TROUT TALK. President s Report: The Official Newsletter of Western New York Trout Unlimited ( May, Stamp.

Transcription

1 Page1 TROUT TALK The Official Newsletter of Western New York Trout Unlimited ( May, 2013 OFFICERS Antoinette Grote President ( ) Gene Romanyshyn-Vice President 5289 Roberts Rd., Hamburg NY ( ) Dave Unetich-Secretary Tony Messina-Treasurer 33 Deveraux, Buffalo, NY ( ) COMMITTEES Awards-Dave Tooke ( ) Education-Dave Bollman Library-Nick Pionessa ( ) Membership-Gary Coons Fly tying sessions-len Bigaj ( ) Resource protection-gary Coons ( ) Salmon & Steelhead-Don Kwiatkowski ( ) & Nick Pionessa Shows-Len Bigaj ( ) Spring Banquet-Len Bigaj ( ) Stream Projects-Chuck Godfrey ( ) Sunshine-Dee Maciejewski ( ) Website: Ric Toczek Welcome-Len Bigaj ( ) Video Library- (vacant) Erie County Federation Reps: Chuck Godfrey ( ) State Council Delegates: Chuck Godfrey ( ) Gene Romanyshyn ( ) Newsletter: Russell Shefrin Label Stamp Next WNY TU Chapter Meeting: Tuesday, May 28, 2013, 7:30 pm at the Donovan American Legion Post, 3210 Genesee Street, Cheektowaga, New York. Fly tying starts at 6 p.m. Please bring orange thread, because we will be tying Woolly Buggers. Our guest, for the entertainment portion of the meeting: To Be Announced. President s Report: Just a few items on the agenda... The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a project on Smokes Creek. The proposal can be found on their website; and the due date for comments is June 7, The Board of Directors would like to formalize a short and long term plan for our local chapter. If anyone would like to make suggestions for anything that should be included, please send them to antoinettegrote@yahoo.com. Once again this year, we will be staffing a booth at the Erie County Fair. Please consider volunteering your time. It is an opportunity for us to help us reach out to the community and to make others aware of the conservation projects in which our chapter is involved.

2 Page2 At our last board meeting, we enjoyed the company of Canadian Niagara Chapter members Dennis Edell and Brian Green. We appreciate their interest in building a beneficial relationship between the chapters and look forward to working with them on a mutual project. Antoinette Grote, Chapter President. Announcements A Report from Mr. Len Bigaj: Shows: The Erie County Fair is the next show. It runs from August 7 to August 18, Once again, we will need help in staffing the booth, for both the early and late shifts. I will have a sign-up sheet at the Chapter meeting. If you would like to help but are not sure of your availability, please let me know; and I will contact you as we get closer to August. I can be reached at , Len. Project Healing Waters: We will be at the Elma Conservation Club on June 25, July 17, and August 27. The start time is 10 am. On June 15, 2013, we will be with the Vets at George and Jean Johnson s home (1260 Sturgeon Point Road, Derby, N.Y.) for our sixth anniversary with Project Healing Waters. On June 29, 2013, we will be with the Vets at the Moonie home in Forestville, N.Y., again, at 10 am. If you would like to attend any of these outings, please let me know. ( , Len.) Banquet: Last year s Banquet Chairman, Bill Jedlicka, will not be able to chair the 2014 event, due to family commitments, though he will lend assistance. Our previous committee has agreed to run the show. The Banquet will be at Lucarelli s Banquet Center on March 29, More info will follow. From Stream Projects Committee Chairman, Mr. Chuck Godfrey: On April 27, Dee Maciejewski was recognized for her long and esteemed service to WNYTU, NYS Council of TU, and national TU with induction into the NYS Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame. This is a tremendous honor, as there are only about 12 Erie County residents who are presently members. She was introduced by Erie County Federation of Sportsmen s Clubs president, Chuck Godfrey, and accompanied by her husband, Paul, both of whom are also Hall members. Congratulations to Dee on her honor and her many years of service to TU at all levels. (Ed. Note: Please see the Articles section of this newsletter for another piece on Ms. Maciejewski s Hall of Fame induction and for Mr. Godfrey s report on recent tree planting projects.) Fund Raising: Ed. Note - Mr. Bill Jedlicka, our Banquet Chairman, has submitted a report which can be found later on, in the Articles section, of this newsletter. Thanks, Bill. You did a fine job on this essential event!

3 Page3 Treasurer s Report for the Period Ended March 31, 2013 (Submitted by Mr. Anthony Messina): prior period this period thru 03/31/13 thru 04/30/13 (CHECKING ACCT) BALANCE AT MARCH 1, 2013 $ BALANCE AT APRIL 1, 2013 $ INFLOWS: TU REBATES $50.00 SHOWS $ TRANS FROM MNY MKT $1, TOTAL INFLOWS: $ $1, OUTFLOWS: FEDERATION DUES MONTHLY MEETING $70.00 WEBSITE DOMAIN NAME NEWSLETTER POSTAGE SHOWS $5.00 TU MERCHANDISE $ STREAM PROJECTS $ $ AWARDS $98.85 BOND INSURANCE $ TRAVEL $ FLY-TYING SUPPLIES $ SUPPLIES (NAME TAGS) $ TOTAL OUTFLOWS: $1, $1, BALANCE AT MARCH 31, 2013 $ BALANCE AT APRIL 30, 2013 $32.46 ****************** ********************************* prior period this period thru 03/31/13 thru 04/30/13 (MONEY MKT ACCT) BALANCE AT MARCH 1, 2013 $26, BALANCE AT APRIL 1, 2013 $26, INFLOWS: INTEREST $0.88 $0.84 OUTFLOWS: TRANSFER TO CK ACCT $0.00 $1, BALANCE AT MARCH 31, 2013 $26, BALANCE AT APRIL 30, 2013 $25,015.96

4 Page4 Articles: Banquet Recap by Bill Jedlicka The 2013 WNY Trout Unlimited banquet was a great success. About 115 people attended the event, which netted just over $ for the club! I would like to take a moment to thank the following people for helping throughout the banquet planning process and for assisting on the day of the event: Len Bigaj (and family!), Gene Romanyshyn, Chuck Godfrey, Gary Coons, Antoinette Grote, Tony Messina, Dave Bollman, Paul Maciejewski, Dave Tooke and Ric Toczek. I also want to thank the entire Board of Directors for their support and encouragement during the year- long planning process. I would also like to recognize the companies and individuals that supported this year s banquet. Without their support, the banquet would not have been the success that it was. TROPHY LEVEL SPONSORS ($ AND UP) PRAXAIR STEELHEAD LEVEL SPONSORS ($ $999.00) OAK ORCHARD FLY SHOP ORVIS PARKVIEW HEALTH SERVICES BASS PRO SHOPS AUBURN STORE GEICO BROOKIE LEVEL SPONSORS ($ $499.00) ORLEANS OUTDOOR WEST HERR FORD RAINBOW LEVEL SPONSORS ($ $249.00) SENECA GAMING CORPORATION BILL AND JILL JEDLICKA GENE ROMANYSHYN ARIES TRANSPORTATION CATTARAUGUS CREEK OUTFITTERS

5 Page5 ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT, INC. CHOTA EMERGER LEVEL SPONSORS ($50.00-$99.00) PATAGONIA GEORGE WELSH ABOVE & BEYOND HAIR STUDIO NIAGARA GUN RANGE DELTA SONIC BUFFALO SABRES *** Editor s Note: And now the fourth installment in a fascinating series of articles on fly-tying by WNY TU member, Mr. Jeffrey Kohler. This month, Mr. Kohler tackles the Eastern March Brown. All Tied Up (Vol. 4, May 2013) A few years ago, I spent part of May fishing Willowemoc Creek, which flows between Livingstone Manor and Roscoe NY, during bug week. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before or since. After watching size 10 Brown Drakes emerge, float by and get gobbled by lovely brown trout much of the previous afternoon, I was more than ready to tie up some imitations and match the hatch. As fate would have it, the beautiful sunny weather of the previous afternoon turned into an allday downpour. Great for the river-for the fly fisher, not so much. By lunchtime I was looking for a diversion. Not far upstream from the Junction Pool in Roscoe is the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum. It was there I met Legendary Catskill fly tier Dave Brandt, who just happened to be giving a tying demo, at the Museum, with his friend Ralph Graves. I walked up, sat down, shut up and proceeded to be amazed.

6 Page6 To tie Dave s version of the Eastern March Brown (Stenonema vicarium), you ll need the following: Hook: Mustad size or equal Thread: 8/0 Uni Thread or similar, tan Tail: Ginger hackle fibers Wing: Heavily Barred Wood Duck Body: Red Fox fur Hackle: Grizzly and Ginger Begin with the hook securely in your vise. Slightly behind the eye, wrap the thread back to about the midpoint of the hook shank and stop. Select a flank feather and pull a short wing segment from each side of the center quill. Bundle these together back to back and lash them to the hook shank just ahead of the midpoint. Be sure to gauge the wing length slightly longer than the hackles you are using. Now separate the wing segments using a figure eight pattern and finish by standing them up straight with several tight wraps of thread in front of the wing. A second figure eight will make sure the wings stay separate when wrapping the hackles in. Move your thread back to just above the hook bend and tie in the tail hackles half again as long as the hook gap. After applying a slight amount of dubbing wax to the thread, twist a 1 ½ long dubbing noodle onto the thread and wrap the noodle forward to a point just behind the wings. Prepare and tie in a single ginger and a single grizzly hackle. Tie in and wrap the ginger first, placing two or three wraps behind the wing and 2 in front. After tying down the end of the first hackle, carefully wrap the grizzly forward, being careful to nest the quill between the previously wrapped ginger hackle barbs. Now just tie down the grizzly hackle, trim the ends and whip finish the fly. The Catskill Fly Fishing Museum is impressive-not just for the stories and artifacts it houses; but as a tribute to those with foresight like Harry and Elsie Darbee and Walt and Winnie Dette, who left a living legacy of the history and traditions that make up the Catskill School of Fly Tying. Anyone who loves to fly fish and to tie flies can still learn from present day tiers like Dave Brandt, Mike Valla, Mary Dette Clark and Joe Fox who carry on the Catskill style of fly tying traditions today. Dave says the March Brown is one of those flies that fly tiers have argued over and fussed about for as long as I ve been tying. The fascinating thing is that the fly varies slightly in color from stream to stream. Here s a link to Dave s video for those who wish to see a master at work l_march_brown.html I hope you enjoy tying and fishing Dave Brandt s version of the Eastern March Brown this spring. It is a slightly more difficult fly to master, but well worth the effort when it comes to fooling and catching trout. Look for the March Brown to begin hatching from mid-may through June on our WNY trout streams like the Wiscoy (5/1-5/15) and Oatka (5/15-6/15). When the warm days of May finally make dry fly time a reality, you can tempt your quarry with a time tested imitation that has its roots in the cradle of American Fly Fishing. Jeff Kohler WNY Chapter TU ***

7 Page7 Dee Maciejewski Honored By Paul Maciejewski On April 27, Dee Maciejewski was honored as an inductee into the New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame. She, and her husband, Paul, joined our WNY Chapter in 1978, and became life members in Over the years, Dee has worked on our stream projects, fly fishing schools (as a casting instructor), and banquets. She has represented WNYTU at public hearings, served as Secretary for numerous years, and was President for 3 years, among other things. At the National TU level, she represented NY for 6 years as one of only 34 members on the National Leadership Council. She also served as NY TU Council Chair, representing over 8,000 TU members in 32 Chapters in NY. When she took over as Council Chair, there had been a serious lack of new leadership recruitment which had resulted in nine positions on the Council that were unfilled and sorely needed to be headed by new leaders. She subsequently opened up the Council to many new members, and because of her encouragement, was able to fill all the positions, and in addition, to create two brand new committees. Her openness to all members, encouragement of new leaders, willingness to give credit where it was due, and fairness to all were the reasons for her success in restoring the Council. If you have ever met Dee, you know she was never one who took credit for everything but, instead, guided and influenced others to volunteer, and thanked them when they did. Those are the attributes that she possesses and are the qualities of a true leader. The next time you see Dee, make sure to give HER a well deserved Thanks for all she has done to help protect our beloved resource. *** Stream Projects Round-up By Chuck Godfrey On April 28, 2013, fifteen people met Scott Cornett on the no-kill section of the Wiscoy in order to plant trees. Many thanks to Russ Shefrin; Tony Vecio; John Hallock; Bill, Jill, Owen, and Alex Jedlicka; Gene Romanyshyn; Marie, Audrey, Ethan and Debbie Godfrey; Alyssa Giroux, Tom Piwowar; and Dave Labiak for their efforts. Special thanks also to Debbie Godfrey for preparing lunch for the crew and to Leigh Cornett for sending

8 Page8 along the world s best brownies (not only my appraisal, but also my grandchildren s). We planted over 200 sycamore bare root seedlings from the DEC s Saratoga Nursery, potted elms from the Elm Research Institute of Keene, NH, and black willow live stakes from the Wiscoy area, on both sides of the upstream half of the section. All trees and live stakes were also staked and fitted with tree tubes to protect them from deer. The objective is to provide large shade trees, which are sorely needed along this stretch of WNY s premier wild trout stream. Many decades down the line, these trees will be sources of large, woody debris, which are important for any trout stream. In the afternoon, we traveled to the North Branch of Wiscoy Creek to finish up the 2011 project by planting 50 or so trees, again staking and tubing all of them, in the rear of the lunkers. This project is now complete except for monitoring to be sure it s working as planned. So far, there has been essentially no problem with any of the several different types of structures used in this project, and the adult trout seem to be thriving there. (I caught 9 and 13 browns there today 5/17 on a scud and an elk hair caddis. They were brilliantly colored fish and tough to land on 6x tippet in those tight quarters.) There is a final report authored by Scott Cornett on this project available now. Chuck Godfrey at steelheader@roadrunner.com if you would like a copy ed to you. It will eventually be put on the website. On May 4, Joe and Kevin Morgan, another Scout leader, two Boy Scouts, and Chuck Godfrey aided Stan Bishop and Ron Balicki, of the Red House Brook Chapter, in planting two of the Saratoga Nursery s Riparian Packages, and more elms from the Elm Research Institute, on Clear Creek in Cattaraugus County. Trees were planted from behind the Gun Club on Rte. 98 in Freedom downstream to the bridge, and then also about 300 yards below that bridge. This is a project of stream improvements constructed over the course of the last two years. Trees were also planted just upstream of the Bray Rd. bridge over Clear Creek in order to protect an eroding bank behind a home on Bray Rd. Above photo: Last year, Ethan Godfrey found out you re never too young to learn how to use a post pounder. This year, he learns how to use a mallet to pound live stakes into the ground. Next, Audrey Godfrey and friend, Alyssa Giroux haul bags of tree tubes to the creek:

9 Page9 Here, Gene Romanyshyn, Dave Labiak, Scott Cornett, Tony Vecio, Ethan Godfrey, and John Hallock all work hard, while Chuck Godfrey looks on and, well, talks: Clear Creek Planting and Denizen:

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11 Page11 Rain or Shine Rain or Shine Erie Federation/NYS-DEC Annual Youth Fishing Clinic FREE FREE FREE WHEN: June 22, 2013 WHERE: Chestnut Ridge Park Site #9 (near the firetower) WHERE: Route 240, Orchard Park, NY WHO: All kids 15 years old and younger HOW: Rod/Reels provided free for use, or bring your own tackle BAIT: Worms provided free TIME: 9:30 AM 1 PM Fishing begins after Registration. All fish are Catch & Release. PRIZES: By random drawing following lunch LUNCH: 12 noon 1 PM, Sahlens hot dogs, beverages & goodies. KIDS LUNKER POOL : A special swimming pool of aerated water is maintained for the larger caught fish so that all the kids can observe the big-un s. All lunker pool fish will be released after lunch. How-To FISH LEARNING STATION: indoor session every 15 minutes. Learn to tie a hook, place a sinker, rig a bobber, how to fish.

12 Page12 Where-To FISH LEARNING STATION: indoor session with Fish Advisory Board, Learn where to fish, where to access local waters. KIDS CASTING STATION: Visit the casting range during the clinic and learn how to cast a line where you want it to go. KIDS KNOT TYING & TACKLE STATION: Visit the Knot Tying and Tackle Station for fishing equipment and to learn how to tie a good fishing knot. KIDS FISH & FAUNA IDENTIFICATION STATION: Visit the DEC Aquatic Biologists and learn what fish live in Western New York, learn about weeds, other lake and stream life. Open to Public - Pre-registration required Call to register!! (East Aurora Girls & Boys Club)