March - FIDALGO FLY FISHERS

VOLUME 40
MARCH 2013
AROUND THE BEND
NUMBER 3
Northwest newspapers and magazines for more
than 20 years.
Chester still makes the short run to Puget Sound
several times a month to pester sea-run cutthroat
trout. His presentation will explore Puget
Sound's world-class cutthroat fishing, and he
will discuss in detail how to find a good beach
and how to use a tide table to improve your odds
of hooking a few fish.
March Meeting
Thursday, March. 21, 2013
Farm House Restaurant, La Conner
Wet Fly:
6:00 PM
Dinner:
7:00 PM
Chester Allen, author of "Fly Fishing for SeaRun Cutthroat," will be our speaker.
Chester, a fly angler since childhood, fell in love
with sea-run cutthroat fishing when he moved to
Olympia in 1996 to join the staff of The Olympian newspaper. Chester eventually managed to
become the paper's outdoor columnist -- a position he held from 2001 to 2010. Chester is now
executive editor of Sports Car Market magazine,
which is based in Portland, OR. A graduate of
the University of Oregon School of Journalism
and Communication, Chester has worked for
Chester is now working on his second book,
which will explore the odd corners -- and the often-weird tactics -- in fly waters throughout the
Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. Chester's
blog is www.watermagic.typepad.com
Chum Baby: as tied by Chester Allen
Bob Triggs, one of the best Olympic Peninsula
fly fishing guides, invented this fly to fool searun cutthroat trout during the annual migration
of chum fry from local streams into Puget Sound
and Hood Canal. This is the best fly I know for
imitating the chum fry migration, which offers
Puget Sound anglers fishing that is comparable
to salmon flies on Oregon's Deschutes River or
Montana's Madison River.
Hook: #6-10 Gamakatsu SS15 or SC15
Thread: Black 6/0
Body: Pearl Krystal Flash wound around hook
shank.
An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishers
Wing: Sparse natural squirrel tail topped with a
few strands of pearl Krystal Flash.
Collar: Peacock herl
Head: Black, brass or copper bead to match
hook size.
Slip bead onto hook all the way to the eye. Debarb hook and place in vise. Start threat behind
bead and make a bump behind beach. continue
wrapping threat back to a point just about the
hook point.
Tie three strands of Pearl Krystal Flash just behind bead and bind down all the way to just
about the hook point. Wrap Krystal Flash forward to bead, tie off and cut.
Cut small clump of squirrel tail and tie in just
behind the bead. Place drop of head cement on
hair wraps.
Tie in three or four strands of pearl Krystal
Flash on top of squirrel hair. Cut off even with
tips of squirrel hair.
Tie in two strand of peacock herl on top of Krystal Flash. Make a rope with thread and then
wrap three or four times to bead. Tie down, cut
off and whip finish.
Committee Chairs:
Membership – Brian Faber
Legislative – Sheila,
Conservation/Grants – Dick Raisler,
Education – Russ Asbury,
Outings – Carl Hendricks,
Christmas Party- Eli Wright,
Wahoo Editor – Bob Huddleston,
Awards – Ken Jacot,
Fly Tier of the Month – Bill Fairey,
MESSAGE FROM
THE TIP TOP
(Or Next Guide from the Leader)
Spring of 2013 is on its way and we are all getting ready for fishing trips with friends, family
and fellow club members. We have a few events
coming up soon and it would be great to see all
of you at these events enjoying fellowship with
other club members and enjoying some time out
on the lake catching as many fish as you can!
Please look at the events that are planned in this
month’s Wahoo. With this I would like to note a
few things to be taken into account; first thing
make sure that you have bought a new fishing license for 2013, the 2012 license expires at the
end of this month. Second thing to keep in mind
is to make sure you have a new or current Discover Pass; the fine is not easy to swallow so
please make sure that you have a current one
when visiting your favorite lakes and trail heads
this year. Third thing to be thinking about is all
your safety gear, take some time to check and
make sure that you have all your gear in good
working order and that you use it. We want all of
you to have a great, fun time and continue to see
all of you for many more years.
Fidalgo Fly Fishers is planning on teaching at
Skagit Community College again this year. The
class will be on Fly Tying. The cost for the class
is $50 and all materials are provided. The class
starts on April 10 and will go through May 8th. If
this is something you would like to do or know
of someone please pass it along. We will have
several club members helping again with this
class.
I would like all of you to start thinking about
any conservation projects that you would like to
see Fidalgo Fly Fishers support with some grant
money. If you come up with anything please get
in touch with Dick Raisler so that he and the
conservation committee can present them to the
board for approval.
Please keep in mind that we have the committees in place to provide support and information
to all our members so please use them. You can
An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishers
always get in touch with me if you need any other information or help.
I was asked to remind the membership of the
May swap meet at the general meeting which
will be on May 16th so bring items that you
would like to sell, trade or give away to other
members. Don’t forget you can add a classified
ad to sell Fly Fishing Items (ONLY) which will
be published in the Wahoo. Please send the information to me for review and I will send it on
to be published.
Please feel free to get in touch with me with any
issues that may occur. Also inform me or the
board any events that may be coming up through
the year, that we can get the info out for people
to attend.
Our next general meeting will be March 21 th at
6:00pm at the Farm House. Hope to see you all
there. Get out there and start warming up that
arm. For many, fishing season is just around the
corner!
Carl Hendricks, 2013 President
Outings & Events
Events:
1.Washington Fly Fishing Fair – May 3rd &
4th Ellensburg, WA.
2.Skagit Land Trust – Lyman Slough – This
is being developed as we print 3.Skagit River Salmon Festival - September
7th – more info to come.
Outings:
1. Chironomid Capers – March 16th –
Robin LaRue –
2. April Fools – April 6th 2013 – Frank
Barcott –
3. Fly Tying Class , Skagit Community
College – April 10th thru May 8th, Bruce
Freet
4. Ruby Lake – May 18th – Chuck Smith –
More info to come.
ALREADY APRIL
FOOLS
Here again, one of my favorite times of the
year. The frogs can be heard on some evenings croaking for warmer mud. Birds jump
from perch to perch looking for a dry branch
to trill for sunshine. The clouds jockey for
position to see who'll jump to most precipitation on our cold, wet heads. But alas, another sound, a warmer sound, rises up through
the dampness. A bubbling, sizzling sound. A
culinary harbinger of spring. Chili at Pass
Lake.
This year's outing will take place on Saturday, April 6th. I am hoping the extra week
will provide us with two things. One, more
parking, and two, more sun. I am not optimistic about either, but we're going for it anyway.
The day for me will begin about 7:30 a.m.
when I arrive to secure our location. I will
provide some hot coffee, and have the canopy on hand, if needed. Please arrive at your
leisure. Lunch will be served at noon sharp.
The menu will be: Homemade chili, hotdogs, baked potatoes, buns, condiments, and
bottled water.
Please again remember your Discover Pass.
It required to park in the lot.
If you have questions, etc. my email is : [email protected].
See you there.
5. Janice Lake – June 6th thru 10th –
Tom Fulk
An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishers
Janice Lake
Outing 2013
A reservation deposit of $170. US is required by
April 15. If you cancel your reservation by May
2 your deposit will be refunded, but not afterwards. Contact Tom Fulk at 293-8368 for details
and reservations.
The Janice Lake outing is set for June 6-10,
2013. It will start with the evening meal on
Thursday, June 6 and end with the noon meal on
Monday June 10. This amounts to three full days
and two half days of fishing, or 4 days in total.
You may participate in all or part of the outing.
The price has not been determined yet but it will
likely be about 10% more than last year or
around $170. CN per day. There has not been a
price increase for a number of years. Included
are a tent cabin and three meals per day. The fish
camp has boats, but they are not much and you
would be better off bringing your own boat. We
may have some good boats to lend.
The Janice Lake fish camp is one of the last of
the old time British Columbia fish camps. It is
located just west of Little Fort, about a 6 hour
drive from Skagit County. It has been in operation by the Cartwright family for 54 years and
not much has changed except for the tent cabins
which were all new in 2007. There are also two
log cabins. All have wood stoves for heat. There
is a large lodge building where the eating and
cooking facilities are located, and it is a good
place to sit, watch the lake, and take a break.
There are also two walk in lakes with boats.
Several nearby lakes also have good fishing,
notably Birch Lake which has fish to 15 pounds.
The camp lacks modern amenities, and firsttimers are advised to call me and discuss the
state of affairs. If you are looking for wonderful
fishing experience on the most beautiful lake in
BC, with congenial fishing companions, this is
for you. If you need all modern amenities, consider another choice. The fish here are not large
but they are numerous and hungry. Because of a
planting of genetically modified fish they have
been getting larger fish than previously. This
will be the club’s 14th outing here and the high
point of the fishing season for many of us.
Newest Club Member
Patrick Smedile
Patrick became a member of the Fidalgo Fly
fishers at the February 2013 meeting. He has attended the SVC class and is now participating in
the Anacortes fly tying class. Patrick and his
wife were Omak school teachers and moved to
Anacortes after retirement. He was a member of
the Okanogan Fly Fishers while living in that
area of Washington.
Patrick's fly fishing included many of
the streams and lakes throughout the Columbia,
Okanogan and Methow River Valleys and adjacent hills. He can tell you about catching large
trout in Rufus Woods reservoir and enjoyable
days along the Methow River. Quality water
lakes of that region include Aeneas and Chopaka. The picture shows Patrick tying the Doc
Spratley during class on March 6th at the Anacortes Senior Activity Center. One of his reasons
for joining the club is to learn about fishing opportunities here on the "west" side.
The Membership Committee
An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishers
Fishing
Chironomids
The first club outing for 2013 is scheduled for Pass Lake in March. About twenty
years ago I wrote the following article for the
Wahoo. The weather this month is considerably better than the day I visited with Louie
Corbin. (It was snowing and the lake was
frozen over.) His methods and ideas are still
relevant for those of you who plan to fish
Pass Lake during the early spring weeks.
Louie Corbin
Louie first fished Pass Lake in 1938.
Over the years he has had a lot of success using varied fly fishing techniques. During the
last five or six years he has been perfecting
his method of fishing with chironomid patterns.
Louie starts out with two rods (9’), both
with floating lines, long (up to 17’) leaders
and strike indicators. On one outfit he
dresses the leader so it floats, on the other so
it sinks. That way he can quickly change
fishing depth according to where he determines the fish are feeding. He believes it is
very important to have straight leaders. To
that end he carries the rods made up and
places them in a long PVC tube attached
along the top of the pickup canopy. At the
lake he may row around some, looking for
signs that indicate to him fish are present
and feeding on chironomids. Traveling
against the breeze (if any) he double anchors
so the boat is slightly (5-10 degrees) sideways to the wind direction. Louie believes
tippet size is important, using 5x for fishing
at depth and 6x or 7x on or near the surface.
He uses standard 9’ tapered leaders and to
that he adds leader to the desired length, the
last 16 or 18 inches the tippet. The strike indicator is positioned on the tapered leader
and can be slid up or down depending on the
water depth. One problem with this system
is being able to move the strike indicator
when landing a fish.
Cast the fly (with the breeze) as far as
you can see the indicator. Wait five minutes
and then start a slow retrieve, 1”-2”, 6 pulls,
then a 2-3 second wait, then 6 more 1”-2”
pulls. After a few pull (stripping to some of
you) series, lift the rod 18” (slowly), lower
and wait, then start the sequence over. He
says to take off the indicator and use an intermediate line when the wind is stronger.
With the intermediate line shorten the leader
to 9’. Detect the take by watching the line in
the guides or where it enters the water, a
technique he learned from Fenton Roskelly
when fishing an Eastern Washington Lake
many years ago.
Louie at the vise
Louie uses various chironomid patterns,
depending on what is observed in/on the water. Body colors are usually black, reddish-brown or grey. (Robin will be teaching
the Blood Worm Chironomid pattern during
the February to April fly tying class.) Keep
An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishers
the body “Skinny” and any other dressings
sparse. Size may be as large as #10 – 3x long
when fishing deep to as small as #18 when
on the surface. His favorite hook is a regular
sproat, such as a Mustad 3906B. Mustad
94833 or 94845 hooks are the proper wire
size when tying patterns for fishing the film.
Swannundaze is an excellent body material
for patterns used at depth.
Water temperature is important and fishing is better when it reaches 42 degrees and
continues into the 50s. Louie believes that
fishing with chironomid patterns is good for
about two months then he switches to other
methods.
Louie Corbin was given the title “Mayor of
Pass Lake” by long time Seattle Times Outdoor editor Enos Bradner. Louie claimed to
have fished Pass Lake every opening day
from 1938 to when it became year around
fishing in the late 70s. Then he would
choose an opening day in April to continue
the tradition.
For years he took care of the club’s Pass
Lake creel census. At one time (1930s) he
had a fly tying business in the back the
beauty parlor Louie and Enid operated in
Anacortes. He also helped some of us develop our fly tying technique.
Danny
FIDALGO FLY FISHERS
P.O. BOX 325
ANACORTES, WA 98221
An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishers