Interviews of our original club members and interesting bits of history.
An Interview with Jim Hall
by Andrew Feldman
An Interview with Jim Hall
by Andrew Feldman
I was interested in learning more about the SCFF club history, and I really wanted to learn how to tie the infamous Lefty's Deceiver. Jim Hall was the man for the job, as he's a great fly tier, especially Striper flies, and he's one of the founding fathers of the club. So I met with Jim on a Saturday morning. He showed me how to tie the Deceiver and the Midnight Cowboy, I browsed his extensive fly rod collection, and I heard some juicy gossip about the early days of the club.
Andrew Feldman: Who was the first president in 1977?
Jim Hall: I think it was Ernie.
AF: Kinzli?
JH: Yes.
AF: Did Ernie have the Casting Pond at that time?
JH: Yes, but it was in Santa Cruz, on Soquel, close to Morrissey.
AF: Let's go back a few steps and talk about how the club was started.
JH: There were six of us down at the San Lorenzo. We had gone out fishing that morning, and we were sitting out on the bank, talking fishing, and we decided we should start a club. So the six of us met at Ernie's Casting Pond, and we said this what we gotta do, and we made some plans.
AF: Ok, so it was you, Ernie, and who were the other guys?
JH: Manuel Gutierrez, Manuel Santos, Elmer Morelli, and Rick Mageri.
AF: How did you know these guys?
JH: Just from seeing each other at the San Lorenzo, we were all Steelhead fishermen.
AF: Weren't you competitors?
JH: No, we were friendly with each other. There's no competition in flyfishing.
AF: What's happened to all the founding fathers?
JH: Both Manuel's and Elmer have passed away. Rick Mageri disappeared. I don't know where he is. Ernie is still around and I'm still around.
AF: What were the early days of the club like?
JH: Now when we first started, we were meeting at the Loma Prieta School off of Morrissey, and there was probably 10-15 of us. I believe the first fishout was to Pyramid, and three of us went. Later we moved to the downtown library, and we stayed there for a number of years and the club grew to about thirty to forty.
AF: When did the club really change from being a small group of hardcore fishermen, to the larger organization it is today; a club of over two hundred people where the skill and interest levels range from less than novice to the seasoned veteran?
JH: It really took off when that movie (A River Runs Through It) came out.
AF: That's not that long ago (1992).
JH: Yeah. When that movie came out, the club went boom. Before that, we were constant at about sixty members. In my wildest dreams, I never thought the club would be this big.
AF: OK, last question. What percentage of fly fishermen in Santa Cruz County belong to the club?
JH: Not even a quarter, maybe less.
AF: Really! I figured that most fly fishermen in the area were members.
JH: No way. From my experience on the San Lorenzo, and talking to different people, there's a lot of fly fishermen out there.
AF: Well, they don't know what they're missing.