Spokane Fly Fishers www.spokaneflyfishers.com December, 2011

DECEMBER MEETING December 14, 2011 - 7:00 P.M.

COME TO THE PARTY!

December 14th is the date of our Christ-mas Party. Carla and her helpers are deco-rating the hall, and preparing a wonderful main course of turkey, ham, salmon, mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls. The oth-

er members get to show off their culinary skills by bringing all the side dishes and desserts. If your last name starts with the letters:

A—H Please bring a Hot Side Dish I—P Please bring a Salad

Q—Z Please bring a Dessert This is always a fun meeting. You get to talk with fellow members, enjoy good food, and get a chance to win a Christ-mas tree ornament, created by various members, and the gingerbread house (from Carla) with the reinmice (by Dan). You may also participate in the gift exchange by bringing a $10 gift to be placed under the tree. Kurt and Wendi Tempel will be handling the open bar. Cheryl Allen and her choral group “Pepper” will sing for us. If you have any questions, call Carla at 325-8885. We hope to see you and your families on December 14th.

ALICE DEAVER ESTATE SALE (fishing gear, fly tying tools & materials)

Alice’s rods and reels were previewed at the October meet-ing. At the December meeting, you will have an opportunity to purchase the rods and reels, along with other fishing gear and a very large selection of fly tying materials and some tools. Here is a chance for you to buy yourself or someone else a few holiday presents! Any questions call Judy 924-9462.

OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS

President Mike Berube

Vice President Kurt Tempel

Treasurer Gale Allen

Secretary Sherrie Patano

Board Position 1 Brad Thompson

Board Position 2 Dan Wight

Board Position 3 Klaus Rissman

Past President Fred Howe

Sgt. At Arms Carla Ferguson

Contact us at:

P. O. Box 4141

Spokane, WA 99220

Or

sffishers@comcast.net

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN

Programs: Kurt Tempel

Barbless Flyer Editor: Linda Howe

Conservation: Mike Keegan

Outings Don Tietz

Membership Mary Kovatch

Fly Fishing School: Mike Berube

Dan Ferguson

Librarian: Robert Stock/Larry Ray

Project Healing Waters: Tim Reed

FFF Liaison: Dan Ferguson

Beg. Fly Tying: Betty Smith-Lambert

Int. Fly Tying: Dan Ferguson

Club Chef: Carla Ferguson

Volunteer Coordinator:

Judy Kaufman

AROUND THE BEND

Dec. 14th SFF Meeting

Holiday Party 7 PM

Dec. 21st SFF Board Meet-ing 6:30 PM Jan. 11,2012 Sff Meeting

THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 2

PREZ SEZ By: Mike Berube

Happy Holidays Everyone! Hopefully you were able to take a little time over the Thanksgiving holiday and spend it with your families. I spent the week-end catching up with family, eating some turkey and tying some flies. Very relaxing and stress free! I hope to see you all at the club’s Holiday Party on December 14

th. It’s always a treat to enjoy Carla Fergu-

son’s culinary creations and all of the side dishes and desserts prepared by club members. Santa will make an appearance and we’ll have some entertainment. Come on out and celebrate.

If you have any pictures from outings or club events please forward them to Don Tietz at don@troutfisher.org, the club email sffishers@comcast.net, or to me at tytlynz@gmail.com. Don’s is preparing a slide show we’ll play at the Holiday Party meeting. Thanks Don, we ap-preciate it. The Fly Auction at last month’s meeting was a great time and very successful. First, I’d like to say that the club has some awesome tiers, what a night for members to show off their skills! Brad Thomson, despite never even attending one of our auctions put a great program together. Of course, he didn’t do it by himself, he had lots of helpers. Thanks everyone! A special thanks to Judy Kaufmann for taking the time to meet with the committee and share her information /ins and outs of running the auction. Lastly, thanks to all of the bidders and fly tiers, it wouldn’t have been successful without you. With the wind blowing and the snow falling fishing season is slowing for most of us. Club activities can keep you busy during the slow winter months. Get involved. If you want to im-prove your fly tying skills and/or learn how to tie, sign-up sheets for the Beginners Class and Intermediate Class will be available at our next meeting. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season and get a chance to spend some quality time with family and friends.

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR LIFE By: Dan Ferguson

Would you like to give someone a Christmas gift that grows every year, improves with age and use and costs less than anything close in comparability? The Spokane Fly Fishers are starting their annual fly fishing school on 8 March, 2011. The school lasts 8 weeks on Thursday evenings from 7:00P.M. to 9:00P.M. at St. Francis school, 1104 W. Heroy. In addition to these classroom sessions there are three casting classes on Satur-days at Mirabeau Park and two safety classes, one on a lake and one on a river, both on Saturdays.

Cost for all this is only $125.00 for 18 and up, and $60.00 for 12-17 years old. Cost includes club membership until May 31, 2013. Already a member? The cost for you or your spouse is only $75.00. Send check for reservation to Dan Ferguson, 6024 N G st Spokane WA. 99205. Call 868-9545 or email nwflyguy@comcast.net.

THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 3

CONSERVATION CORNER By: Mike Keegan

DIDYMO MAS IN HAND OF OBSERVER

Native To: Northern Europe and northern North America (Vancouver Island)

Date of U.S. Introduction: Was present in Canada in the late 1800s, but did not begin to cause problems until the early 1990s. It was present in the rivers of the Western U.S. by 2004, and it was first discovered east of the Mississippi River in 2005 in Tennessee.

Means of Introduction: Exact pathway unknown, but it spreads easily through contaminat-ed boats and fishing gear.

Impact: Can result in dense algal blooms that block sunlight and disrupt ecological pro-cesses, causing a decline in native plant and animal life.

Current U.S. Distribution: Scattered populations exist throughout the United States, in-cluding New England, the Mid-Atlantic Region, and the Western U.S.

This is another threat and should be an incentive to clean our gear.

Z LAKE AERATOR

The replacement power source was installed on Monday, November 7. This will insure that aeration on the lake will improve the survival rate of fish in this lake. Z-Lake is only about 16 feet deep and has strong rainbow trout that are a thrill to catch. It is located in the Swanson Lake Wildlife area south of Davenport.

MARCH CONSERVATION RAFFLE 2012 We will soon begin to plan for the raffle. Any inputs or suggestions for the raf-fle will be appreciated. Donations will be accepted starting in January. The annual raffle will be at our regular meeting in March.

If you have good fishing gear, or equipment that you don’t want or don’t need, keep the raffle in mind. After Christmas sales? Pick up something you can donate to help our conservation efforts.

DIRECTORY CORRECTIONS By: Mary Kovatch, Membership Chair

On page 7, the name should read Don and Mary De Luca. Please remove the asterisk after Mary De Luca’s name on page 24, Fly Fisher Of The Year, 1985. Mary is very much alive and I apologize to the De Luca’s for this error. The email address for Mary Kovatch is: kovamare@q.com

THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 4

BEGINNING FLY TYING—2012 By Betty Smith-Lambert

Are you beginning to have fishing withdrawal? Ice in your guides is not your kind of fishing? Are you feeling yourself sliding into Winter Depression? You need something that is fishing oriented until “ice out”. How about taking a fly tying class? SFF presents several levels of fly tying. There is a Beginning Fly Tying Class that happens every Saturday for five weeks beginning on the 7th of January. It starts at 9 AM and goes until noon at 1812 West 10

th Avenue. The

cost of $25 is for the entire class (all 5 weeks). Materials and tools used during the class are included from the supplies that were donated to the club. Below, you will find information about the Intermediate Fly Tying Classes. I hope that this tip helps clear your winter blues. Sign up sheets will be at the December meeting, or you can call Betty at 838-5914.

INTERMEDIATE FLY TYING 2012

(Skill level – can tie without wrapping your material hand forefinger to the hook) By: Dan Ferguson

I’m happy to report that intermediate fly tying is taking shape. I know those that have already signed up are particularly glad to hear this. We will be spinning, trimming, shaping, learning quill wings, doing foam bodies, tackling soft hackles, doing some streamers, steelhead and a couple very interesting surprise patterns!

This year the tying sessions will be Thursday evenings (6) beginning on January 5th. We will meet at the Wildlife Council Building at 6116 Market (2 blocks South of Francis). The cost for the six evenings of fun and learning will be $35. We will collectively purchase many of the tying materials, bundle the materials needed for each pattern and have a packet of each pattern materials for the tiers. The tiers would need to bring the basic materials that anyone taking this class should have, a vise, tying tools and thread. You can sign up at the December Pot Luck but for planning purposes we need to know NOW!

Call Dan at 509-868-9545.

MEMBERSHIP Mary Kovatch, Chair

The following people just joined the club. They are:

Stan Miller, Gordon McCammond, Randy J. Smith, Keith Brewer, Ron Bradstreet and Dave Mirabell.

Please give them a big Thank You for joining us.

THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 5

JANUARY MEETING: JANUARY 11. 2012 SPEAKER: DAVE BLOOM

Dave was born and raised in Great Falls and has spent his life fishing the waters of southwest Montana. In 2001, Dave returned to his home waters of the Missouri, which had been the river that captured his imagination since he first fished it as a youngster in 1971. He will speak with us about Fishing the Missouri River. Dave is also a nationally recognized fly-tier and his pat-terns are produced and sold by Idylwilde Flies. Go to the Idylwilde Flies web site for more info on Dave and his patterns. He has agreed to have a tying class for us on January 11, the day of our meeting, from 1:30 to 3:30. This is your chance to learn from a Signature Ti-er. The cost of the class is $20. To reserve your spot in the class, contact Judy Kaufman at 924-9462.

2011 FLY AUCTION REPORT

This years Fly Auction was again a success. Brad Thompson’s organizational skills were put to good use and everything ran smoothly. There were incredible flies tied by our mem-bers who donated dozens and dozens of flies. We have to thank all of the members who assisted with the auction. Once again, our auctioneer, Art Ross, kept the bids flowing. Kurt Tempel did a great job as emcee for the event. Dan Ferguson again handled the camera so we could tell what we were bidding on. Several other members came to the meeting early (4:30) to set up the room, check in flies, etc. These same mem-bers assisted during the auction and even stayed after the meeting to return the room to the way it was when we entered. We want to thank all of the members (and non-members) who donated flies for this fun event and especially wish to thank those whose winning bids will help to support the club for the year. We wish them many hours of enjoyment putting them to good use and catch-

ing many award winning fish. The club’s chairman for this event, Brad Thompson, de-serves a special thank you as well as he had never attended the auction before and stepped up to fill our need. You did a great job, Brad.

THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 6

An Often Overlooked & Under Utilized Fly By Mike Berube

If you were at the October general meeting you heard me talk a bit about the fact that we are always learning as fly fishers, specifically I was talking about soft-hackle flies. I did-n’t have the time to get my point across. I’ll try to do that now. My point is, don’t leave soft hackles out of your box or out of your vest when you hit the water. I had gone out with our VP and Jim Gooley earlier that week and we were fishing an area in which we had to hike in a bit. If you go fishing with Kurt or Jim you’ll find out that they enjoy getting away from it all. Getting off the beaten path is Kurt’s mantra. So I had to lighten up on the gear and de-cided to leave some things behind…like a small box I keep my soft hackles in. I wish I wouldn’t have. Kurt had a few soft hackles in his vest and caught some fish when the rain-bows got sick of the leeches and nymphs we were tossing at’em. I learned to always have a few with me. Kurt was a boy scout, he was ready. I’ll always have a few with me from now on…Honest!

They’re an easy tie. Hook, body material/usually floss/silk/tying thread, a bit of dub-bing for a thorax, and a feather, most of the time a Hungarian partridge feather for the wing and you’re ready to tie. You’ve probably seen the names of these flies before, Partridge & Yellow, Partridge and Orange, or the Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle. Easy names = easy tie. Below are some easy tying instructions for the Partridge and Orange. Don’t hit the water without them!

Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle

Materials List: Hooks: Nymph/Wet Thread: Color to match body or be creative and experiment Body: Orange floss, or Pearsall's orange tying silk Thorax: Hare’s Ear Dubbing Hackle: Gray partridge, about 2 turns

1. Dress your hook with thread, start at the hook eye and go back about two eye lengths. 2. Now tie in your floss/silk. Pull it to the rear along the shank of the hook and wrap your thread back over it to a point above the barb of the hook. Next wrap your thread back to the front of the hook. Now begin wrapping the floss/silk back to the front of the hook, be care-ful not to snag the floss/silk on the hook point. Ensure the wraps are close together so none of the under material show. Stop about two –three eye lengths from the front and tie off on top with a couple of tight wraps of thread and cut off the floss/silk. (Continued of next page.)

THE BARBLESS FLYER Page 7

(Continued from previous page.)

3. Select your hackle, in general, the hackle should be sized so the barbs extend about to the back of the bend, so the barbs would be slightly longer than the shank. You’ll develop your own style as you start tying this pattern. Stroke the hackle fibers backward, so they stand out at right angles to the stem. Hold it by the tip to do this. Strip off the fluff from the base of the stem on both sides. 4. This next step, tying the hackle in can be a point of contention amongst tiers, “Do I tie it in by the butt or by the tip”. I’m a tip guy so for these instructions please tie in by the tip. Tie the hackle in by the tip about two – three eye lengths back from the eye, so the "natural curve of the feather is towards the hook" or the butt sticking up. Once tied in trim off the excess tip material and leave the thread in place. Apply some dubbing to your thread and form a thorax that the hackle will rest against. The thorax should be big enough to cover the tied in hackle tip and floss/silk tie in point. Finish your dubbing on the feather side of the thorax. Leave your thread hanging down. 5. Do NOT advance thread to in front of feather. Attach your hackle pliers or use your fin-gers and make 1 1/2 to 2 wraps with the partridge hackle, stroke the feather to the rear over the thorax as you wrap it. Make sure you keep the convex side of the feather facing forward as you wrap. At this point, the thread is behind the wrapped hackle, now bring the thread forward thru the hackle, being sure to wrap down the stem twice as you go. Be careful not to bind down any fibers. Now advance thread to the eye, trim excess butt of feather. 6. Form a neat, tapered head. Slightly wrap over the stem of the hackle to ensure they flow over the hackle. Whip finish, cut thread, apply head cement, catch fish!

RAFFLE BOARD By: Dan Ferguson

The club acquired a Sage 9' 5wt VT2 Fly Rod that we'll be raffling off during the coming meeting season. This will be an outfit with a reel and line. We'll have a 144 space raffle board at $5 a square with the proceeds going to the years door prizes. A Win Win situation for everyone!

A great chance to win a nice rod/reel combo for a good cause.

THE BARBLESS FLYER Spokane Fly Fishers P. O. Box 4141 Spokane, WA 99220

NEXT MEETING

December 14, 2011

HOLIDAY PARTY 7:00 PM

ST. FRANCIS SCHOOL 1104 W. HEROY

“THE MISSION OF THE SPOKANE FLY FISHERS IS TO PROVIDE A FAMILY FRIENDLY

ORGANIZATION FOR PROMOTING THE SPORT OF FLY FISHING THROUGH EDUCATION, APPLICATION, AND CONSERVATION.”

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR NAME TAGS TO THE MEETING

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED