Yes, he is pretty lucky. While I have world-class fishing here it is a minimum 4 hour drive. Still doable for the weekend, but 5 minutes would be nicer. Fortunately, this is about 15 minutes from my house:


Since I am a relatively new fly fisher, my club has been an invaluable resource. It also happens to have the best casters in the country:
The GGACC was organized in June 1933 as an offshoot of the San Francisco Fly Casting Club. The San Francisco Fly Casting Club, the second oldest casting club in the U.S., was founded in 1894, when the first tournament was held as Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The world's single-handed fly casting record of 133 ft. was established by club president Walter Mansfield in 1899, and held for 35 years to 1934. He also cast a 5 oz. fly rod 129 1/2 feet at a 1902 tournament.
Members of the club have been responsible for many innovations in fishing equipment. The major features of the popular Pfleuger "Medalist" fly reel was designed by a club member. The hollow fluted bamboo rods of R.L. Winston Rod Co. and the cedar center hollow construction of E.C. Powell Rod Co. produced fly rods of astounding lightness and power. Later Jim Green introduced the first glass-to-glass ferrule and created innumerable refinements in rod taper, both for Fenwick and earlier rod manufacturers. Jim Green designed and built the first graphite fly rods and was a pioneer in using boron for fly rods. Jon Tarantino worked with R.L. Winston, Scientific Anglers and Hardy Brothers of England to develop new tapers.
GGACC Club members were in the forefront of creating new fly lines for distance casting using new tapers and materials such as nylon, dacron and bonded plastic, which superseded the old silk lines. The prototype high density fly lines of today were created by members working closely with Sunset Line Company of Petaluma and other major line manufacturers. Members Phil Miravalle and Jim Green introduced monofilament as a running line for distance fly casting in 1946 and revolutionized fly casting. The use of shooting heads as a fishing technique was pioneered by club members.
The standardization of fly lines by weight rather than diameter and the adoption of a line classification scheme used by both rod and line manufacturers has greatly simplified fly fishing. Myron Gregory and Art Agnew of Sunset Lines led this standardization both nationally and worldwide.
GGACC members have been responsible of many innovations in fly patterns and fly materials as well. Gene Burns introduced Day-Glo flourescents with John Gardner in 1947 as fly body material. The Horner Deer Hair, Horner Shrimp and Halvorsen's Barley Sack (or Burlap) and many other fly patterns came from the GGACC.
In tournament casting, the GGACC has held an unparalleled dominance for the past 30 years. Jon Tarantino, from the early 1950's and Steve Rajeff, from the mid-1970's were All-Around Champions both in the national and international arenas.
Kai, which of your bamboo rods do you reach for most often? I'm considering one, but the choices are overwhelming - almost more than graphite. I'd like to start with a rebuilt vintage then order a new rod. Perhaps I should just select a builder tell him what I want to fish and let him decide.
Just picked up a 6'6" 4wt glass rod which is fun to cast. A world away from my Thomas & Thomas 9' 6wt.
lefty