hey, did you hear?… · 2018. 11. 12. · hey, did you hear?… i have a question for the...

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Monthly Publication of the Texas FlyFishers Volume 37, Issue 10, October 2018 Hey, Did You Hear?… I have a question for the membership, “How do you get your club news?” In 1995, when I first joined the Texas FlyFishers, we had three methods of disseminating club information, 1) the Windknots, 2) The Demon Dialer and, 3) word of mouth around the fly shops. Move forward to 2018 and the digital age. The club still offers three methods to communicate its business to the membership but, for some, it’s not quite as simple as it used to be. We now have 1) the Website, 2) the Texas FlyFishers Facebook Page, and, lastly but in my opinion, not least, 3) the Windknots. While I’m betting most every FlyFishers member has access to a computer, tablet or smart phone, not everyone uses them to find out what’s going on within the club. I hear reasons ranging from “I can’t anything on the website” to “I don’t do Facebook”. At the September monthly meeting, Club President Marcos Enriquez talked briefly about the website and what we can do to make it more user friendly. At the upcoming meetings, you will be surveyed for input to help us better understand your issues with the website and what you think we might do to help you access the club’s information easier. Also, in this issue… Here’s What’s Coming Up! – October Monthly Meeting, Education, Conservation Page 2 Outreach - Reel Recovery – November Retreat, New! Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Page 3 Mark Your Calendars – 2018 Club Activities Calendar – October through December Page 5 Annual Christmas Party Page 6 Special Events – Casting Clinics with Dayle Mazzarella, Dr. Ed Rizzolo Fly Tying Festival Page 7 Outings Report – Eberly Ranch Bass Fishing by Andrew Jones Page 9 Fly of the Month – Sand Flea Fly Page 13 September Monthly Meeting The scheduled speaker for the October 30, 2018 meeting is Jeff Johnson who will make a dual presentation on fishing for brown trout out west and fishing for redfish in the Rockport area. Social hour and fly tying begin at 6:00 pm and the meeting will kick off around 7:00 pm. Bayland Park, 6400 Bissonnet St., Houston, TX 77074

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Page 1: Hey, Did You Hear?… · 2018. 11. 12. · Hey, Did You Hear?… I have a question for the membership, “How do you get your club news?” In 1995, when I first joinedthe Texas FlyFishers

Monthly Publication of the Texas FlyFishers Volume 37, Issue 10, October 2018

Hey, Did You Hear?… I have a question for the membership, “How do you get your club news?” In 1995, when I first joined the Texas FlyFishers, we had three methods of disseminating club information, 1) the Windknots, 2) The Demon Dialer and, 3) word of mouth around the fly shops. Move forward to 2018 and the digital age. The club still offers three methods to communicate its business to the membership but, for some, it’s not quite as simple as it used to be. We now have 1) the Website, 2) the Texas FlyFishers Facebook Page, and, lastly but in my opinion, not least, 3) the Windknots. While I’m betting most every FlyFishers member has access to a computer, tablet or smart phone, not everyone uses them to find out what’s going on within the club. I hear reasons ranging from “I can’t anything on the website” to “I don’t do Facebook”. At the September monthly meeting, Club President Marcos Enriquez talked briefly about the website and what we can do to make it more user friendly. At the upcoming meetings, you will be surveyed for input to help us better understand your issues with the website and what you think we might do to help you access the club’s information easier.

Also, in this issue… • Here’s What’s Coming Up! – October Monthly Meeting, Education, Conservation Page 2 • Outreach - Reel Recovery – November Retreat, New! Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Page 3 • Mark Your Calendars – 2018 Club Activities Calendar – October through December Page 5 • Annual Christmas Party Page 6 • Special Events – Casting Clinics with Dayle Mazzarella, Dr. Ed Rizzolo Fly Tying Festival Page 7 • Outings Report – Eberly Ranch Bass Fishing by Andrew Jones Page 9 • Fly of the Month – Sand Flea Fly Page 13

September Monthly Meeting

The scheduled speaker for the October 30, 2018 meeting is Jeff Johnson who will make a dual presentation on fishing

for brown trout out west and fishing for redfish in the

Rockport area. Social hour and fly tying begin at 6:00 pm and the meeting will kick off around 7:00 pm. Bayland Park, 6400 Bissonnet

St., Houston, TX 77074

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©2018 Texas FlyFishers - All Rights Reserved 2

Here’s What’s Coming Up! Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, October 30, 2018: For this month’s meeting, the Texas FlyFishers welcome Jeff Johnson who will make a dual presentation about fishing for brown trout out west and fishing for redfish in Rockport. Also, since the days are getting shorter, the casting instruction sessions with Ron Mayfield and Andy Payne will be put on hold until the spring. If you or, if you know someone who are interested in learning more about fly fishing and, you are just interested in socializing with a group of likeminded fly fishers, come to the October 30th monthly meeting. We would be glad to have you and look forward to seeing you at the meeting. There is no charge for admission and, visitors are as always welcome. The monthly meetings for the Texas FlyFishers are held at the Community Center Building located in Bayland Park, 6400 Bissonnet St., Houston TX 77074. Set up, social hour and fly tying starts at 6:00 pm and the meeting kicks off about 7:00 pm. Notice: Early voting will be taking place at the Bayland Annex.

Education: Dayle Mazzarella, well known master casting instructor, educator, and outstanding flyfishing teacher and guide will be in Houston the last week in November. He will be available for two casting clinics on Saturday, 1 December. The morning clinic will be focused on developing skills as a caster and fishing moving water. The afternoon clinic will be oriented to saltwater casting on the flats with instruction of double haul, increasing line speed and an approach to distance casting as well as the quick cast. These are core skills if you wish to become a better saltwater angler. For details and times on Dayle’s classes, see the Special Events section. Joe Burton, TFF Education Director

Andy’s Casting Notes:

Will return next month. Andy Payne

Conservation: You just caught that fish of a lifetime and, the first thing that comes to mind is I need to get a quick picture before I release it. Unfortunately, there are times that all of this all happens so quickly, you don’t realize that you might be doing irreparable damage to the health of the fish. The following illustration is of a largemouth bass but, it applies to other species. When holding any fish for a photo, grab the lower lip (with a Boga Grip if it’s a toothy critter) and, with the other hand, support the body so it does not exceed a 10° angle from a horizontal line. (see illustration). Or, better yet, just leave the fish in the water and, once the shutter snaps, release the fish immediately. - Continued

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©2018 Texas FlyFishers - All Rights Reserved 3

Here’s What’s Coming Up! – Continued:

Thanks, Avery Griffith

Outreach: Reel Recovery:

The fourth Houston area Reel Recovery (RR) Annual Retreat is just around the corner scheduled for November 2-4, 2018 at Camp Allen near Navasota, TX. A few more applicants are needed to fill the retreat with 14 men (12 applications received as of September 7th). If some man you know (or yourself) is living with any stage of cancer, please ask them to consider applying for the retreat.

A committed group of Reel Recovery volunteers, many from Texas FlyFishers, stand ready once again to serve at the Fall Navasota retreat. Please help us secure a full retreat with 14 participants. The Southern Texas Reel Recovery Team is very grateful for the continued support from the Texas FlyFishers! For more information on Reel Recovery or, to register for the upcoming or, future retreats, go to the Reel Recovery website at reelrecovery.org or, contact Dave Steffek at (713) 202-0101. Dave will be happy to answer to any questions about the retreats. Thanks, Dave Steffek

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing: This spring we contacted the Conroe Veterans Administration (VA) Clinic about the possibility of hosting a Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) activity at their facility. The response was an over welling yes. With that as our initiative we contacted PHWFF headquarters and got things started. We formed the Conroe Fly Fishers, a Fly Fishing International (FFI) organization whose sole purpose is to support PHWFF here in Conroe. We contacted Chris Sumers about the possibility of support from Texas FlyFishers Club in Houston. Again we received positive response and formed a group of - Continued

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Here’s What’s Coming Up! – Continued:

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing – Continued: volunteers to assist with the disabled veterans. We now have an outstanding group of volunteers who teach fly casting, rod building, and fly tying and of course fly fishing. The staff at the VA informed their patients about the program and in early May we had our first meeting with three vets attending. We have continued to grow and at our last meeting we had 9 attendees. The PHWFF meet at the VA Clinic in Conroe on the second Friday of the month at 2:00 PM. The clinic is located at 690 South Loop 336 West, 3rd Floor, Conroe, Texas 77304. Then, on the 4th Friday of every month, we meet at Carl Barton Park at 9:00 AM for casting activities and some fly tying. The park is located at 2500 South Loop 336 East, Conroe, Texas 77304. Each sessions last about 3 hours. Anyone who is interested can email me at the address below. As soon as I receive the volunteer names and e-mail addresses, I will put them to my distribution and keep them informed. Our most recent adventure is the start of a rod building competition. Our participants select the rod they want to build. After the rod is built it is sent in to headquarters for evaluation. There are three categories for the rod building contest, Category 1 is for beginners, Category 2 is for participants who have built 2 or 3 rods and Category 3 is for those who have built 4 or more rods. The winner of the national competitions gets to take a great trip to the Smoky Mountains for some fishing in the trout rich streams. I have been involved with this program for about 8 years in Lufkin. My experience is really positive and I have seen the positive effects on the participants. We are always looking for more volunteers and more participants. If anyone is interested please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks, Bill Heugel, Conroe Fly Fishers, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishers Coordinator

And, The Winner Is?

Back on August 25th, The Texas FlyFishers held its Summer Mini Expo at the Terrace Unity Methodist Church with a good crowd on hand to take part in casting lessons, learning to tie flies and rod building, show off their casting talents in the Annual Casting Games and, learned about some new and interesting locations to fish from our membership. Lastly, we held the drawing for the Jackson Mayfly Kayak and, the winner was?...Texas FlyFisher’s member Eric Richardson. Here’s Eric (right), with TFF Treasurer Raymond Lindeen, with his new Jackson Mayfly Kayak. Congratulations, Eric!

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Mark Your Calendars: The following is a list of activities currently scheduled by the Club for the first half of 2018. Please refer to the Club’s website for more detailed information, texasflyfishers.org

Club Activities Calendar for September through December, 2018 October 2018: Saltwater Outing – None currently scheduled. Check the TFF Website for possible change Freshwater Outing – Fishing the Sabine River Below the Generation Canal, Saturday, October 27, 2018. We have a cabin with room for some cots. $10 deposit reserves your spot. Outing Leader: Don “Puck” Puckett; E-mail: doncpuckett(at) gee male (dot) com Check the Club’s website for additional information and, check the Texas FlyFishers Facebook page for Puck’s latest fishing report.

November 2018: Freshwater Outing – Fishing Damon 7 Lakes, Saturday, November 3, 2018. Come fish for largemouth bass and bluegills with fall weather fully in place at Damon 7 Lakes. Fish from 07:00 am ‘til its too dark to fish. Damon’s 7 Lakes is a beautiful one-of-a-kind private fishing club located in Damon, Texas just west of Highway 36 between Rosenburg and West Columbia. Contrary to the name there are now nine different, unique lakes of good size that hold largemouth bass, tiger bass, catfish, black crappie, and bluegill. Catching bass in the three to five pound range is a normal occurance. Twelve pound bass and channel cats and twelve inch bream have been caught in the last two years. Outing Leader: Russell Cowart; E-mail: russell(dot)cowart(AT)genlp(dot)com ; Phone: (7I3) two zero ate (dash) 332O . There will be a day fee for this outing. Check the Club’s website for additional information Saltwater Outing – Annual Jacks in the Surf, Padre Island National Seashore, Friday, November 9 thru Saturday, November 10, 2018. Spotting jacks in the surf and casting to them. Stay in a hotel the night before. You take care of your own lodging. We will meet at the Visitor Center parking lot an hour before sunrise. We want to be at MM 20 by sunrise. 4WD or, a ride is needed. 8-12 wt. rod required. 3-6″ whitish, baitfish patterns with Billy S’s set-up using a 1/32 oz egg or cone sinker tied into the loop knot. Outing Leader: Don “Puck” Puckett; E-mail: doncpuckett(at) gee male (dot) com Check the Club’s website for additional information November Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, November 30, 2018, 6:30 – 8:45 PM: For November’s meeting, the Texas FlyFishers welcome back Dayle Mazzarella, well known master casting instructor, educator, and outstanding flyfishing teacher and guide. Bayland Park, 6400 Bissonnet St., Houston TX 77074.

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Mark Your Calendar – Continued:

December 2018:

The 2019 Texas FlyFishers Christmas Party, Sunday, December 9th, 2018.

Join your fellow club members for the Annual Texas FlyFishers Christmas Party on Sunday, December 9th, 2018 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at the Elks Lodge located at 10150 W. Airport Rd in Stafford, Texas 77477. This event is held in lieu of the regularly scheduled meeting. This party is open to all paid members of our club, with each member being allowed to bring 1 guest. Please use the October and November meetings to get your membership up to date. If you are not able to be at the meetings, you can go to our website and pay your membership with PayPal. After much discussion, it has been decided to return to serving a full buffet dinner, with members being responsible for bringing desert. Each guest will be provided with complimentary drink and door prize tickets at the door. Please be sure to RSVP so there is enough food for everyone. We look forward to seeing you at this fun event.

Note: Dates and times for the club activities are subject to change or cancellation. Please check the TFF website for the most current information. www.texasflyfishers.org

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©2018 Texas FlyFishers - All Rights Reserved 7

Special Events: Fly Casting Clinics with Dayle Mazzarella

Saturday, December 1, 2018 Timarron Park, 550 North Green Print Circle, The Woodlands, TX 77375

Mastering Basics of Stream Fishing Clinic, 8:00 AM – Noon This clinic is designed to teach the advanced beginner or intermediate caster the following:

A number of invaluable casting drills, as well as The Basic Cast, False Casting, Extending Line, Roll Casting, Slackline Casts, Aerial Mends, Water Mends, Curve Casts will be covered. Skillful presentation and minimizing drag is often the most important aspect of fishing for fish such as trout. All these casts will enable an angler to catch more fish on rivers & streams. A 5 to 7 weight rod with a weight forward or double taper line will work fine for the class. Registration fee is $50.00 for the clinic.

Saltwater Fly Casting Mastery, 1:00 – 5:00 PM This clinic will include Quick Casting and emphasis on line speed, timing Double haul, distance and constant tension casts. Dayle will teach anglers an approach to distance casting and to pick up and deliver heavy or air resistant flies. Techniques will be demonstrated to master constant tension casts. The participant will learn how to use various casting techniques to overcome challenges in a wide variety of fishing environments ranging from big rivers in Alaska to the flats of Belize and the Western Rockies to Lake Texoma and the Texas Gulf Coast. Double hauling is definitely an advantage when using these techniques. Participants should bring their own equipment. Registration fee is $50.00 for the clinic.

Early registration is encouraged since space is limited for both clinics.Contact John Slocomb by email at [email protected] or by phone at (281) 419-8364.

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Special Events – Continued:

27th Annual Dr. Ed Rizzolo Fly Tying Festival Saturday February 9th, 2019, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Bethany Christian Church, 3223 Westheimer Rd., Houston, Texas

If you are interested in tying at the Fly Tying Festival, please e-mail Chris Sumers at csumers(at)Comcast(dot)com

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Outings Report: This month’s report comes to us from TFF Member Andrew Jones who, from what I’ve seen from his reports on the social media, has become somewhat of an expert on fishing the local bayous. Thanks, Andrew!

Eberly Ranch Bass Fishing October 13 and 14, 2018 By TFF Member Andrew Jones

The month of October brings bull tides and hungry Speckled trout, Redfish, and flounder within the marshes and drains of the Texas Coastal bays, and I eagerly anticipate the pumpkin month for these reasons. Planning and making sure my fly boxes are filled with the right flies are called to order. However, occasionally we get side-tracked from our important endeavors from things that may be a bit more important than “cowboying up” on a herd of schooling reds, or strike-setting the dead weight of a big speckled trout after demolishing our popper. Actually, it comes down to our wants vs. our needs.

2 weeks ago, my Church announced our annual men’s retreat to take place on the same weekend I had planned to tackle coastal fins. It was like “come on man”! The little angel on one shoulder began arguing with the little devil on the other. Since, I haven’t been to Church for a couple of weeks prior, I had missed the earlier announcements. I have never been to a men’s retreat from my Church since I am fairly new there and had been wanting to go so I can develop deeper and new relationships, so I signed up and went.

The retreat was held at the Eberly Ranch, which is a few miles outside of Chapel Hill. Existing in the midst of rolling hills, wooded areas among green pastures, wildlife, peace and quiet, lakes, and lakes with bass! What? (Ding!). Lakes with bass! I suddenly began to remember some really cool bass explosions on poppers during the month of October. My needs and my wants began to agree with each other! They became one!

I arrived Friday evening, played pool, and went to bed early so I could get out there on the lake before the sun appeared over the horizon. I also assembled my rod, mounted my reel, and tied on my favorite popper prior to going to bed. I didn’t want to deal with it in the morning knowing I will be anxious to get out there. I know you know what I mean!

My fish senses were turned on as I awoke 15 minutes before my alarm went off. I chugged a hot cup of coffee, grabbed my fly rod, and headed out the door while there was barely any light in the sky. As I walked toward the lake following the beam from my headlight, I could hear the bugles, barks, groans, and howls of the wildlife in the distance. An elk was the one making the most commotion as they have imported game on the ranch. Once I neared the pond, I could hear bass busting the surface. – Continued

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Outings Report - Continued

I could also hear something making constant commotion in some heavy brush very close. I didn’t inspect too closely as I figured what I don’t know won’t hurt me, therefore, I didn’t want to take a chance on ruining my morning.

By the time I found a place and posted up for my first cast, there was enough light to see my popper gently land into the still slick water of the lake. The ripple effect of my popper distorted the mirror image of the sky. And so did the bass as it rolled on top of the popper. It wasn’t a big bass, but it was a bass. When it comes to popper fishing, size doesn’t matter as much as seeing the strike. Neither does bringing it to hand. Unless, it’s a really big bass. What seemed like a promising morning really wasn’t. You know how it is. First cast first fish, then nothing after that. I did,

however, trick another into sucking down my foam, but this one was smaller!

My morning session didn’t last long since breakfast was served at 8:00 AM and we had some teaching following. But, that was cool. My spiritual growth was the purpose of being there in “the first place”. However, there were times I forgot as it started to become “the second place”.

By 11:00 AM, the spiritual activities were done, so back to the lake I went. I struggled to catch a fish while I watched this guy named Jim casting a chartreus spinner bait catching fish here and there. They were small fish, but he managed to catch a couple of them going about 2 lbs. Not big but not bad. Eventually, everybody that was fishing gave their fishing rods a rest to go shoot skeet, which left me with the lake all to myself. Shooting skeet sounds fun, but I just can’t leave the water to shoot little flying clay saucers. To each their own. That’s just me!

By that time the wind had picked up to at least 20 mph. It is still fishable, but makes a person work a little harder, and the older I get, the more my body reacts to hard work. Anyway, I kept that popper tied on as I have experienced some outstanding mid-day top water catches in October, but, it started becoming a grind. I probably could have gone sub surface with an EP Fiber baitfish fly for better action, but I stubbornly wanted the surface eats! I tend to catch bigger fish on top anyway.

I worked my way down a bank and I would take 5 steps for every cast while laying it as close to the vegetation extending from the shore as possible. Eventually, I paced myself within casting distance of a corner. And, corners are good! I knew if I was to catch a fish during this session, it would be in that corner pocket! I shot my fly gently into that hole and let it set there. I have learned that the most effective popper fishing takes patience. Lots of patience! Just let that fly set there. If it doesn’t get eaten by the time the ripples clear, it might as soon as you start popping it! And sure enough, it got nailed after the second pop! This bass, which might have been about 2 lbs., came out of the water and dove on it, - Continued

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Outings Report - Continued

and, it didn’t miss! And what did I do? Trout set! I don’t know why as I seldom have a problem strip setting, but, I trout set on it! Needless to say, it spit the hook. Later that day, I was inspecting the popper I was using. It was one I used a few times before, and I found the hook to be very dull. Two rookie mistakes usually spells out F.A.I.L.U.R.E.! I may have got lucky with one, but not two! It was a little frustrating to grind for that one hit, however, it was worth seeing that fish dive bomb that popper regardless! It was so cool!

After spending most of the day fishing, I finally had to stop. My back, my body, and my being did not have much more to go on. I spent the rest of the day eating, doing more spiritual stuff, and shooting pool! I was in bed by 9:00 PM as I wanted to get back out there at the crack of dawn.

So, at the crack of dawn it was! I was the only person up that early, which really wasn’t…. that early. Everyone else stayed up late shooting pool, playing cards, and watching football and baseball. I guess I have fish on the brain. Anyway, the morning started out almost identical to the first - Dark, watching the sun rise, windless, and hearing the elk bugle in the distance. I tied another popper on. A fresh one with a hook sharp to the touch, so I quickly worked my way over to that fishy corner where I had that tremendous strike the day before. Remember? The one with the rookie mistakes! Hoping for a repeat strike, I rolled my popper out in that hole again. Waaait! Waaait! Waaait! Pop! Pop! And, a hit! I was hooked up solid this time! I landed a 2 lber which, was not as big as I would have liked but, “that aggressive strike though”!

I had been fishing a pond almost the entire time I had been there, and thought that I would give the big lake on the other side of the dam a try. As I walked the bank looking for a decent vegetation-free spot, I could see bass wake and scurry away here and there. I knew I would probably hook up to at least some small fish, since the wakes looked to be of the lesser kind. Soon, I laid my fly on the calm, sun risen reflective surface, and a fish hit almost immediately. I caught another one after that and lost so many more. It was like a nursery. Well, it was a nursery. A bass nursery. They were just like kids that do things or react before they think. Full of energy too! Man! Bass are so much like people! Eventually, I had enough of it. It was fun, but at the same time, I really don’t like hassling little bass. I had rather just let them be.

By then, it was time for breakfast. The agenda was for a small Church service among us, clean and pack up, then go home. My plan was to fish some more afterwards. As I was gathering my belongings, I saw some guys looking at my fly rod. They were feeling the line and checking it out. It may have been the first time they had ever seen a fly fishing set up. If my mind is serving me correctly, they asked me- Continued

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Outings Report - Continued

something and the conversation quickly went further into fly fishing. They were very interested and asked me several questions, and, before it was over, they were eager to try it out before we leave.

Of course, we had to have some casting lessons before they could think about fishing so we walked out to an area that was somewhat of an island. It was high with a concrete wall built around it, and was a great place to give some lessons. It was elevated and clean. I tied a small fly on for ease while hoping they might catch something in the process.

The first guy to give it a try was Jim! Remember Jim who had been catching the bass on the chanteuse spinner bait the day before? Yes, that Jim. Anyway, I got him started with some fundamentals. He was really struggling like most do. I could see that he had done a lot of fishing with a great amount of casting conventional gear. He sure had that muscle memory worked in, and it was doing its best to keep him from making a proper fly cast.

Once Jim began to roll that fly out, I left him alone with it, so I picked his rod up with the chanteuse spinner bait and made a cast out there. It had been so many years since I chunked a spinner bait that it felt a little awkward. But, I used the old trick of reeling it just fast enough to allow the blade to flutter on the surface of the water. Just as I was about to bring it in, a bass came up out of the depths and nailed it. He got hooked solid and I eventually landed the 3 lber. It was the biggest fish of the retreat. I don’t think Jim was very happy about that, and I kind of felt like I cheated, since I didn’t catch it on a fly. Dang, I hope I am not becoming a fly snob!

Needless to say, Jim went back to casting his chartreuse spinner bait, then another man named Doug stepped up to the fly casters mound! Doug was

picking it up a little quicker than Jim. I don’t think he quite had the muscle memory problem of Jim’s. At one point, Doug had made a cast and began untangling line or something like that. But, in the meantime with the fly in the water, I saw a bass take it, and it startled Doug as he had his mind on managing the line. Wow! Doug must be a natural for sure! He landed his bass with a grin on his face from ear to ear. I know he will be wanting to fly fish more for sure!

It eventually happens that all good things come to an end. It was time to go home, unpack, clean up, and have some serious rest time. I had such a great time! My spirit grew stronger, I met new people, developed new friendships, influenced others to fly fish, and I caught a few top water bass. Now, it’s time to get my mind back on those salty marsh critter down on the coast!

Have you been fishing lately? How’d it go? Please share your results and experiences with the club, E-mail your report and photos to me at csumers(at)Comcast(dot)com.

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Fly of the Month: Sand Flea

Tied by Chris Sumers

The Sand Flea will retrieve and fall with the hook pointing up, making it virtually weedless. The Sand Flea can be tied in a variety of colors to best imitate the sand fleas or shrimp for the area you will be fishing. The Sand Flea can be sized and weighted up to meet your particular conditions. This is a productive pattern in the fall and winter surf for pompano, whiting, redfish and, trout.

Materials:

Hook: Eagle Claw Inline Kahle Hook, Size #2, #4 or #6. Note: if you can’t find Inline Kahle Hooks, you can straighten out the offset type with a pair of pliers.

Thread: Flat Waxed Nylon, your color of choice Antennae: Boar or Peccary Hair tips, Note: can any stiff bristle, dark hair or, Krystal Flash can be

substituted Eyes: Bead Chain, Black, Medium or Large or, Dumbbell eyes Body: Estaz, Large or Grande, Butter Rum (shown), Tan, Opal, Pink, etc. Legs: Brown or Black Sharpie Permanent Marker Head Cement

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Fly of the Month – Continued:

Step 1:

Secure the hook in the vise. Tie in thread behind the eye and wrap past the first bend to a point about half way to the next bend.

Step 2:

Tie in boar’s hair where it extends past second bend. Wrap thread back to where you tied in the hair.

Page 15: Hey, Did You Hear?… · 2018. 11. 12. · Hey, Did You Hear?… I have a question for the membership, “How do you get your club news?” In 1995, when I first joinedthe Texas FlyFishers

©2018 Texas FlyFishers - All Rights Reserved 15

Fly of the Month – Continued:

Step 3:

Tie in eyes with figure 8 wraps. Secure eyes with a drop of super glue or head cement. Wrap thread back half way to boar’s hair.

Step 4:

Tie in Estaz and wrap thread back to hook eye. Wrap Estaz forward to eyes, criss crossing Estaz through the eyes, and wrap to the hook eye. Tie off Estaz and whip finish. Add a drop or two of head cement.

Page 16: Hey, Did You Hear?… · 2018. 11. 12. · Hey, Did You Hear?… I have a question for the membership, “How do you get your club news?” In 1995, when I first joinedthe Texas FlyFishers

©2018 Texas FlyFishers - All Rights Reserved 16

Fly of the Month – Continued:

Step 5:

Trim Estaz from around the bead chain eyes and, along the back of the fly.

Step 6:

With your permanent marker, color legs inside the hook gape and, Go Fishing.

Tight loops and smooth wraps!

Page 17: Hey, Did You Hear?… · 2018. 11. 12. · Hey, Did You Hear?… I have a question for the membership, “How do you get your club news?” In 1995, when I first joinedthe Texas FlyFishers

©2018 Texas FlyFishers - All Rights Reserved 17

The Texas FlyFishers Executive Committee:

Marcos Enriquez Don “Puck” Puckett Bob Brill President Vice President / Programs Secretary / Membership

Raymond Lindeen Jim Richards Dave Lemke Treasurer Club Secretary / Programs Webmaster

Open Avery Griffin Joe Burton Communications Conservation Chair Education Chair

Andy Payne John Eldred Alex Blacque Casting / FFI Director Outings Chair Registration / Door Prizes

Chris Sumers Open Dave Steffek Dr. Rizzolo Fly Tying Festival Auction Chairs Reel Recovery For additional information, check out the Texas FlyFishers website at https://texasflyfishers.org/ or, the Texas FlyFishers Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TexasFlyfishers/ .

Texas Flyfishers Membership Application Please Check One: New Application Renewal

To join the Texas FlyFishers or, renew your membership, please complete this form and mail it with your check to the address below or, bring it with you to one of our monthly meetings. All memberships expire June 30th of each year and, renewals are due by July 1st. Please pro-rate your payment for the number of months between now and the end of June, inclusive, if you are joining for the first time. Our monthly meetings are held at the Harris County District 3 Bayland Park Community Center, located at 6400 Bissonnet Street, Houston, Texas 77074 on the last Tuesday of every month (except December) beginning at 7:00 pm.

Dues are for (check one): Individual at $24.00/year; Family at $32.00/year; Student at $16.00/year

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TEXAS FLYFISHERS P.O. BOX 571134

Houston, TX 77257-1134