Tale waters The Voice of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers

Transcription

1 Tale waters The Voice of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers April 12, 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 Jon Casey to Speak in April Jon Casey at Kids Fishing Derby Our April speaker will be Jon Casey, Project Leader (manager) of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. Jon will talk about the recently completed construction project / drain line project. Jon will also give an insight in the IPN (infectious pancreatic necrosis) virus that has been detected at the AGFC Spring River Hatchery. Jon Casey is a graduate of Cave City High School and Arkansas Tech in Russellville. He joined the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1992 at the Mammoth Spring National Fish Hatchery. He also served at the Dale Hollow NFH Cont. Pg.2 Sowbug is this Week! The Sowbug Roundup is just a few days off. We always say this, but it is always true. This year s Sowbug will be the biggest and best! We will have 145 tyers. This is the most fly tyers that we have ever had! We will have 200 items for the daily raffles, 160 items for the daily silent auctions, 28 items for the three day silent auctions, and 5 special raffle items. These numbers do not include the 15 or so items that will be live auctioned at the Sowbug Shindig. We had over 100 donations from local businesses and 22 donations from National businesses. Thirty club members donated 150 items. Sowbug opens to the public on Thursday, April 14 at 9:00 am. The cost is $5 for adults and kids 12 and under are free. Setup for Sowbug is Wednesday, April 13 at 10:00 am. We will have a number of muscular young men to assisted the heavy lifting! If you have a truck, Cont. Pg.2

2 Page 2 Tale waters Jon Casey from page 1 in Celina, Tennessee before moving to the Norfork National Fish Hatchery in He enjoys hunting and fishing, especially with his three boys. Sowbug from page 1 bring it. please There are special kids programs scheduled for Saturday, April 16. There will be special classes and free stuff for kids. Bring your grandchildren or neighbor kids! The Sowbug Shindig will be at St. Peter the Fisherman Church on Friday and will start at 6:00. There will be food, beer and wine, live music, and a live auction. There is no cost to attend the Shindig, but you must have a ticket! Tickets can be obtained at Sowbug from Pat Smith. Fly tyers and Sowbug volunteers have priority for tickets. If you want a ticket, you need to see Pat as soon as possible. This will be the 19th Annual Sowbug Roundup and it will be great! 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. Ken Sickels and Mike Tipton interviewed at Sowbug 2015 April President s Message Preparation of the budget is fast approaching. The Board will be meeting in June to prepare the budget that will be presented to Club members for approval at the July 19th meeting. As Club members, what would you like to see the Club participate in, provide members, events or support? I understand the role of the Board but sure would like some input from Club members. What do you want from the Club? We have some nice events scheduled in the months of April and May. Be safe and great fishing. Ken Sickels President NAFF Picnic May 21st This year s Spring Picnic will be held on Saturday, May 21st 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 a special fly that has been working for you. NOTE: The picnic will serve as our May general meeting, so the club raffle will be held at the picnic. Hope to see you there. If you would be available to help, or if you have any questions, please call Vern Berry, activities director at

3 Tale Waters Tale waters Page 3 April Fishing Outing April Raffle In April we will return to the Country Oaks B & B in Mountain View to fish their farm pond. The pond is loaded with largemouth bass and huge pan fish. Special tackle is not needed; a 6 weight and wooly buggers will usually do the trick. Or whatever bass bugs and streamers that you have. Be sure to dress for the weather and possible muddy ground. In the past some fishermen have used pontoons on the pond. Sign up at the April 19th meeting or contact Tom Emerick for more information: or emerick123@centurytel.net. May 18 - Crooked Creek Outing with Duane Hada On Wednesday, May 18, NAFF is offering a day of guided fishing on Crooked Creek. Duane Hada will be our host guide for the day. Cost to members will be $75 for the day. Attendees should plan to provide their own lunch and drinks. This trip is limited to 10 club members. A signup sheet will be provided at the April 19th meeting. Or contact Vern Berry at ozarkloafer@yahoo.com. Note: Member donations are an important component of our raffle program at our local meetings. A box for donated flies will be on the table. We also have boxes to fill for fly donations. Special thanks to Bob Krause and Ron Hulstein. Keep it up, Guys!! 1. Ottlite, new, lift on and off 2. Palm style tying vice (older NAFF vice) plus 8 fly hold station 3. XL fishing shirt 4. Jumbo bag of mixed thread 5. Six-unit container with hooks 6. Fat fly tyer pack 7. Fly fishing magazines with holder 8. Donated fly box and flies 9. Pflueger ad, framed Fly of the Month The Fly of the Month has gone to Sowbug for the month.

4 Page 4 Tale waters Jimmy T s Fishing Report - April The Sowbug Round Up is just about here and both our lakes are pretty much at or below normal pool elevation. So perhaps this time around all the folks headed this direction will get the opportunity to do some wade fishing. Caddis, of course, should be hot and heavy at this time with old standbys like the Arkansas bead head hares ear (now called the Sunday Special). There s also Davy s transcaddis emerger and the ever growing green olive version of the Arkansas bead head hares ear (with a copper bead and chartreuse wire in size #14 mostly). Of course we can t leave out the time tested dry version which is so danged much fun to fish. On the Norfork crane flies (dries) have been abundant and have been working. Daphnia have also been coming through the dam on the Norfork and could be productive on wadeable water as well. This bug is a bane to guides on bigger water as this bug is so small and the fish tend to focus on it and make it much harder on bigger water. So we fling something with color at em to drag their attention away from this bug. It works. So something small and white amongst the thousands is not real productive; which is why we try and use something bigger and more colorful, such as pink or chartreuse or bright red. Give it a try. The White River has fished well most days. The filamentous algae is back again this spring. With recent water fluctuation, flies and lines are catching this nasty moss and making it a bit frustrating to fish. Getting out of this situation by fishing up at the dam or fishing very close to the bank is the remedy. Some shad patterns are still working the closer you get to the dam. Some days they work really good and perhaps the next day not so well. Further downstream, around Rim Shoals, Prince Nymphs, Sunday specials, PT s and SJ Worms along with some blood midges have been productive as well. Here is to some wadeable water that the visitors to Sow Bug can enjoy this year. SEE YOU AT THE SHOW. Will have some of those $1.00 tapered leaders so get em early. They will be packaged 3 to a bag. Jim Traylor Sowbug Tyers Update We have a full house of tiers this year with 145 tiers. Our fly tying seminars from Fishy Fullum, Peggy Brennen and Mike George are quickly filling up. If you want to attend one of these classes, either me at flytyerfred@gmail.com or call me at There will also be four Featured Tiers on all three days. Many of the tiers will be demonstrating for the first time at the Sowbug, so you will be seeing a lot of new patterns and techniques. Fred Dupre

5 Tale waters Page 5 COE Report Spring has sprung full on in the Twin Lakes area. The dogwoods and redbuds are brilliant, crappie are biting, and turkeys are gobbling. With the mild winter we experienced, spring seem to come even earlier than usual, but other than those who suffer from allergies, most have welcomed its early arrival. April will be a busy month for our area. As you re aware, Sowbug Roundup takes place 14th 16th, and will bring hundreds of people to our communities and rivers to experience world-class outdoor recreation opportunities and firstclass local hospitality. There are also large events scheduled for Bull Shoals and Norfork Lakes, which will also draw thousands of people and provide wide exposure to the benefits the region is blessed to have our rivers, our lakes, and our communities. Beginning on April 9th, Bull Shoals Lake will host major fishing tournaments on three consecutive weekends. The Cystic Fibrosis Benefit Tournament will be held out of Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock on Saturday, April 9th. This longstanding event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for research into CF and has hundreds of participants. The Bass Cat Invitational Tournament will be held out of Lakeview Cove Marina on April 15 & 16. It is anticipated over 500 boats will enter this event, many traveling from across the country to participate in the tourney. Sponsored by locally-owned and based Bass Cat Boats, this is another longstanding event that has done much to promote our area. Finally, BASS Elite Series Tournament will fish on both Norfork and Bull Shoals Lakes April The format for this event is very unique, as anglers will fish Norfork on day one, Bull Shoals on days two and three, and back to Norfork for the final day. The full field of approximately 110 competitors will compete on Norfork and the next on Bull Shoals. The field will be cut to 50 for the semifinals on Bull Shoals and then to the Top 12 for the final round on Norfork. The tournament will mark the first visit to Norfork for the Bassmaster Elite Series and weigh-ins will be on the campus of Arkansas State University- Mountain Home. Jon Hiser

6 Tale waters Page 6 Lake Fishing Report You got to love the lakes this time of year! The best fishing of the year starts right now. Every fish in the lake is about to get happy. Whether it s because spawning season is right around the corner or they are just happy to get out of their winter depths and get a little sun on their backs, it doesn t matter much to me. If they re happy, I m happy too! The beautiful thing is, every cast has the possibility to get you hooked into one of any number of different rod benders. What s even better is you don t have to fish real deep to find them. Most everything is or will be making a showing at depths from 2 to 20 feet. As an example, yesterday s afternoon outing produced a nice mess of tasty bluegills, several smallmouth bass and twenty something pounds of a bruiser carp. All caught in the back of the creek arms in less than 15 feet of water and all on the same fly! Literally, the same fly! A little mini dumbbell number tied on a #10 3x long hook consisting of a black marabou tail, brown dubbing or medium chenille for the body and a black hackle wrapped behind the dumbbell. Ask young Michael Schraeder to tie you one. He showed up one day some years ago to fish with me. Pulled one out of his box and said Mister Ken, you think this will catch anything? I said, you bet, did you bring one for me? He replied, Nope, I only tied one! He proceeded to catch fish after fish on that little fly and I ve used that pattern ever since. Ok, so what exactly is happening on Bull Shoals in the mid lake area right now? The lake level is at 659, a foot or two higher than the 5 year average, but right where it should be. There is only a little brush in the water making it very easy to fish the shallow water without getting hung up all the time. The main lake temperature is in the mid-fifties and the creek arms are warming to 57 or 58 during the day. The white bass have not yet made a showing at their usual haunts or even at any unusual haunts. But I expect that to change real soon. Smallmouths are starting to make their way up the creek arms, smaller males mostly, in the 10 to 14 inch range; but the larger females won t be too far behind. Spotted bass are holding off the deeper side of creek arm points in twenty to thirty feet of water and providing lots of fun. No reports on walleye, crappie or largemouth bass yet. I m using mostly full sinking lines unless I m fishing water less than 12 feet deep, then I ll switch to a sink tip. I m starting in the back of the warmest creek arms I can find and working my way to the points. Going very slow and keeping my fly just off the bottom. No rocket science here. I like using smaller flies like the one I described earlier. For the simple fact that I m fishing for everything, not any one thing. Flies that are small enough to take the larger bluegills will also entice larger fish. If you have any doubt about that, both of the fish in the picture were caught on the same fly. And that is not unusual. I ve caught most every species of fish in the lake on size #10 flies. Even catfish, drum and walleyes find it hard to pass up something small and tasty looking if it s put in front of them. I ll also keep a rod rigged with a sink tip line and a shad imitation tied on a size #6. Right before dark bass will start working the shad to the surface in the back of the creek arms. That s when it s time to cast right into the surfacing fish and strip as fast as you possible can. It could be white bass, smallmouths, largemouths, or Kentucky's working them up. And the hits won t be subtle. They ll smack the stuffing out of it! It s only going to get better during the next few weeks. If you can get out, get out! The morels will be popping up soon and it s hard to find a better combination than fried morels and pan fish fillets! Ken Minsky

7 Page 7 Tale waters 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

8 North Arkansas Fly Fishers PO Box 1213 Mountain Home, AR Activities of Interest to NAFF members April Thursday 14,15 &16th Sowbug 9:00-4:00 Baxter County Fairgrounds Friday 15th Sowbug Shindig 6:00-9:00 Catholic Church of St Peter the Fisherman Tuesday 19 th NAFF Club Meeting 7:00-9:00 Van Matre Senior Center May Monday 2th Trout Unlimited 6:00-8:00 El Chico Tuesday 3th NAFF Board Meeting 2:00-4:00 First Security Bank Saturday 7th Trout Fest 8:30-4:00 Cotter Spring Creek Park Tuesday 10th Sowbug Committee Meeting 1:00-3:00 Baxter County Library Saturday 21st NAFF Club Picnic 11:00-1:00 Lower Pavilion # 1 White River State Park June Saturday 4th Kids Fishing Derby 8:00-2:00 Quarry Park Monday 6 th Trout Unlimited 6:00-8:00 El Chico