Bob Morenski:

I started fly fishing at the age of 10 chasing trout in my home state of New Jersey. I went to school after a five year stint in the US Air Force at the University of Montana, in Missoula where I majored mostly in trout fishing. I moved to Michigan in 1974 where I took up night fishing for browns and fly-fishing for salmon and steelhead. I moved to North Dakota in 1979 where I took up lake fly-fishing for trout and other species, which has grown to be my first love.

In the early eighties, I was a budding writer and penned articles for “Fly Fishing”, “Fins & Feathers”, “Dakota Country” and “Midwest Fly Fishing” magazines. While I never have received a rejection slip (which I have been told is quite a feat), I quit writing for money in the early eighties because I really did not like the publicity and I felt like a prostitute. I still wrote but my time and my articles were donated to the organizations that I belong to. I have also performed many lectures and seminars on lake fly-fishing from Montana to Michigan.

In 1983, I founded the Dakota Fly Fishers. Fly-fishing was an unknown sport in North Dakota at the time. Everybody told me that it couldn’t be done. I not only did it but also grew the club to 80 members in 2 years. I was also active in the Great Lakes Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers when it still covered 10 states plus Manitoba and Ontario. I served in many capacities. I founded their newsletter, the “Great Lakes Fly Fisher” which later became the “Leader” and served as GLC President.

I have a very well rounded career as a fly fisherman. While I started out as a stream trout fisherman, I developed into a very good steelhead and salmon fly fisherman when living in Michigan and still returned twice a year to fish in that state after moving to North Dakota. I also managed to get quite respectable as an offshore saltwater fly fisherman while fishing with my older brother Ray who commercial fished out of Key West, Florida. I would travel to Key West several times a year and live for week out on a fishing boat. While I have caught numerous tarpon while I was there, it was the offshore action for blackfin tuna, king mackerel, false albacore, dolphin and others that stole my heart.

However, it was my prowess as a lake fly-fishing for trout that has established my reputation as a fly fisherman. I developed many of the tactics and techniques that are commonly employed today throughout the hobby. I have been fishing the Turtle Mountains on both sides of the North Dakota/Manitoba border since the mid-eighties. In July 1995, I discovered the Parkland Region and was blown away by the size and number of big trout that I found there. Before the season ended, I landed 25 trout over 25 inches with my best going 30 inches from Tokaryk Lake. I repeated this feat again in 1996 and from this, the idea for the 25/25 Club was born.

I have been sick since early 1997. I did not realize it at the time but I was already going down hill when I spoke at the Manitoba Fly Fishers banquet in March of 97. Since then, I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; I have been hospitalized 3 times for my heart, once for prostrate cancer and once to have my gall bladder removed. I was also diagnosed a Type II diabetic and ran a potassium deficiency for a few years. Needless to say, I have not fished very much in the past few years. Despite all that, I am on the mend and I am ready to hit the water. I am looking forward to chatting with everyone on Thursday, February 24^th and answering your questions.