VOLUME 53 NOVEMBER 2018 NUMBER 08 NOVEMBER MEETING. Thursday, November 15, Farmhouse Rest. Wet Fly / Social Gathering:

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1 VOLUME 53 NOVEMBER 2018 NUMBER 08 NOVEMBER MEETING Thursday, November 15, Farmhouse Rest Wet Fly / Social Gathering: Dinner / General Meeting: 6:00PM 7:00PM President s Message: By: Tim Cooley Greetings. Hope this find everyone recovering from your Chocolate high from Halloween. At our next meeting we have a lot going on from election of 2019 officers to the member presentations. I am looking forward to the member s presentations, and find out all the fun that they had. I would like to thank Robin Larue for stepping up and taking on the challenge of president next year. Along with being a Charter member, he has served a president three time. Next year we need someone to step up early and take on the responsibility of being a board member for This club runs off of volunteers for everything that we do from the board, selling dinners, gillie, outings, and festivals. So step up to the challenge of board member, and make your impact on the club and its future. The Christmas Party Committee is looking for Volunteers to help clean up after the Christmas Party at Maple Hall, see Cathy Schaeffer for Details. See you at the next meeting..

2 This Months Presentation: By: Bill Keeler Allen Rhoades - Ross Lake and Beyond Boshie Morris Youth Program Bruce Freet - Coho Fishing in Cordova, AK Bolstered by Scott Willison s program to the Club on fishing for Coho salmon in Cordova, Alaska and his help, Loren Greenwood, Steve Thompson, Dennis Wilson, and Bruce Freet went there for four days during the second week in September this year. The only way to Cordova or the Copper River Delta is by air or sea. We tied over 75 flies apiece, rented a house and car, and reserved our flights well in advance. Little did we know that this year would be the driest in 103 years, so we had to work for the Coho that we caught. During our adventure, we hiked 3.5 to 5 miles per day, but were rewarded with 10 to 15 lb. Coho on the Fly. Given the November program time constraints, we will share some details and helpful tips, but mostly we will give you our photographic impressions. We had so much fun that we have already made plans to return in Robin LaRue - Spring Fishing in BC I did not have the opportunity to do a lot of fishing this year. However I did spend two weeks in late May and early June fishing in British Columbia near 100 Mile House and northwest of Merritt. In August I cashed in the Griffin s Guided Trip on the Methow, which I purchased at the 2017 Christmas Party. I will be sharing some photographs that I took on these trips. WWU s Leo Bodensteiner Working to Solve the Puzzle of the Skagit River Steelhead: By: John Thompson, Office of Communications and Marketing

3 There comes a time in the life of every young coastal rainbow trout when a combination of factors genetic makeup, water conditions, its current health and size, and more cause it to ask itself one very important question: To go to sea, or not go to sea?

4 Those that opt to leave the river systems of the West and head out into the ocean (their freshwater brethren remain blissfully ignorant of all this drama) become steelhead, with their time in the Pacific spent becoming a jumbo-sized rainbow that weighs 4 to 5 times that of its river- and lake-dwelling kin. The question of how and why a rainbow trout makes that decision to go to sea or stay home lies at the heart of the research of Western Washington University Professor of Environmental Sciences Leo Bodensteiner. The steelhead has the most complex life history of any fish on the West Coast, said Bodensteiner. There is still so much about what happens to turn a rainbow trout into a steelhead that we just don t know. Not surprisingly, steelhead have long been prized as a food source by the region s Indigenous peoples as well as premium target of recreational and commercial fishers from Southern California to the Aleutian Islands. But dams, habitat loss, and warming river temperatures have caused a decline in steelhead numbers up and down the West Coast. Bodensteiner has received a pair of grants, one from the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, another from the U.S Forest Service, to answer some of these questions. Trying to forecast what the next year s steelhead numbers on the Skagit will be always involves a huge amount of supposition, because of the fish's complex life history, he said. At the heart of the matter lies the ambiguity in the relationship between the rainbow and the steelhead. Chinook and coho come up the river, spawn out, and in the process make other chinook or coho, he said. A rainbow that spawns in a tributary of the Skagit could produce a juvenile that will elect to go to sea and become a steelhead. A steelhead that returns to spawn on the Skagit doesn t produce other steelhead, it produces rainbows that, just like their brothers and sisters, may or may not elect to go to sea in the future. So you can see where predictions become difficult. An important of his research involves extracting otoliths tiny bone-like structures in the heads of the steelhead and examining them under Western s mass spectrometer and scanning electron microscope with help from WWU Geology research associate Nicole McGowan to get the otolith s elemental composition. You can grind these otoliths into thin sections and, using this kind of elemental mapping, read them like rings on a tree. You can see when they went to sea and when they came back into fresh water, and for how long. It s a very revealing way to get a look at the fish s life history, he said. Understanding how young rainbows on the cusp of making that all-important life choice live in the Skagit s tributaries is another part of Bodensteiner s research. Last summer, he and a number of undergraduate students from Western sampled stretches of a number of tributaries of the Skagit, implanting PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags in juvenile rainbows that were identified as potential steelhead.

5 They could then track the rainbows using the transponder tags to examine their behavior before they went to sea. Bodensteiner said getting a better understanding on what the young fish are doing using the PIT tag, and examining the life history of the adult fish through the otoliths, helps to paint a clearer picture of the factors that influence the choice the young rainbows make. And a more viable, more accurate way to forecast returning steelhead numbers will go a long way to protecting the steelhead in numbers that could, in the long run, allow its numbers to rebound. That is certainly the goal of all the organizations involved in this work more steelhead in the Skagit, over the long term, he said. For more information on Bodensteiner s work with steelhead on the Skagit River, contact him at leo.bodensteiner@wwu.edu. Election of Officers: By: Tim Cooley The board has met and has nominated the following for 2019 board members President: Robin Larue Secretary: Steve Thompson Past President: Tim Cooley Vice President: Bill Keeler Treasurer: Mark Gilmore The Board recommends approval. Awards: By: Tim Cooley The awards committee, is looking for nominations for awards Fidalgo Fly Fisher of the Year This award is presented to a club member deemed by peers to have made the greatest contribution, and provided exceptional leader ship to the Club during the year for which the award is presented. Contributions may be in the field of Conservation, leadership, education, fly tying, or any activity which furthers the aims of the Club and promotes the sport of fly fishing. Please submit your nominations to Ryan Johnson or Carl Hendricks prior to our meeting on 15 November when we will circulate the ballots for selection. Award of Excellence The Award of Excellence may be given to a club member who has been deemed to have made a significant contributions to the Club and its members over and extended period of time (More than one year). Any club member may nominate any other club member by submitting a brief justification to the Awards committee Chair Carl Hendricks. It will be the responsibility of the Chair and the Board to decide the most appropriate selection process, this award is not necessarily given every year, but is available as a means to recognize members who have worked and provided leadership over a period of years to make the Fidalgo Fly Fishers a better club. Ad Hoc Awards While it is not the purpose of the Club to focus on awards, Members are encouraged to recognize other Club members with ad hoc awards wither serious or humorous nature such as the Skunk award of Half-Ass award. Nominations may be made at any time to the awards committee.

6 Registration Starts for the Introduction to Fly Fishing: By: Bruce Freet The winter quarter course catalog for Skagit Valley College is out and registration has begun. Our Club will teach the Introduction to Fly Fishing again as part of the College s Community Education program. Judging from past years, the course will probably fill with 16 students before the end of the month. The course begins on January 9 th and ends on March 20 th ; every Wednesday night from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, plus some optional Saturday sessions for a total of more than 35 hours of instruction. The cost is $125 per student. For more details, see last month s Wahoo. Items For Sale: By: Carl Hendricks Buck's Bronco Extreme pontoon boat; 9 feet, good condition, oars, oar locks, anchor, line and pulley, stripping basket, 4 gear bags, $300 to club member. Contact R. Raisler Boats for Sale (All proceeds go to the Fidalgo Fly Fishing Club) 10 Smith Brothers Pram - $ OBO This boat is very sound and sturdy. It comes with a swivel rower s seat that will accept a floatation cushion for comfort. The boat has a non-slip painted surface in the interior and is equipped with several tie off cleats for accessories. The buyer will need to purchase a set of oars and oar locks (Barkley Sound oars and locks are recommended by Tom Fulk). Please see Bill Keeler for questions, viewing and delivery.

7 10 Buck s Bags Bronco Pontoon Boat - $ OBO This pontoon boat is very good condition. It comes with a set of breakdown aluminum oars with locks and stops. The previous owner built custom accessory trays that are selfdraining and removable. The pontoons are reliable and have been holding air for the past several weeks. It comes with a padded folding seat, a 2 way diaphragm pump, nozzle and gauge and a set of flippers. The boat has many anchor weight options with various tie off points. Please see Bill Keeler for questions, viewing and delivery. Regards, Bill Keeler keelerwj@outlook.com Holiday Party December 20th at 6PM: By: Cathy Schaeffer The Holiday Party will be held on December 20 at 6pm, at Maple Hall in LaConner. The LaConner Seafood and Prime Rib Restaurant will cater the event. It will be just like our usual party but with more room to move around, more restrooms, and no stairs. Parking is on the street, or at the city lot about a block away. I have a few special parking passes for the lot next to the building, so let me know if you need one. Many great gift items have already been donated including another hand made rod from Tom Fulk as well as a travel fly tying box Tom made. There will be an inflatable float tube, the fly plate, hand tied flies, etc. Scott Williston, of Confluence Fly Shop in Bellingham, has donated a one day buddy fishing trip and I am working on another very awesome trip... Please bring your donations to the November meeting or call me to arrange delivery at We ll all have a great time!

8 Fly Shops: The Confluence Fly Shop 2620 N. Harbor Loop Drive #9 Bellingham, WA (360) Photo s of the Month: By: Not Known

9 INVITATION TO THE FIDALGO FLY FISHERS December Meeting The presence of your company is requested at the Fidalgo Fly Fishers Holiday Dinner Meeting Thursday, December 20 st, 2018 Maple Hall 104 Commercial La Conner, Washington BUFFET DINNER Entrées: Champagne Mushroom Chicken and Marinated Beef Tenderloin, and Wild Salmon Salad Bar, Artisan Breads, Seasonal Vegetables, Herbed Tossed Red Potatoes, and Wild Grains Lemon Raspberry Cake and Triple Tuxedo Layered Cake $40.00 per person Wet Fly, Ticket Sales & Conversation 6:00 7:00 p.m. Dinner 7:00 p.m. Presentation of Awards, Raffles & Auctions 8:00 p.m. The evening's festivities include a raffle and live auction for such items as a hand-crafted bamboo fly rod made by Tom Fulk, the Fidalgo Fly Fishers Fly-of-the-Month fly plate, and many other items, along with the presentation of the President s Award and the Fidalgo Fly Fisher Award To be eligible for a special drawing for a free 2019 club membership, please submit your 2019 membership dues by December 12 th. You may include your $40.00 dues along with this reservation (same check). To assist in planning the evening s events, reservations should reach Cathy no later than December 12 th. No refunds or cancellations after December 12 th. Reservations can be made by sending a check along with the below reservation form (make checks payable to the Fidalgo Fly Fishers) and mail to: Fidalgo Fly Fishers, P.O. Box 325, Anacortes, WA Additional info or cancellations: call Mark Gilmore at or Cathy Schaeffer at Reservation Form Fidalgo Fly Fishers 2017 Holiday Dinner Name: Guest Name: $40.00 per person = $ $ dues included Yes; No Total enclosed $ (Make checks payable to Fidalgo Fly Fishers) Mail to: Fidalgo Fly Fishers, P.O. Box 325 Anacortes, WA 98221