Blind Fishing Boat

(Photo of Lawrence and Maestro with 24” Rainbow)

Early in the fall of 2010 I received a call from an old friend, Lance Glaser, Principal of Trout Ranglers and Dances with Fishes.  Lance was busy pushing the envelope again and had managed to convince organizers of the America Cup International Fly fishing Tournament to accept an adaptive team in this year’s competition.  Lance wanted to know, 1, can I fly fish, and 2, would I be available to be part of the team. 

Well, being a fisher I had little problem expanding on my limited knowledge of fishing flies, and two days later found myself an official member of the, “Rods and Wheels “ team.  The other team members included:

Sarah Will (Captain)
Tred Barta
Randy Ford
Cliff Thompson

Readers are going to have to wait for my full report to be published in Bob Izumi’s Real Fishing Magazine this January 2011, but leave it to say, great gear, a great guide, beautiful mountain rivers, and a bunch of amazing fish! 

(Photo of Lawrence, Maestro and fishing guide Gene Gamber, CEO  of the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center)

 A big thanks to Lance Glaser for the invite, accommodations and two-days of pre-fishing instruction, to Gene Gamber of the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center for the two days of excellent guiding and use of his very expensive rods, To Billy Burger for his killer flies, to our team manager, Sherry Topping, for her tireless work in organizing our participation, to the co-founders of the America Cup, Dave Pehle and John Knight, for their warm reception, and to my fellow team mates and the rest of the competitors for the great spirit everyone brought to the event. 

Maestro and I will never forget our Colorado mountain experience, and in fact, will be back next summer to organize the adaptive fishing component of the No Barriers Summit Conference. 

Links include:

http://www.theamericacup.com/
http://www.boec.org/
http://www.nobarriersusa.org/summits/2011/