Tale waters The Voice of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers

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1 The Voice of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers September 13, 2016 North Arkansas Fly Fishers Tale Waters North Arkansas Fly Fishers meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Meetings are held at the Van Matre Senior Center located at 1101 Spring St Mountain Home, AR Membership meeting starts at 7:00 pm. All members and guests are welcome and encouraged to attend. NAFF Board of Director s meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at 2:00 pm 1st Security Bank on 9th St. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Visit North Arkansas Fly Fishers Online at Officers President Ken Sickels (870) Vice President Tom Emerick (870) Secretary Pat Smith.... (870) Treasurer David Hea.(870) Directors Conservation Tommy Hagan..(870) Property Mark Burgess..(870) Education Fred Stumpf Membership Paul Ashton (870) Past President Mike Tipton..(870) Appd. by President Vern Berry (870) Tale Waters is published 2nd Tuesday of each month. Article deadline is 1st Tuesday of the month. Staff: Mike Tipton & Rita Billbe Contact: sowbug@northarkansasflyfisher.org Molly Semenik to Speak in October at the Gaston s Visitor Center Molly Semenik, noted fly fisher and fly fishing instructor, will be our special speaker on October 29th and 30th at the Gaston s Visitors Center. Her presentation is free and open to the public. There will be a special meet and greet with Molly Saturday evening that will be open to NAFF members only. I found the following about Molly on the American Museum of Fly Fishing website: Molly Semenik was born and raised in Michigan. She fondly recalls the day when, at the age of fourteen, her father presented her with his prized Orvis bamboo rod. When Semenik moved to Utah in 1979, she brought the rod along and spent the next several years fly fishing in western fresh water. She eventually ventured into saltwater angling. A career in fly fishing started with her move to Montana in By the following year, Semenik accom- Cont. Pg.2 Picnic Saturday Sept. 24th Our annual Fall Picnic will be held on Saturday, September 24th at the Bull Shoals lower White River State Park pavilion no. 1. (same place as usual). Picnic will be from 11am until 2pm. NAFF supplies the great burgers, brats, chips, soda, water and all the fixins for the burgers and brats. Members are asked to bring a side dish, salad or dessert of your choice. Food will be served between 11:45 and noon. Come early and swap fish stories. Feel free to bring a new or favorite rod to show off, or perhaps a special fly that has been working for you. NOTE: The picnic will serve as our September general meeting. There will not be a club raffle, so hold that wad of cash for the October meeting raffle! Hope to see you at the picnic. If you would be available to help, or if you have any questions, please call Vern Berry, activities director at

2 Page 2 Program from page 1 plished three major goals: she was a Federation of Fly Fishers certified flycasting instructor, she received her Montana guide license, and she founded Tie the Knot Fly Fishing. Tie the Knot includes guided fly fishing on the Yellowstone River and local spring creeks, as well as instruction and fly-fishing destination trips for women. Semenik specializes in introducing women to the sport in a fun, professional, and encouraging way; she believes that when a woman can tie her own knot, she has started down the path of independence. Not willing to simply rely on her earlier accomplishments, Semenik became a Federation of Fly Fishers master flycasting instructor in 2006, cofounded the Yellowstone Fly Fishing School with Matt Wilhelm in 2006, and two years later became a certified outfitter in the state of Montana. She was elected to the Casting Board of Governors of the Federation of Fly Fishers in Semenik and her family live in Livingston, Montana. She has been guiding for eleven years and is busy teaching, sharing, and fishing throughout the country. September President s Message What a difference a year can make. Last year at this time we had just finished fishing sulfurs on Norfork. We fished the sulfur hatch for almost six weeks starting the first of July. It was great while it lasted. Never put sulfur on the line this year. Can only hope for next year. Hope is a good thing. The raffle will be back again at our October Club meeting. Contributions, donations etc. for the raffle are always welcome. Please bring them to our meetings. Fall is almost here. Browns are starting to appear in the Norfork with some regularity. I netted a 24 inch brown for someone several weeks ago, a really nice fish. Be safe and great fishing. Ken Sickels Autumn at Bull Shoals Dam Weather Cancellation Policy NAFF Activities or Meeting will be cancelled or postponed when the Mountain Home Public Schools Cancel Classes. Check KTLO radio website for school closing info.

3 Tale Waters Page 3 September Fly of the Month - Ruby Midge Ruby Midge Hook #18 wet or dry fly Bead Silver Thread Black, 6/0 Body Red holo tinsel Rib Black thread Tyer unknown About once a week Bob Jensen and I make a trek to the Spring River to fish the geezer pool. This is the pool upstream from culverts that take the road into the hatchery. It is fed by an outflow from the hatchery and some overflow from the dam upstream. The wading is very easy. The pool is loaded with fish. When you decode the rules for a particular day, you can catch a lot of fish. But it is not shooting fish in a barrel. It does take some luck and effort. For the last few weeks we had seen fish jumping out of the water. Prior to our most recent trip, I had just gotten Mark Crawford s Spring River fishing report where he suggested dragging a small black dry fly across the surface. I tried jiggling a black soft hackle, which also worked really well. About this time a fellow wearing neoprene waders approached me and asked if the flys that he had would work. He had a huge bug tied on and a packet of wooly buggers--all that he could find at Wal-Mart. I said that the wooly buggers would probably work, but also gave him a small black soft hackle. He said, That is really small but accepted it and started to tie it on. Later I saw him catching fish a lot of fish. At one point he, Bob, and I each had a fish on at the same time. I figured he changed to the wooly bugger. I asked him and he said yes. After a while he left the pool to explore the area a bit. When he returned he rather sheepishly asked me if he could have another fly. He had fished the whole morning with the soft hackle that I gave him and it was wearing out. I gave him another. We talked a bit. He was up from Florida where he fished in the ocean with spinning gear. He had a little experience with fly fishing for pan fish in fresh water but no experience fishing for trout. I suggested that he visit Mark Crawford s fly shop. We continued fishing. My catch rate slowed down a lot. After several different flys, I tried a ruby midge. I had a small fly box that was full of them. I think that I got it at Sowbug. I have no idea who tied them. But I tied one on. I swung it in the current and pulled it to the surface. And started to get hits again. Soon Bob asked me what I was using and I gave him one, which he immediately broke off. So I gave him another. I waved to the other guy and gave him a couple. The box had a lot of flys so I could afford to be generous. When we walked out, the fellow thanked me profusely for making his day. I left with a pleasant glow inside and planned to use more ruby midges in the future. Mike Tipton Sowbug Report The Picture that went out with our ing The Sowbug Roundup planning is moving forward and a bit backward. Forward. The Sowbug Advertising Committee has come up with a plan to advertise to TU chapters and IFFF clubs around the country. We will be doing three ings to them. One to tell them about Sowbug, one to give an update in January, and one last minute reminder at the end of February. Each will include an article and a picture for the club newsletter (newsletter editors love prepared articles and pictures). So far only six s bounced and we are receiving some positive responses. This campaign is based on our survey that we took at the last Sowbug that indicated that most attendees came from out of town. Backward. The folks at the Backpack program have declined to participate next year. They indicated that the payoff for them did not warrant the effort involved. This is really too bad for us because we thought they were doing a great job. And so did our Sowbug attendees and tyers. So we are looking for another philanthropic organization who would like to be the food service vendor for Sowbug. We do Cont. Next Page

4 Page 4 not charge them to participate and they get to keep all of the proceeds from their sales. Our only requirement is that the food be inexpensive and tasty. And that they provide free coffee. Please let me know if you have volunteers or any ideas. The Sowbug Roundup Committee meets every second Tuesday at 1:00 pm at the Baxter County Library. You can contact me (Mike Tipton) at o r m i c h a e l t i p - ton@centurytel.net. Birthday Bamboozle An April Sunday after church I waited till late afternoon for my birthday wish--to fish along the edge of our campground. High water conditions hadn t allowed me to wade in months. Although I was out of practice, everything went smoothly until I stepped into the water. The landscape had drastically changed after the December floods had deepened the holes beyond the boat ramp. Where I had previously waded through gravel beds to a shallow place, I now encountered sticky sand and drop-offs. I backed up and began to cast, forgetting about the tree limbs over my head, After 2 casts I snagged one. Climbing up a muddy bank to reach the tree. I was lucky enough to bend the branch down and retrieve my fly. Thinking I was good to go, I stepped back into the water. Failing to check that my fly was secured to the rod, I soon discovered it lodged on the back side of my boot. This fly was a new creation given me to try. I intended to accomplish that mission. However, the hook was so deeply embedded that when I attempted to pull it out with my forceps, it broke off. On my way to full-fledged exasperation, I tied on another one of the same type and within a few moments managed to snag a different tree behind me. This time it was too high to reach and I snapped the second fly along with the tippet. About this time my husband rode up on the four wheeler to innocently ask how I was doing. I went into fullblown whine and recounted my poor techniques. He offered to tie on more tippet and I gratefully accepted. Finally after thanking him and breathing deep, I set off to try again. He wisely left and I found a new path through the water near a giant tree root left gnarled by the flooding. With one cast my 3rd fly of the set managed to discreetly land in the water unencumbered by any more obstacles. Lo and behold, I felt a strong take and a few seconds later captured a small female brown. Even though she garnered no prizes, she fought with a courageous heart and I thankfully accepted my birthday gift. No other fish graced my net that day; but neither did I bury my boots in sucking sand or embarrass myself further. Memories of my rookie days beckoned but I resisted. Maybe this birthday was special after all. I d learned some patience, caught a fish and arrived back at my starting point without tumbling into the water. Light the candles and bring on the cake. I m done! Rita Billbe

5 Page 5 Sowbug Tyers Update We have added several new tiers to our potential invitee list from the list compiled from the IFFF Southern Council Fly Fair on October 7th and 8th. These new tiers are new members of the IFFF and Fly Tiers Group. If you have any potential new tiers that would want to tie at the Sowbug, have them send me an at flytyerfred@gmail.com. Invitations for the Sowbug will be ed in November. We expect again to have a large turnout of tiers from all over the country and some from Europe. By the way, we have a fly tying group meeting each week on Fridays at Dally s Fly Shop around noon to 1pm. Our group is growing and would like to see you tie with us. Fred Dupre Spring River Fishing Report Water levels are running at 325 cfs (350 cfs normal) and water clarity is clear. The river is as low and clear as it has been all year. Over the last week midges are coming off the water. Hot flies this week have been the Crawford s Guppy, burnt olive woolly and Y2ks when the trout turn off. If you do see fish breaking the surface, then tie on a small black dry fly and drag it across the surface. Many times the brown trout will chase the midges up thru the water and jump. Looks like a really nice fall season shaping up and canoe hatch ended with the Labor Day holiday weekend. Get out and enjoy. Tight lines and good luck, Mark Crawford Fly Tying Every Friday 12:00 PM Dally s Ozark Fly Fisher All NAFF Members Welcome

6 Page 6 Jimmy T s Fishing Report - September August and September have been warm and humid! Two ways to fish and stay cooler. Wet wading on the minimum flow has been the way I have kept cool while fishing; and having a boat allows me to stay in front of the afternoon rising water. Night fishing has been the other way. My past few outings, staying in front of the water hitting the shoals, have been producing some good bows and quite a few brook trout using the Holy Grail #14 jig fly. This fly catches less of the bottom and more fish. The jig hook keeps the fish on and they also seem to go out of their way to take the fly. When the fish stop biting or the water starts to come in, I hop in the boat and motor down to the next spot and repeat until our day is over. The other way to keep cool is to night fish and there is a group of guides who are producing some good brown trout this summer. No sun screen needed but an 8 wt. rod with some floating line and a mouse are doing the trick. These three guides are calling themselves Straight outa Cotter and have a Facebook page w w w. f a c e b o o k. c o m / straightouttacotter. These boys are producing some hogs and avoiding the heat at the same time. It looks like some fun to me and I must take one of them up on a night trip. The brown trout are on the move a bit earlier than normal this fall. Pods are starting to form below the spawning areas and our nightly cool-off should also start fairly soon as well. These fish will go on a feeding binge before the spawn heats up; so tie up some juicy morsels like hoppers, ants, midges and especially the Holy Grail and go fishing. See y all at the Fly Fishing Fair in October. Jim Traylor Warm Water Outing Nov. 3rd NAFF will hold another warm water outing to farm pond at the Country Oaks B&B on Thursday, Nov 3rd. This is a big pond and it is full of largemouth bass and panfish. The fish aren t as active in fall as in the spring, but a wooly bugger fished deep will get you fish. These are always fun outings. The fall colors should be in good shape. We meet at the pond at about 9:00 and usually have lunch in Mountain View, often at the Mexican restaurant. For more info contact Tom Emerick at emerick123@centurytel.net or (870)

7 Page 7 Corps of Engineers Report The coming of Labor Day signals the close of the traditional recreation season for the Twin Lakes area, but for many of us it s the beginning of fantastic weather and great outdoor recreation opportunities. This past season saw much higher use of our lakes and rivers, which can be attributed to several factors weather, fuel prices, and the discovery of all our area has to offer for the outdoor enthusiast. The mild to average summer, during which the area received good rainfall, made for ideal conditions to enjoy fishing, floating, camping and other activities. This same weather allowed the Lakes to remain at, or below, conservation pool elevation for much of this year, which has not only benefitted recreation and tourism, but has allowed major projects taking place at both Dams to continue unimpeded. At Norfork, rehabilitation of the two head gates is underway, with one completed. Headgates are those which close the penstock, or generator tube, on the lakeside. These are vital to be able to dewater a turbine for inspection and maintenance, and in a worse-case scenario, to shut down a generator that is running uncontrolled. At Bull Shoals, considering work did not start until early June, the project to rehabilitate the tainter, or flood, gates work is progressing well. Of the 17 gates, three have been completed and is anticipated the next three will be finished by the end of September. While Mountain Home Project Office recognizes the impact required lane closures of the dam roadways cause, please keep in mind the two Dams are nearly 70 years-old and this work has never been performed since their construction. As we all look forward to fall, please put safety first when using our area waterways. Jon Hiser The draft Membership Roster for 2016 has been sent out for review. Please check your entry for any updates or corrections. We have 71 members that are either overdue or due on their memberships which is an improvement from July. However that s still a lot of unpaid members and they will be removed from membership if not paid by the end of the month. Reminders have been sent out; however I d like to remind our members about the option of lifetime memberships. This option eliminates my yearly nagging about your dues, simplifies your entry at Sowbug each year, and saves you money on your yearly membership dues. Senior Life - $150 Sr. Family Life - $175 Individual Life - $225 Family Life $300 If you would like more information about these options, or would like to convert your current dues to a lifetime membership, please contact me at naffmembership@gmail.com Current membership is 511 members and 368 memberships. Paul Ashton Riverside Retreat on the White River Cabins with hot tubs and fireplaces Lodge that sleeps 20~Guided Fishing 10 minutes from the North Fork River

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9 North Arkansas Fly Fishers PO Box 1213 Mountain Home, AR Activities of Interest to NAFF members September Tuesday 13th Sowbug Committee Meeting 1:00-3:00 Baxter County Library Saturday 24th NAFF Picnic 11:00-1:00 Lower Pavilion # 1 White River State Park October Monday 3 nd Trout Unlimited 6:00-8:00 El Chico Tuesday 4th NAFF Board Meeting 1:00-3:00 pm. First Security Bank Friday and Saturday 7 th & 8 th IFFF Fly Fishing Fair 8:30-4:00 Baxter County Fairgrounds Tuesday 11th Sowbug Committee Meeting 1:00-3:00 Baxter County Library Tuesday 18th NAFF Club Meeting 7:00-9:00 Van Matre Senior Center Fly Fishing Clinic: Open to the public with Molly Semenik. Oct. 29th & 30th at the Gaston's Visitors Center overlooking Bull Shoals Dam. more info here. November Tuesday 1st NAFF Board Meeting 1:00-3:00 pm. First Security Bank Monday 7th Trout Unlimited 6:00-8:00 El Chico Tuesday 8th Sowbug Committee Meeting 1:00-3:00 Baxter County Library Tuesday 15th NAFF Club Meeting 7:00-9:00 Van Matre Senior Center