NEWSLETTER wmflyfishing.com

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1 WMFFC Mission Statement: NEWSLETTER wmflyfishing.com Established 1996 P.O. Box 2187, Pinetop, AZ October 2013 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 October and late September are turning out to be very busy months. The September Club Fishing Outing at Reservation Lake was another fun event. Thanks to John Stoner for setting up this outing; it was attended by 23 fishers and family. (See the write up in the Outings Report.) Silver Creek Fish Hatchery and Old Pueblo TU are sponsoring the Wounded Warrior Fish Day at Silver Creek on October 1. Wounded Warriors will be fishing Silver Creek on opening day of the catch and release season. Cabala s, Bass Pro Shop, Boy Scouts, and other groups are setting up breakfast and lunch facilities and providing rods and other equipment Breakfast (biscuits and gravy) and lunch (Dutch oven meals) will be provided by the Boy Scouts. Club volunteers are setting up shade awnings, tables, chairs, and helping the warrior s fish. A group of Club volunteers are heading off to the San Juan River for the Troops First Project on Oct. 7 through the 10th. Six troops will be roomed at a private home and guided for two days of fishing by six river guides and club volunteers. Many thanks to Barry Curseaden for keeping this project moving forward. Fly tying will resume at the Lakeside Fire Station on Oct. 8. Additional classes will be available on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Tuesdays of October and November. Rick Tesinsky is organizing the fly tying classes. The Casting for Recovery Luncheon/Retreat will be held at Greer Peaks on October 27th. Club volunteers will be casting buddies and also setting up the dining room. Thanks to Gail Allgood, Sparky Snyder and Johnna Switzer for organizing the Club effort for this project. The Club membership is 85 strong now and renewals and new members are continuing to come in on a regular basis. Dick Davis is the new membership chairman and he has the new job well under control. Jerry Myers went to the Mesa Bass Pro Shops and found our missing sponsorship form for the PEAK Fishing Industry/Promotional Program. This program will allow us to direct purchase PEAK fly tying vices and tool kits for our educational fly tying program. We plan to purchase 20 vices and kits to upgrade our present equipment. Several Club members checked out potential locations for the Christmas Party and June Banquet. Bob Henry checked his Torreon Golf Club facilities and it looked ideal. We scheduled the Christmas Party at the TGC Cabin and Restaurant for December 14, and the banquet at the TGC Clubhouse and Restaurant for June 7th. More information will be coming out about those events when the time gets closer. Quote of the day: "The fishing was so good I thought it was yesterday" Dennis Jones, President 1

2 WMFFC Board Members President: Dennis Jones (928) Past-President: Bob Bowers (928) Vice President: Richard Dreyer (928) Secretary: Ellen Hofmann (602) Treasurer: Sparky Snyder (928) Board Member #1: Steve Hofmann (623) Board Member #2: Gary Miller (602) Board Member #3: Jaime DeZubeldia (928) Membership Chairman: Dick Davis (480) & Steve Hofmann backup (623) Conservation Chairman: Gary Miller (602) Newsletter Chairman: Steve Hofmann (623) (Club needs a back-up) Outings Chairman: John Stoner (928) October 16 th 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 & Raffle - Fish Tales - Speaker The October Speaker will be John Marvin. He will speak on the Boulder Mountain Region in Utah for fly fishing opportunities. The Boulder Region is in the Southwest quadrant of Utah. This region has outstanding lake, creek and river fly fishing. Upcoming Programs: November: Steve Hofmann and Dave Buecler will present: The Making of a Bamboo Fly Rod. Come on out and see a fascinating presentation and see how a local Pinetop resident builds outstanding custom bamboo fly rods. December: Christmas Party At Torreon G&CC Cabin and Restaurant on December 14, 2013 Outings & Meetings Schedule: Date Location Sponsor October 7 th -10 th Troops First/Wounded Warrior trip to San Juan Michael Smith & Barry Curseaden October 16 th Meeting Lakeside Fire Station October 19th Hawley (Big Browns) or Earl Park Need Volunteer November 20 th Meeting Lakeside Fire Station November 23th Silver Creek Steve & Ellen Hofmann December 14th Holiday Party Torreon G & CC Need Volunteer Notice: Fly tying Lessons are on again! Oct 8 Gary Hall Oct 15 Mike Styvaert Oct 22 Dennis Jones Nov 5 John Rohmer (first Tuesday of the month) Nov 12 Rick Tesinsky Nov 19 Bob Bowers.. 2

3 General Monthly Meeting Minutes for August 21.Submitted Dennis Jones WMFFC September Monthly Meeting Minutes September 18, 2013 Call to order: 6:30 by President Dennis Jones Welcome everyone Pledge of allegiance Welcome new members and guests-- Dick Davis: No new members. Guests Phil Wagner, William Lynn and one more that we will list when the name is available. Minutes of last club meeting published in the newsletter. Asked for a motion from the floor to approve the September Minutes General Meeting Minutes: Motion made, seconded and approved. Copies of August General Meeting minutes were available for anyone who had not received a copy. Introduced speaker: Mike Styvaert: Trout Fishing in the White Mountains In General and Catching brown trout in Particular. He will cover locations, equipment, tackle, flies, and tactics. Steve (newsletter) and Ellen Hofmann (Secretary) and Richard Dryer (Vice President) are on vacation. TREASURER report: Sparky Snyder Club in good financial status. Committee Chair reports: Membership: Dick Davis 83 members to date membership ended June 30. Renew family membership for one year, $30 or prorated, July-Sept $30 Oct-Dec $15 Jan-Mar $10 April-June $5 Outings: John Stoner- Reported that he had someone to pull trailer to outing on Saturday. Location for Saturday outing discussed and decided that Reservation was best option. Conservation: Gary Miller - ADOT trash pickup discussed, this will be last one this year. Decided to do pickup after the October Club meeting and meet-time will be decided. Librarian and Casting for Recovery: Gail Allgood- CFR planning proceeding for October 27 BBQ lunch. Need pond buddies. Some members volunteered and a list will be made at next meeting. Fly tying: Rick Tesinsky reported on status of resuming fly tying 2nd Tuesday in Oct. Jerry Myers obtained the form from Jacquelyn Hartwig at Bass Pro Shop needed purchase vices at discount from PEAk vices. Plan is to purchase 20 vices and tool kits. Old Business: Survey of membership to prioritize our involvement in organizations and activities is still under review. Steve Hofmann and Bob Bowers and Dennis Jones are working on setting up a club survey form of all club activities. The purpose of the form will be that, in the near future, the general membership will be able to select programs or activities they want to retain and where they want to volunteer. Barry Curseaden asked for volunteers (signup sheet) to assist at Silver Creek on Sept 30 and Oct 1 to setup for Wounded Warriors day and to assist WW fishermen on opening day of catch and release. Also requested donated flies for WWs. Gary Miller will loan 2 large shade shelters and needs help to set them up. Set up awning 10;00 AM Sept 30. Ken McGown needs volunteers Sept 30 to go to Sipes to pick up tables and chairs. Meet at GF at 1:00. Volunteers needed to help WW fish Oct 1. No volunteer fishing 30 min before sunrise to about 5pm. BSA to do breakfast (biscuits and gravy) and lunch (Dutch oven). Troops First Foundation: Barry Curseaden reported on status of Troops First San Juan trip scheduled for October 7th through the 10th. Troops will fish on the 8th and 9th. He requested volunteers to complete sign up sheet. Jerry Myer has requested 5 chest packs from Bass Pro Shop. He has one chest pack carried over from previous year. New business: Publicity: Georgeanne Jannenga retiring. Ellen Hofmann will take over. Some proceedings of Board meeting Sept 12: Christmas party will be at Torreon on Dec 14. Need volunteers to organize entertainment. Annual Banquet will be at Torreon June 7. Need volunteer to organize a committee to plan banquet. Motion to add $50 to CFR. Motion to buy shelving for storage unit. The White Mountain Wildlife & Nature Center, Pinetop-Lakeside Chamber of Commerce, Town of Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are now planning the upcoming 8th Annual 3

4 Woodland Wildlife Festival. The festival will be held at the Nature Center s site in Pinetop-Lakeside, on October 5, The festival will run from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Interested volunteers contact Norris Dodd White Mountain Nature Center (928) Fish tales: Many lakes still having algae problems. Some fishing reports for fair catches at Big Lake, Hawley, Horseshoe, and Reservation. Raffle was held. The Monthly Program was presented by Mike Styvaert. Meeting adjourned. September Reservation Lake Outing Report by Dennis Jones The September Club Fishing Outing at Reservation Lake was another fun event. Thanks to John Stoner for setting up this outing. It was attended by 23 fishers and family. The fishing itself was only okay, but considering how unusual fishing has been in this area this year, I guess it was average or better. I think most people caught some fish or at least gave it a good try. The potluck was great as usual and there were plenty of great dishes. The weather was clear with mostly calm winds and the elk were very active early in the morning, bulging in all directions. The pontoon hatch got underway early and we pretty much covered the Reservation Creek arm of the lake. One camper who had been having the bay to himself (must have been a WWII vet) said it looked like the invasion at Normandy. My best flies for the day: black/orange Halloween Bugger and mini Yeager Burger; these accounted for most of my dozen bows, 14-4 inches. Note: Next Month s Newsletter is planning on having extensive coverage with Pics of the Silver Creek and San Juan River Wounded Warrior events. Stay tuned. Fly Fishing Safety By Steve Hofmann While float fishing the A Section of the Famous Green River, UT recently in September of this year, my wife & I observed a near drowning event and want to pass on lessons learned. If anyone in the club has ever floated the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam, they know that this river is a beautiful tailwater river. But it also has some real swift currents, rapids and very large boulders in the middle of those rapids that must be negociated with skill. The near drowning scenerio was this: A family of 6 had been floating in a large rubber recreational type raft and just running the river for fun. (Like lots of people do on the Green river). Grandpa, of the same family, was fly fishing near by in a one person inflatable boat, like the ones we use on here in the white mouontains. Most of the upper river is calm water with easy riffles and slower rapids. However, near the end of section A, there are some large rapids with large boulders. For some unknown reason, the 6 man inflatable boat decided to tow Grandpa down through the rapids with a rope ~ 8 feet long. While passing by a large bounder, the first larger rubber raft negotiated to the left of the large boulder. But Grandpa did not! Grandpa s small one man raft flipped over on top of him right in front of the boulder. At first he was pinned by the fast current against the boulder, with his head under the surface of the water. (and of course he had no life jacket on). Luckly, two of the men adults in the first boat jumped quickly on the boulder and pulled Grandpa s head higher out of the water. Lessons learned by this Event! Always Obey the Rules of That Particular River! 4

5 There is sign at the put-in to Section A of the Green River that says: NO TOWING of OTHER CRAFT WHILE RUNNING THE RIVER. A life jacket must we worn at all times by every person in the boat. No inflatable life jackets are allowed. ( I.e. that means Co2 inflatables are NOT allowed) Note: All states and rivers have different rules. Some are more liberal than others. Know what they are before you fish. Wyoming, for example, you are not required to wear the life jacket, just need to have them in the boat. However, it is probably a good idea to wear a life jacket anway! Fly Fishing Entomology 101: Observation of Flies in Nature by Steve Hofmann While getting ready to fly fish on the North Platte River in Saratoga WY this summer, I was drinking my morning coffee in front of my RV. Suddenly I noticed a bug on the door of the RV. After looking more closely at the bug, I noted that that the bug was a Mayfly. I recognized this because the bug (I.E. fly) had wings that stood straight-up i.e. like a sail on a sail boat. I had been doing a little studying on Entomology this past winter and learned how identify a Mayfly. The wings were only about ¼ to ½ inch high. Exactly which of the 500+ species of Mayfly I observed, I did not know for sure. But I guessed it was a Trico or Blue Winged Olive (BWO). Only because I had heard some recent guides talk about those two species of Mayflies on the N. Platte River. I then went into my RV obtained my camera and took a couple of Pics (see below). THEN before I knew it, the fly began crawling out of his exoskeleton right in front of my very eyes (just like superman!). Unfortunately, I didn t get a pic of this event. But I did get a pic of the new fly next to his exoskeleton before it flew away. (See second Pic). What I had observed was the partial evolution of the Mayfly life cycle. I.e. a Mayfly Dun turning into an adult Mayfly or Mayfly Spinner. See sketch below of the mayfly life cycle. Step 4 in the below sketch illustrates what I had observed. In my observation, the tree was the door of my RV. Of course when my wife and I met with our fishing guide that same morning, I just had to ask him what flies he was going use. He said we were going to be starting out with a streamer in the morning and then change over to some nymphs under an indicator later in the morning. Of course the nymphs used were the water stage imitations of Mayflies. (I.e. Copper Johns and Bead Head Hare s Ear, etc. Note: during our float that day there was no evidence of fish taking flies off of the surface and there were no swarms of insects, therefore we didn t use Mayfly dry imitations. Pics of a Mayfly on the RV Door:. An additional question that one may ask: Are Mayflies prevalent in Arizona? And if so, which creek, rivers or lakes are they a prevalent food source? 5

6 Fly Fishing Women in the WMFFC I would like to do this every month, so get you cameras ready and send in your pics of your wife or girlfriend(s). Fran Stier fly fishing Alaska this year. Ellen Hofmann - Big Horne River WY this summer... Kitty Wiemelt Silver Creek Wounded Warrior s event Ginger Donahue first fish on a fly rod - Silver Creek 6

7 SHOP AND SUPPORT THESE WMFFC ADVERTISERS. If you have an Ad or Article that you would like featured in the next Newsletter, please contact Steve Hofmann at or 7

8 White Mountain Fly Fishing Club P. O. Box 2187 Pinetop, AZ WMFFC Member Newsletter PLACE LABEL HERE WMFFC NEWSLETTER 8