NCCFFI Hall of Fame Event – The History & Story
David Draheim, then a member of Mount Diablo Fly Fishers conceived the idea of the Hall of Fame Event to honor Fly Fishers who had given so much to the sport of fly fishing & helping our fisheries, and a way to generate funding for conservation efforts in Northern California. The Hall of Fame became a major event starting in 1982 based upon an organized process of submitting possible award recipients from our clubs to a knowledgeable selection committee & choosing the best of the candidates for the award. Here are some of the inductees in the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame:
This year the NCCFFI is partnering with The Fly Shop® and bringing back the Hall of Fame Event (set for Saturday, November 9th at the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Hall in Lafayette CA, starting at 4:30 PM). The Hall of Fame award is given to recognize & honor outstanding people who have contributed to excellence in Fly Fishing.
The 2024 recipient will be Mike Mercer, one of the world’s leading designers with original flies including Mercer’s Missing Link, the Psycho Prince Nymph, the Poxyback Microstone Stonefly Nymph and the Tungsten Swing Caddis Fly (and many others). Mike grew up fly fishing, has worked at The Fly Shop since 1978, and been a regular contributor with articles appearing in Fly Fisherman magazines and many other publications over the years. Mike’s book, Creative Fly Tying, has become a “must have” for trout fly fishers & tyers. In addition, Mike has been a guide on many of Northern California’s famous trout waters (including Hat Creek & Fall River), along with traveling & fly fishing internationally in Chile, Argentina, Kamchatka, New Zealand as well as many tropical saltwater locations (helping customers to plan their own fly fishing adventures).
At the Hall of Fame Event, there will be a reception & dinner, with speeches & the award for Mike Mercer, plus silent auction & live auction. The live auction items offered at the Hall of Fame Event will be amazing…including:
A one week trip to Patagonian BaseCamp Lodge in Chile (March 16th through 23rd, 2025), the same week Mike Mercer will be at the camp. This is an amazing lodge, one of The Fly Shop’s signature destinations with excellent fishing, food & accommodations. The value for this truly one of a kind fly fishing experience is $8,495.
A five night/five & one half day trip to Baranof Wilderness Lodge in Alaska with hosts Mike & Sally Trotter, located on Warm Springs Bay on the east side of Baranof Island. Guest will stay in private cabins on the property and can choose to fish either in local streams loaded with Chum & Pink Salmon, Dolly Vardens, or hike to local lakes to fish for cutthroat trout, or fish on ocean-going boats for five species of salmon or halibut. The accommodations & food at this venue are wonderful and the value is $7,950.
A one week trip to Lago Strobel Lodge in Argentina, located on Jurassic Lake. Those fishing the lake will have access to a dozen large, protected coves (along 15 miles of shoreline), where they can fish for monster trout from shore, wading the lake edge. In addition, guests can opt to fish the Barrancoso River with floating lines, fishing either streamers or dry flies. The food & accommodations at this venue are outstanding and the value is $4,500.
Additional Live Auction Items include a 3 Day/3 Night trip to Antelope Lodge (northeast of Mount Shasta) valued at $2,412, a 3 Day/2 Night Stay at Clear Creek Ranch on Clear Creek, valued at $1,890, 2 Days of Fishing at Battle Creek Canyon Ranch (45 minutes from Redding), valued at $600, plus two amazing fly rods…an Orvis Helios F with Missing Link on Handle (9 Foot/5 Weight) valued at $1,500 and a Winston Air 2 (9 Foot/5 Weight) an $1,195 value.
There will also be 28 additional high value silent auction items including three Fly Shop guided trips on the Lower Sacramento River (for 2 anglers, valued at $625 each), a Scott Series G Fly Rod (9 Foot-6 weight, valued at $895), a Fly Shop TFS Signature H2O Indicator Outfit (9’6” 6 weight, valued at $445), a Sage Foundation 590/4 outfit (9’0” 4 weight, valued at $495), a Skwala Carbon Wading Jacket (valued at $449) a Ross Cimarron 5-6 Fly Reel, with AirFlo Superflo WF5F line (valued at $424.99) and numerous additional items from Patagonia, Korkers, Fishpond, Costa, Carhardt, Scientific Anglers, Loon, Seaguar & others. More details will be forthcoming on the auction & silent auction items as we get closer to the Hall of Fame event.
We are planning to accommodate up to 200 people for the catered Hall of Fame Dinner on November 9th. The cost of the Dinner Event is $160 per person and tickets are being sold on a first come first served basis (better hurry to get your tickets before we sell out).
You won’t want to miss this event!
Sign up Today!
For Tickets go to the NCCFFI website by clicking this link to register Hall of Fame