Corner Fly Fishers OPENING DAY! VOLUME 41, ISSUE 5 RANDOM CASTS MAY 10, 2012

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1 4 th Corner Fly Fishers OPENING DAY! May is a great and generous month of the trout fisherman. In May I turn to a smaller rod and go to the Island Pools to find our own run of summer fish, little fish seldom over five pounds, seldom under two, but sea-run steelhead just the same and brave fish that hit the fly hard and jump freely in the broken water. Roderick Haig-Brown, A River Never Sleeps 1

2 Our 10 Mile Creek work party on April 14 was very successful. Don A. and Steve R. beat back the last of the berries, Ralph and Klaus weed wacked the canary grass until I thought I heard the whimper of submission, Mike Reed, Bob Jonston,Allan Mc Clain and Craig Carlisle did some major tidying up jobs as did Angus MacArthur and Emil Ekman. Towards the end of our session Gary Jones arrived to give us some comic relief. Thanks to ALL of you for helping. As you know, our second work session out there will be next Sat. May 12 beginning at 930 AM. Should be much more pleasant work as we will do minor weed whacking, a bit of spraying and primarily will be planting some new trees and shrubs to out compete the canary grass. Bring shovels, any cardboard that is at least a foot and a half in diameter to place around the new plants and a few hammers to put in the bamboo stakes. Wire cutters would be good also as we will be putting screens around some old and all new trees. Since this is primarily a planting party we will work rain or shine so wear appropriate attire. See you there! In case you haven't visited Squalicum Lake as of late, kudos are in order for Terry Mc Ewen's newest addition to the kiosk area. Terry collected and framed a collection of flies commonly used at Squalicum and I must say that it really enhances the kiosk. His yearly summation of the creel census indicates that the next 3 months out there is the most prolific strectch of time all year for fishing success. Give it a try when you can. Tight Lines with no LEAD! Dan Coombs, 4CFF Conservation Chair Conservation The whole purpose of summer fishing, the Old Man said, is not to worry about catching fish, but to just get out of the house and set and think a little. Also, the womenfolk are very bad-tempered in the summer. The less you hang around the premises the less trouble you re apt to get in. Robert Ruark, The Old Man and The Boy 2

3 May s Program Our program for May 24th is a presentation by Jack Salstrom on Nymphs and Soft hackles. Jack Salstrom is a dedicated fly fishermen, fly tyer, entemologist, and longtime member of the 4CFF. His fly tying skills are incredible. His shadow box presentations have fetched thousands of dollars. Please join us for this incredible evening on Nymphs and Soft hackles. Call in early for reservations and information. Gary Jones, 4CFF Program Chair. gary-jones@comcast.net These are examples of his incredible flies and sketches... 3

4 FOURTH CORNER FLY FISHER GRANT AWARD On April 19th. the FCFF was honored by being among the group of distinguished recipients receiving a Grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation for the Clubs education program in the amount of $3, The Grant will be held in trust by NSEA for the club to draw on as needed, subject to board approval. A big "THANK YOU" goes to Jack Salstrom, Bill Hall and Lin Nelson for the help they provided in securing this grant and, last but not least, to Missy Belles of the Foundation for guiding us through the maze of the application process. The Grant money was ear-marked in itemized detail by the education committee in the grant request. However if unusual requirements come up, we will bring them to the board. Klaus Lohse, Co-Chair, Education Wilderness is not a state of being, but a principle of action. Clear water favors neither the angler nor the fish, though the angler thinks otherwise. A big trout is wilder than a small trout, and more demoralizing when spooked. The angler was never a fish, though the trout is always a hunter. A trout expects trouble, though the angler wants sport. A trout in hand is the muscular instant that is always vanishing, taking your life away with it. Verlyn Klinkenborg 4

5 May Outings Report April has been a transition month in many ways. When I lived in Alaska this would have been the period just after breakup. That was the point in the year when you started storing the skis and snowshoes and started working on the boat. I won t even go into the mess you dealt with when the treasures buried in 20 feet of snow were revealed when the pile finally melted! Dry Falls Lake: The outing to the Dry Falls Lake area was the first excursion that was past a day trip. The turnout was a bit modest, but the quality was high! I want to thank the spies (Dan Coombs and Dave Johnson) that went in the beginning of the week and helped us come up with some successful days on the water. I went over with a new fishing partner, Pete Lamb, and we got there on Thursday afternoon. We set up the usual club kitchen, tent and firepit. That night it was a bonus to have cover; the rain came and stayed for most of the night. Friday was an amazing day on the water. I talked to Dan and he had a lot of fish hit the Flesh Fly in larger sizes fished on a type 6 sinking line fished really deep! He also joined Dave for a while and did well with a weighted line fishing chronomids without an indicator. I spent most of the day racing around the lake dragging my type 6 almost all the way out; and I caught a lot of fish!! It was even better when I when up in size! I fished the Full-Meal-Deal for the latter half of the afternoon and nothing less than 15 took the fly. I had several hits after missing a take and just stripping fast to check the fly. It would go about 10 feet and a trout would nail it! It happened on the first strike and actually on the last! I missed the hit and started cranking in as fast as I could, the fly moved about 10 before it was crushed! What a day! The only problem was the wind that hit after dinner. It blew hard enough to bend the frame on our canopy and you can ask Pete Lamb what it felt like when the Taj Mahal collapsed on him later. (I slept through it all, I was on the down wind side of the tent!) Saturday was a bit different. There was very little wind, the surface was pretty calm, and the temperature was up. The early part of the day was pretty quiet. Few were connecting with any fish. I was dragging my flesh fly around and after a hit I started to strip it in real fast to check it out when it got smashed. I finally got smart and started to get the fly down, keep it there for a while and then just started dragging it home as fast as I could!! I think I picked up about 6 or 7 fish like that. I finally decided to try the other technique that was producing. Dave Johnston was fishing chronomids on a sinking line with Dan earlier in the week. Fishing without the bobber is just a lot more fun. If you are deep and have any distance to the float you have built in a large amount of slack and could loose a lot of fish! I watched Pete Lamb and Ralph Lloyd tangle with a number of large fish by making sure their fly was just a foot off the bottom. I also had some success with a slim pattern using the antistatic bag with a grey underbody and a wine colored rib. 5

6 (May Outings Continued) Saturday also had a bit of innovation from other members in the club. As you see from the pictures, a number of people brought their vices and soon all manner of rabbit strip patterns were going into the boxes. Some had rabbit one had hooks and everyone had ideas. Steve Runge tied an olive one that he used 2 strips. When he was done, he realized he had made the tail with the end where the strips were still connected?! So the first split tail leech was born. I took some shots of him fighting a fish hew hooked on the way out to the island! (I bet there is a bass or two around that would hit as well! Ralph tied a calibaetis emerger that he dreamed up in the middle of the night and on it went. Over a very satisfying potluck we traded tales, libations, some jokes and drew for the Flybox! Since all of us were in the drawing I just shook the can until one fell out. Kelli Cole won her second box! Since she stated that there was only one fly she fished, (Pheasant tail nymph) we all began to wonder the size of the honey do list Pred was going to see before he got any of them!! Breakfast at Silver Lake We ended the month by dusting off an old tradition and pulled together a breakfast out at Silver Lake on opening day. It was a hit! 38 showed up to eat a bit, hang out, and some even got out on the water. I was able to dust off some of my catering skills and spreadsheets to get a handle on it but the real heroes were the club members who jumped in and did all the work!! I want to especially thank Bob Cooper, Peggy and Klause Lohse, Lin Nelson, Pete Lamb, Errol McWhirk, and Emil Ekman for their contributions of time and effort making the food or setting up the fire. There were many others who pitched in and just did what it took to pull this off. Thank you!! With some fine tuning, this will be a fixture for as long as I do this job. Big Twin Lake: Looking forward, our next excursion will be to big Twin Lake near Winthrop. The outing weekend will be May 17 th -20 th. Hopefully Hwy 20 will be open and it will be a short run across. We will be staying at the Big Twin Lake Campground 210 Twin Lakes Rd, Winthrop, Washington, Phone: (509) One of the best we see every year. They have some of the same sites reserved for us that we used last year. If you are planning to go, give them a call and reserve your spot. Tell them you are with the club. The potluck and flybox drawing will be on Saturday the 19 th. Rick and Patty Todd have offered to host the potluck at their residence on the lake, and I would like to take them up on it. We will decide the place and exact time once we work out the logistics. (So if you are coming be sure I know.). For planning purposes, figure it will be around 7:00. Check out the outing detail document to get more information on how to get there and what you will need to fish Big Twin. Rick Todd has generously offered the use of his floatation fleet for those who might need it. And as always in our current climate, make sure you have all the required vehicle permits and display them. This especially true if you plan on fishing other lakes while you are in the area!! 6

7 Chopaka Lake (May 30 th- June 3 rd ): This year we have moved the dates up for the trip to the fly fishing Mecca. We hope to get in on the big hatches this lake produces. Unfortunately this also is a period of large fisher hatches as well. Let me know if and when you are going and we can plan a strategy to try and get some decent campsites. This will be very important if you are going over early! The Fourth Corner Fly Fisher s Classic on the Methow. We will once again be heading over the Methow River area for an outing and extravaganza in August (1 st -5 th ). This will be the classic for this year it will also be one of the events where we are celebrating the club s 40 th anniversary! If you were at Big Twin Lake last year or the club picnic you have an idea about what this is going to be like. If you thought that the Asador Cruz was cool wait until you see this year s load of iron!! Ed Dahl and Bob Cooper have really outdone themselves! Add in some extra raffles for Classic Hats, flies and some great fishing it is a must on your calendar. Let me know if you are coming and how many of you there will be. We will be staying at the Winthrop KOA 1114 State Route 20 Winthrop, WA 98862, or The campground has a bunch of tent site and several RV sites reserved under my name. We will be on the grass area above where we were last year. Since this is a very popular place make your reservation early especially if you need more than a tent site. Also realize that we can double up on the tent sites with up to 5 campers per site. That way we won t get too spread out. See you there. Frank Koterba, External Vice President And Your Outings Chair Fly Tying Pictures 7

8 One way to determine the skill of a cook is how they prepare their vegetables! I will confess that in most situations I sample the vegetables before I try the proteins on the plate! They should maintain their vibrant colors and still remain firm. Where there are several varieties, they should all be properly cooked. This includes things like broccoli the stems should be cooked and the crowns should be firm, not mush. We are finally getting to that time of year when we can find fresh flavorful vegetables in our stores or out in our gardens. To get the highest yield in flavor and nutrition, the lightest touch and proper mise en place is required. Mise en place is a culinary term that translates as everything in place. That means before you execute a dish, you need to have all the preparation finished before you start. You need to have all the ingredients laid out and measured, all the tools and equipment ready, and it means the every element is ready to make the finished dish! The concept is so engrained that I named our boat in Alaska mis en place. If you are going to include cooked vegetables into a dish you need to decide how they are going to be prepared before you get to the final stage. Several paths are available. You can cut the vegetables to a size and shape that will be compatible. (There is a reason why there are all those shapes that we use.) This could take you part of the way. The goal is to have all your ingredients prepared to a point where you can finish cook them the same amount of time and they are all perfect. Cutting everything the same size or shape helps. However, the density, color and attributes may be very different. The next step would be to blanch the vegetables to a point where they can all be finished together. This is often described as plunge in boiling water for a period and then dump in an ice water bath. More is required. The color in the vegetables is the result of certain chemicals in the plant and there are issues with denaturing the cellular structure of the plant. When I was in culinary school, I was given a couple of processes that really do the trick and I have one I use for broccoli. Here is the process for blanching: All Green Vegetables: 1 quart water 1 oz salt 1 oz sugar May Culinary Corner Combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Blanch vegetables to the proper doneness. Shock (refresh) immediately in ice water. All Colored Vegetables : ( Anything that is not green) 8

9 1 quart water 1 oz salt 1 oz sugar White flour, just enough to cloud the water Juice from ½ lemon. Combine all ingredients in cold water Bring to a simmer. Blanch vegetables to the proper doneness. Shock (refresh) immediately in ice water. (Culinary Corner Cont.) You need to have a large enough ice bath to cool and stop the cooking process for the whole batch of vegetables. You can do it in smaller batches or larger ones. The critical issue is you want to stop the cooking quickly! Once the vegetables are blanched they can be held for several days before use. With the green vegetables, the salt fixes the color. The inside of the cell in plants exerts an outward pressure called tugar which is maintained by the sugar. The result is a green crisp vegetable that just need to be reheated not cooked. For every other color, the additional ingredients in the cooking liquid perform the same function with the colors and the sugar maintains the crispness. There are several reasons to use this process. You can prepare many kinds of vegetables for a given dish and make sure that they will all be at their peak. You can prepare vegetables ahead of time and make the final process much easier. You can prep vegetables now and use them for a couple of days. Even to the point of getting set up and blanching all the vegetables you will need for a couple of days. You can also blanch them when they are really fresh for freezing and freeze them. After they are cooked lay them out on a sheetpan and freeze them I have used this to freeze peas, corn, beans, and other vegetables. On one final note: Broccoli is tough. It is a challenge to cook it without either a mushy overcooked crown, or a tough stem. What I do is trim the head so it will fit in your cooking container. I use a glass measuring cup. Slice the head so there is a piece of stem along with a section of the crown. And peel the stems. 9

10 (Culinary Corner Cont.) Lay the cup on its side and fill the cup with the long pieces keeping the stems straight. When you are just about full stand the cup and add any more long pieces making sure that none fall over. You will always have a few short pieces left. Insert them in the spaces between the long pieces with the stem down. This is what the filled cup looks like. Put about a half cup of hot salted water in the bottom and cover the cup. The water needs to be hot or you will cook the broccoli not steam it. I microwave it on reheat for a couple of minutes. You can check it to see if crowns are just done. They should be cooked and still firm. The time could vary depending on your microwave. When they are done refresh the broccoli in an ice water bath. Drain it and let it dry on a few towels and you are good to go. You can reheat them quickly in hot water if you are serving them hot. They will keep for several days in a covered container in the refrigerator. Enjoy. Frank Koterba, King of Kulinary 10

11 There are still openings in both of the Casting Classes being given by Scott Christensen! The first 2 are on Saturday, May 12th. They will be in Sudden Valley at the Marina or at the AM-PM Beaches. The novice class runs from 1:00-3:00 pm and the intermediate is from 3:30-5:30 pm. The cost is $15 for members, $20 for those in the Guest status program and $25 for everyone else. If you can t make to these let me know and I will put you on the list for future classes. This is an opportunity to add to your understanding of craft of casting a fly line. Scott has developed not only the ability to do it but; He has developed the ability to teach it! Last year I took both his novice and intermediate courses. Yea, I figured I wasn t a novice, but I took it any way. Guess what! In some ways I was! Especially if I wanted to teach it to some one else! You start by examining the parts of the cast. You look at the casting arc, the casting stroke, your stance, and many other elements. (I found the source of my endless supply of tailing loops!) In the latter course, Scott takes you through the single and double hall, the wrist roll, what to do in certain situations and spends a lot of time with individual instruction. In the end we added about feet to my cast and I am much more comfortable with the whole process. And did I mention he helped my loose my tailing loops! The Bottom Line: If you work out the cost benefit of this thing we call Fly Fishing, we spend a great amount of time and money acquiring a load of rods, reels, boats, lines, flies, and whatever! Then we spend a bunch on camping gear, gas and whatever to get where you want to fish. Why wouldn t you want to spend less than a good bottle of wine making all those other investments pay off with a better chance to really enjoy your time on the water and even catch some fish???. You should also be looking at these as a way to improve your teaching skills. We are always showing others how to cast. Casting Classes Thanks! Frank Koterba Scott Christensen If you don t know where the fish lie but can cast well enough to cover all the water with finesse, you are likely to solve the mystery and catch fish. If you know where they lie but can neither reach them or present the fly naturally, you are not even in the game. Joan Wulff 11

12 Dry Falls... 12

13 4CFF CALENDAR OF EVENTS Conservation Projects Conservation is the corner stone of our club. Projects are continually being added to our calendar. The only thing that is needed is the willingness to give something back to the resource will all love. Call Dan Coombs at (360) and sign up to be put on the list of volunteers. Fly Tying Sessions Fly tying sessions are constantly being held. Whether you re an expert or just beginning, please join us. Check our website for dates, times, and locations. R.S.V.P. s are required. Education Classes We need Volunteers to help teach fly tying and fly casting at various places throughout the year. Even if you have tied for a little while, your presence is needed. Please contact Klaus Lohse ( ) or Frank Koterba ( ) if you wish to participate. OUTINGS Our club has a constant list of fantastic outings every month. We also have smaller outings for those who can only make it on the weekends. For a list of outings, their dates, and locations, please check out our website Frank Koterba is our present Outings Chairman and can be reached at (360) If you are new to fly fishing, our club has fly rods, reels, and fly tying equipment available for use. Also, if you attend conservation and fishing outings, it s wise to bring your own lawn chair. For more information, please contact the hosts. MAY s Meeting May 24, 2011 BELLINGHAM COUNTRY CLUB 3729 Meridian St Bellingham, WA (360) Wet Fly 6:00 Dinner 6:45 Program 7:30 Meeting 9:00 Contact Gary Jones, gary-jones@comcast.net for ALL dinner reservations. Be sure to check off your name on the list when you arrive for dinner. BRING A FLY FOR THE FLY PLATE! Junes s Board Meeting June 5, 2011 Trinity Lutheran Church 119 Texas Street Bellingham, WA 6:00 P.M. 13

14 4CFF Board Members President Lin Nelson (360) Outings Chairman Frank Koterba (360) Program Chairman Gary Jones (425) Brian Faloon Larry Irwin Secretary Treasurer Membership Chairmen: Raffle Chairmen: Directors: Brian Faloon and Nathan Weston Errol McWhirk, Craig Lang CONSERVATION Dan Coombs (360) EDUCATION Klaus Lohse (360) LIBRARY Susan Swetman (360) Website Tammy Findlay Newsletter Sid Strong (360) Steve Runge Klaus Lohse, Craig Carlile, Nathan Weston, and Matt Roelofs Volunteers are ALWAYS needed in our club. Conservation projects, educational classes, and all chairman positions are always open for new and old members. It is the responsibility of ALL members for ALL of the outings to obey ALL local, state, and national regulations. We represent an outstanding conservation and fishing club. Let s set a great example to ALL. All entomology sketches are drawn by Jack Salstrom, Member of the FCFF. All Fly illustrations are drawn by Ed Ruckey taken from, Diary of Northwest Trout Flies by local author and FCFF Member Dan Homel. 14

15 4th CORNER FLY FISHERS Aims and Purposes The Members of the Fourth Corner Fly Fishers (located in Bellingham, WA) are united by our enjoyment of the sport of fly fishing and by our desire to preserve and enhance fishing opportunities for all. To these ends, we will strive to promote conservation of angling brotherhood and to broaden the understanding of fellow anglers. The purposes for which the Club was formed are: To operate a social club for the pleasure, association and recreation of its members engaged in fly fishing activities. To work to protect wild fish and the habitat which sustains them. To work for the betterment and preservation of angling waters and surrounding land. To improve the State of the Art of flying fishing and to keep members informed of developments of interest. To develop and carry out programs of education designed to encourage individuals of all ages to become fly fishers and to promote ethical use of the resource. P.O. Box 1543 Bellingham, WA