and fish with are her very own Wooly Buggers. As a certified teacher-trainer of the National Fishing in Schools Program, Christina has taught hundreds of youth and adults how to fly fish through RFC's fly fishing camps and clinics over the last 9 years.