Tie-A-Thon Report

On April 23rd, 2022, many avid fly tiers will come together to tie as many flies as they can for Casting for Recovery of Indiana and Michigan.

All the flies tied from the Tie-A-Thon 16 will be distributed evenly to both the Michigan and Indiana Casting for Recovery organization for use at their retreats.

Casting for Recovery envisions a future in which women with breast cancer receive emotional, physical and social support throughout their cancer journey.  

The mission of Casting for Recovery is to enhance the lives of women with breast cancer by connecting them to each other and nature through the therapeutic sport of fly fishing.

For more Tie-a-thon information, visit Tie-a-thon on Facebook or Instagram. 

The premise of the Tie-a-thon is like an old fashioned barn raisin’, with several tyers tying as many flies as they can for the cause. 

Joining forces again this year to tie flies are members of: St. Joseph River Valley Fly Fishers, The Little Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Duneland Fly Fishers, DuPage Fly Tyers (DRIFT), Flygirls of Michigan, Kalamazoo Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, The Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock, Reel Women, Reel Men of Indianapolis, Grand River Fly Tyers, Anglers of the Au Sable, and many more individuals tiers.

Tiers come together to tie 100 flies per person on a Saturday and at the end of the day, we try our very best to surpass our previous all-time high of 34,400 flies. 

If you are interested, pick just one pattern to tie, buy a box of 100 hooks, the materials and get tying!  To get you through the day, Chef Terry Wittorp will have a spectacular lunch for all the tyers, worth at least 200 flies, but we will provide it to you for free!  

Everyone is welcome, but please let us know so we can plan for lunch. 
Also, so you’re not too bored just tying, we will have a guest tier every other hour show off his or her special pattern. We will have a video system set up to view from your tying station. The Tie-a-thon will last from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

If you are not a fast tyer and can’t complete your 100 flies in that time, this is a good time to get a jump on your flies. We would certainly take more than 100 from anyone if they are ambitious and want to tie flies in advance. 

You don’t have to be an expert to donate flies. Many first time fly tyers have participated; this gives you a chance to become very good at tying at least one fly. If you need help learning a pattern, contact Tim Scott, and he will be happy to give you a lesson or you can see many videos of flies being tied on the Tie-a-thon Facebook page.

As in the past, the Elkhart Conservation Club has graciously donated the use of  its building for the Tie-a-thon. 

The previous 16 Tie-a-thons distributed over 185,000 flies to the following 16 groups: Kalamazoo Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited Youth Camp, The Brotherhood of the Junglecock Youth Program, Reel and Heal of Toledo, Casting for Recovery of Indiana, Project Healing Waters, Reel Recovery, National Fishing in Schools Program, Warriors and Quiet Waters, Flyin’ Heroes of Michigan, Casting for Recovery of Michigan, Illinois Trout Unlimited Youth Camp, Trout Unlimited Teen Summit, Anglers of the Ausable Youth Program, The Mayfly Project, Camp  Kita and Trout Unlimited National Youth Camps. 

For a list of flies requested, contact Tim Scott at Tieathon@gmail.com  or
574-538-1936.