WFF Those who are interested in 2 fly, or are new to it, or have done it already, please read!

Ok, there have been a few misconceptions, a few things done that shouldn't have, or offers made by others that are outside what we do. Not anything major or bad, but puts the event out of our hands when it happens. So to not look like the "bad guy" here, thought I'd do a little Q and A and also clear some things up. Not going to do ALL the rules right here, but if you have questions outside of what I've written here, please post up and I'll answer best I can.

First, this is a 2 fly event. We have need for vets and volunteers in many aspects of the event. Let me give you an idea of what the terms mean.

A vet/veteran. Explains itself. But a person who has served in the armed forces. We have some volunteers who are also vets.

A volunteer. A person who helps out with the program.

A vet/volunteer team. Ok, here's where we have had problems in the past and even at this two fly so far. A "volunteer" is first and foremost a person who has been volunteering with the program all year. We give first preference to those who have been teaching and helping out at our VA's and WTB's for the year. If we have space available, we will pull up a volunteer who has donated their time to the 2 Fly event. But we don't recruit new "volunteers" for boat seats. We try to pay back to those helping all year in the program first.

Rower/Judge. This has been misinterpreted by a few. So need to clarify that as well. The rower IS the judge. The volunteer in back is NOT the judge. Have heard this explained a few times the past couple years by past judges, and needed to clarify. The rower does all the judging for this contest.

Locking in boats. Getting boats and rowers is the biggest hurdle we have with this event. We set preference on those who commit 100% off the getgo. If you're a maybe, you go to the bottom of the list. If we're set on boats, we always need backups. But don't be offended if you're a maybe, and we then turn you away because we fill the slots. We need those confirmed boats, and once we get all confirmed that's where we lock it up. Also, if you know how to row, but don't have a boat, you can always rent a boat from Red's, or we may be able to find someone who has a boat you can row. But we prefer if you have your own boat and can bring it. Easier all the way around.

2 fly. This contest consists of 2 flies per contestant, 2 patterns, 4 flies total for the team. For example (yes, people still don't always understand this), you want to use a chubby and a copper john. That means that BOTH contestants get a chubby and a copper john, totalling two chubbys and two copper johns for the boat (well, there is a reserve set as well, you lose your biggest fish if you lose your flies and have to grab your reserves from the judge). Yes, it is acceptable to have two of the same pattern. So if you want to simply have chubby's, you can have two each. But you need two matching sets of flies. Whatever those flies may be. I have to confer with Chuck, but do believe you can have different sizes, just have to be the same pattern.

"As needed volunteers". Here's another rub. We'd love to have an event where we have one volunteer to every veteran and then some. But we don't want to inundate camp with too many volunteers. So if we turn you away, don't be offended. Just that we try to cover everyone, and we want this to be a fun event, not a fundraiser, so limit how many volunteers we have. We cover all expenses (thanks to donations), but don't want to tax out our donations to cover an over abundance of volunteers. We have one VERY generous contributor who pays for 100% of the food bill (every other donation actually goes into the other fees associated with the 2 Fly), and I do my best to make that bill for him as LITTLE as possible. I'd love to make it a free for all, and have everyone come up and enjoy the food and the fun time at the big ceremony at the end of the day. But want to keep the budget down too, and I literally have a slot limit of how many I can cook for with equiptment I have. Well, at least the main dish that is. So please understand if you're not used as a volunteer in camp. We plan the prizes, food, etc for how many we need to run the event. If you do show up just to "attend" the ceremony do realize we probably won't be able to feed you or put you into the raffle for prizes. Again, wish we could open it to everyone, but again we don't want to blow our budget and don't want to grab generous donations to just pay for people who are just showing up for the ceremony. And PLEASE oh PLEASE don't just "show up" as a volunteer. We really need the head counts, especially when it comes to food. Unless you just plan to just work and that's it. I try to go over on how many I'm cooking for, but again if you just show up, there's a damned good chance you won't eat. And I like to know that those who signed up (especially the vets) get fed.

With volunteers, please don't just invite people to be "volunteers" at the event. Please run them all through myself or Chuck. Again, we have a slot limit of how many we need. So again, if you just invite we may not have room for them, nor have food for them (especially if you tell them how good the grub is, and they are expecting food and there isn't any for them).

Ok, that's all I wanted to clear up really. If there is anything I didn't make clear enough, feel free to let me know. Also, if there are any questions you need answered, post them up and I'll try to clarify. This is a labor of love for Chuck and I. We work really hard on this. We spend months planning this event, including a few trips up to Ellensburg doing Recon work with the shops and guides. We put alot of time and effort into this event to make it run smoothly. Stress for us runs higher and higher as the day gets closer and c loser. We can get snippy, just realize we have a full plate (since we both work full time), and still try to balance our normal PHWFF functions and still balance family and planning the 2 Fly at the same time. Again, this isn't me whining, just letting you know that if I get pissy, it isn't you. Just that we get alot of people who flake on us last minute and we both are pretty anal about planning. So until that last boat is off the water and back in camp, Chuck and I are on stress mode.

Thanks again for all who donate their time, and money to this event. We appreciate it!

Yes, we always show preference to those who consistently donate their times to PHWFF all year. Especially when it comes to boat assignments. People think we are just tossing people into boats with a soldier/vet when we ask for a "volunteer". Usually the only people "new" tossed into a seat as a volunteer is a last minute substitution for someone who couldn't make it, and even then we have enough volunteers who are vets themselves we toss in the boats instead. But when we ask for "Volunteers" for this event, we are looking for people to help behind the scenes. Not to get into a boat and fish. If you are asked to get into a boat and fish, then it's your lucky day.


I should add this as well about the 2 Fly. Teams and rower assignments.

In the past, people wanted to keep their teams intact from the previous year. With this event, especially being free for those involved, we want to keep rotating people as much as possible. People have to realize that there are a few of these 2 fly (and I think a 1 Fly) event held for PHWFF nationwide. We are the only program that I know of who hosts this event as a payback to everyone involved in the program. The rest are fundraisers. So EVERY team who participates (yes, EVERY TEAM) has a $2500 entry fee. Most, if not all, get themselves sponsored by a company. But the money is paid by the "team", so the teams can pick themselves at that point. Plus, most are held on the bank of small rivers, so no guides are needed, or the guides are there simply to help out I do believe (they may be assigned a guide as part of the team). So why we keep the event limited and teams picked by us. We foot the bill, and try to keep budget as limited as we can. Why we do have to turn people away. BUT, if we were to change it up to an entry fee, we could accomodate alot more people and make it a huge event. But we personally don't want to do that, and like the more fun and comfortable "camp" feel we have with what we have now. Especially since our program is one of the few who has such a strong following and donation backing of our NW states. It allows us to do an event like this without having to do a fundraiser aspect to it. One of the REALLY big reasons we try to put our contributing rowers and other volunteers year around into boat seats, boats, and in the camp. It's a payback to those who consistently give their time to us.

So hope that may clear up a few other things as well.