wfc 11/11

www.wyflycasters.org

Fishing is much more than fish. It isthe great occasion when we may return tothe fine simplicity of our forefathers.

-Herbert Hoover��

reetings once again,I do believe there is some-

thing to Einstein’s Theory ofRelativity, at least where time is con-cerned. It seems that with each passingday, time moves just a wee bit faster andour awareness of the speed of the clockis in direct correlation to our advancingyears. Someone has to be monkeyingwith the clocks, because what else couldexplain how we have gotten this far intothe fall with so little time-spent fishing?

•The six other folks in the Game

and Fish program that I worked this sea-son and I spent a few hours fishing thenorth fork of the Popo Agie in earlyOctober. The river gave up some nicebrowns for a small stream. They refuseda number of different nymphs andabsolutely wore out my foam grasshop-per. The last fish I caught with it gotaway with the legs of the hopper.

Though I may have littered thePopo Agie with fly debris I think wemore than made up for it by conductingour second litter pickup on the

Wyoming FlyCastersadopted sec-tion of StateHighway 220throughAlcova. Wehad a goodturnout thisfall witheleven of us

out there, up from eight in the spring.My thanks go out to Scott Novotny,Marty and Gene Robinson, Bob Fisher,Tom McGeorge, Greg Groves, Brian(my apologies for forgetting your last

Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter

The Backcast is the monthly newsletterof the Wyoming Fly Casters, an affiliate clubof the Wyoming Council of Trout Unlimited,the Nature Conservancy and the Federationof Fly Fishers. Editorial content does not nec-essarily reflect the views of the officers, boardor members of the Wyoming Fly Casters.

Annual dues are $20 for an individual,$30 for a family, or $250 for a lifetime individ-ual membership or $450 for a lifetime familymembership.

Visit the club website at www.wyflycast-ers.org.

To pay dues or contact the club, write toP.O. Box 2881, Casper, WY 82602.

The deadline for submission of informa-tion for each issue is a week before the end ofthe month. Make contributions to the nextissue by e-mailing material to the Backcasteditor at [email protected], or call(307) 436-8774.

OFFICERSWill Waterbury, PresidentVacant, President-electVacant, Vice PresidentCasey Leary, SecretaryMatt Stanton, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORSTerms expire in 2012

Spencer AmendScott NovotnyNeil Ruebush

Brent “Smokey” Weinhandl, DDSTerms expire in 2013

Greg GrovesJoe MeyerAlex Rose

Herb WatermanTerms expire in 2014

John DolanJim JohnsonChris McAteeAndrew Sauter

The Backcast is available either inelectronic format or through USPS snailmail. To receive each newsletter througha monthly e-mail, you must be able toopen .pdf (Adobe Acrobat, a softwareprogram available free of charge) docu-ments. Usually, each issue is roughly 1MB in size, some are larger. Your e-mailprovider may have limits on the size ofattachments. In order to be added to thee-mail list, send a request [email protected]. In additionto receiving each issue of the newsletterearlier than your hard copy peers, e-mailsubscribers are able to print each copy invibrant color -- an added plus if the issueis rich in color photographs. By sub-scribing electronically, you also save theclub roughly $17.40 a year in printingand postage expenses.

Cover shot: The ubiquitous brook trout, found in most drainages of the state, particularly small streams.

Drag-free DriftsDrag-free Drifts by WILL WATERBURY President [email protected]

G

(continued on page 10)

name) a new member, and to those whohave done both the spring and fallclean-ups, Wanda Peters, John Yost, andRuss (the phantom) Newton. Lastspring we filled about 40 bags and thisfall only 28 bags. Next time you drivethrough Alcova be sure to admire theclean roadside.

•For November’s general meeting we

will be watching the latest addition tothe Fly Casters DVD library. If youhave an idea for a presentation pleasefeel free to call, or email, or let us knowat a meeting, so be thinking about atopic you would like to see and we’ll tryto put something together.

December’s general meeting will bethe annual Christmas party/dinner. Ifyou are a newer member please considergiving a hand to the Christmas commit-tee. It is a great way to meet membersof the club. It’s also nice to walk into ameeting and initiate greetings becauseyou now actually know some of theattendees. Our thanks to Matt Stantonfor beginning the process of organizingthe Christmas party. Matt is willing toget things rolling but does not have thetime to commit toward chairing thewhole event. We still need someone to

A rod building class beingtaught by Rex Eggleston will beheld on Saturdays, Dec. 10 andDec. 17, beginning at 9:00 a.m. atthe Crazy Rainbow Lodge. Space islimited, so be sure to sign up duringthe November general membershipmeeting on Nov. 9.

Rod building

class is slated


volunteering toshoulder the respon-sibilities of a stream-keeper. I plan to becamping at Madisonjunction, at the con-fluence of theMadison and Gibbonrivers.

Another pieceof water which will beckon in 2012 isthe Middle Fork of the Powder River.This will be another overnighter, as Iintend to hike down the Miller Trailwith my fly rod and sleeping bag. Yearsago, the club used to host outings on theMiddle Fork, which is how I was firstintroduced to this marvelous stream.This is one fishery which needs to bereconsidered as a hosted outing destina-tion.

And third on the list is one or moreof several candidates: Sand Creek,North Fork of the Shoshone River,Toltec reservoir south of Douglas orSoda Lake in the Gros Ventres (for floattubing), and of course finally completingmy cutt-slam by heading to the area ofthe Smith’s Fork. If schedules allow, Iwould like to learn the art of spey cast-ing (here’s an idea for a program pre-sented by John Dolan).

One thing I won’t need to preparefor the 2012 spring, summer and fallfishing seasons is my fly box inventory.My dry fly boxes remain fairly intact, asI have managed to keep pace with lossesfrom fish teeth, tree limbs and the out-

Tailing LoopsTailing Loops

Fishing is 90 percent mental and theother half is physical.

- Yogi Berra

stretched hands of fishing companions.So this winter, when bone-numbingcold, battering winds and generally mis-erable weather leave me inside listeningto music or watching the NFL onSunday afternoons, I won’t need to besitting at the tying bench replenishingpatterns.

•As the year draws to a close, I need

to remind members to submit photos forthe annual Christmas party slide show.Not many have been received (in theform of submissions to the Brag Board),so you have a month to email them.Only you can be sure you are represent-ed in the Christmas program. Photoswhich are especially welcome are thoseof the embarrasing kind (small fish,holes in waders, broken rods, etc.). Thisyear’s program promises to have morehumor at the expense of club membersand political incorrect themes.

Speaking of emails ... each month,when the latest issue of the Backcast iselectronically delivered, I get three orfour messages that the newsletter couldnot be delivered to its intended recipi-ent. It could be an email address waschanged, a server is temporarily down,or some other snafu. After two consecu-tive months of receiving the same mes-sage, I delete the electronic address fromthe subscription list. So if you don’treceive this issue, it’s not because it wasan intentional slight.

Tight lines,

Scoop

by RANDY STALKER Backcast editor [email protected]

BragBoard

the

TThe fine grains of sand are rapidly trick-ling through the hourglass of 2011, andnow, in mid-October, I step back toexamine the fishing trips enjoyed thisyear, as recorded in my journal.

Naturally, none of us had theopportunities to fish all the waters wehad intended during the year, myselfincluded. But I have sampled manyfavorite haunts, including stillwaters,small creeks and the Platte River duringthe last ten months. And will continueto do so through the balance of the year.

But in 2012, I am going to make acommitment to sample several pieces ofwater which I have not visited for sever-al years. Topping this list is the FireholeRiver in Yellowstone Park during theMemorial Day weekend.

The rainbows and browns are notlarge in the Firehole, but the fish arenot the only focus of opening day. First,the park is nearly devoid of other guests,except for the most die-hard of fly fish-ers; you can drive for miles without see-ing another car (a little different thanthe bumper-to-bumper traffic in late Julyon the stretch from Grant’s Village toMadison Junction). The real mecca isthe atmosphere of thermal features scat-tered throughout the entire stretch.Steaming cauldrons, fissures, geysers.

I would hope that I would see otherclub members during this weekend inlate May, although I am certainly not

with suspect attached materials. In addi-tion, one boat from New York hadattached dead mussels, another was froma personal watercraft last used in aninfested water in Utah, and anotherdecontamination was conducted on aboat last used in Lake Mead, NV wheremussels are present.

"As with last year, boaters were verycooperative with getting their watercraftinspected," said Bear. "Overall, thingswent very smoothly and even during thebusy holiday boating weekends, delayswere minimal. As the boating season pro-gressed, more and more boaters were fol-lowing the Drain, Clean and Dry proce-dure which greatly sped up the inspec-tion process."

Purchase of the required AIS decalalso went well with more than 34,000decals issued representing nearly 80 per-cent of the boats registered in Wyoming.The decal program has raised $431,900this year which is used to fund the AISinspection program and monitoring forAIS in Wyoming waters.

Even though the boating season isessentially over for the year, inspectionsare still being conducted for boaters whowant their craft inspected or have beenusing their boat on out-of-state waters.water.

WFC Treasurer's report month ending August 31, 2011Date Vendor/Item AmountIncome8/17/2011 Deposit - August Raffle $72, Dues $40, Ten Sleep contribution $30 ........$142.008/31/2011 Interest................................................................................................................0.43

Total ...................................................................................................142.43Expenses8/4/2011 FedEx office - Backcast Printing ......................................................................87.688/10/2011 4129 - Tony Martin Backcast postage (multiple months).............................105.008/17/2011 4130 - IWLA rent ............................................................................................75.008/17/2011 4131 - Ugly Bug July/Aug raffles....................................................................181.73

Total ...................................................................................................449.41

WFC Treasurer's report month ending September 30, 2011Date Vendor/Item AmountIncome9/22/2011 Deposit, membership..................................................................................... $50.009/30/2011 Interest...................................................................................................................41

Total .................................................................................................... 50.41Expenses9/9/2011 4132- Staples (paper for Expo) ......................................................................... 9.969/14/2100 4133 - IWLA rent ........................................................................................... 75.009/212011 Andrew Sauter (Tongue River outing, September picnic) ...........................179.189/23/2011 Matt Stanton (Ten Sleep outing $173.78, Expo $154.83 .............................328.61

Total ...................................................................................................592.75

Wyoming's second boating sea-son following passage of AquaticInvasive Species (AIS) legislation in2010 was deemed a success based onthe numbers of boats inspected, AISdecal sales, and overall cooperationfrom boaters.

Beginning this spring in May,through Sept. 15, a total of 42,805watercraft inspections were conductedat 33 different waters throughoutWyoming. According to AIS coordina-tor Beth Bear, the majority were stan-dard inspections with very few high riskinspections or decontaminations.

"Only 115 of the total inspectionswere considered high risk, with theremainder standard and exit inspec-tions," Bear said. "Of the high riskinspections, there were 14 decontami-nations and none were found to havelive invasive mussels."

Waters where most inspectionswere conducted include Jackson Lake,(over 10,000), Glendo (over 5,000),and Flaming Gorge (more than4,400). Watercraft come from many

states where AIS is prevalent. As anexample, between Aug. 29 and Sept. 15this year, 13 high risk inspections wereconducted. Four resulted in decontami-nations including a boat from Illinois




BE INFORMED

Receive each issue of theBackcast in a timely man-ner, without relying onthe Post Awful to deliverit. Sign up for electronicdelivery! Not only do youreceive each issue near theend of each month, but itwill feature color photo-graphs and graphics. Andyou can save the club pre-cious money and resourcesbecause printing andpostage costs and thechore of stapling, stamp-ing and stickering themonochrome hard copyare eliminated. Just dropthe editor a line, request-ing electronic delivery [email protected].



G&F’s aquatic invasive species program went smoothly this year


StreAmerS On SAturdAySAbandoning the usual nymph and indicator

rigs in favor OF stripping size 4 patterns

A self-confessed novice fly fisher’s trip to Pathfinderresulted in the biggest rainbow (so far) of her career.

ept. 24 was a beautiful day, thekind of fall day that Wyomingnatives treasure. With winter on

the horizon, each day of good weatherbecomes more valuable … sunny, a littlebreeze and 75 to 80 degrees … a perfectday to fish.

My brother Scott and I arrived atPathfinder around 9:30 a.m., just in timeto see Joe Meyer catching a nice-sizedrainbow trout. My fishing buddies thatday were Joe, Scott and Bob. They havebeen members of the Wyoming FlyCasters (WFC) for a number of years butI am a novice fly fisher and a new mem-ber with much to learn.

Being that this is end of my first yearof fly-fishing, I was hoping to beat myprevious “record” sized fish, a 6-inchrainbow trout. Well, we all have to startsomeplace!

As you would imagine it takespatience to fly-fish. If you’re a novice andyou’re envisioning scenes from “A RiverRuns Through It” when Brad Pitt hooksthe big one and literally goes down theriver with the fish still on the line -- for-getaboutit! That, as they say, is the stuffdreams are made of (thank youHumphrey Bogart).

But if you want a wonderful outdoorexperience that is contemplative, thera-peutic, invigorating and doesn’t complywith every short-cut there is to be had inlife, then this is the “reel deal” for you.

Once we arrived, I went to see Joefishing off the pier. Naturally he had agood size fish on his line. You may notknow Joe, but it would be unusual if youdidn’t see him with a fish on his line. Joeleads many WFC fish outings to ponds,

S

rivers and reservoirs. These trips arecalled, “Fishing with Joe,” but WFCmembers like to refer to them as“Watching Joe Fish.”

Both Joe and Scott have generouslyshared their fishing expertise with me.I’ve no doubt this information has playedan invaluable role in any success I mightnow be experiencing.

For instance, check your lines. Thismeans you should pull some leader matri-al off the spool and stretch it in oppositedirections with the strength that ahooked fish might have. If you’re pur-chased a 5x leader it should support a 2 to4.5 pound fish and a 4x should withholda 3 to 6.5 pound fish. If the line doesn’tbreak, you’re good to go.

If it breaks, take a little more line offthe your leader spool and test again.Sometimes the beginning or outside ofthe line might be a little brittle. Thestrength test should let you know what isgood. No sense in getting your hopes upat that first cast and then immediatelyhaving them dashed away when the linebreaks. Trust me, there will be plenty ofopportunity for the fish to break your lineall by himself.

Next, when tying your fly or stream-er on your line, be sure you test yourknots. Again, there’s no need to make iteasier for your fish to get away, especiallywith a fly in his mouth. I’ve learned thislesson personally. I felt guilty about a fishswimming around with my fly in hismouth. What would his fish buddiesthink?

“Oh, Tommy got a new piercing!” or“Geez have you seen that guy, what hewon’t do for attention.”

We wouldn’t want to put himthrough that embarrassment and I don’t

by PEG NOVOTNY

Joe Meyer, the mentor, sore-mouths therainbow trout at Pathfinder Reservoir.


intend on worrying that one of my fishwas swimming around getting harassed.

So, to ensure that you won’t lose afly you tied to your line, practice … prac-tice … practice those knots! Better yet,tie those knots at home. I guess it would-n’t hurt to tie some line to several of thefly’s you think you might use at your des-tination. Gee, wish I thought about thisbefore we arrived at the pier.

Anyway, after watching Joe land hisfish, I went back to thetruck to get my gear.Rod, reel, fly box, cam-era and hat in hand,down to the pier I went.A couple of casts later, Iwas at ease and dream-ing about a fish pursuingmy fly. I pulled on myline in a pattern Ithought might appeal toa fish. Who knew?Although my repertoireof pulls is rather limited,I had several fromwhich I could choose.Some were deliberatepulls and some knot!

As a matter of fact,when landing my recordfish, I was in the processof untying a fly lineknot from around myreel. Do the fish waituntil you can’t respond appropriately?Who knows? But this time was different.Aha!

I was working my pull pattern whenI felt a real strong tug on my line and I setmy hook. Wow! It worked! Perhaps a lit-tle late on the set but none-the-less, Ihad a fish. The strength of its pull toldme it was definitely a bigger catch. Couldit be true? After all, reeling in this fishdid take considerably longer than thesecond or two it took to reel in my 6”record.

Thankfully I had another experi-enced fly fisher and fellow WFC memberto my side. Bob was really a big help tome. So I had a strong fish on the line –great, now what? How do I get him? Bobguided me on how to bring him in. Ibrought him over to water’s edge, andfrom on top of the hill overlooking thewater, my brother yelled out to me toremove the hook myself! Apparently heand Joe had taken notice when Iscreamed I had a fish on my line. Theymust have seen Bob standing to my leftand thought I’d have Bob remove the

hook. Can’t say I didn’t think about itafter I looked to see where my fly hadlodged. Eeeh gads!

Now I had to remove the hook. Wellit’s easier to remove a fly on a small fry;he can’t fit the whole fly into his mouth.But it was way more of a challenge withthe fish I caught. Yep, 14 inches and apound and a half rainbow trout, thankyou very much.

But he had swallowed the hook

down his throat a bit (see picture),which is why I knew I didn’t set thehook as soon as I should have. I thinkthis fish grabbed a bite, and then wenton to swallow it before I really knew Ihad him. So, I had to retrieve the swal-lowed fly. It was positioned near his gilland I remember what Joe said that if thefly cuts into the gill and it bleeds, thefish is a goner.

I really didn’t want that to happen,so with my brother screaming words ofencouragement to me, I went in. Slipperylittle devil that he was, (the fish not mybrother) I didn’t want to squeeze him toohard, or hold him too long. I just wantedto remove the hook with the leastamount of blood as possible. With a cam-era on my shoulder, my lanyard (fishingnecklace) with forceps hanging at easyreach and Bob at my side, I removed the

hook. Took a picture and then sent himon his way.

But he didn’t really swim away. Hewas swimming upside down. Oh my, whathad I done? I asked Bob did I kill him?Bob, said just to rotate him so he wouldswim upright and give him a little push. Idid and held my breath. Voila! He wasok! Whew!

I knew I had broken my record, butit’s kind of tricky measuring the size of afish. He looked to be between 20 and 25inches and about 5 lbs. but you know as afly-fisher, I would be amiss not to exag-gerate a wee bit. I asked Bob. Bob saidthe rainbow was about 14 inches andprobably around 1.5 lbs. … no really,that’s what Bob said, and I believe him.

I had done it. Well, certainly notalone. I couldn’t have caught him with-out a year of practical hands-on experi-ence and the knowledge and fishing geargenerously shared with me from my WFCsupport team. Thanks guys!

Stay tuned for my first experiencecleaning a fish or should I say ‘watchingScott clean a fish!’ Eeh.

I knew I hadbroken my

record, but it’skind of tricky measuring thesize of a fish.



Christmas Party!

Tickets for the annual Christmas party are availableat the Ugly Bug Fly Shop. Cost is $10.00 per person.Also Matt Stanton, the chairman, has tickets available(call 258-9915, or by drop-ping him a line at [email protected]). The dead-line for picking up tickets isDec. 5 to give the club timeto let caterer know howmany members and guestsare anticipated and howmuch food to prepare. Thoseof you who receive thenewsletter electronically willstill have time to meet thedeadline; for those hard copyrecipients, by the time youreceive this issue from thepostman it will be too late.

The meal is beingcatered by TheHerbadashery. The menuincludes BBQ brisket &BBQ chicken, salads, bakedbeans, dessert, tea andlemonade. Desserts fromclub members are welcome.

Here is the agenda and some snapshots of proposedactivities following the dinner:

• President’s greeting

• Christmas fly contest explainedTie the gaudiest, most imaginative fly on a holiday

theme in Christmas colors and assorted materials. It canbe as diminutive as size 32, or as jumbo as a 2/0. All cre-ations should have an appropriate name. The onlyrequirement for an entry is that it be tied to a hook orhooks. Gift certificates are to be awarded to the firstthree places. An impartial jury (the membership) is toselect the winners. These are NOT the official rules,just some observations of the Backcast editor.

• Christmas fly balloting begins• Asking the Lord’s blessing• Buffet dinner by The Herbadashery• Fly Walk

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 6:30 p.m., IWL ClubhouseTie up a half dozen flies and wrap them in a holiday

package. Remember which ones are yours. All thoseparticipating will walk around a couple of tables where

the small packages are haphazardlyarranged. When the holiday musicstops, participants are to grab one ofthe packages. The walk resumes untilthe music stops again, and again untilall flies are removed from the tables.No kicking, gouging, cutting in lineor bribery will be tolerated.

• Why join the WFC?• Prize drawing for guests• Christmas fly results/awards

• Slide ShowThis is a PowerPoint presenta-

tion on the many activities, func-tions and outings the club has heldover the past year (primarily). Thisyear’s program is approximately 20minutes long and is set to music andwithout narration. More humor atthe expense of some club membershas been injected into the 2011 edi-tion -- the ninth annual. After thefirst two minutes of the program, if

your ribs are not hurting from laughter, you need anappointment with Doc Weinhandl for a root canalwithout anesthetic, because you obviously are alreadydeeply sedated.

• Drawings for gift certificatesTwo winning tickets are to be drawn, with both fea-

turing gift certificates to the two fly shops. The first isthe membership (remember dropping a ticket into thebucket for attending each meeting?). The second isfrom the bait box containing non-winning tickets fromthe raffles conducted during the last eleven months.The amounts of the gift certificates are usually quitegenerous; the size had not yet been determined byBackcast deadline.

• Closing remarksNote: Due to time limitations, there will be no whiteelephant exchange during this year’s Christmas party.

ADVANCE N

OTIC

E

Tenta

tive S

chedule


Wyoming catfish travels 415 miles

to meet Iowan’s hook in Montana

Plans being made

for the annual

Christmas partyOn Dec. 14, in lieu of the regular-

monthly meeting of the WFC, the annu-al Christmas party is to begin at 6:30 p.mat the Izaak Walton League clubhouse,4205 Fort Caspar Road.

All members, significant others andanyone interested in the WFC are invit-ed to attend.

The dinner is to be catered by TheHerbadashery and will include BBQbrisket and BBQ chicken, salads, bakedbeans, dessert, tea and lemonade.

Tickets are $10.00 each and can bepurchased during the November regularclub meeting. Tickets are also availableat the Ugly Bug through Dec. 5 or bycontacting Matt Stanton [email protected] or call 258-9915.

The event will include several prizedrawings, a Christmas fly competition, afly walk and a slide show featuring thefishing year 2011.

The Wonder Bar offered a special luncheon plate in conjuction with and in opposition toPETA’s protest against fishing in late September at the Ugly Bug Fly Shop.

Annual duesfor 2012 are

NOW DUE!

Individual: $20Family: $30Lifetime:

In order to continuereceiving club benefits,send in your annual

dues to:

WFCP.O. Box 2881

Casper, WY 82602

OrDrop off checks at theUgly Bug Fly Shop

The channel catfish traveled 415miles from Leiter (east of Sheridan). Theangler traveled about 810 miles fromOkoboji, IA. The two met on theYellowstone River near Pompey's Pillar,MT.

The result was the fish taking thedead minnow the general surgeon offeredand the discovery of what's thought to bethe longest documented fish movementin Wyoming fish tagging history.

How long it took the catfish to swim tojust downstream from Billings, isn't knownfor sure, but Wyoming fish biologists doknow this: the catfish was netted and taggedJune 27, 2007 just below the KendrickDiversion Dam on Clear Creek east ofSheridan. The age was unknown, but itmeasured 15.2 inches and weighed .9 lbs.

Then in mid-April this year, Dr.Brian Luepke boated about a 3-pound,20-inch channel catfish with his son,Paul, the Columbus, MT. game warden.In unhooking the fish, the father/sonnoticed a tag in the dorsal fin and ful-filled the tag's purpose by relaying theinfo to the Wyoming G&F.

"This is a really remarkable fishmovement when you consider all thehazards this fish had to face in swimmingthat far," said Paul Mavrakis, Wyoming'sfisheries supervisor in Sheridan. "Butwhat's probably more remarkable is thefact the fish could swim that far withoutbeing blocked by a dam."

The Powder River -- of which thenow famous fish negotiated 240 miles --is one of the continent's longest water-ways without a dam. But, after it took aleft turn up the Yellowstone River inMontana it was able to negotiate fourirrigation diversions in swimming the

150 miles from the mouth of the Powderto Pompey's Pillar.

"Although it's difficult, it's notimpossible for fish to get by these irriga-tion diversions," said Earl Radonski, fish-eries biologist with the Montana Fish,Wildlife and Parks in Billings. "The fishprobably got over the first three diver-sions during high flows and around thefourth via a side channel."

The only fish Montana has docu-mented that negotiated the same diver-sions swimming upstream was a saugertagged near Miles City. The native wall-eye-like fish was netted again by aMontana fish crew in May 2010 fivemiles upstream from Pompey's Pillar --three years and 100 miles later.

Due to the absence of dams and prob-ably sudden high flows triggered by thun-derstorms, the Powder River has registeredother interesting fish travels. In June 2006,a channel catfish was tagged in Wyoming'sPowder River near the mouth of CrazyWoman Creek. Five days later it was recap-tured by the same fisheries crew 25 milesupstream. Two shovelnose sturgeon taggedin Crazy Women Creek in June 1984 werealso recovered in Montana's YellowstoneRiver: one a month later near Rosebud andthe other near Glendive.

"The distance this catfish traveledshows how important it is to have con-nected river systems where fish can moveand complete their life cycle," Mavrakissaid. "Ocean run salmon are the mostfamous example of fish traveling long dis-tances but many fish in Wyoming alsoneed to be able to travel long distancesfor spawning, overwinter habitat, and toescape adverse conditions like a pro-longed drought."


(continued from page 2)

CLASSIFIEDS

GOOD STUFF

FOR SALE

(CHEAP!)

Patagonia SST jacket, XL, Brand new.

$175 (list $315).Scott Novotny

266-3072

•Drift Boat - '97 Hyde

(pre dove tail)With all the stuff you would expectAND an extra front seat with stor-

age.$3500.00

Andrew Sauter307-265-3932

•One Regal vise with pedestal

mounts, $50.00Art Van Rensselaer

307-262-7655

•Large selection of framed, signedand numbered Vivi Crandall andTerry Redlin prints (contact me for

names/prices)Men's Chaco Z/1 sandal. Size 13."Matrix color. New in box, $45,

OBO.Men's Chaco Z/2 sandal. Size 12.Black color. New in box, $45,

OBO.Matt Stanton 307-258-9915

Classifieds are a free service to WFCmembers. To advertise your item for

sale, drop a line [email protected].

If you would like to be on the"Fishing with Joe" mailing listplease send your email address to [email protected]

10,000 Yellowstone cutthroatstocked in Little Tongue River

Anglers are now able to enjoy a newYellowstone cutthroat trout fisherythanks to a three-year cooperative proj-ect between the Wyoming Game andFish Department and the BighornNational Forest.

Following three years of removing allthe fish in the drainage, the upper LittleTongue River was stocked on Aug. 29,2011, with 10,000 catchable (8-10 inch)Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The fishwere raised and distributed from theClark's Fork Hatchery near Cody. Thesefish are available to anglers right now andshould provide an enjoyable fishery.

Native Yellowstone cutthroat troutare believed to have historically occupiedmost of the lower Tongue drainage nearDayton, Wyo., but past stocking of othertrout species and habitat changes haverestricted native Yellowstone cutthroatsto only a few streams in the eastern

Bighorn Mountains. Brook trout will outcompete and

rainbow trout will hybridize with cut-throats, so to have a pure cutthroat fish-ery the other species had to be removed.Brook trout and rainbow trout wereremoved from the drainage over a three-year period using rotenone; a powdermade from roots of plants grown mainlyin Peru. The chemical is mixed in thestream and only affects organisms withgills. Warm blooded animals are notaffected and insect populations quicklyrebound.

Many of the fish were stocked alongBlack Mountain Road where most fish-ing occurs. These fish should reproduceand sustain the fishery without futurestocking. This project has created anadditional 15 stream miles of Yellowstonecutthroat trout habitat for current andfuture anglers to enjoy.

Our members are very special to us and we want to remember themin times of adversity. If you know of a member or their spouse who is illor is recently deceased, please contact Donna Diesburg at (307) 234-4278 or e-mail her at [email protected].

be the chair and folks to take the leadon decorating the club meeting space.The club has always been good aboutpitching in once there is a leader tosteer the event. Regardless of thelength of your club membership pleasestep up and lend a hand.

Should your calendar be so busythat this holiday season will not workfor you don’t be too disappointed. Thebanquet committee will be formingshortly. The groundwork needs to belaid before the first of the year but mostof the work commences in January. Wehave the notes and details from last yearso we don’t need to reinvent the wheeland hence the whole process shouldseem less cumbersome. The banquet isan important event and needs qualitytime devoted to it. It is our single

biggest fundraiser and the event thatallows us to participate in worthwhileconservation projects. The WyomingFly Casters are a quiet but well respectedgroup in the community. Our name ison some important projects and fund-raising events like the banquet helpensure that we can pursue our missionstatement. Again, it’s a great way tomeet other members of the club.

We’ll see you at the meeting andplease send the newsletter editor, Randy,any and all pictures of members inHalloween costume, especially the fishyones!

Tight lines and unfrozen guides,

Will

President’s message


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WFC Board

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WYOMING FLY CASTERS BOARD MEETING MINUTES Call to order: A board meeting of

the Wyoming Fly Casters, was held onOctober 19, 2011. The meeting con-vened at 7:02 p.m., President WillWaterbury presiding, and Casey Leary,secretary.

Members in attendance: WillWaterbury, Casey Leary, Matt Stanton,Spencer Amend, Scott Novotny, NeilRuebush, Greg Groves, Joe Meyer, HerbWaterman, Jim Johnson, and AndrewSauter.

Members Absent: Alex Rose andChris McAtee, both unexcused.

Approval of the minutes: Motionwas made to approve the minutes of theSeptember 14, 2011 meeting. Motioncarried.

Officer’s reports: Matt Stanton pro-vided a quarterly report for review by theboard. The September treasurer’s reportwas presented. Motion: Moved toapprove the September treasurers reportas presented. Motion carried.

Committee reports: Conservationreport: Dick DePaemelere providedinformation from the US Forest Serviceindicating possible changes of the WestTensleep and Deer Haven campgroundsin the Big Horn Mountains, the location

of the Tensleep outings. The paperworkwas reviewed by members. The WFC andWFC Foundation will each be providing$20,000 to the Land and WildlifeConservation Fund as part of our agree-ment, which helped secure access on theNorth Platte River below GovernmentBridge, once all specific details regardingthe land purchase are secured.

Old business: Will Waterbury spoketo WGFD officials regarding raffles at theExpo and the requirement is that all mon-etary funds raised at the Expo must eithergo to conservation projects or to the Expo.Will was also advised all booths have tohave volunteers and cannot beunmanned. Andrew Sauter reported theWGFD Commissioners license was soldfor $5500. After the selling agent tooktheir fee, the other club and WFC splitthe remaining proceeds. Andrew Sauterreported the $2250 was placed into theWFC Foundation account.

Discussion was held regarding ByLaws changes, specifically the position ofpresident elect. Will Waterbury willmake sure all board members receive thecurrent By-Laws. Motion: Moved by JoeMeyer that recommended the WFCeliminate the president elect position

Veterans Day

Thanksgiving

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and redistribute the duties later and seekmembership approval. Motion carried.

New business: Christmas party.Motion: Moved by Greg Groves that MattStanton be the chairman of the Christmasparty committee (Matt volunteered), payup to $20 per plate, reserve a caterer andarrange for the tickets be printed. TheWFC, at the cost of $20 a plate, willcharge $10 admission per plate, if the costis higher, the board will reconsider cost ofadmission. Motion carried.

Discussion was held regarding pro-grams and club videos. It was recom-mended that we post a listing of all clubvideos on our website. Motion: Moved byAndrew Sauter that Scott Novotny beauthorized to research, critique and pur-chase 2 videos at a cost of not more than$80 to go to WFC club library. Motioncarried.

Announcements: Scott Novotnywanted to thank Herb Waterman fordonating lures, flies and materials for usein his outdoor education classes atNCHS. Joe Meyer is seeking input fromanyone on how to generate more mem-bers, please contact Joe Meyer.

Adjournment: The meeting wasadjourned at 8:22 p.m.

The mission of the Wyoming Fly Casters is to promote and enhance the sport offly fishing and the conservation of fish and their habitat.

Wyoming Fly Casters

P.O. Box 2881

Casper, WY 82602


wfc 11/11

Documents

fly debris

federationof fly fishers

monthly newsletterof

little time

copy invibrant color

gameand fish program

able toopen

annual dues