Established 1996 P.O. Box 2187, Pinetop, AZ October 2012

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1 WMFFC Mission Statement: NEWSLETTER Established 1996 P.O. Box 2187, Pinetop, AZ October 2012 The Mission Statement of the White Mountain Fly Fishing Club is: To assist in the development and maintenance of fly fishing opportunities and to promote and participate in fly fishing in its many forms." We support the practice of Catch and Release. We support the use of barbless hooks and harmless netting-and-release practices. Fish should never be held out of water for longer than you can hold your breath. Tight Lines President's Column: Well many wonderful club events, past & future, Troops First Foundation Wounded Warriors Project Fund Raising Banquet; Silver Creek Catch & Release October 1 st opening with Cabela s; Fools Hollow Clean-up with Arizona State Park, Tracks, Arizona Women of Adventure, Girl Scouts. Future: October Casting for Recovery Retreat Oct 5-7; Wild Life Festival Sat. Oct 6 th ; Troops First San Juan Trip Oct 16 th 19 th. I am tired but a good tired. On Wednesday Sept 26 th our club sponsored a Troops First Foundation/Wounded Warriors Project fund raising banquet at Torreon. Approximately 160 members and non-members attended. It was a wonderful evening with many veterans attending, 80 silent auction and raffle items, and 2 video programs from last year s San Juan troops Eric Ortegren and Brian Mancini. The event raised $10,711 (after expenses) as of Oct. 2 nd. One Hundred per cent of these funds will be used to fund our wounded warriors trips into the outdoors and fly fishing trips. This Oct. we will host 6 wounded warriors for 2 days of guided fly fishing on the San Juan River. We will have 4 men and 2 women warriors and 16 members participating. Please call or me if you want to experience this special life changing event. On Monday Oct 1 st we assisted the AZG&FD, San Pedro Wounded Warriors, Cabela s, Show Low High School Fishing Club and Show Low High School Special Needs program with the opening of catch & release season (Oct 1 Mar 31) at Silver Creek. Our members provided hands on Fly Fishing Instruction, set up tables, chairs, shade covers, cooked beans, and provided pickles and cookies for the Bar-B-Que lunch hosted by Cabela s and attended by more than 75 fishermen and women. There were many fish caught by everyone ranging from 1 to 7 pounds behind the 1 st and 2nd dams. Fishing and catching was incredible on nearly every fly. The wildlife Festival is this weekend, Sat. Oct 6 th. The event is to teach and let young children & teenagers learn and experience what is available for them in the outdoors. Bob Bowers is heading up our booth. HE NEEDS YOUR HELP PLEASE VOLUNTEER. Call Bob at It takes so little time to introduce our kids to the outdoors. Hope to see you at our programs on the water. Fishing consists of a series of misadventures interspersed by occasional moments of glory. Howard Marshall Tight Lines and Easy Mends, 1 Michael Smith, President

2 2012 WMFFC Board Members President: Mike Smith (602) Past-President: Ken Wolf (928) Vice President: Richard Dreyer (928) Secretary: Georganne Jannenga (602) Treasurer: Sparky Snyder ( Board Member #1: Bob Bowers (928) Board Member #2: Craig Harmon (928) Board Member #3: Dennis Jones ( Membership Chairman: Steve Hofmann (623) Conservation Chairman: Gary Miller (602) Newsletter Chairman: Dawn Hewitt (480) & Steve Hofmann (623) Outings Chairman: VACANT : Please Consider Volunteering- it does not take much work! Duties of the Outing Chairperson: You do not have to run every outing but find members to sponsor the events. A. Outings 1. In consultation with the Board, plan a schedule of outings throughout the fiscal year to accommodate a wide variety of fishing interests and opportunities. 2. Prepare and submit a schedule of outing dates, times, places and directions to Newsletter Editor three months in advance. 3. Assume custody and responsibility for Club owned Outings equipment and supplies. 4. Prepare and summit a timely monthly article or articles to the Newsletter Editor of the previous months outing(s). 5. Maintain and submit to the Treasurer a current inventory of all Club Outings equipment at the end of the membership year (June). October 24 th NOTE 4 th Wednesday this month Monthly Meeting at 6:30PM Lakeside Firehouse Agenda: - Social Hour (5:30PM) (Buy your Raffle Tickets!!!) - Call to Order -- (6:30PM) - Pledge of Allegiance - Introduction of Guests and New Members - Committee Reports - Business - Fish Tales Program Bill Langdon will be enlightening us with his adventures at Saltery Lake Lodge on Kodiak Island, Alaska, a two for one trip he won at our annual banquet in June. Bill enjoyed his trip so much that he and a group of friends are headed back to Saltery next year. 2

3 Protecting our streams and Lakes Submitted by Jerry Myers After my presentation on Whirling Disease a number of our members came up and asked if I could provide a write up on my recommendations. First, each of us has the responsibility to protect our great fishing waters. As with doing dishes when they are dirty or washing your soiled cloths, our equipment must also be clean each time we visit infected or possibly infected waters. There are a number of our group fish the San Juan River often, as well as the Green River and Lee s Ferry. Any time we return from neighboring state s waters we need to clean and treat our equipment. The following are the recommended protocols from Arizona Game and Fish Division: Anglers and boaters are asked to: * Never transport live fish from one body of water to another anywhere, not just from the Ferry; * Do not dispose of fish heads, skeletons or entrails in any body of water, this can spread the disease-causing parasites; * Do not discard entrails or heads of fish down a garbage disposal. The whirling disease parasite can survive most water treatment plants and infect areas downstream; * Carefully clean mud and vegetation from all equipment, such as boats, trailers, waders, boots, float tubes and fins. Rinse all mud and debris from equipment and wading gear, and drain water from boats before leaving the area where you ve been fishing; * Drain and dry boat bilges, live wells, and lower units. BEFORE using waders, wading shoes, or fishing gear at another waterway, clean equipment with one of the following: * Saturate waders and other gear with full-strength "Commercial Solutions Formula 409 Cleaner Degreaser Disinfectant" or "Formula 409 All Purpose Cleaner Antibacterial Kitchen Lemon Fresh" or other cleaners, that contain at least 0.3 percent of the quaternary ammonium compound alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride for at least 10 minutes or, * Dip, wipe, or spray waders and other gear with 50-percent bleach solution (one part household chlorine bleach to one part water) or, * Soak waders and other gear for 10 minutes in a 10-percent bleach solution (one part household chlorine bleach to nine parts water) or, * Pour boiling water (at least 200 F) over your gear and allow to cool. The spores of the whirling disease parasite are known to adhere to these kinds of materials and can potentially be carried on gear from one water to another, From my experience and reading I strongly recommend the use of a 409 cleaner. There are a number of formulation all contain dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, the active ingredient which will kill whirling disease spores. Each time upon return home I hang my waders outside and spry them down with 409, leave them to dry for an hour or so than hose them down with fresh water. For my boots, they are first washed down real good and then sprayed inside and out, felt soles need to be soaked. For the boots, let them set until dry then wash them down with clear water. Your reels and any other equipment should be soaked, allowed to set for an hour or so and rinsed. Let s not forget your cloths, gloves, etc. Just wash them in the washing machine and dry them in a dryer at med to high heat. This sound like a lot of work but it should be the fisher s standard procedure for cleaning and preserving our expensive equipment. Many of the algae and materials in our rivers, streams and lake decompose when dry 3

4 and can chemically break down into strong acid and base chemicals which can reduce the life of these fishing garments and tools. All salt water fishers know they need to completely rinse the salt water from their gear but far too often fresh water fisherman overlook the impotence of rinsing deposits from lake and streams. Lastly I strongly recommend at least a once a year cleaning of waders, all Gore-Tex fabrics, and treat with a Gore-Tex approved water proofing agent. All water repellent, breathable waders and products have the outside treated with a Durable Water Repellent called a DWR. These products wear off the surface of your waders, jackets, etc. Though your waders may not be leaking to the inside you will notice surface wet spots on them that are darker and do not have standing water. I call this surface absorption. Something I sure don t want when I am fishing in water that is degrees. Simms recommends the use of a product Revivex. I have tried this and others but definitely prefer Revivex. Late each September, before the onset of cold weather and water I clean and treat my waders. I am sure the 409 breaks down the DWR also. The process is simple. When my wife s back is turned I put them in the washing machine with a little Woolite and wash them on a delicate wash cycle. When finished they are taken outside and hang them up. Caution: make sure you have emptied any water out that is inside the waders. You can make a big mess in the laundry room if you don t. (Not that I ever did.) While they are still damp and hanging spray them with Revivex, giving them an even coating. Next they go back into the house and are put in the dryer on a low to medium setting until dry. The dryer sets the treatment. You will be pleasantly surprised at how much they are like new the next time you hit the water. Revivex is available at a number of stores and their online sales. If you are at the store it is often in the camping and rain gear areas. Just try Orvis, Bass Pro, and Cabela s. Remember we started this conversation by agreeing it is the responsibility of each of us to protect our waters. IF YOU ARE FISHING AT BECKER LAKE AND OBSERVE VIOLATIONS OF THE NEW CATCH AND RELEASE POLICY PLEASE CALL OPERATION GAME THEIF IMMEDIATELY AT Outings and & Events Outings Chairman Vacant Horseshoe Lake Outing Submitted by Dawn Hewitt Saturday September 20 th the club outing was moved from Sunrise Lake to Horseshoe at the recommendation of the members that had been fishing Sunrise over the past few weeks. Water was very weedy and fish weren t biting. By the time I arrived most of the fishermen and women were in the water bobbing up and down on their pontoons, float tubes, and boats. Some were meeting with great success like Carole and Gary Hall. At lunch Carole mentioned that she had landed 12 fish. That s a good day of fishing in my book. Some of our members decided against putting their boats in the water and instead dispensed lots of advice and guidance to the other members. Mike Smith spent his day working with new 4

5 member Betty Zinc on casting from the fishing pier. I m sure her arm was ready to fall off by the time the day was over. A good feed was laid out for the pot luck lunch. Thanks to everyone for bringing some great items to share. Nick brought a loaf of Dorothy s Banana Bread that was to die for. Hope he didn t get into too much trouble for sneaking it out of the freezer. Mike Styvaert landed a really nice Brown and brought it all the way back to shore for a photo op before tossing it back in to hopefully swim free for a long time. Silver Creek Opening Day Oct 1 st Catch and Release: 5

6 Upcoming Events Date Location Sponsor October 1 st Silver Creek Fishing with Wounded Warriors, Cabela s & AZG&FD 7 th Casting for Recovery Lunch Whispering Pines Resort Johnna Switzer & Dawn Hewitt 11 th Fly Tying New location - Show Low Office of Navajo County Public Health Services District 600N.9 th Place, Show Low, AZ 16 th 19 th Troops First Fishing Trip to the San Juan River Michael Smith & Bob Bowers 18 th Fly Tying 24 th Monthly Meeting 6:30 Lakeside Firehouse (date changed due to Troops First Fishing Trip to the San Juan River Oct th ) 25 th Fly Tying 27 th Monthly Outing - Big Lake Jim Natcher November 8 th Fly Tying 15 th Fly Tying 24 th Monthly Meeting 6:30 Lakeside Firehouse 27 th Monthly Outing - Becker Lake Jim Natcher December 8 th Christmas Party Changed to Pinetop Country Club Need Volunteer Treasurer s Report Submitted by Sparky Snyder, Treasurer Current bank balance is $23, Of this amount, income for Troops First Foundation Wounded Warrior Project account reflects $12, since July 1 st and expenses of $3, leaving a balance of $9, These are preliminary numbers as we still have checks that have not yet been deposited and a couple more to be sent in. September 19 th, 2012 Meeting Minutes Submitted by Georganne Jannenga, Secretary/Public Relations The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Secretary s Report: The Secretary asked for a motion from the floor to approve the minutes from the August meeting which were printed in the September newsletter. Gary Miller made a motion to accept the minutes. Craig Harmon seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the minutes were approved as written. Public Relations Report: Georganne stated that we had a nice four paragraph article in the Independent yesterday regarding the General Meeting, our Wounded Warriors fundraiser next week, the Bass Pro link on our website and our fly-tying classes. Also the Independent will be doing a special article on our Troops 1 st event and the Maverick had a full page article on Page 10 of their September Magazine regarding same. Additionally, e-blasts are being continually sent out from both Chambers regarding our fundraiser next week as well as flyers being placed around town by members, so we are getting some great exposure for this event. Treasurer s Report: Sparky stated that our current bank balance is $14, All our monies go into the same account but we have four separate accountings as to what the funds are allocated for. The President stated that about $1500 of that $14,000 is allocated to side accounts. 6

7 Membership Report: We have two guests tonight; Charles Romello and Nick Natore. We also have three new members: Betty Zinc, William Wilson & Dennis McMullen. It was stated that at our Saturday outing we always have members there to assist our new members. Members whose dues for are unpaid may be dropped from the membership list. We had 113 members, plus the three new members, for a total of 116. However that number will fall to 81 if we drop the unpaid people. The President then passed around an attendance list in regards to voting for the Club pond. Library Report: Librarian absent. Michael stated that our library is kept at Pinetop Sporting Goods. There are some great videos and books available for new members and old. Outings Report: Michael stated that we are still in need of a new outings chairperson; however that person is not needed until The responsibilities of the outings chairperson are to find a member to bring the trailer to the outing for two months and to set up for the outing and check to make sure the supplies are stocked. Steve and Ellen have volunteered to host the September trip. Jim Natcher will host the October and November outings. The Club trailer is now kept at Nick Cuilty s in Lakeside, which is a more convenient location. The Chairperson is just a coordinator for these monthly outings. The next outing that we will need someone to coordinate won t be until February of The outing for September, this coming Saturday, was originally schedule to be held at Sunrise Lake. Various members reported that it was difficult to fish due to moss, thick algae and weeds, and that you have to get into 12 to 13 feet of water before it clears up. Various other options were discussed: Big Lake, Hawley Lake which is clear, and Reservation Lake, which is fishing well. One person reported that they heard Horseshoe Lake was fished out, but then two other people reported that fishing was excellent there for big browns, so it was decided that this weekend s outing would be alternatively held at Horseshoe. Club members will meet in the parking lot at the far right hand corner. The store is open. Don t forget your $9 permit. President s Report: Michael will discuss next week s fundraising banquet, the 9/29 effort with the State parks and the Scouts to clean up Fool s Hollow Lake (bring a boat with a motor), the 10/1 Silver Creek opening, 10/7 Casting for Recovery event and the Oct San Juan trip with fishing two days, 10/17 & 10/18, 1. Next Wednesday, 5 p.m. Troops First fundraiser to take Troops fishing to the San Juan and other places, such as Lee s Ferry. Mike stated that so far we have received phenomenal donations. Seventy or more, ranging from car washes to $2500 items. He would like to see as many members as possible at this event next week. The Civil Air Patrol cadets will be there as greeters, as well as six National Guardsmen, a head Master Sergeant, 2 or 3 wounded warriors, including Eric, and Brian Mancini, who will speak, and a retired Major General. Brian will be donating 4 of his poetry/artwork pieces. A gentleman from San Antonio donated his house on the San Juan to house the troops and we already have five boats and guides donated. This trip last year was a great experience. Bob De Rosier is sending one of his employees for the week to run one of the boats. There will be one non-fishing Club member in the back of each boat to work with the soldiers. There will be rooms available at Abe s and we will host a BBQ at the donated home and then have the other banquets at The Sportsman s and breakfasts at Abe s. 2. A sign-up sheet was passed around for the Fool s Hollow clean-up. 3. Silver Creek: Catch and Release fishing opens Oct. 1 st. There will be people coming from all over the State and everyone will be trying to get to the upper pond. There will be 24 wounded warriors and 15 students from the Show Low High School fishing club. Cabela s will be bringing ten of their own people & will be providing the food. Game and Fish commissioners will be there with their own TV. crew, as well as reporters from the Independent and the Maverick. Because of our Club s work on the Creek, 7

8 they would like us to help work with the kids from the high school fishing club. We will also provide the tables and chairs and shade canopies and an extra porta potty. We expect 75 to 100 people as the Troops will be bringing their families. We need 15 people to be there at 5:45 a.m. The people who worked on the Creek project will be the first sign-ups. We will be bringing rods. This is an all-day event. Game & Fish will be stocking trout. Someone recently snuck in and opened a valve that would have killed the fish, but it was discovered in time. On Monday everyone will be fishing the upper pool which holds 6, 7 & 8 pound trout. Game and Fish will let a few of the wounded warriors help stock the stream, then people will start migrating down the stream. Grumpy Jakes will have their BBQ there. We need shape canopies and rope to tie them down. Our Club trailer will be there. We will need to carpool for parking conservation. Make sure to wear your Club badges, hats, etc. 4. We will be taking five Troops to the San Juan Oct , with fishing the 17 th and 18 th. We have 5 boats and guides donated. We have three marines coming so far that the Troops 1 st organization will fly in. We already have donations from Bass Pro, five fully loaded fishing pack vests, and almost $1000 worth of items from the HonDah store; two rods worth $200 each, two fly lines, leaders, tippet, cases, vests and a pontoon boat; total value between $750 and $1000. Eric manages our Float for the Fallen drift boat, a picture of which will be on display at the banquet. Jerry Myers write-up from when he took the Troops down the River will be ed out to our members. 5. Club Pond: As you know, our Club was offered a donation of a pond owned by the McCarty family behind RT s. They wanted us to take the pond over for the Club s use. The Board has gone back and forth regarding the legal liability of this venture and some members do not want us to take on this project. The original agreement between our Club and the McCarty s told us what we were to do. The main item was that the Club was to clean up the pond. After legal review, we revised this agreement to state that the Club may, at our discretion, clean up the pond and be responsible for stocking it, etc. A discussion was held regarding permanent vs. temporary improvements, such as putting in a dock at some point. McCarty Construction, LLC is the largest developer on the mountain. It was agreed that if we put the dock in and cancel our agreement at some future time that we can also take the dock out. McCarty s may put in a permanent walkway. They have agreed that we would use their materials and heavy equipment for any improvements, so our cost would only be the physical labor. The pond would need to be made accessible for handicapped people. At this point, according to the revised agreement, our Club would only be liable for anything our Club does, and we have provided the owners with a $1 Million liability policy for anything that we do. The McCarty LLC would then be responsible for everything else, as the original agreement didn t mention the public. According to the revised agreement McCarty s would be totally responsible for anything they are doing or for public intrusion. An attendance sheet was passed around tonight so that members who are not here this evening will also have the opportunity to vote. The Board is not going to make this decision. It will be a Club decision. Our President then stated some of the benefits of going forward with this project, including being able to have some fun events close in town. Michael then opened up the floor for public discussion. Dennis Jones then stated that he read the revised lease and stated that even though it contains hold harmless clauses that we, as a Club, would still be named as a party to any potential future lawsuit and we would be responsible for any accidents that occurred there. Other problems might be that if we stock the pond it could become what is known as an attractive nuisance, we could spend up to $2500 to build a dock, plus monies for cleaning it up, herbicides, etc. At ½ acre, or 6/10ths of an acre, that could mean literally tons of vegetation that we would need to remove. Also we would need to buy and stock fish. And what happens if the herbicides fail? Then we would have a dead pond with a lot of money having been spent if the fish were killed accidentally. Also, there are two islands in the pond which would make it difficult to dredge. Also, the water retention to the pond is coming from a parking lot, making the quality of the water unfit for fishing, swimming or even float tubing. We 8

9 would have to have the water tested and who would treat it for parasites and diseases? We could have a crawdad problem in the future. As far as Dennis knows, there has been no contact with the Corp of Engineers, the Department of Water Quality or any attempt made to find out if anyone holds prior water rights. Do we need applications for permits? The shore is too steep, which makes for limited access. Some of the members feel that our Club should not venture into lake management. These are not good fly fishing waters. So what would be the uses of the pond? Kids fishing or family outings? And this pond area is not suitable for major Club events. Some of our members do not wish to venture into this project as there are too many costs, too many unknowns, no attempts at regulation and too few use opportunities. Some of the other members input were that they are totally against moving forward with this project and that we don t have enough volunteers for the projects we now have ongoing. It was brought up that even though there is a 10 foot fence, the pond is adjacent to a parking lot and tracks trail. Jerry Myers addressed the time commitment and also that we would need approval from NEMA and NEPA. Bob Bowers said he would vote against moving forward with this project because it goes against the core values and mission of our Club and that we should just get back to what our Club stands for. Dennis then summarized some of the Club member s objections to this project. Larry suggested tabling the idea until we could do more research and check with the County and the Corp of Engineers and a lot of other agencies. It was stated that we wouldn t want to have to deal with the Corp of Engineers. Ross made a motion to table the discussion. Mike disagreed and said we need to make a decision and deal with the issue now because we need to tell the McCarty s either yes or no. There was no second to the motion. Bob Bowers subsequently made a motion to vote yes or no on this issue of moving forward with taking over the pond which the McCarty want to donate to us. The motion was seconded. It was first decided that the members who were not present would also be polled. A vote of hands was taken and the project was unanimously opposed by the membership that was present. A discussion was then held about making the pros and cons available to the members who were not present. A member of the audience asked if it was against our Club bylaws to have a vote taken on an issue based on just the members who were present. After further discussion it was decided that we did have a quorum present, since we had 55 members in attendance, and the vote to not proceed with this project was valid. Bob Bowers thanked Mike for all his hard work regarding this project. 6. A discussion was then held regarding the tentative date for our Christmas party at Licano s on Dec.8 th. The Pinetop Country Club has offered us their facility as an alternative and prepared a proposal for us. Michael stated that the entire Country Club will be decorated and there will be music and trees, etc. We have been offered either a buffet with turkey and ham for $25 a person or a choice of either turkey or ham as a plated meal for $20 per person. The Pinetop Country Club does not have either Dec. 7 th or 8 th available. They do have the 12 th, 13 th, 14 th or 15 th available. A discussion was held as to having the event on a weekend as opposed to during the week. Michael asked for a show of hands vote to hold our Christmas party at the Pinetop Country Club this year, and it was voted in favor of making the change and having the buffet. Raffle: Do not fold your tickets! The raffle was held. Misc. and New Business: Sign-up sheets were passed out. Mike Styvaert will teach the fly-tying class tomorrow night. As to our new website, please check it out and feel free to in comments, suggestions, etc. Tickets can be held at will call for the banquet next week, but call ahead with your meal choice. Fish Tales: Were told. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. 9

10 If you have an Ad or Article that you would like featured in the next Newsletter, please contact Steve Hofmann at or Dawn Hewitt at