The excitement is building for the 10th Annual Smallmouth Rendezvous and Fly Tying Extravaganza on April 29th and April 30th in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The event will be held at the Calvary Assembly of God Church located on the corner of 1st Street and US Hwy 62 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where the doors will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Admission to the event is FREE. The Northeastern Oklahoma Fly Fishing Club and the Native Women Fly Fishers Club are sponsoring this event. The event will have fly tying demonstrations and competition. We expect to have 30+ tiers at the event from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Iowa. A fly tying contest will be held and is open to all tiers. Each tier will be given an identical bag of materials and 20 minutes to make a fly. In addition to the contest, anglers new to fly fishing will be able to get instructions on how to build flies or fly fish. We will have two certified Federation of Fly Fishing casting instructors available to help anyone interested in learning the basics or perfecting techniques; in addition to Kim Shultz who will be doing fly casting instructional on Friday 1-3 pm and Misako Ishimura on Saturday 2-4 pm.

A number of fly tying experts and fly anglers will be giving seminars during the event. Our speakers will be Dave and Emily Whitlock, Larry Clark, Ken Richards, John Johnson, Patty Lueken, Craig Phillips, John Berry, Toby Vaughan and Paul “Sodie” Sodamann. Dave and Emily Whitlock are well-known in the fly fishing realm. They have lectured and fished all over the world, and instructed anglers on fly fishing, fly tying, and currently live near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Dave and Emily Whitlock will be discussing fly fishing for carp. Local fly fishing guide, Larry Clark will be giving a presentation on Fly Fishing the Upper Illinois River. Paul “Sodie” Sodamann will be doing a presentation on building furled leaders without tools or jigs. Craig Phillips and Paul Sodamann will be presenting Midwest Big Game Fly Fishing. Ken Richards, owner of Just Fishin’ Guides in Northwest Arkansas, has over 40 years of fly fishing experience and has guided for over ten years will be discussing big trout on the White River. Patty Lueken will present a seminar on Smallmouth Fishing on the Boundary Waters. John Berry will be talking about fishing soft hackles. Toby Vaughan will be going over the history of the wet fly. John Johnson will be discussing fishing for large river smallmouth and introduction to fly fishing in warm water.

The event will have raffles, silent auctions and live auctions. Vendors will be available both Friday and Saturday. Saturday lunch will also feature Indian Tacos prepared by Native Women Fly Fishers. It’s going to be an educational and exciting time you don’t want to miss. Additional information is available about the club and the Smallmouth Rendezvous on their website www.okieflyfishers.org.

Northeastern Oklahoma Fly Fishing Club
The Northeastern Oklahoma Fly Fishing Club and its members are interested in fly fishing for all species in the region including smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white bass, striped bass, trout, and sunfish. As a club, they work to promote conservation of the fisheries. The club also pays special attention to the nearby upper and lower Illinois River and its tributaries. The club is open to everyone to join. They meet monthly on the last Monday of each month at the Cherokee Nation Tribal Complex in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Membership dues are $12 for an individual and $20 for a family. Besides sponsoring the Annual Smallmouth Rendezvous and Fly Tying Extravaganza, the club has a number of fishing outings during the year. To become a member email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and one of the members will be in contact with you about joining.