Newsletter 2012-07 - Flatland Fly Fishers

July 2012
Volume 17 Issue 7
Wichita, Kansas
www.flatlandflyfishers.org
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Now Is The Time
Page 2
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Casting Clinic
Page 3
___________________
2013 Winter Program
Page 4
___________________
Why I Tie
Charles Dudley Warner
Casting Practice
Page 5
___________________________
Presidential Thoughts
Club Information
Page 6
Visit our website
www. flatlandflyfishers.org/
July Meeting changed to
July 12, 2012 7:00 P.M.
July Meeting
Presentation from the Southern Council Conservation VP
There are many requirements a club has
to meet in order to obtain the 501© 3 tax
status. One of these requirements is an on
going conservation project. The project
that our club has adopted is improvements
to Slough Creek, located in Sedgwick
County Park. During the last months multiple tons of rock have been trucked in and
as time passes this rock will be placed in
Slough Creek. If you want more information regarding the Slough Creek conservation project talk with Neal Hall.
In keeping with the conservation requirement the club has asked Paul Goodwin, Conservation VP with the Southern
Council, to be the speaker at the July 12th
club meeting.
Listed are some of the topics Paul will
be covering:
FFF's emphasis on conservation in its
mission statement and the challenge of
manifesting it at the council and club
levels
FFF's conservation committee, annual
funding appeal and small grants program, including differentiation between conservation and education activities
The conservationist versus environmentalist "debate" and the "watershed
view" antidote
Club conservation culture nurturance
Conservation cooperation and collaboration opportunities, benefits and
risks
Forming liaisons with like-minded
groups
Types of conservation projects
We hope you will be able to attend the
July meeting.
Fly Fishing Play Day
June had a casting day and Fathers Day
and July has Independence Day and a fly
fishing play day.
When: July 21
Time: 7 am to whenever
Where: Harvey County East
Directions: Take I-35 North to Newton,
exit 31. At circle turn right onto 1st, go
1/4 mile turn right. Go 6 miles to Eastlake
Rd. turn left go another 1/4 mile turn right
and look for signs and drive towards lake..
Bring your fishing gear, fly tying stuff,
chairs, watercraft, munchies, favorite beverage and if want the family and spend the
day enjoying the outdoors.
2
Flatland Fly Fishers
Now Is The Time
It‟s time, Do it now, Do not wait, Get out and fish for Blue
Gills NOW. This is the time of year that the Gills are on
the top water bite. Yes I know it‟s hot out there and the
wind will blow you around some, but don‟t let that stop
you. As the water warms up the Gills move up to the banks
and start feeding in April and May, and as summer comes
on the Gills will start to school up by year class and roam
the lake feeding.
Schools of Gills will come up to the surface feed and go
back down. And if they are on the chase they will stay on
the surface and move across the lake. When I say they are
on the surface I mean in the top two or three feet of the
water column and all you will see are their noses coming
out of the water as they move. Once you have seen this
happen you will know what to look for. Now the trick is to
get in front of them as they move by. That can be hard to
do if you are standing on the bank. You are going to need
some type of water craft to get out into the water. A tube
float will work just find, I use a float tube or my kayak
depending on how much water I want to cover. And if you
don‟t have a tube you can walk the bank, just be prepared
to move as needed to stay in the fish.
Rick Brown
The great thing about this kind of fishing is that you do not
need a lot of gear. Most of the time all you need is small box
of poppers, some tippet and your rod and you‟re set to go.
So don‟t wait, do it now.
3
Flatland Fly Fishers
Casting Your Cares Away
Photo‟s by Sabra Cazel
Flatland Fly Fishers Club held a half day casting clinic on Saturday, June 2 at Garvey Park. The instructors for that day
were Doug Meyer and Eric Schmidt. The clinic covered on the grass beginning casting to on the grass spey casting. After a
quick break the group went to the water where we had the opportunity to wet and dry fly drift, mending and spey cast.
Doug demonstrating “wet fly” presentation
Eric demonstrating “dry fly” presentation
Flatland Fly Fishers
4
2013 Winter Program
I have tied flies since I was eight years old. I began tying
commercially for local shops at the age of twelve and to this
day I still can‟t get through a day without tying at least a few
flies. Fly tying is a consuming endeavor to me, and I enjoy
every minute of it.
Growing up in Colorado, I have had the chance to work and
fish with some of the most innovative tiers and fisherman in the
world. Guys like John Barr, Ross Bartholomay, Dennis Collier
and a host of others have influenced my tying and designs.
While I owe a lot of my success to people like these I have also
learned that I am always my own worst critic and find that I‟m
forever looking for a better way of doing things. I have learned
that you can‟t be satisfied with a fly that looks good in the box;
it has to fish well too. So many “new” patterns these days are
beautiful to look at but haven‟t been water tested. A truly great
pattern has to catch fish, be reasonably durable, and solve a
problem. That is, achieve through the tying design or process, a
result that was previously unavailable. The Copper John is a
perfect example of great fly design (Oh, how I wish I‟d have
come up with this one.). It‟s got everything: color, flash, durability, profile and weight. It‟s one of those flies that seem so
obvious once you see it that you‟re really mad at yourself for
not coming up with it first. Well, if it wasn‟t going to be me,
I‟m glad it was John.
My own Charlie Boy
Hopper is another successful
design. The one-piece foam
body provides superior flotation and durability while creating a realistic profile. The
rubber legs provide fish attracting action, and the deer
hair over wing makes the fly
highly visible to the angler. The problem this fly solves is its
ease of tying. Again, it all seems like such an obvious way of
doing it once you see it, but I assure you, it took quite a while
to figure out.
The success of the
Charlie Boy Hopper
led to the development
of a beefed up version
called the BC Hopper.
Co-designed by John
Barr and meself, the
BC serves as an incredibly buoyant indicator dry that draws more than its share of strikes as well.
One of my favorite patterns is the Jujubee Midge. I
developed this one years ago while guiding in Cheesman
Canyon on Colorado‟s
South Platte River.
The two-color Super
Hair abdomen creates
a striking ribbed effect
with excellent durability and the FlouroFiber wing case produces an attractive
halo around the thorax.
A simple fly for sure, but with a definite edge.
My Ragin‟ Craven pattern was developed as a permit fly
that could be fished on the drop or with a retrieve. Many
conventional permit
flies are effective as
they sink from the
surface to the bottom,
but once pinned down
by the fish, they lack
the action to entice a
pick up. The nondescript Ragin‟ has
the ability to „morph‟
from a crab into a
shrimp as dictated by the attitude of the fish and the retrieve imparted by the angler. It has proven incredibly effective on bass, bonefish, permit, redfish and even stripers.
I hope that other anglers/tyers can appreciate the effort
I‟ve put into my patterns and hope that they can get half as
much fun out of fishing them as I have out of developing
them.
Charlie Craven will be the 2013 Winter Program
guest speaker. The Winter Program is scheduled for
Saturday, February 9, 2013.
5
Flatland Fly Fishers
Why Do I Tie
Ryan Allred
Do I tie to save money? No. Do I tie to feel like a
real fly fisherman? No. Do I tie to create patterns I can‟t
buy? Yes to a degree. So why do I tie? This morning I went
out with a fly I had tied the day before and caught a small
bass. The true reason I
tie was right there in
front of me as I released
the fish. There is an
added pleasure from
catching a fish on something I created that is
hard to put into words.
I have been tying for
years, but don‟t do it as
much as I would like. I
am not the most talented
or creative tier, but you
don‟t have to be. Flies
do not have to be perfect
to catch fish; most of the
time. My recommendation if you are fishing to extremely
picky fish… move and find some dumb fish. They are
around, I find them all the time.
Back to why I tie. I have found over the years that
when I am out fishing, I will normally start fishing with patterns I have tied before I will switch to a bought fly or whine
to get a fly from a fishing buddy. There are exceptions because there are patterns
that I just don‟t know
how to tie or haven‟t
taken the time to learn
certain techniques. But
when I am fishing a pattern I have tied and catch
a fish it just takes the
experience up to the next
level. Not only did I
figure out where that fish
should be, but I personally created the thing
that fooled him into
thinking it was meal
time. There is nothing
wrong with not tying,
but if you want to take your enjoyment of catching a fish to
that next level, considering trying to tie. I would be more
then happy to let you use my vise and help you put together
a pattern that you could go out and try. See if it really does
make that catch just a little more personal and the smile on
your face slightly bigger.
That is why I tie.
Trout Fishing Lore
submitted by Rick Brown
Trout fishing would be a more attractive pastime than it is
but for the popular notion of its danger. The trout is a retiring
and harmless animal,
except when he is
aroused and forced
into a combat; and
then his agility, fierceness, and vindictiveness become apparent.
No one who has studied the excellent pictures representing men
in an open boat, exposed to the assaults
of long, enraged trout
flying at them through
the open air with open
mouth, ever ventures
with his rod upon the
lonely lakes of the
forest without a certain terror.
Charles Dudley Warner
Casting Practice Questions
When you practice your casting what line is best to use?
Does grass deteriorate your line? Where is the best place to
practice your casting? How important is practice?
Starting with the last question the only way to improve your
casting skills is thru practice. Casting practice is best when it
is done daily for shorter periods of time than weekly for longer
periods of time. Casting practice is a development of muscle
memory not stamina. The best place to practice is one that has
plenty of space, convenient, and available daily.
Does grass deteriorate your line? Casting on soft grass
does not hurt your line but you should avoid casting over hard
surfaces of any kind. If you have an older line use that for
practice and using the better line for fishing.
Questions and Answer
If you have questions regarding any aspect of Fly Fishing
please submit them to: [email protected]
Flatland Fly Fishers
P.O. Box 49164
Wichita, KS
67201
Flatland Flyfishers meet monthly at the
Great Plains Nature Center, located at
6232 E. 29th St. N, Wichita, KS
From the President
Independence Day has always been one of my favorite
holidays. Families getting together for barbeque, swimming, a day at the lake, fishing,
camping, and all the other fun
things associated with summer
are why this is my favorite. I
have very fond memories of
being a kid and taking a road
trip to northern Indiana to visit
my aunt, uncle, and much of
the extended family. It meant
time on the lake fishing and
what we all looked forward to the most… fireworks! My
aunt and uncle live on a good sized lake that has some really
great fishing. Bass, Bluegill, Walleye, Northerns (if you call
them Pike there, everyone will know you‟re not from around
there), and giant flatheads. It‟s funny to me now thinking
back to the fish I caught out of that lake and how the memories aren‟t very specific, except one, the time I almost shot a
large firework into a house right across the cove from where
we were shooting off our arsenal. Luckily, it blew up over
their backyard and didn‟t make it all the way to the house. I
realize this is not even a fishing memory but it‟s the one I‟ll
never forget. So get out and do some fishing, take someone
along to share some memories with and be safe. At the July
meeting we will have the Conservation chair for the Federation of Flyfishers speaking to us about conservation. I am
hoping there will be some good ideas for us in there for future conservation projects for us to tackle. Also this month
we will have a “play day” at Harvey County East Lake. It
will be fun, so come out and bring your gear, do some fishing, or just stop by and talk some fishing for a while. See
you at the meeting. Eric
Flatland Fly Fishing Club Monthly Programs
July 21
Fly Fishing Play Day
October 13
Fall Picnic
February 9, 2013 Winter Program
Ark River Anglers Fly Tying Class
Introduction to Fly Tying July 11 & 18 Wednesday 7 pm
Intermediate Fly Tying August 8 & 15 Wednesday 7 pm
Please Call 316-682-8006 for additional information.