January Meeting Speaker: Bob Milardo of the Salmon Museum

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1 JANUARY 2016 January Meeting Speaker: Bob Milardo of the Salmon Museum The Maine Atlantic Salmon Museum A life-long fly fisherman, Bob has been building and designing cane fly rods for several decades, with a special interest in two-handed rods. He regularly fishes for trout in Maine and western Canada, and swings flies for Atlantic salmon on the Miramichi and Gaspe. Bob will speak on the newly formed Maine Atlantic Salmon Museum, and illustrate his commentary with a variety of cane rods, some old and some not so old, most built by Maine craftsmen. Join us at our January meeting on the 6th at the Penobscot County Conservation Association clubhouse at 570 North Main St. in Brewer. Socializing starts around 5:30 and at 6:00 PM, a family-style dinner will be available for purchase. Afterwards we ll conduct our business meeting and have the presentation.

2 From the President's Fly Box Happy New Year! As you reflect on the year gone by and work on your resolutions for this next year, please take the time to also reflect upon the past year of your involvement with the Penobscot Fly FIshers. Think about ways to make the club better. Whether it is with the type of club activities, outings, or programs that we do, or in the way they are conducted. What improvements would you like to see that would increase your own participation in those events? Pass on your thoughts to me or any of the club Board members. In addition to forwarding your ideas, be prepared to help carry them out. All of what we do is done through members donating their time and skills. In most organizations, carrying out the tasks typically fall on a handful of members. We are very fortunate that a significant number of members are involved. If you are not one of them, please add to your list of resolutions a commitment to get more involved in supporting club activities. It is a great way to share your love and knowledge of fly fishing with others. If you are new to fly fishing, what a great way to get to learn. It is your club. Help make it what you want it to be. Hau oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year in Hawaiian), ED

3 Election Results! The membership present at the December meeting elected Ed Dailide as President, Mike Hegarty as vice President, John Weinmann as Treasurer, Hank Metcalf as Secretary, and Jere Armstrong and Chris McCauley as Directors. ******** Weather Cancellation Notifications In the off chance that we may need to cancel a meeting or fly tying session this winter, you can now go to to see if the PFF event is canceled. Cancellations will be made as early as possible. ******** PFF Website Content Guidelines If you have items for posting on the website, submit them to webmaster@penobscotflyfishers.com. Here are some guidelines for submitting items: Penobscot Fly Fishers is a non-profit educational and conservation organization whose main emphasis is on fly fishing and the furtherance of that endeavor. Please make sure your contributions are relevant and appropriate to the site. The Web is worldwide so try to ensure that posting the information on the PFF website will not violate any copyrights, restrictions, or agreements. Postings should not include the following: Excessively large graphics that can be compressed for faster display or better resolution. mailto: and other individual links where approval to post have not been obtained. Copyrighted material in any form unless permission from the original copyright owner is explicitly granted. Any material that might be reasonably considered abusive, profane, harassing, or sexually offensive. Any Political or religious content including jokes, stories or other related content. PFF retains the right to edit, revise or refuse to post any and all information that it deems is not in keeping with the charter and goals of PFF.

4 Fly-a-Thon The Penobscot Fly Fishers will be collecting flies to be donated to the Casting for Recovery program in Maine starting with the January meeting and will run through the April meeting. Casting for Recovery ( ) was created to help women in the cancer recovery process by introducing them to the healing powers of the sport of fly fishing, while providing a safe, supportive environment to explore their personal experiences of cancer with others who share their stories. The donated flies will be sent directly to Bonnie Holding who runs Maine s program. The flies will be used for fishing at retreats and for fund raising. The following patterns are typically used for their fishing retreats: Fly Sizes Adams/Parachute Adams 10, 12, 14, 16 Tan/Olive Elk Hair Caddis 14, 16 BWOs & PMDs 16, 18 Stimulators, Humpies 10, 12, 14 Appropriate Hoppers, Poppers,Terrestrials sizes Prince Nymph (bead & no bead) 12, 14, 16, 18 Hare s Ear Nymph (bead & no bead) 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 Copper Johns & Pheasant Tails 12, 14, 16, 18 Olive/Black/Brown Woolly Buggers 6, 8, 10,12 Midges All styles 16, 18, 20 Attractor Dry Flies 8, 10, 12 If you have a favorite pattern that is not on that list, tie it and they will be donated as well. All flies will be appreciated. Try to tie a dozen flies each. Sort the flies by pattern and size and place them in a labeled zip-lock bag. There will be a collection basket at each meeting starting with the January meeting for the flies. If you have any questions, contact Ed Dailide at edailide@wildblue.net or

5 Sucker Spawn Several years ago while fishing in Labrador I discovered the importance of sucker eggs as a spring tonic for brook trout. Trout that had wintered in lakes would gather near stream mouths and follow suckers up to their spawning grounds there to feast on fresh spawn. Here in Maine we have three species that are categorized by DIF&W as suckers. Two, the white sucker and longnose sucker, are true suckers (Catastomous species) with downward pointing sucker mouths. The third species is actually a chub (creek chub sucker) which has a more typical fish mouth, though angled somewhat downward. A popular sport in some parts of northern Maine is fishing for suckers at night with spears during the spring spawning run. Yes, it is legal; so is snagging of suckers or using bow and arrow (as long as the arrow point is barbed). Fortunately these methods of fishing are relatively rare, and, as most of us can testify, suckers are not in any danger of extinction. Sucker spawn provides a nice, high protein snack to help trout (and salmon) transition from their weakened winter state until insects become numerous again. Assuming PFF members don t spend their hours in early spring spear fishing, another option for this time of year is to use flies that mimic single sucker eggs or clumps of sucker spawn to tempt trout. Lefty Kreh likes fly patterns made from gift yarn in colors of chartreuse or fluorescent orange sometimes with a wisp of white marabou or soft feather attached to the egg (which is thought to look like a bit of attached egg sac). Plastic beads are also popular egg mimics but these often work best if tied on tippet about an inch above a barbless hook (see If one egg can attract a trout or salmon, a clump of eggs might be really enticing. This theory has spawned (sorry) the sucker spawn fly. Bob Erickson of Huntington, Vermont ( discusses one version of a sucker spawn fly that uses a glass pearl bead, sparkle dubbing and sparkle yarn. The Orvis website shows how to tie a sucker spawn fly using Angora yarn and crystal flash basically small loops of yarn snugged down to the hook ( We all know where suckers or chubs are plentiful, as they often grab our fly intended for a trout. So now is the time to turn the tables and tie some sucker spawn flies for early trout fishing this coming spring. Pikerpen

6 Thoughts from the Professor Volume 4 Chapter 5 Well I thought that for a change I would review something in the library that I had not done before. In our library are a plethora of Fly Pattern books. I have been avoiding them mainly because I wasn t sure how good the review would be without me tying several flies and if I didn t do that then of what value would the review be. Well I rethought my decision and I am glad I did. The first book of Patterns that I chose is The Orvis Fly Pattern Index complete and Unabridged by John Harder. I realize right off I should have done this a long time ago. Now this book was published in 1990 so obviously it is not an up to date compendium but it is still well worth utilizing. The book, in addition to its many patterns, has specific instructions for 11 flies that focus on teaching different techniques for fly types and also standard info on things like starting thread, pinch method and whip finish. The patterns selected are ones that you would probably use and they even include a couple of wellknown saltwater patterns. All of this happens in the first 42 pages of the book. After the first pages the book breaks down into color plate sectioned by Dry Flies Parachute Dry, No Hackle and Caddis Dry. This is followed by Terrestrial, Western a section nymph and streamers then steelhead Salmon, saltwater and Bonefish patterns. This section is 115 pages long. Wrapping up at the end is 30 pages loaded with techniques which are more demanding of the tyer. This is a pretty good book for the new and intermediate tyer. Now there are a few drawbacks in that the color palettes while good don t always give a clear picture of some of the color and there is no index for the flies but with the section layouts it is still pretty easy to follow and I would recommend it especially if you are new or want to tie some of the older but still reliable patterns. The second book I chose is Reading Trout Streams: An Orvis Guide by Tom Rosenbauer which if you have been following my reviews has a familiar ring to it. Over the last few months I have reviewed a couple of DVD s on this subject. I thought that it might be appropriate to review a book as well. I thought thissubject important because I find that people want to ask about it but in my experience rarely do. I think in part because many grew up fishing brooks and know a lot or think they should already know it or think they do and don t want to look foolish asking question. I do not now or will I ever have enough knowledge about this to not continue to learn. This book is a little different than the other items reviewed in that it is about streams only for trout. The others included ponds and saltwater and a plethora of areas. I really like this book for a number of reasons. First it is pretty down to earth plain talk for the most part. Second it spends less time talking about Prime lies, resting lies and feeding lies and concentrates on that information as it relates to catching fish. Plain and simple it focuses on where a fish is feeding because this is when they are going to bite your fly. The book is a paperback with a 155 pages with drawings and explanations as to where and why fish

7 are in the streams and how to fish to them. When you are on a new stream if you fish every possible hole then you won t fish much of the stream. It talks to you about fishing the most likely spot that will produce fish and then moving on. It talks about the difference between brookies, browns and rainbows and where they will be. As I said before it has drawings and pictures and a common sense approach to fishing. Like many of you I learned on small streams and rivers and much of the information is imbedded from my youth. However, I found and rediscovered things that I know will help me catch more fish and have more fun. So until next time.. Tight lines from the Professor ******** Fly Swap 2016 Happy New Year from the Events Committee! Due to several requests from the Membership we will once again be organizing a PFF Fly Swap for the 2016 season. A sign up sheet will be made available at the January General Meeting for interested Members to sign up. The way the Fly Swap works is pretty simple. Just sign up and choose a fly pattern of your own choice. Once the total number of tyers is confirmed (Must be signed up by Feb 1, 2016), each Member will tie that number PLUS 2 extra flies of the pattern that they have chosen. Example: 20 tyers = 22 flies to be tied by each participant. Each participant will receive a kit with 20 different patterns. Flies should be placed in zip lock bag with tyer s name, pattern, and size and will be collected at the March General Meeting What happens to the 2 additional Fly Swap kits that will be put together? I m glad you asked! One of the kits will be donated to our Casting For Recovery donation program. The second kit will be available for auction at an upcoming General Meeting. So plan on spending a little extra time at the tying table this winter and join the Fly Swap for It is a great way to fill up the fly box for Spring fishing with some new patterns that you might not have tried. Check out the photo below of last year s Fly Swap collection. Contact Wayne wkashley2@msn.com for more information or to sign up.. Tight Lines, Wayne Ashley Events Coordinator

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9 Minutes PFF Board of Directors Meeting December 16, 2015 Present: Jere Armstrong, Wayne Ashley, Mike Curtis, Ed Dailide, Rob Dunnett, Bud Farwell, Mike Hegarty, Dick Jagels, Hank Metcalf, Dick McCrum. Absent: Mike Hartt. Newly Elected: Chris McCauley, John Weinmann. Guests: Peter Brooks, Zack Dunnett. Meeting called to order by the President at 6:05 PM. 1. M/S to accept the Minutes of November 18. Motion Passed. 2. M/S to accept the Treasurer s P & L report for November. Motion passed. 3. Committee updates: A. Events Committee: Wayne reported many members have shown interest in the annual fly swap. An announcement will appear in the next Newsletter. B. Fly Tying Committee: Fly tying classes at PCCA will begin January 4 from 6 8 PM for eight weeks. This will be followed by four weeks of advanced tying and an additional special session, which will be free to members. C. Cabin Fever Reliever Committee: Mike Hegarty reported the Committee is active in the planning the February event. Letters have been sent to exhibitors and about half have responded. There was discussion about promoting the CFR on Facebook. M/S we let Andrew Donovan start a Facebook site for the club. Motion Passed. D. Membership Committee: Hank reported that about a dozen members were personally contacted and urged to pay dues for the current year. A few have responded with payments. 4. Old Business: A. Mike Curtis and Dick Jagels presented proposals for a sandwich board to be placed at the entrance to our special events. There was discussion about details of the sign message and the design to attract attention, as well as town and DOT ordinances. Mike will follow up. B. Website: Andrew and Ed will be working on structure issues. Submit ideas to Andrew, who is our Webmaster. Also, content material should be sent to him at adonovan15@gmail.com. 5. New Business: A. Ed will investigate our sponsoring fly tying classes at the Pickerel Pond day camp next year. B. Hank announced we will again have a fly tying table for kids at the Sportsman s Show, March C. We received a thank you letter from the Brewer Area Food Pantry for 177 pounds of donated food. Joe Bertolaccini reported the collection this year was the largest, since we have begun the holiday event. 6. M/S to adjourn at 7:53 PM. Passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Hank Metcalf, Secretary

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