THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE GREEN COUNTRY FLYFISHERS:
THE LATE 1950'S TO 1981

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foreword

"OUR GANG" t0 GCF

gcf in action

gcf in the midwest council

midwest council, 1976-1981

ROGUES' GALLERY

During the 2004 Southern Council Conclave, Sue Cox, Dave Whitlock’s secretary, asked me to write the story of his involvement with the Green Country Flyfishers, the Midwest Council (West) and the Southern Council, Federation of Fly Fishers.   There are many versions of various segments of the Council’s history afloat, but it is my purpose to bring all the parts of the story together as best I can and tell them as they actually happened.

This narrative begins in the late 1950’s or very early 1960’s when four friends, drawn together by a common interest in fly fishing, first began to fly fish the White River in Arkansas. It covers the growth and activities of the group until 1981, the year when the geographical area became officially known as the Southern Council, FFF.   The events recorded here are verified by various records in my possession.   Any statements which are not matters of record but which are my personal recollections are so identified.   

Because so much of the history of Dave Whitlock and his association with the GCF and the FFF revolves around both natural and man-made changes in the rivers and lands of Northeastern Oklahoma and the White and North Fork Rivers of Arkansas, this narrative also includes descriptions of specific locales and the changes that occurred in them over time.