slff 2018-08 r1 - santa lucia fly fishers › 2018 aug newsletter.pdf · fly fishing 101 class –...

(1 SLFF NEWSLETTER – August 2018

PRESIDENT’S LETTER – Art ChapmanAugust 2018

One of the things I most enjoy about going to a club trip or outing is gettingtogether afterward to share experiences. For example, I just got back from 4days of fishing on the San Juan River in northwestern New Mexico about anhour south of Durango, Colorado. For those who haven’t been there, we stayat the Soaring Eagle Lodge on the river. It’s a beautiful spot with comfortableaccommodations, good food and friendly staff.

Earlier, in April, the club had a trip there that was very successful. This yearwe tried an additional trip in Summer because there was the chance we could catch big fish on dryfiles. Although we did catch a few fish on dries, as usual the catching was better under the surface.The fishable section of the river below Navajo dam is divided in 4 sections. The top section ismainly rainbows and the bottom section is mostly browns, with the middle sections mixed. Thehighlights of the trip for me was catching big browns on the lower section and wading to sight-fishfor big rainbows near the dam. We switched around to fish with different guides and fishingpartners during the week. The guides each have a minimum of 15 years of experience on thiswater, so they know exactly what to throw at them to induce a bite. Each have their own approachand all are successful.

In the evening before dinner, we came together, ate chips and dip, drank a few brews, wove yarnsand generally enjoyed each others’ company. We made memories, renewed old friendships andbegan new ones. It seems so much more meaningful when you have others to share them with.

Missing Club Loaner Equipment — Art Chapman

The club has loaner equipment, including float tubes, rods and reels that we loan out informallywith the expectation that they will be returned when the trip or event is over. If you borrowedclub equipment in the past, please take a look among your stuff and return it to Bernard, Lew, Richor Art. We want to make sure it's available to others who are just getting involved in the sport andwant to try equipment out before they start buying their own. Thanks for looking.

http://www.santaluciaflyfishers.com San Luis Obispo, CA Mike Powers, Editor

Tight Lines Aug - 2018


SAVE THE DATES

Aug 2: Fly tying. Contact Jim Snodgrass

Aug 9: NO Meeting this month!

Aug 11: Club Barbeque … Port San Luis (see below!)

SLFF ANNUAL PICNIC and HALIBUT OUTINGFor those who have already made reservations:

Time:Arrive early, get in some practice halibut fishing and or enjoying the beach.

Lunch will be served around noon.

Location:Between Avila Beach & Port San Luis in the area of Fisherman’s beach. Look for the SLFF banner.

Food:Catered tri-tip, chicken, cole slaw, bread & beans. Water and soft drinks will be provided.

Members should bring:A-M DessertsN-Z Appetizers

Cost:Free to first 60 RSVP’s (2 per member) after that $10 per person.

Raffle:In addition to the regular stuff we’ll put together some specialraffle items.

Beach Gear:Bring your own chairs, umbrellas, sun block, etc

Show up early and you might try your hand at some halibut fishing!


Halibut Outing Report - Bernard Pieters

On Saturday morning June 14th six of us, Ken Baldwin, Jim Small, Lew Leichter, Joe Fram and his

daughter showed up for our halibut outing in Port San Luis.

The sky was almost totally open with no wind and a slow warming rising sun promising us a

beautiful fishing day. Some of the participants were new to this fishing and needed extensive help

to gear up correctly. We talked of the ins and outs of how to catch them. At 7:45 the lines were

cast from the shore, and after a one on one fine tuning it was time for them to experiment by

themselves the fish of a hundred plus casts. Unfortunately one member broke his rod ending

prematurely his first try in the bay. Three of us were using a pontoon to explore more water.

Almost no bait fish were spotted in the somewhat cold water to be good for halibut. The water was

in most spots almost too cloudy to be productive if you were not changing the color and size of the

fly. The effort paid off resulting in landing a nice 20'' halibut. Later in the morning and a hundred

casts more with 65 ft of line out came a soft short tug on the line what was answered with a fast

solid hook set: fish on. Let the games begin, but this time was different from the previous fish.

The 8 wt rod was bending much more and the fish was maintaining his ground near the bottom.

After a few minutes of heavy lifting and pulling back of the fish we got to see a first glimpse of

what was hooked. Pulling back and disappearing to the bottom over and over again it came finally

to the surface. The net was forgotten in the truck and Lew borrowed a trout net that looked much

too small for this big fish. Finally, after a few risky landing attempts, the halibut was hanging half

out of the net lifting it into the pontoon. We got the jackpot with this 27 inch, 9 pound beauty.

The day was ended with 2 fish. This is proof that it can be done even with difficult water

conditions if you can stay concentrated, fine tune your fishing, and don't give up! We can only

hope to have a good halibut summer after last year’s fabulous results.

See you in the bay for some halibut fishing.

Manzanita outing — Ray Belknap

Surface action was as good as it gets.

We had a good outing the week of July 17th. We hadthe regulars, Ray Belknap, Larry Sederburg, TerryCroxton and Bob Bayer. Bernard missed the outingdue to Christine coming down with a horrible toothinfection. We also had some new fishers Joe Fram andhis wife and Tom Nickelson.

The lake was full of weeds this year. Last year theheavy rain seemed to have pushed all of the weedsout. Everyone caught fish, 2 to 4 each day, which isgood for Manzanita. It was a learning curve for some

of the new folks but by the end everyone was catching fish.


The action was divided between Callibaetis nymphs in the morning using Bernard’s time honoredtechnique of long leaders fished just above the weeds. The dry fly action around noon but wasn’tas prolific as usual. The usual Parachute Adams. They would be on the surface for 5 to 10 minutesin the middle of the lake, quit and restart 20 minutes later.

Fishing the San Juan in July — Lew Leichter

Just got back from our first July trip to the Juan. We went this time of year as we were supposedto have some good dry fly fishing. As it turned out there was limited opportunities to throw driesdue to whatever. However as you can tell by the smiles the fishing was as excellent as always. We'llbe researching dates for our return in 2019.

I'd like to start compiling a list of those of you who are interested in possibly going in 2019.

Trip will most likely be in April, 5 nights room & board and 4 days of guided fishing about $1,700plus airfare to Durango about $500. Sign ups & deposit required in January 2019.

If interested send me an email at [email protected]


Fly Fishing 101 Class – Rich ChubonOnce again, we will be offering our popular Fly Fishing 101 Class at the Odd Fellows Building at 520Dana Street in San Luis Obispo. The class will be held at 9:00 AM Saturday, September15th. Theclass is geared for Club members who are new to fly fishing or just want to brush up on some of thebasics. The class covers all the basics of fly fishing including:

Fly reels Fly rods Fly lines Leader and tippets Knots Field equipment & gear Fly types & Entomology Basic Casting Stream strategy & etiquette

We will provide a “hands on” experience for class participants. To register for the class, or if youhave questions about it please send an email to me at [email protected] . Our class will belimited to the first 10 members who register. Bring your fly rod or if you don’t have one let usknow and we will provide a rod for you. Also, let me know what area(s) of fly fishing you wouldlike to learn more about and we be sure to cover those areas in our class.

Western Rivers Conservancy — Annual Report

For the first time, WRC’s annual report is available entirely and only online. Connecting you withour work on the West’s great rivers has always been the goal of our annual report, and I think thisyear’s digital version does this better than ever. I invite you to explore it and hope it gives you thesame sense of pride that I feel when looking back at all we accomplished last year.

As you know, 2017 ushered in a new sense of urgency for those of us who care about rivers—anurgency that has spurred us to work harder and more strategically than ever before. As a result,WRC made tremendous headway in our efforts to protect the great rivers of the West.

View the report here: http://www.westernrivers.org/about/annualreports/annualreport2017/

Fly Fishing 101 Class September 2016


Pat Jaeger’s Eastern Sierra Workshop & Outing – October 6th-7th

Here’s an opportunity for members to geta great “on the water experience” withEastern Sierra guide Pat Jaeger. Thisoutdoor fly fishing adventure will giveparticipants new skills that will helpthem on their way to more enjoyable flyfishing experiences. If you missed lastyear’s class or want to retake the classwhy not sign up for this affordable, funouting. See Pat’s description below.

Group or Fly Club Workshops – PatJaeger These Workshops take placeStream-side, from Bishop to Bridgeport.The water choices are seasonal as is myguiding menu; I chose to pick the ripe lowhanging fruit to guide what’s hot and notwhat’s not.

Literally given from the tailgate of my truck, we shed light on thenuances and educate of our target fishery. Then to un-lock themysteries of fly rigging. Next, down to the river where we go knee deepin water reading, swat style approaches, fly selections and step by steppresentation tactics.

After Q and A section we break-up and practice what we preach.

Really affordable group class designed to simplify, inspire and literallyto get the bugs out. Beginner to advanced, 5 hour class from 6-10anglers $325.00 (anglers must be equipped and knot savvy). We need aminimum of 6 members to register, but more participants really lowerindividual costs, making a good deal even better

Reservations, Questions, and Contact Information - Contact LewLeichter to sign up and reserve your place: 805-934-2478 or [email protected]

Owens East Sierra Outing,October 2017

Owens East Sierra outing October 2017


Pyramid Lake Outing — November 2nd & 3rd - Rich Chubon

Our annual trip to Pyramid Lake, NV, is scheduled forNovember 2nd and 3rd. The last few years we haveopted to fish Pyramid in the Fall. The watertemperatures are more moderate, fish haverecovered from their summer hiatus, and are moreactive, and the fishing crowds are smaller.

Pyramid continues to kick numbers of trophy sizecutthroat many weighing in the double digits. Theselarger fish reflect the maturation of the Pilot Creekfish which were planted in the lake several yearsago. These fish have fast growth rates and will likelyproduce a new lake record at some time in thefuture.

If you are planning on joining this club outing you will need 6 to 9 wt. rods, floating and sinking tiplines, sinking shooting heads and 9 ft leaders tapered to 1X or 2X. You will also needwaders/boots, warm clothing, polarized sunglasses, a 6-8-foot ladder and net.

We fish Pyramid using a ladder as a casting platform in the early morning and late evening. Wecast an intermediate sink running line with a sinking shooting head, rigged with two flies (usually aPyramid Beetle and Woolley Bugger) then strip retrieve. Fish follow and often take the fly at yourfeet. When the wind picks up, we will often switch to a floating line with an indicator, fishingchironomids, Copper Johns, or Mahlo’s patterns just off the bottom. These fly patterns areavailable at the Crosby’s Lodge on the lake or at sporting goods stores in Reno. You will need topurchase fishing permits at a cost of $11 per day. They are available online or at the lake. Weusually buy permits for 3 days at cost of $28. For more information on fishing technique, underour Club web site’s Members Only page, click on Trip Book, and then Pyramid Lake.

Guide, Chris Wharton will be with us for the 2 days. We will share his costs. Chris is very familiarwith this fishery and has put us on big fish in the past.

We have reservations for a single wide trailer at Crosby’s which will accommodate up to 7. If youplan on going and/or need lodging let me know soon. Contact me at [email protected] or805-782-9193. We will also try to arrange carpools for the trip. This You Tube linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq-mLGUxDW0 gives a picture of what fishing Pyramid Lake islike.

SANTA LUCIA FLY FISHERS 2018 OUTINGS & EVENTS - Rich Chubon

AUGUST 11 ANNUAL MEMBERS BBQSEPTEMBER - TBD SEA JAY SALT WATER TRIP – Andy Malovos [email protected] - TBD RIPTIDE RENDEZVOUS SURF FISHING EVENTOCTOBER 20-21 CALIFORNIA FLY FISHING SHOW – Southwest Council, Glendale

AuditoriumNOVEMBER 2-3 PYRAMID LAKE – Rich Chubon [email protected] – TBD O'NEILL FOREBAY STRIPERS - Mark Shelton [email protected]


Elk Hair Caddis

The next fly tying session will be held at the Odd Fellows Hall in

San Luis Obispo on Thursday, August 2nd at 6:30. Jim Snodgrass

will demonstrate the Elk Hair Caddis. The Elk Hair Caddis is one

of the most popular and proven dry flies in the world. It was

created by Pennsylvania fly tier, Al Troth, in 1957. Troth is

considered a pioneer in the sport of fly fishing for this invention.

The Elk Hair Caddis is considered a searching type pattern as it

resembles the general form of adult caddisflies or small

stoneflies. Troth created the pattern and first fished it on Loyalsock Creek in eastern

Pennsylvania. The fly was inspired by several palmered flies and a Little Red Sedge fly (which

featured a hair wing) that Troth liked to fish. The Elk Hair Caddis was originally tied to imitate

the Green Caddis hatch, but has since been tied in a variety of wing, hackle, and body colors to

simulate different caddis and small stoneflies.

Jim says that the Elk Hair Caddis can be fished like conventional dry flies, as well as be

“skated” across the top of the water to attract feeding trout. In addition, this pattern can

work well for steelhead with some alterations to the basic pattern.

Materials:The following are the material that will be used for the Elk Hair Caddis:

Thread - Olive 8/0 or 6/0

Hook - Dai-Riki #320 size 12

Body - Wapsi, Superfine dubbing, olive

Rib - Ultra wire – small copper

Hackel - Whiting 100 pack, brown, size 14

Wing - Cow elk flank - bleached

All materials will be supplied, but be sure and bring olive thread, in either 8/0 or 6/0.

Web Sites:http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/print.cfm?parentID=44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XIDln933xE

http://intheriffle.com/fishing-videos/fly-tying/elk-hair-caddis/


Surf Fishing part two of a two-part articleRecently one of our new members asked for information on fly fishing in the surf. I posed the question to acouple of the club members. The response I got from Tim Postel was so good I decided it would be aterrific article for our newsletter. This is part two on Tactics, Technique, Where and When to go.“OK so, How do I do it?”Tactics & Technique:One of the hardest thing for an instructor to convey to a student of surf fly-fishing is "bug feel". Theinstructor knows exactly what it is from his fishing experience - and can tell if he has picked up a single 3"strand of eel grass - but cannot observe "bug feel" in the student's hands. The only thing that will developthat skill in the student is experience; but the learning curve will be shortened if there is an obsessivefocus on avoiding slack at all costs. Most new fly/surf anglers get bit and never know it because of lineslack.- watch the longshore current; cast "across and upstream" slightly so when the fly is "working" it is in thecorrect zone- start stripping as soon as possible, avoid a line belly!- Rod tip pointed down the fly line; rod tip in the water if possible.- err on the side of stripping a little too fast, but without hard jerks (which induces momentary slack) Amonotonous strip-strip-strip-strip-strip cadence and a weighted jig fly will catch surf fish. Irregular retrieveswill as well, but that should wait until good "bug feel" and good slack avoidance techniques are solid.“Where do you go?”Locations:One of the nice things about fishing in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties is that the vast majority ofplaces where you would like to fish have plenty of parking, and no charges to do so. Just make sure youcarefully note restrictions on parking signs. There's no uniformity to them, particularly in the mornings from5am to 7am.In general: biological diversity, both in terms of food webs and predator-prey relationships reach theirpeak in the transitional areas between rocky and sandy areas. Seek out those spots when you want to besurprised by "something different". (I've caught about 30 species OTF in VC & SB counties - includingsome nice fish e.g. legal WSB, big stripers, etc. This might mean you will lose some flies and leaders,perhaps rarely even shooting heads or parts of fly lines). But even in "featureless" sandy beach areas youcan expect to find perch, croaker, jacksmelt, and occasionally halibut.It is convenient to divide the surf zone in VC into three sections which are "between the county lines andthe piers":SVC (Southern Ventura County coast): From Yerba Buena Rd (LA county line) to the Hueneme PierCVC (Central Ventura County coast): From the Hueneme Pier to the Ventura PierNVC (Northern Ventura County coast): From the Ventura Pier to the SB County Line

The above designation is more than just an arbitrary convenience: those three sections of coast arecompletely different in character in a number of ways, but the primary differences are the direction theyface towards the open ocean, westerly sea breezes, and the degree to which they are sheltered fromocean swell by either headlands (Pt. Conception) or the offshore Islands.NVC has all three of those factors: sheltered from the dominant NW long-period swell, sheltered fromwinter S swells by the offshore islands, and sheltered from Santa Ana breezes, this reach of coastline isextremely calm relative to the rest of the Pacific coast of North America. The epicenter of this calmness isprobably Summerland. This makes the S portion of Santa Barbara county excellent for things like corbinasight fishing during low tides and calm seas of summer; and also a place to fish when the swell is ragingelsewhere - finfish in the surf prefer moving water. And many times the breezes are calm here even mid-afternoon; whereas they might be howling across the Oxnard plain.CVC faces directly into the teeth of the Westerly breezes and the NW swell. So the beaches here aresteep, and on average the surf is largest here. Which can be a good thing when we have frog-water


conditions elsewhere. Remember: surf fish prefer moving water. Note however that the low elevation ofthe Oxnard plain means that the westerly breezes develop here early and persist until nearly sunset orbeyond. Fly fishing here will probably be limited to times before 10-11am. Or when there is a modestSanta Ana condition, and the breeze is only in the backcast, and helpful for long casts. Also this: otherthan man-made structures, there are literally no beachside rockpiles, eel grass beds, or kelp stands in thisentire reach of the coast. Think perch, croaker, and jacksmelt, and little else.SVC is like a different ocean from NVC and CVC because it faces S but is not sheltered from S swell bythe islands. If you were to fish all three in the same day, you would notice that the current is different, thewater color is different, the wave action is different. Like CVC, there are no rocky areas or kelp standsfrom Port Hueneme to Point Mugu. S of Point Mugu though the coastline turns rocky which implies adifferent species mix. Many times CVC will be unfishable due to NW surf conditions, but SVC will be finebecause it turns away from the WNW swell. But note this: when the W sea breeze starts up, it will bedirectly into the right ear of a fly angler. So, right handed casters will get shut down mid- to late- morningmost days. I have returned up the coastline/PCH on many mid-summer mornings, having fished forcorbina in LA county in the early going. The change in the breeze and sea state between the SantaMonica basin and Pt Dume due to developing wind can be very dramatic.NVC Surfer's Point Emma Wood to SolimarSolimar to Faria Faria to Seacliff Oil Piers La Conchita Rincon State Beach ("Bates Road")

CVC Silverstrand/ La Janelle Hollywood Beach Ed Hunt Rehab/ Oxnard Beach Park Oxnard ShoresFifth Street McGrath State Beach (closed) Surfers Knoll Ventura Harbor Jettys Marina Park Pierpont AreaVentura State BeachVentura PierSVC LA County Line Deer Creek Sycamore Creek Thornhill Broome Pt. Mugu Arnold Road[the only two locations in the county where I refuse to park - Edison Rd and Perkins Rd] Port Hueneme

It is probably worthwhile to take a Sunday drive - without the fishing gear - along the coast with anotebook or perhaps a camera/cellphone and scout out parking locations and the associated signage. Ifyou've studied the tide tables, looked at the weather forecast, and got out of bed early, the last thing youwant to do is be burning tide and greylight because you've arrived some place expecting to fish, only tofind out you can't park there for another 90 minutes. Also, mid-day is a good time to do just that: all thebeach-goers with their own vehicles will reveal to you all the creative places they have found to park forfree.


"How do I assess conditions before I go?"Below are some Internet sites which are convenient for assessing both real-time conditions and looking atnear-term forecasts. I try to look at all of them before I decide where to fish.Tides: http://goo.gl/YAFz3SBuoys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/Southwest.shtml(small graph icons will display the last 5 days of data for the given measurement right up to 10 minutesago)Ocean State & short-term forecasts: http://cdip.ucsd.edu/?&nav=recent&sub=observed(click through the icons & menus on the left until you understand what everything is)Surf Forecasts: http://www.surfline.com/surf-forecasts/(don't overlook their "spots" sub-forecasts)Sky conditions: https://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/sat-bin/epac_westcoast.cgi(The "visible" image works at night, too!)Weather observations & forecasts: http://www.weather.gov/lox/ (tons of stuff here)** A note about Barred Surf Perch:Historically, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties offered less in species diversity than points south ofhere (few to zero spotfin croaker, few yellowfin croaker, less corbina, less halibut, etc), but wasoutstanding in it's barred perch fishery. This was true right up until about 2012 or so - you literally couldnot find a spot along any beach where you would not catch a barred perch or two. It would not beuncommon for me to catch 50 barred perch in a 4-hour session if I found a good location. That allchanged around 2012-13, and now the barred perch fishery is quite poor everywhere in SouthernCalifornia south of Pt. Conception. Now in VC, there are definitely stretches of beach where perch fishinghas been quite bleak, even at locations which formerly were quite productive. It's a bit demoralizing, asbarred perch were the most abundant fish in the lineup, almost by a factor of 20 to 1. This makes it toughfor an angler new to the area to find immediate rewards. It is possible that it is rebounding a little however.The widespread nature of the downturn though suggests it is an oceanic condition rather than a localissue (e.g. point-source pollution), and it appeared to affect warmer waters first (first noticed in SDcounty). So I suppose it is also possible that it will become the "new normal". The reason that I mention itis that when the fishing was that good, an angler could tell himself "I'm going to target halibut (or YFC,etc)" - and even though the target might not be achieved, a few perch interlopers would appear during afishing session, so skunkings were more rare.


PRIVATE CASTING LESSONS AVAILABLEWhile our six IFFF certified casting instructors generously put on a series offree casting clinics for our club members each spring we wanted you to knowthey are available for private casting lessons throughout the year. If interestedplease contact them directly for additional information.

Bernard Pieters Arroyo Grande 489-3085 [email protected] Sherar Atascadero 423-0170 [email protected] Hurd Arroyo Grande 550-9071 [email protected] Tose Grover Beach 904-5288 [email protected] McPartland Paso Robles 441-0744 [email protected] Stoner Halcyon 550-9509 [email protected]

Do you want the SLFF Club logo embroidered on any garment?

Contact R & T Embroidery… current cost $7.75 each.

Support IFFF and your local Fishing Outfitters


OFFICERSPresident Art ChapmanVice President Rich ChubonSecretary Sheri BryantTreasurer Bob Hartzell

DirectorsLew Leichter Larry DellardBernard Pieters Mike PowersBob Bayer

CommitteesConservation Tom Nickelson Website Robert Benassi

Ron BryantDoug Daniels (TIC)

Newsletter Mike Powers Education vacant

Programs Lew Leichter Casting Bernard PietersEric Sherar

Membership Mark Shelton Fly Tying Jim Snodgrass

SWCFFF Coordinator Lew Leichter Rod Building Rich Chubon

Fresh Water Outings Art ChapmanRich Chubon Library Steve Soenke

Salt Water Outings Andy Malovos Banquet & BBQ Sheri and Ron BryantLew Leichter

Nominating Rich ChubonFundraising Bob Bayer Lew Leichter

Lew Leichter Bernard PietersRich ChubonGeorge Protsman


P.O. Box 166San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

Come wet a line with us! Thank you for supporting thosewho help support our chapter.

SLFF MEMBERSHIP INFORMATIONAn individual regular membership is $35.00 per year

For 12 months (January through December).Enrollment after July 1st is $20.00 for the remainder of the

year.To join, please download the Membership Form from our

Website:http://www.santaluciaflyfishers.com/membership-3

Send completed form with a check for dues to:Santa Lucia Fly Fishers

c/o Secretary

slff 2018-08 r1 - santa lucia fly fishers › 2018 aug newsletter.pdf · fly fishing 101 class –...

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