Spokane Fly Fishers January, 2011 JANUARY MEETING AND CLASS JANUARY 12TH PAT DORSEY FLY FISHING TAILWATERS

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1 Spokane Fly Fishers January, 2011 JANUARY MEETING AND CLASS JANUARY 12TH PAT DORSEY FLY FISHING TAILWATERS Tailwaters, such as the Missouri and Big Horn, are world famous because of the large number and size of the trout these fisheries support. Pat Dorsey will show us how tailwater fisheries are different from free falling streams and how to successfully fish them. Pat Dorsey, an Orvis-Endorsed Guide has chosen fly fishing as his way of life. Pat s enthusiasm for fly fishing is unmatched and his ability to share knowledge is what makes Pat so unique. From the complexities of fooling large trout on tiny nymphs to dry fly fishing under the most challenging of conditions; Pat loves to instruct and introduce anglers to the heart of fly fishing. Fly fishing is a problem solving exercise, the more you know about the fish, their environment, and the specific techniques required to catch them, the better angler you will become. There is absolutely no luck involved in fly fishing. It s a set of learned skills and your ability to execute them that makes you a great angler. A native of Colorado, Pat has spent many years on the rivers fishing and the over ten years as a guide. He has been awarded the Orvis Guide of the year. He spends at least 200 days a year on the stream. He is an author of three books and has been published in numerous magazines. Introduced to fly tying at the age of ten by his uncle, Jim Cantrell, Pat has become a master fly-tyer. He has commercially tied for 15 years. Another interest of his is photography and we are looking forward to an excellent presentation. PAT DORSEY TYING CLASS Pat will hold a tying class at the Wildlife Council Building at 6116 Market from 1 PM to 3 PM on the day of the meeting. All materials will be provided. Attendees should bring their own tying vice, tools, etc. The cost of the class is $20. Space is limited. Contact Tim Reed at to insure your inclusion in the class. LEARN FROM A MASTER TYER. OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS President Mike Berube Vice President Kurt Tempel Treasurer Gale Allen Secretary Bob Kowal Board Position 1 Gail Bailey Board Position 2 Klaus Rissmann Board Position 3 Dan Wight Past President Mike Melmoth Sgt. At Arms Contact us at: P. O. Box 4141 Spokane, WA Or sffishers@comcast.net COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Programs: Kurt Tempel Barbless Flyer Editor: Linda Howe Conservation: Mike Keegan Outings Don Tietz Membership Mary Kovatch Fly Fishing School: Mike Melmoth Librarian: Robert Stock Project Healing Waters: Tim Reed FFF Liaison: Dan Ferguson Beg. Fly Tying: Betty Smith-Lambert Int. Fly Tying: Dan Ferguson Club Chef: Carla Ferguson Volunteer Coordinator: Judy Kaufman AROUND THE BEND Jan. 6th, Intermediate Fly Tying Begins Jan. 8th, Beginning Fly Tying Begins Jan. 12th, SFF Meeting 7 PM PAT DORSEY Tying at 2 PM Jan. 19th, SFF Board Meeting 6:30 PM

2 THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 2 PREZ SEZ By: Mike Berube It was great to see so many of you at the annual Holiday party in December. If you missed it, you missed a great dinner prepared by Chef Carla and her culinary crew of Klaus Rissman, Janice Jones, Karen Berube, and Linda Howe. Thanks to them. I can t forget to thank all of the members who brought hot and cold side dishes and of course desserts. Everything was awesome! Thanks to Bob Kowal for getting the volunteers together who helped out to make the evening an enjoyable one. If I missed anyone, I apologize. The night started with Santa accompanied by his trusty rein-dog greeting everyone at the door with a candy cane. The night finished up with the youngest person in attendance, Parker a guest of James Carini, winning the Carla Ferguson custom built, Dan Ferguson hand tied rein mice adorned ginger bread house. The smile on Parker s face was ear to ear and awesome to see. Right before our meal was served we were entertained by Pepper, a Sweet Adeline group lead by Gale Allen s wife Cheryl. Their arrangements of Christmas songs put everyone in a festive mood. You gals were outstanding. One last thanks goes out to Don Tietz and Dan Ferguson for creating and presenting a slide show of the 2010 outings. Thanks to all who sent in your pictures to be included in the presentation. The presentation really highlighted the varying and numerous outings we had this year. If you would like to have a say in the outings we will have in 2011 go ahead and sign up to be on the outings committee, contact Don Tietz or me for information on the upcoming meeting. Club activities won t be slowing down just because winter is here. We ve got our beginner and intermediate fly tying classes starting soon. If you haven t signed up for these classes but want to, send me an . The January and February meetings promise to be very interesting. Both of our speakers will have a lot of information for us. A couple of other events that are coming really quick are the Fly Fishing School that starts in March, the conservation raffle at our March meeting, and the fly fishing extravaganza at the April meeting. March will also start off for the outing season! So get tying. Karen and I wish all of you and your families a very Happy New Year! I hope to see you at the 2011 club events. Two people joined the club in December, MEMBERSHIP Mary Kovatch, Chair They are: Donald Lynch, introduced by Gale Allen and Kate Schlapfer, who found the club via the internet. Please give them a warm welcome.

3 THE BARBLESS FLYER Page CHRISTMAS PARTY REPORT By: Carla Ferguson I d first like to thank all those who went the extra mile to help me with our dinner. With out you, it wouldn t have been nearly as easy. I had Linda Howe in the kitchen with me most of the day and Karen Berube for four hours. Klaus Rissmann and Fred Howe decorated the tree and set up the room. Bob Kowal, Janice Jones, Clara Ross, Gail Bailey and Sheri Patano all took responsibility for individual tasks. I know there are many more who lent a hand, but there s no way I could remember everyone. George Santa Davis was our official greeter and Kurt Tempel and Bob Kowal manned the wine bar. Klaus Rissmann put the flies in the ornaments (steady hands). We had a great assortment of dishes to go around with more than ample deserts for Dan. I wish I could remember who won the prizes for the best dishes. Maybe next year! I do remember who won the Ginger Bread House and Reinmice and no, we didn t rig it! Congratulations to Parker Pivonka, pictured here with his mom. Again, I can t begin to name everyone who helped with the clean up, but do recall our dishwasher! A special thanks to Dave Sorg for handling this thankless job. And you should have seen our President and Vice President handle a mop! I didn t know the Air force had mop training! Blessings to all this Holiday season, Carla and Dan INTERMEDIATE TYING CLASS By: Dan Ferguson There s still time to sign up for the intermediate tying classes starting Jan 6 and continuing for six weeks. Cost is $25 and will include some of the more exotic, harder to find or specific materials. You will need to bring basic materials as specified. You must have your own tools and thread varieties which will be listed in the tier packet. Call or Dan at or nwflyguy@comcast.net to sign up. If you have left word for Dan at the above number and he has not returned your call, please try again. His cell phone ate his messages. BEGINNING FLY TYING CLASS There is still time to sign up for the Beginning Fly Tying classes which begins on January 8th. Just give Betty Smith- Lambert a call at

4 THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 4 CONSERVATION CORNER By: Mike Keegan TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM The board approved $ 2000 for Trout-in-the-Classroom sponsorship for the 2011 year. This will consist of 4th and 5th-grade students raising trout from hatchery-supplied eggs beginning in January and releasing fingerlings in May at Liberty Lake. The objective is to teach students about fish life cycles, habitat, environment, etc. The equipment needed consists of a tank, chiller system, filtration system, and other supplies. Representatives from the Franklin Conservation district will serve as the principal teachers/mentors. Bill Abrahamse of our club is coordinating this work. Our contribution will fund equipment for the equivalent of 1 1/2 setups. It costs abut $1300 to fully equip a classroom. We will have volunteer opportunities defined in January for club members to help. We have partnered with Trout Unlimited for this effort with both organizations making contributions and being recognized. The Franklin Conservation District has dozens of schools in the Tri-Cities area equipped for Salmon in the Classroom. The schools targeted for 2011 include Valley (Stevens County), Loon Lake, Davenport, and Tekoa. Additional contributors are being sought. CONSERVATION RAFFLE This annual event will be held at the March General Meeting. We will have signup sheets for contributions available at the January meeting. In addition, volunteers are needed and a signup sheet will be available. Typically we raise about $3500 for conservation efforts. Your contributions are appreciated NORTHWEST YOUTH CONSERVATION & FLY FISHING ACADEMY This will be held at Hicks Lake in Lacey, WA from June 19 thru June 25. It is sponsored by the Washington Council of Trout Unlimited and the Washington State Federation of Fly Fishers. It is directed to youths in the age range and is co-educational. Classes include fly casting, fly tying, knot tying, reading water, safety, macroinvertebrate sampling, and fly fishing. The club is sponsoring a scholarship of $ 275 which includes food and lodging. The application deadline is April 15, 2011 and must include a recommendation from a teacher. Applications will available at the January meeting. In the past, we have had trouble getting applicants. Parents must furnish transportation. So get your children, grandchildren, friends, etc. to apply. Contact Mike Keegan ( ) or Dan Ferguson ( ) for information. WEST BRANCH LITTLE SPOKANE RIVER WILDLIFE AREA The state has purchased 2700 acres between Horseshoe Lake and Fan Lake for a wildlife area. Pend O'Reille county, WDFW, and landowners are working to define a set of rules for the area and a plan. The West Branch of the Little Spokane River runs between the two lakes. The area is mostly road less for access. The river is accessible by trail on about a 20 minute walk. The parties involved asked for our inputs for the rules. These include catch-and-release for trout, no motorized recreational vehicles, and permission for signage and/or kiosks for information. We are keeping in contact with the group. Hopefully a plan will be defined in 2011.

5 THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 5 FLY FISHING SCHOOL By: Mike Melmoth The school is coming up faster than we could possibly imagine. So far there are only eight people signed up. NOT GOOD! With this being the first year we are adding in a class and two hands on sessions for pontoon safety, it is a fantastic deal, current members and members spouses, if you hold a family membership, at only $60.00, youths only $60.00 and all others only $ What a deal in today s economy. Grab your neighbors, grab your friends, and grab the guy next to you at the market, whomever you can recruit, bring them to a meeting and get them interested in learning to fly fish. Next year the prices have to be boosted to cover increased costs to the club so this year is the time to get the real deal. Eight classes, instructors, slide shows, and room rentals plus three casting classes one lake class and one river class for less than most people spend for one week s smokes, or in some cases one week s coffee, you can t beat that. Also the more people you bring in, the more friends you can have asking you to go fishing. Honest honey I have to go fishing this weekend, Joe is new and needs me to show him the ropes PHIL ROWLEY Speaker for February 9, 2011 Meeting Tying Seminar afternoon of the 9th By: Judy Kaufman Phil Rowley at the age of 6 was introduced to fishing in England and has been hooked ever since. He has been fly fishing stillwaters almost exclusively for over 20 years. Phil s love of fly fishing stillwaters has taken him all over British Columbia and Washington in the pursuit of trout and char. Phil is also an author, tier, speaker and has a web site FlyCraftAngling.com (check it out, especially the entomology). He has a wealth of information about fishing lakes. We have an abundance of stillwaters in our area and this is a great opportunity to increase our knowledge of how to fish those lakes. Rowley will offer a 3-hour tying seminar the afternoon of the 9 th. It will be from 12:30 to 3:30. All the tying materials will be provided along with written tying instructions. You will need to bring you tying tools, vise and spooled materials such as thread and wire. The cost will be $20. You may sign up for the seminar at the January meeting or call Judy Kaufman The class is limited to 20, first come first served.

6 THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 6 NOTES FROM A SELDOM SEEN MEMBER I have been member of Spokane Fly Fishers since the late eighties and a lifetime member since the early nineties. In that time, I raised a family, worked a busy job, and fished when I could. Over the years, I always made time to read the monthly SFF newsletter, often fantasizing that, someday, I, too, would go on outings and meet more people from the club. Resolutions to enact my fantasy even made a couple of my lists to start the New Year. As things turned out, I attended the occasional meeting and supported the club through raffle donations and purchases at the Fly Auction. I rationalize that I at least, in part, kept one of my resolutions. As such an intermittent participant, I regret to say that I really don't know as many people in the club as I would like. I think that the club's annual Fly Auction is a spectacular showcase of some superb SFF talent. That the auction continues to be a major fundraiser for the club is a testimony to both the dedicated volunteers that administer the event and the skills of those that, year after year, tie and donate their beautifully crafted handiwork. At this year's Fly Auction, it dawned on me that I see for only brief moments the end results of hours of work before the flies are purchased and disappear from all but the buyer's view, with little appreciation of knowing something about the person that tied them, why they chose to tie those particular flies, and what materials were used to sculpt not but a few masterpieces. So, I hatched the idea that we could spotlight SFF tyers in our newsletter. Judy Kaufmann liked the idea, and other club members, including Tim Reed and Dan Ferguson, have offered to help. My idea is to have short columns about fly tiers and their flies. The columns are also a nice opportunity to tell a little about the tiers -- a Bio Op, if you will. I volunteered to start the project by spotlighting the tiers whose flies I purchased at this year's auction. I want to include photos of their donations. There are some real beauties here. Stay tuned. Somehow, I am going to find time for this. SFF Member For Life, Felix Martinez SPOTLIGHT ON SFF MEMBER BRAD THOMPSON By: Felix Martinez Brad Thompson donated a collection of his well-crafted foam flies to our 2010 Annual Fly Auction. The assortment included grasshopper, golden stone, and skwala patterns. Brad attended the University of Montana and guided for several years in the Missoula area after graduation. He grew up in California, learned to boat on the ocean from his father, and has guided on salt water, too. As a busy trout fishing guide, Brad learned to tie flies quickly and economically in order to have plenty on hand to replace the many flies lost by clients on bushes, rocks, and river boobytraps. Every good guide must have a ready supply of replacement flies -- especially on windy days and with lessexperienced casters -- and Brad's tying skills helped keep his fly box full and his clients happy. When the Chernobyl Ant first came into use on Western Montana rivers, Brad liked that the ant floated well, was easy for his clients to see, and that the crazy-looking confabulation actually caught fish. He also liked that the pattern was relatively easy to tie. Brad experimented with the Chernobyl Ant pattern in attempts to better mimic real-life larger insects, especially stoneflies and grasshoppers. Hence, the rear legs moved forward. Segments creatively increased. Various wing materials were added, including high visibility components like Krystal Flash. Indelible pen markings and smearings on the foam seemed to help. (continued on next page)

7 THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 7 Brad Thompson continued from previous page) Over time, the patterns evolved into the fish-catching and eye-catching creations that he ties today. Brad builds his foam bodies using both 2 mm and 3 mm foam thicknesses, with the thinner foam layer on top, creating realistic dorsal taper. He buys foam by the sheet at craft stores, and uses Zap-A -Gap adhesive to anneal foam layers as the fly is being tied. Brad's favorite wing material is deer body hair, preferably from animals of warmer climes (for example, Texas). Brad notes that, when used as wings, the thicker and more hollow hairs of a deer's winter coat tend to make his foam flies land belly up, a problem encountered less often with thinnerdiameter hair. The patterns that Brad donated reflect his fishing success and can be used over a span of different seasons. Since skwala hatches begin as early as April, Brad fishes them until switching to Golden Stoneflies in late spring, and then to grasshoppers in summer. COMMENTARY -- BARKER ACCESS? By: Judy Kaufman The promised Barker Road access has turned into a complete disaster, another example of the complete disregard of the powers that be to provide useable and safe water access to the Spokane River. This and other access sites would be easy to open or develop. I find it unbelievable that an area that has the slogan Near Nature, Near Perfect so blatantly ignores those that use the river for recreation. The word Near in that slogan really means, A Miss is as Good as a Mile. Water recreationists are being disrespected. We need answers to why the Barker Road Access was allowed to be such a debacle and when those mistakes will be rectified. FFF NEWS By: Dan Ferguson The Washington Council FFF is excited to announce that the 2012 Conclave and Fly Fishing Fair will be held in Spokane! I don't know right off what this will mean for our club, but I'm sure there will be significant involvement. This will be a chance of a life time to put our club on the national map!

8 THE BARBLESS FLYER Spokane Fly Fishers P. O. Box 4141 Spokane, WA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR NAME TAGS TO THE MEETING NEXT MEETING JANUARY 12, 2011 PAT DORSEY FLY FISHING TAILWATERS 7:00 PM ST. FRANCIS SCHOOL 1104 W. HEROY THE MISSION OF THE SPOKANE FLY FISHERS IS TO PROVIDE A FAMILY FRIENDLY ORGANIZATION FOR PROMOTING THE SPORT OF FLY FISHING THROUGH EDUCATION, APPLICATION, AND CONSERVATION.