Nobody is poorer than someone who spends his life doing what he doesn’t want to do.
Brian Mantrop, Westport, Ontario
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After 30 years as a bank executive, I opened a fly shop on Pennsylvania’s Little Lehigh. Why? I was tired of doing what I didn’t want to do. When I had the idea and the opportunity to convert a historic, stone springhouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania to a fly shop, I traded my wing tips for wading shoes. The Little Lehigh Fly Shop was born. After 15 years I closed the shop, now I spend most of my time camping, lecturing and fishing around North America. My experience at the shop and my travels serve as a backdrop for my club and banquet programs and my eBook, Reflections, Observations, and Advice from a Trout Bum. These are not “I” presentations. They aren’t about me, or my experiences. They are about a fly fishing journey, tidbits of learning that can only be experienced through this journey. Through my own stream successes (and failures), plus my interactions with my friends, and the true stars of fly fishing*, I have been able to collect and convey hundreds of years of stream experience and time tested techniques to the readers of my book and the attendees of my presentations. The book is introduced by Dr Gary Borger and edited by Dr Alan Mittleman. Pictures by Amanda Karam Rohrbach (http://www.amandarohrbachphotography.com/), Wendell Ozefovich (underwateroz@comcast.net), Mark Strohl (strohlm@ptd.net), Dave Bittner, Don Douple, Cathy Mainardi, Trevor Lanning and others are plentiful. Reflections, Observations, and Advice from a Trout Bum, reflects on pleasant and not so pleasant experiences, shares observations along the river of life, provides some tips on living and fishing alone in the wilder places, and on how YOU can be comfortable in your own skin. Writing a book and lecturing was never my original intention, fly fishing was. But my years at the Little Lehigh Fly Shop followed by trout bumming around North America has me brimming with experience, knowledge and skills I’ve been asked to share with the fly fishing world. Hence, Reflections, Observations, and Advice from a Trout Bum. Thanks, Rod Rohrbach
I have fished, tied and learned from renowned fly-fishing personalities such as Gary Borger, Lefty Kreh, Gary LaFontaine, Ernest Schwiebert, Charlie Meck, Barry & Cathy Beck, Ed Jaworowski, Ed Schenk, Oliver Edwards, Bob Clouser, Jack Gartside, Ed Koch, Don Baylor, A.K. Best, Larry Duckwall and others.
Programs include: Bugs Techniques for tough Trout Fishing Spring Creeks Fishing the Cushion Fishing the Film
The fly Fishing Guide, Fish and Fly Magazine, Best of the Lehigh Valley Magazine, the New York Times, the Morning Call, ESPN and Fox News have done pieces on the shop.
I’ve spoken at Adams County Chapter of TU, Brodhead TU, Bucks County TU, Cabin Fever, Central Jersey Trout Unlimited, Croton Watershed, Cumberland Valley TU, Dame Juliana League Fly Fishers, Daughters of The Eastern Star, Delco-Manning TU, Doc Fritchey TU, Donegal TU, East Jersey Trout Unlimited, Ernest Schwiebert Chapter Trout Unlimited, Forks of the Delaware TU, Fred S Burough’s North Jersey TU, Great Outdoor Expo, Hacklebarney Trout Unlimited, Hokendauqua TU, Jersey Shore Trout Unlimited, Ken Lockwood Chapter Trout Unlimited, Little Lehigh TU, Long Island Fly Rodders, Main Line Fly Tiers, Mid Hudson TU, Monocacy TU, Penn’s Woods West TU, Perkiomen Valley TU, Ray Neirle South Jersey Chapter Trout Unlimited, Saucon Creek TU, SE Montgomery County TU, South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers, Stanley Cooper Sr. TU, Susquehannock Fly Fishers, The Fly Fishing Show, The Sporting Gentleman, Valley Forge TU, Western Pocono TU, White Clay Creek Fly Fishers
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