Just hold on a moment! The general trend in this conversation is that the VFB list is not what it used to be because it has less members now than in its heyday. The implication is that this problem of a diminishing number of members is peculiar to VFB, but I can assure you that is not. Roll back to 1995 when this list was born. I too have been a VFB member since the start. I was on Ross Parnell's list sponsored by Fly Fisherman Magazine, which closed down for a period due to the need for a server replacement and lack of funding for same. Shortly after, Byard Miller sent out invitations to various people to join his new list VFB which I did.
Now fast forward to today. There are now hundreds of similar lists. Many use the "Forum" approach like Flybc.ca, Speypages (http://speypages.com/speyclave/) and Flyangler.ca while others use the email like VFB and FF@ which is my personal preference. I was a member of a European fly fishing list and the server was located in Germany. It folded. In Canada we have a list called CANFF which as far as I know is still available but totally inactive. Flyby.ca on the other hand is hyper-active. I am currently the President of the Totem Flyfishers, British Columbia's first and oldest fly fishing club formed under the tutelage of the late author, Roderick Haig-Brown. Formed in 1967, we are now experiencing difficulty in attracting new and younger members. British Columbia now has many fly fishing clubs spread throughout the Province. This membership problem is not confined to the Totem Flyfishers, but other clubs as well. The net Result? Although there are more people interested in fly fishing, they are more spread out and can select a club or list, forum etc that appeals to their particular interest like spey fishing. When Byard set up VFB his mail order business followed shortly after. Byard was a good friend of "Murph" and when Murph died suddenly, Byard's interest in VFB seemed to wane. In the early days, Byard organized huge caddis fly swaps on an annual basis for a while with 100 flies to be submitted by each participant. The last such swap was 2002. Byard is now more interested in bird photography and that's fine, but his dis-association with VFB has, in my opinion, had some affect. In summary, lack of membership and input is not peculiar to VFB. Neville (Nev) Gosling Greater Vancouver, B.C. Canada -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to vfb-mail@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to vfb-mail-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com
