By Silas Gray

Globe columnist

Kevin Badgley and I were talking a few weeks ago, and I happened to mention that I’d like to give an introduction to fly fishing seminar one of these days.

Kevin is the outreach coordinator of the Missouri Department of Conservation for our area. I like to talk about things and let them simmer for a while, but Kevin is a man of action, and before long we’d planned the event for March 24 at Walter Woods Conservation Area and enlisted the help of other MDC folks. Jeff Cantrell volunteered to discuss aquatic life in the local stream, and Gladys Rigsby volunteered to cover proper fish handling and preparation.

Steve Werries, the president of the MAKO Fly Fishers, volunteered to handle the fly-tying portion along with his wife Waymeth. My wife Karen offered to help with the casting. Our friend Bruce Bray called to say he’d read about the event and since his wife would be out of town that day we got another volunteer to help with the casting.

The days before the event were stormy but Saturday turned clear, sunny and warm. Just outside the building at Walter Woods the registration tables were set up with relevant brochures surrounding Gladys while she checked registration and issued name tags.

I had originally suggested we set a goal of 20 people while Kevin wanted 50, so we settled on 40, but I noticed 42 on the list.

Things went smoothly as everyone arrived, checked in and worked their way up the stairs. I got the opportunity to talk with several people while waiting, and very few of them had even touched a fly rod before and were quite eager to get started. The crowd was perfect for an introduction class.

For the first two hours, I talked about rods, reels, line, tying knots, flies and equipment. I was so pleased with the excellent questions that were asked and the many good observations that were made. Karen made sure I stayed close to the scheduled times and ensured that everyone got a break at the proper time.

Late in the morning, the attendees were split into three groups and rotated through the break-out sessions. Each group had a tying lesson with Steve and Waymeth where everyone tied their own foam beetle and woolly bugger.

Steve and Waymeth had a tying vice and tools for each participant and patiently guided them through the tying process. Jeff held a session about entomology down at the stream, complete with insects he’d retrieved earlier that morning.

Gladys was set up outside with her own cooking show, demonstrating proper fish handling and preparation and provided each student with a sample of fried fish from two different batters. Karen, Bruce and I held fly casting classes out by the pond, teaching the basic fly cast and the roll cast. Kevin oversaw the entire operation, even manning the fryer himself.

Following the sessions everyone was free to try out their newly tied flies on the pond. One thing I hadn’t considered was that many people were afraid of losing the first flies they’d ever tied.

The bluegill and catfish were biting well that day, and several nice ones were caught.

We were treated to excellent weather and students who were truly interested in learning to fish with a fly rod and blessed by the fact that such an amazing group of volunteers were available to teach on the same Saturday.