Time to go fishing! Flannel River is on the water.

Spring has finally arrived here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which means it’s time to clean our fly lines, restock our fly boxes and get on the water.

Tamarack is proud to continue our support of Twin Cities-based Flannel River and their belief that “everyone should be able to access and enjoy our rivers regardless of their background or abilities.”

Stream and river fly fishing is a hobby for several of us here at Tamarack and so when we found this group providing fly fishing experiences to people who struggle with access to the sport, either physically, geographically or financially, we were excited to be a part of their journey.

Flannel River is led by Matthew Chaplinski and Ryan Bishop and based in Wisconsin -- home to some fabulous trout and smallmouth bass fly fishing experiences. Matt recently provided me some updates on “the bite” as experienced for the first time by kids from western Wisconsin. There is nothing that compares to catching a smallmouth on the fly! (And you can see how much it meant to the young woman above).

Flannel River presently deploys a drift boat and a raft that are set up to help kids of all ages and backgrounds experience fly fishing. They are finishing construction of a wheelchair-accessible raft that will provide further access to the sport.

We are very excited to be part of the Flannel River mission and hope you might encourage and support them as well. Find out more at flannelriver.org.

Whether you cast a line or not, we wish you good luck in all your endeavors. As said by those who fly fish, “tight lines!”