Jason Randall Teaches FATC!!
After waiting a year because of the Montauk/Current River flooding in November 2024, we finally were able to have our long-awaited Jason Randall Boot Camp. Jason Randall is a fly-fishing educator, author, expert fly fisher in euro-style nymphing, and friend/honorary member of the FATC. Although Jason has fished all over the world his favorite place to fish is the Driftless area of southern Wisconsin. Many of us know Jason personally from his teachings during our many Altar/FATC retreats each year. (Yes, we are going again in May 2026 so be ready to sign up).
Wednesday Night FATC class: Jason started the week by teaching all our FATC members on Wednesday evening (11/12). Eighty-two members showed up at the Commons facility in Chesterfield to hear Jason talk about “why 10% of fly fishers catch 90% of the fish”. Jason’s educational talk included where to look for fish, triangles (you had to be there), the importance of water temperature, and much, much more. His two-hour seminar had FATC guys glued to every word as they received some of the best training they could possibly get (and for free – courtesy of the FATC!!). I was very proud of our fellowship as the questions asked showed that they were “deep” into the subject. Thank you, Jason!
Day One of Boot Camp: Our first day of Jason’s boot camp started with Jason, Kenny Klimes, Jim Craig, Mike Bisaga and Glenn Haake heading to the Montauk area to set up the school before the “campers” arrived. Jason, Kenny and Jim would be the instructors for the camp as Jim and Kenny have attended Jason fly fishing school in Colorado in May 2025. Here they learned special techniques from Jason, Pat Dorsey (top Colorado guide) and Nick Conklin (TFO rod and casting expert). Mike and Glenn would do the meal prep and cooking (and did an unbelievable job I might add!!). As they stocked the cabin with the food and prepared for the arrival of the boot campers, Jason, Kenny and Jim hit the Current River to scout and fish the areas that will be used for the school. Mike and Glenn joined them later that morning and had the chance for “expert” teaching from Jason.
The campers (Mark Camerer, Scott Drooger, Steve Baker, Rob Williams, Al Blair, Bob Born, Ken Welter, Jason Edwards, Steve Darr, Matt McClure, Bill Keenum, and Will Black) arrived between 4pm and 5pm to check into their cabins. A ‘meet and greet’ with Jason was set up for 5pm and dinner at 6pm. Those that have met Jason before got reacquainted and others had the pleasure of meeting with Jason for the first time. Again, each meal prepared by Mike and Glenn was exceptional and the conversations just continued through the dinner. After dinner the boot camp started – full speed ahead. Our first seminar, Thursday evening, was the Five Essential Skills for Finding and Catching Trout.
Day Two of Boot Camp: Day two started early with breakfast at 6:30am and our first seminar of the day at 7:30am. Our class was on the tactics of the day – Dries and Droppers; Tactics and Tips. The FATC prepared special “casting” leaders that were designed to make casting a dream – all the campers agreed. We broke up into three groups for the weekend with each group learning from a different instructor each day, i.e. one group would go with Jason, one with Kenny and so forth. This allowed Jason to teach and spend a full day of fishing with all boot campers. But each morning Jason would spend 30 minutes with all campers teaching the techniques of the day and going over any questions. By 3:30pm most of us were done fishing and headed back to our cabins for some personal time, only to meet up again at 5:30pm for hors d’oeuvres with Jason and dinner at 6pm. At 7pm we went into our next “phase” of teaching with our next seminar “Nymph Fishing Secret Weapons”.
Day Three of Boot Camp: Saturday, November 15th started early again with 6:30am breakfast and 7:30am seminar “Comprehensive Euro-nymphing, Part One”. The same format as Friday morning except the groups changed instructors. This day the campers had the chance to learn Euro-Style Nymphing (ESN) which is probably one of the most effective ways to catch trout. After the campers worked on the water, enjoyed some personal time and ate dinner the evening seminar was “Comprehensive Euro-nymphing. Part Two”. Bed by 9pm and start over again on Sunday morning.
Day Four of Boot Camp: Since it was Sunday, our day started a little different as we had a short church service with Pastor Kenny giving the message of “Listening to God”. On this morning, we were going to learn the top-secret technique used by the American Youth World Championship Team (3-time champions) as Jason’s seminar was on “Comprehensive ESN, Part Three, American Euro-nymphing”. We made special leaders to use before class and used them during the day on the water. For this day on the water everyone stayed together (at Baptist Camp) to get extra instruction from Jason. This technique tested our guys since it was the first time ever that they have seen and tried this unique technique. Even Kenny and Jim, who have fished and learned this technique before, found it valuable to practice again.
Around 3pm all were ready to head back home after a long and tough boot camp. Lots of laughter and discussions filled the parking lot as it took about an hour to clear out and head home. The FATC Board of Directors had an “after action meeting” with dinner to discuss how the boot camp went – success – with thoughts of future camps.
Please look at the pictures of the Wednesday night class AND pictures of the boot camp itself. If you couldn’t make this boot camp or the class look for the next event on our calendar and take a chance and go. A heads up for our Altar/FATC retreat May 18 – 22 of 2026 in the Minnesota Driftless area. Sign-ups will begin next month!
Jason Randall FATC Class:
Jason Randall Boot Camp:
