Mike Chapman - Deep Creek Fly Fishers

June 2013 Newsletter
www.deepcreekflyfishers.org
P.O. Box 8203, Redlands, CA 92375
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Page 2:
Presidents Message, & Board of Directors
Page 3:
Meetings, Speakers, & Club Store
Page 4:
Fly of the Month
Page 5:
Education, Outings, and Events
Page 6:
Conservation
Wednesday June 27th @ 7:00pm
DCFF presents :
Mike Chapman
Local Mountains
Featured Articles:
Page 7:
Casting for Recovery
Page 8:
Mammoth Season Opener
Other:
Page 9:
Opportunities
Page 10: CA Department of Fish and Wildlife
Youth and Families Programs
Mike Chapman is owner of OC Fly Fishing in
Orange County, California. He has been fishing
the Orange County and Southern California
coastal waters and mountain streams for over
thirty years now! He has been a high school
teacher and coach for over twenty years in Orange County, and has spent a tremendous
amount of his "free time" learning and perfecting his fishing skills here in Southern California
from San Diego to The Eastern Sierras.
Mike will be speaking with us about fishing in
our Local Mountains. He guides fly fishing expeditions in the San Bernardino and San
Gabriel Mountains.
Meet the Speaker for Dinner
All members are invited to meet and have dinner
with this month’s speaker. Meet us at Art’s Bar and
Grill, dinner will be at 4:30 pm. The food is great and
the prices are very reasonable - each member pays for
their own meal and any drinks.
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Art’s Bar & Grill
3357 University Avenue, Riverside 92501
(91 Fwy. @ University Ave.) 951-683-9520
President’s Message
It’s June and you should have been fishing several
days by now. This month Mike Chapman is our
speaker. He will be talking about fishing the local
mountains. This should be a fun meeting and an
informative meeting. If you are just starting to fish
the local mountains this is a meeting you won’t
want to miss. If you just want to see if there are
some tricks you don’t use, this is the meeting to
attend.
This month we helped out the Riverside City Parks
& Rec. with their Fishing Derby. We served pancake breakfast for about 500-600 people. I want to
thank everyone that helped out with the breakfast.
This is a small way we for us to show our appreciation to the city of Riverside for letting us use the Izzak
Walton building each month for free.
We need to start looking at putting together the Kern River Tournament team. We will be looking for people
to fish as well as be controllers. We will make a sign up sheet and have it at the meeting. Please put your name
on it with your contact info. I will try to have an informational day where I can answer any questions you have
about the tournament.
There was an email blast sent to all the members asking for help to work three different weeks. I will be helping the CDF&W on a fish survey of the Little Kern River drainage. The other project going on this summer is
the Lahotan Cutthroat Trout Project. This project is being done through the Southwest Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers. To sign up to help on the project go to; http://southwestcouncilfff.org/25-conservation/70swc-ifff-conservation . You scroll down to the Volunteer Registration, then click on it. Pick a weekend to sign
up. Both of these are great ways to get involved in conservation.
See you on the streams,
Gary
2013 Club Officers & Directors
Gary Applebee, (760) 365-7071
[email protected]
Trout in the
Classroom:
Doug Spieske, (909) 798-4151
[email protected]
Robin Johnson, (909) 987-2953
[email protected]
Opportunity
Drawing:
Theresa Miller, (951) 323-0059
[email protected]
Secretary:
Mike Brown, (909) 987-2953
[email protected]
Web Master:
Greg LaPolla (951) 340-1409
[email protected]
Treasurer:
Mike Wright, (951) 805-9713
[email protected]
Newsletter:
Jennifer Castillo, (951) 603-0360
[email protected]
Conservation: Carl Wuebben, (909) 356-1848
[email protected]
Club Store:
Sean Robbins, (951) 300-8437
[email protected]
Membership:
Scott Hanson, (951) 694-3058
[email protected]
FFF
Joel Parker, (213) 399-6534
Representative: [email protected]
Education:
Dave Parker, (760) 774-6715
[email protected]
Past
President:
Bill Reeves, (909) 987-1297
[email protected]
Outings:
Mike Telles, (951) 672-0303
[email protected]
Past
President:
Cathlene Fishman, (909) 376-6467
[email protected]
President:
Vice
President:
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2013 Meetings & Speakers
Wear the Logo
Meetings are held 7:00pm on the 4th Wednesday of
each month, except December in the Izaak Walton
Clubhouse, 2601 Dexter Drive, inside Fairmount
Park, Riverside, CA
June 26
Mike Chapman,
Local Mountains
July 24
Chad Schiel,
Bass fishing in Local Waters
Aug. 28
Family BBQ
Sept. 25
Jay Murakoshi
Oct. 23
Brian Adams,
Deep Creek Fly Fishers Club Store
All items available at the monthly
meetings. Prices for 2013
Tee Shirts:
Long Sleeve
Short Sleeve
$15.00
$10.00
Trout Unlimited
Hats:
1 size fits all
$15.00
Nov. 20
Members Night
Logo Decals:
Small
$4.00
Dec. 11
Holiday Banquet
Red Hill Country Club
Rancho Cucamonga
Logo Patches
$10.00
Logo Fly Box*
$15.00
*Orders for custom image boxes will be
taken. See Sean Robbins or for details.
PARKING PERMITS
REQUIRED FOR
OUR MEETING
NIGHTS
DCFF Calendar is on the
Internet
The Calendar lists all the activities that are going on in
the club, such as training events, outings, meetings,
conservation events, and many more.
To view the calendar:
1. Go to: www.deepcreekflyfishers.org
2. Click on the Calendar Tab at the top of the page
3. Then select: This Week, This Month, This Year,
or ICAL
To subscribe to the calendar:
Select ICAL, then Download the Public Events Calendar. It will appear in your computers default Calendar
Program. As long as you have access to the internet, it
will update automatically or you can “ refresh” to update the current calendar page.
Any questions, or if you wish to have an event put on
the calendar, contact our Education Director
Be sure to ask for a 2013
Parking Permit when attending the monthly meetings.
Per City ordinance, all vehicles parked in parking lots at
Fairmount Park from dusk
until dawn, without a permit
will be ticketed. There is limited parking available in front
of our clubhouse. Overflow
parking is available directly
across the street at Fairmont
Park Golf Course.
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Fly of the Month
SOFT HACKLE PHEASANT-TAIL NYMPH
Caleb Boyle
nymph tied with a collar of hackle such as hen
or partridge.
PATTERN
HOOK – TIEMCO TMC3761 or Equivalent,
sizes 18 to 10
THREAD – Fluorescent Pink and Brown 8/0
(70 Denier)
BEAD- Black Tungsten
Learning to give flies movement will make
you a much better angler. Using patterns that
have a lot of natural motion, such as softhackle wet flies, is one of the best ways to do
this. Soft hackles are some of the easiest trout
flies to tie, and when fished with extra movement, such as swung or stripped like streamers. They produce lifelike, pulsating motion
that triggers fish into striking. Trout are like
any other fish, and when presented with a fleeing prey, they rarely pass it up. Soft hackles
have a very long history of catching fish. Before the dry fly came along, all fly fishing entailed fishing wet flies and soft hackle
“spiders”. Spiders originated in Scotland,
Northern England, and Italy more than three
centuries ago. Early anglers fished these patterns downstream with rods measuring more
than 10 feet long. This style of fishing still
works in practically every type of trout water,
from steam riffles to still waters, but you do
not have to use an ultra-long fly rod, nor do
you have to fish exclusively downstream. To4
day, a “soft hackle” refers to almost any
TAIL – Pheasant Tail Fibers
ABDOMAN – Pheasant Tail Fibers
RIB – Small Copper Wire
THORAX- Olive Ice Dub
HACKLE- Hungarian Partridge
HOW TO TIE
1. Debarb hook – Put bead onto hook Mount the hook in the vise and start the
pink thread in at half shank and go back to
just before the bend of the hook and tie in
a sparse tail of pheasant tail fibers (3)
about the length of the shank of the hook.
2. Tie on a piece of copper wire right in
close to the tail then tie in roughly 12
pheasant tail fibers in the same spot as the
wire (smaller hook – smaller amount of fibers for the abdomen) by the tips.
3. Wrap the pheasant tail forward to just
(continued on p.5)
Education, Outings & Events
This is our way of giving back to the City for al-
Members Serve Up Pancakes and
Fun at Family Fishing Derby
lowing us to use the Izaak Walton Clubhouse for
Gary Applebee
our meetings and other events.
th
On June 15 Deep Creek Flyfishers donated and
This year started at 4:30 a.m. with members getting
served breakfast for the City of Riverside’s 11th
everything ready for breakfast to be served at 6:00
Annual Family Fishing Derby at Fairmont Park.
a.m.
Pancakes and sausage was served with a
smile. We fed approximately 500 to 600 peoplethis year and are expecting more next year.
I would like to personally thank all those involved.
Thank you to Rick Proulx, Bob Kreider, Bill and
Roberta Ross, Renee Chavez, Jill Wagner, Lance
Patterson, Ernest Blakeslee, Robin Johnson, and
Bill Reeves.
Fly of the Month (continued from page 5)
thread and then start the brown thread in
front of the bead – clip off the tag end of
the thread.
about the center of the hook shank and tie
it down – then spiral wrap the wire forward to make the ribbing and tie it off,
clip off any tag ends.
7. Strip the fibers from the left side of the
partridge hackle (This will be up against
4. Spin a pinch of dubbing for the thorax
the hook) and tie in by the tips (This is a
and wrap onto the hook. (Just a small one
very fragile feather so go slow at stripping
– 2 or 3 very thin dubbing wraps)
the fibers and start at the butt section – re5. Using the pink thread still - wrap a
moving only a couple of fibers at a time) in
slight slope of thread (Tapered down tofront of the beadhead.
ward the eyelet) that you can slide the
8. Wrap the feather forward while petting
the fibers backward to create the sparse
bead nto but leaving a small amount of
soft-hackle collar. Tie off and clip off the
pink thread showing ( Like a hot spot) –
tag end of the feather. Now put a few
whip-finish and cut the thread.
wraps on to form a small tapered head –
6. Push the bead back onto the pink
Whip-finish and clip the thread.
** THIS WAS A FUN TIE – I HOPE YOU ENJOY TIEING IT AS MUCH AS I DID**
Tie up eleven more and you’re ready for a trip
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Casting for Recovery
.
Greg La Polla decided to do
something after having a cancer scare in his family that
turned out negative. “I knew
what others were going
through. Also being on the board of the
SWCFFF, I knew that CFR was working
toward getting a retreat going in Southern California, so I set out to help them.”
At our May meeting,
DCFF’s Greg La Polla presented a custom built Rod
to Bonnie Anderson, the
new head of the Southern
California branch of Casting for Recovery (CFR). The beautifully built custom
fly rod is one of two rods made possible by donations from DCFF members
as well as Sisters on the Fly. These
medium action 9 foot, 5 weight, 4 piece
rods are labeled as: Built and Donated
by Deep Creek Fly Fishers and Sisters
on the Fly. These Rods were built by
Mr. La Polla with the help of a fellow
rod builder in Arizona (Southwest Custom Rods) to make the pink reel seat
inserts that really make these rods pop.
The rod will be auctioned off at a CFR
event in the near future.
It is hoped that the proceeds from auctioning off these rods will help Casting
for Recovery to meet their fundraising
goal for their upcoming retreat scheduled for June 2014 at Lake Gregory.
“There are a lot of groups out there that
provide help and healing through fly fishing, I urge all of you to get involved in
one.” -Greg LaPolla
Casting for Recovery is an organization
that sends breast cancer survivors on
retreats and teaches them fly fishing.
These retreats serve women at various
stages of recovery, and are free to participants. In addition to fly-fishing staff
and retreat event leaders, these retreats are staffed with trained medical
professionals, as well as psychologists.
Fly fishing is a means to bring people
in recovery to beautiful places where
they can exercise their bodies and heal
their spirits. For many women, these
retreats are their first opportunity to
spend time with other survivors and to
share their experiences
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Mammoth Season Opener
By Sean Robbins
If you have never done the opener at Mammoth, you need to, the food is great the fishing was better . I wanted to go again this
year but didn't want to drive up there alone. Jacob's Mom couldn't take time off from work this year, so I volunteered to take
him. We load up and head out of Riverside around 3 PM on Thursday with the promise of great weather on Friday and 30 %
chance of showers the rest of the week..
Friday morning comes and we head out to HC. I still think that these fish are the most snooty fish. They are very camera shy
and just didn't like my fly . Jacob, the 15 year old kid must have had the touch, he landed 4 fish before I had my first one...I walk over and muttered that its time to give up
the fly or you can walk back to the cabin. I was joking but he did offer some advice, I switched out to a size 20 midge and was soon on some fish. After a quick drink we met
up with another club member. So now its Kurt, Jacob and I and we head to one of the drainage's into the Crowley lake. We hike down to the second ladder and fish up. The
spawners were in there and we all managed to catch a few fish. We head in early to the cabin with the expectation of great fishing weather ahead.
Saturday morning we head over to one of the smaller streams in the area to find it a swift and white water stream, so we head over to another creek on the drive up the hill
and catch a few. Jacob again catches three fish in this stream. We left with an average of one fish for everyone, yep Kurt and I didn't land a single fish in there. I suggest the
upper Owens and that we drive past some of the people. We were in Kurt's Honda Element and just relaxing until we hit a water crossing or mud hole. Went through the first
two with ease and the third puddle looked deep. I tell Kurt to take the trail to the right and not go through the deep puddle. He goes to the right, but too far and we are soon
buried down to the frame with two wheels off the ground :( Well after several attempts to find some rocks out there we start asking people if they can drag us out, hoping that
they have some recovery gear. Well we did manage to find four gents that were just finished up fishing and could give one of us a ride back to the cabin, a huge thanks to
those gentleman. I would grab my jeep liberty and if I can't pull them out, I could a at least rescue them from being stuck. I buy some recovery gear, actually two tow straps
just to make sure its long enough. I drive back and splash through all the mud puddles and back up to the stranded element .I put the jeep in 4 wheel drive low and just idle
until the strap was tight then it was just a slight tap on the accelerator his element was free!!!.... Now that we are out of trouble, we start fishing. We all manage a few fish
but the weather was moving in.. I go to grab my zebra midge that was on my rod and get zapped several times. I mention this to Kurt and we both look at each other and yell
at Jacob to run to the jeep and keep the rod tip down... I hate thunderstorms!!! Again we head back to the cabin.
Sunday its just Kurt and I since Jacob wanted to go float tubing. We head up to the headwaters and fish the creek. I think I caught 9 fish that day and just enjoyed being out
on a small creek where we were somewhat protected from being zapped. We took a break and decided to go downstream to the next public area to fish and walked through
the marsh to the upper upper reedy. I managed to catch a few more fish all the while it was either snowing or sleeting.. I was hoping for better weather... Seems that the
weather report had changed the chance of rain from 30% to 50 % with the weather following us wherever we went.
Monday its time to go to big fish waters on the East Walker. All three of us are going and since we are not going off road, we take the element. No problems with mud puddles this time :) It starts off slow for me, I wind up with three on and one landed. Jacob and Kurt manage to loose one large fish each with Jacob loosing one that was probably
pushing 24 inches. Then it starts raining, sleeting and snowing on us. After a very loud thunderclap, we decide its time to take a break and head into Bridgeport to fill up on
some fuel and grab some beer (ouch, 15 bucks for a 6 pack!!!) and head back. By wasting an hour of fishing time we expect that
the weather will do two things, clear up and hopefully clear the masses from the upper section. We were pretty correct in that, it
was almost like being at Disneyland, that when it rains, everyone goes home :) The fishing for me gets really good, I had probably 10 hooked and landed half that with the largest at about 17 inches... Yeah I know its just average for that water but I was
excited as hell. We left around dark and was just tired and sore from flinging flies all day.
Tuesday comes along and there is a lot of that white fluffy crap out on the jeep. Kurt headed home and it was just Jacob and I
for the rest of the stay. We did some searching on the local creek but instead headed up to the lakes and took in a few sights and
played in the snow. After a half hour of goofing off, we head back to the condo and started to tie some flies. When we had enough
flies, we headed off to where we were yesterday to catch the evening hatch. We did manage to catch some nice fish, I caught
three or four with the largest at about 16 inches and just when I was landing that and pulling out the camera to take a picture,
Jacob starts screaming that he has a nice sized fish and I did a quick release and tossed my rod to the side of the river. I scramble over the rocks and try to help him land the fish but the fish had other ideas, He was going up the river, then reversing directions and brushing every rock it could to break
off from the line that was attached to its mouth. He went and hid under a rock and Jacob was trying to pull it out, I tell him to just give the fish some slack and he would come
out on his own. He was too hyped up for that so I reach down and followed the leader and tickled the fish on its nose and he quickly came out of the rock and headed back
downstream. After a few minutes I was getting winded from all of the slippery rock scrambling and thought that the fish was also. I told Jacob to just stop and lets try to land
this fish. I manage to net the beauty and quickly transfer the fish to Jacobs net so he could measure it. It wound up just shy of 19 inches according to the net. We manage to
get a quick picture and let the fish go back to its home after a thank you and a few minutes of cradling the fish while it caught its breath while we did the same. After it swam
away we were high fiving each other and just enjoying the moment. We were pretty much finished after that since we both caught our best fish of the day.
Wednesday is here and we try to go to places where Jacob hadn't been to but we wound up at the Long Ears section of the Upper Owens. This was the only time that we were
both skunked. So after a few hours of watching an indicator go around the oxbows we decided to drive down the dirt road and try to get back to HC and this time we stop at
the interpretive center. In years past this was some pretty productive water but we did manage to find one hole that had a dozen fish that had fingers on the fins. Yep we
tossed out everything except for the ACME fly. Still we did manage to get a few each out of here, again Jacob out fished me... Next year I am hiding his fly rod!!! We did manage to meet up with another member and he stuck around until he found out what it was that the fish were eating... sized 24 trico!!! I have never tied anything that small!!.
Thursday was the drive home with a stop off at the drainage into the mud puddle. Jacob caught one fairly early and I caught one not much later. We both caught a spawner
each and I mention to Jacob that there was not much of a fight in these fish and that they are tired and probably need to be left alone. So we pile back into the jeep and head
to the bottom of the hill to check into the section above Pleasant Valley Reservoir . Yep its a flood coming from the gorge so we just head home very tired, sore and just sick of
the bad weather that we had to endure. Most of the time it was either raining, snowing, sleeting or just very windy. But alas I know that the mountains so dearly need the
water, so we didn't mind that much. Hopefully next year will have more snow pack and that the fish and weather gods will be with us.
7
Conservation
Salmon Recovery Too Slow
California salmon numbers are currently only at 20
percent of the population goal required by both
state and federal law, and both state and federal
agencies are dragging their feet in bringing the
numbers up, according to a new analysis by the
natural Resources Defense Council and the Golden
Gate Salmon Association. According to the analysis, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act,
passed by congress in 1992, set a goal of rebuilding salmon runs to almost a million adult fish by
2002. More than a decade past the laws deadline, the salmon fishery continues to struggle – due, in
large part, to excessive pumping of fresh water from the Bay-delta that deprives salmon of the cold, flowing rivers and healthy habitat they need to thrive. “After two closed salmon fishing seasons in 2008 and
2009, and a token season in 2010, fisherman are fishing again, but we remain far below the abundant
runs required by law,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s
Association and GGSA board member. “Stronger Delta pumping restrictions are paying off but we have
to finish the job and get these salmon runs rebuilt.” The Central Valley Project Improvement Act specifically directs the U.S Department of the Interior to protect, restore, and enhance fish in the Central valley
of California. That means rebuilding salmon populations from 495,000 to 990,000 wild adult fish by 2002.
Central valley Chinook salmon declined drastically from 2003 through 2010, reaching a record low of 7
percent of the required population level. This decline in the fishery corresponded with a 20 percent increase in water diversions from salmon habitat over levels from the preceding quarter century. Forecasts
suggest 2013’s salmon returns will again fall far below what the law requires. If current laws were enforced, a restored salmon fishery would generate billions in new revenue and add thousands of jobs from
Santa Barbara to northern Oregon. These jobs are tied to commercial fishing men and women, fresh
and saltwater recreational anglers, coastal communities, tribes, fish processors, equipment manufacturers, marinas, and food and hospitality services. Let’s get it done!
8
Opportunities
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife Heritage and Wild Trout Program (HWTP) is requesting volunteer assistance
for fisheries assessments in the Little Kern River basin (individual survey dates below). Surveys will occur in the backcountry (Golden Trout Wilderness; Sequoia National Forest) and will be physically demanding and include hiking of up to 8 miles
per day, carrying heavy equipment, working in adverse weather conditions, steep terrain, and high elevations, and wading
in swift water.
Each trip is 8 days from Wednesday to Wednesday with the general plan of:
Wed: Drive to trailhead and drop off gear to packer by early evening
Thursday: Hike in to survey location with pack stock support (we have hired enough animals to carry all field equipment and
50 lbs of personal gear/person)
Friday-Monday: Field surveys with day hikes from basecamp
Tuesday: Hike out with pack stock support; packers anticipate being back to trailhead with gear by 5 pm, plus or minus, depending on location
Wednesday: Drive home
Volunteers must be able to commit to the entire survey effort to be considered. Pack stock will be provided to carry 50
pounds of personal gear per person; any additional weight must be carried in. Volunteers will be responsible for providing
their own transportation to and from the trailhead (does not require 4WD but the road is not paved and higher-clearance
vehicles are recommended), food, and personal gear (tent, sleeping bag, backpack, cook gear, etc). The HWTP will provide
waders and wading boots and some camping gear is available as needed.
Surveys will consist of electrofishing, fish measurements, and habitat assessments and volunteers are needed to net and
weigh fish, carry gear, take photographs, and assist with habitat measurements. Due to the physical demands of the survey,
please carefully consider your ability to safely assist with the surveys before committing. Between one and three volunteers
are needed for the following dates (locations and specific details will be forthcoming):
June 26th through July 3rd: Lion, Sheep, and No Name creeks: 1 volunteer needed
July 10th through July 17th: Willow and Tamarack creeks: 3 volunteers needed
July 24th through July 31st: Location TBD: 3 volunteers needed
Contact:
Stephanie Mehalick
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Heratige and Wild Trout Program
1701 Nimbus Rd. Suite C
Rancho Cordova, CA
916-434-6358
9
10
We would like to thank the following businesses or individuals for donating services or merchandise to our
club. Click on their website links to find out more about them and the services they can offer you.
Airflo Fly Lines @
www.rajeffsports.com/
www.basspro.com
Echo Fly Rods @
www.rajeffsports.com/
www.baiocchistroutfitters.com/
www.creekcompany.com/
www.buffusa.com/sports/
www.buckknives.com/
www.drslick.com/
www.caltrout.org
www.fisheadsofthesanjuan.com/
www.jaeger-flyfishing.com
www.galvanflyreels.com
www.flyshop.com/
www.kernriverflyfishing.com
Metz Feathers @
Umpqua Feather Merchants
www.umpqua.com/fly-finder/metz
www.nor-vise.com/
www.www.orvis.com/
www.www.peakfishing.com/
www.simmsfishing.com
www.stcroixrods.com/
www.renzetti.com/
www.southwestcouncilfff.org/
www.sweetgrassrods.com/
Green River Outfitters @
www.fishutahsgreenriver.com
www.waterworks-lamson.com/
Central Sierra Fly Fishing Adventures & Guide Services
www.centralsierraflyfishingadventures.com/
Fly Fish the Surf with Lee Baermann
www.flyfishthesurf.com/
Ernie Gulley Fly Fishing Guide Service
www.erniegulleyflyfishingguideservice.com/
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P.O. Box 8203
Redlands, CA 92375
June 26, 2013
MEETING DATE