Across
the Stream - May 2005
A
Publication of Heart of America Fly Fishers
HOAFF May Meeting
Monday, May 16, 2005 - 7pm
Olaf Borge
Silk Fly Lines, Cane Rods & the History of
Fly Fishing
President's Message
Taking Stock of our Educational Programs
by
Mark Borserine
Most everyone is probably aware that our National Fly
Fishing Week activities of Saturday April 23rd and Saturday April 30th were very lightly attended. Heavy attendance was in
evidence on the part of HOAFF members who were very generous in giving of
themselves and their time in volunteering and coming out to support their club’s
efforts. The light turnout for the event was hardly noticed because the members
were having such a good time polishing their casting skills, teaching each
other new fly patterns and techniques, learning new knots and actually fishing! Everyone who came remarked what a wonderful
outing they had!
The turnout of volunteers proves that our club
members are willing, waiting and wanting to share their time and skills with
their community! What we have learned
from the light turnout from the community is that we need to present future
educational programs in different venues. Your efforts as volunteers have not
been wasted because the officers are discussing other opportunities and
locations for the future. One of which
will be the Olathe Aquafest on August 27th which is expected to attract 2,000 people. Look for more
information on this opportunity to support your club and community to come!
The Liberty Fly Tyers have also been engaged heavily
in educational programs lately. They should be recognized for their efforts.
The “rest of us” should be more aware of the wonderful work the Liberty Fly
Tyers have been doing!
If you get the newsletter before the upcoming outing
to the White River, I again want to encourage you to come and join us. If you
are a new member, don’t be shy about coming, we’ll make sure you’ll get to fish
with us and we’ll do our best to put you on fish (and you need not tip us).
Liberty
Fly Tyers Exhibit "Skills"
by "Alfredo Garcia"
Alright, I admit it, you are probably justified in not
associating the Liberty Fly Tyers with…. well ….. fly tying. We are, for good
cause, more often thought of in the context of Bushmills and Macanudos (and
there was that one evening involving genuine Tennessee moonshine, but we don’t
like to talk about it). But, every once in a while we do something worth
talking about.
On April 28, 2005, the Liberty Fly Tyers demonstrated
their meager skills for hundreds of on lookers at the annual Show and Share at
Ridgeview Elementary School in Liberty, Missouri. For two and a half grueling
hours we actually tied flies; and let me tell you, kids make a great audience.
It’s a pretty neat thing to have someone interested in what your doing. You get
to sit there and listen to a third grader tell you about the bluegill he caught,
then send him away with a fly you tied just for him.
It’s been a while since Brad Pitt made a movie that
sparked the interest of as nation of homebodies. It is time that you took up
the torch, and fortunately what we lack in good looks we can make up for with
enthusiasm (a few of you are comparing yourself to Brad Pitt right now – take
my word not even close).
There are lots of opportunities to share our sport,
many are presented by the HOAFF and a few come down as an edict from a Liberty
Fly Tyers wife and mother (same woman, two different guys) (who just happens to
be the art teacher at Ridgeview Elementary). I promise, if you call a local Boy
Scout Troop, they would love to have a presentation and a Fly Fishing Merit
Badge counselor. However it happens, willful or coerced, jump on any chance you
get to talk to people about fly fishing and fly tying.
So as not to tarnish the good name of the Liberty Fly
Tyers, I want to go on record that we adjourned our activities at Ridgeview and
reconvened at The Landing to raise a glass in celebration of Tom James’
birthday. Oh, and we smoked a few cigars too. We had to get some of that
goodness of us.
Totally
off the subject, I am certain that Tommy will include in this edition a picture
of a huge bass. Some may think, that being the editor of this
publication and an expert at video and photo alteration, the fish could not
possibly be that big. But, I saw it with my own two eyes and it was huge. You
can believe me, I’m a Liberty Fly Tyer.
Submitted
by Alfredo Garcia – name changed to protect the guilty
2005 Officers
PRESIDENT
Mark Borserine
majborser@aol.com
(913) 381-0722
pAST
PRESIDENT/SECRETARY
David Andrews
davidgandrews@kc.rr.com
H (816) 741-8314
tREASURER
Paul Bennetts
pbennetts1@comcast.net
913-338-3837
NEWSLETTER
EDITOR
Tom
James
tom@blackdogsports.com
O (816)
718-0393
PROGRAMS
Cliff Cain John Bell
cliffcain@hotmail.com j.bell@kcc.state.ks.us
H (913) 780-3865 H (785) 843-1782
O (913) 433-5224 O (785) 271-3139
OUTINGS
Jim
Jorgenson Bill Lyon
jjorgens@ci.lenexa.ks.us blyon51@yahoo.com
H (913) 469-1950 (816) 525-1243
O (913) 477-7701
MEMBERSHIP
Cliff Newton Fred Clark
ccnewton@sbcglobal.net fclarks@planetkc.com
H (816) 943-8306 H
(913) 831-0305
O (816) 426 3925 x260
CONSERVATION/BLUE
RIVER PROJECT
Raymond Zook
rzook@kc.rr.com
H (816) 941-2862
LIBRARIAN
Doug McDonald
mcdoug5148@sbcglobal.net
(913) 669-5222
EDUCATION/RECOGNITION
Bill Lindley Jim Mattes
(913) 888-3177 (913) 248-1030
SPRING
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Dick Martin Don Grundy
rlm@mllfpc.com dgrundy@sbcglobal.net
H (816) 781-9557 H (816)-781-9019
O (816) 221-1430
WEBMASTER
Vicky Newton
svnewton@sbcglobal.net
H (816) 943-8306
AUCTION/RAFFLE
Dan Zimmerman
dzmmrmn@aol.com
(913) 829-4768
HISTORIAN
Bill Brant
billandkathy@kc.rr.com
H (816) 941-9691 O (913) 458-6826
SOUTHERN
COUNCIL LIAISON
Hod McIntosh
singingreels@worldnet.att.net
Home: (913) 722-3684
BANQUET
CHAIR
John Richards
jreyedoc1@aol.com
H (816) 781-0545 O (816) 781-0500
Heart
of America Fly Fishers Meetings
Meetings
are held at 7pm on the 3rd Monday of each month
Community
of Christ Church
79th
& Mission Rd, Prairie Village, KS
Hatch of the Month
Bring a fly or a couple of flies to add to the Match of the Month
collection. During each meeting names are drawn and the winner receives the
collection of flies. This is a great way to learn new fly patterns and share
some of your favorite flies with the rest of the club. Members can also donate
a dollar to enter for the drawing.
Featured
Fly Tyer
Olaf Borge will discuss silk fly lines and cane rods. If you are
interested in being a featured fly tyer, contact Dave Andrews.
HOAFF Apparel now available
Now you can get a T-shirt or a fishing hat with the
new Heart of America Fly Fishers Logo. To purchase your HOAFF apparel, see Tom
James at the next member meeting. Hats $15, T-shirts $12
White River Journal with Ol' Twofly
Tips for Arkansas Tailwater Anglers - Part II
by John Bell
Secrets
of Hydro-Generation Revealed
This month I’ll explain how the hydroelectric
generation at Bull Shoals Dam on the White River and Norfork Dam on the Norfork
tailwater affects the water levels on the White and Norfork Rivers.
Learning how to predict water levels at specific
locations on the river is essential to one’s fishing success in these
waters. Finding low water is the single
biggest impediment to fly anglers who wish to wade the White and Norfork
tailwaters. If you don’t have some idea
of what water levels to expect when you go out on these rivers you will waste a
lot of fishing time moving up and down the river trying to find wadeable water.
The first step in learning how to predict water
levels on the river is to access the current generation data for the two
dams. The generation pattern for the
past 24 hours at Bull Shoals and Norfork dams is available by phone (24 hrs/day
year round) at 870-431-5311. This is a
local call in the Mountain Home, Arkansas area. When you call an electronic message will tell you how many units
(generators) are running and the time of day they were turned on (or off) at
each dam. Armed with this bit of
generation data it is possible to predict with some certainty where both high
and low water can be found on either river.
Making the phone call and determining where high and/or low water should
be is vitally important to wading success (and safety) since there are few
wadeable areas on the White or Norfork Rivers when the water is high.
Bull Shoals
Tailwater
Ok. You’ve
called the dam information line and determined when generation began or ended
and how many units were turned on or off.
Here are some additional facts.
Bull Shoals dam has eight generators (or “units” as they are called in
the phone message). So, the number of
units turned on or off will always be between zero and eight. When generation begins the rise in water
level flows downstream at approximately 4 mph.
Lastly, the accuracy of our high/low water model for the White River is
highest the closer to the dam that you are.
The model begins to break down the further one gets away from the
dam.
Now that we’ve got the generation data, let’s try to
make it useful. Assume that you are
fishing the White River in the State Park up at Bull Shoals Dam and generation
begins. Wade fishing ends at that
location due to the rise in water levels.
However since one can drive (or motor boat) downstream faster than the
rising water (which is traveling at 4 mph), it is possible to continue wade
fishing at some other downstream location where the water is still low. So we hop into the car and drive downstream
to Cotter for instance. Cotter is
approximately 20 miles downstream from the dam, thus it will take the rising
water about 5 hours to reach that location which you can drive to in about 20
minutes from the State Park. If you
want more than 5 hours of fishing, simply drive further downstream. If you drove to Buffalo City (at the
confluence with the Buffalo River) which is approximately 30 miles downstream
from Bull Shoals Dam, the water would likely not rise there for another 7 to 8
hours giving you a full day of fishing.
Norfork
Tailwater
The Norfork tailwater is much easier to predict. The salient fact to remember on the Norfork
is that the tailwater is only 5 miles long from the dam to the confluence with
the White River. That means that it
takes rising water only about 1 hour to reach the confluence with the
White. Further, unless you are up at
the dam, you will not hear the warning siren.
So, always have an escape route planed on the Norfork as rising water
can easily confine you to one side of the river. On the Norfork if the water comes up you better get out and look
for other wadeable water over on the White.
Refinements
Now for some refinements. On both rivers our 4 mph
average will be affected by; generation velocity, feeder streams, and
rainfall. This is why the flow-time methodology
breaks down the further from the dam that one gets. In the absence of significant rainfall, generation velocity is
governed by the number of generators turned on which causes the average flow
times to fluctuate. If two generators
(out of eight) are turned on at Bull Shoals the water velocity (and
corresponding increase in water depth) created is less than if all eight units
were turned on. This, of course, causes
the downstream flow time of the rising water to fluctuate. When it rains significantly, feeder streams
can have an impact on water levels and must be factored into the equation
accordingly.
Fishing in
Rising Water
The first rule of wading safety on the White or
Norfork rivers is to always be alert for rising water and to always
have an escape plan in case of rising water no matter where you are on
the river.
While one should always err on the side of caution
with regard to rising water, the fact that water is rising does not always
spell the end for wade fishing at a particular location. While the rise in water levels may be enough
to be recognizable, it may not be significant enough to force you to stop
fishing.
How do you know if the water is rising? If you are near the dams you will hear the
warning siren. More than a mile or two
downstream though and you won’t hear a thing.
In locations that are away from the dam, one must always be vigilant for
unexpected rising water. This means
keeping an eye on a streamside rock or stump that is just out of the
water. If the rock or stump gets
covered, that likely signals the beginning of a change in water
conditions.
Upon first noticing a rise in water conditions, I
immediately move to the side of the river that I want to be on should the rise
in water be of such magnitude that it forces me to leave the river
completely. However, once I am safely
at an escape location I remain at the edge of the river and begin fishing
again.
Why stay? Two
reasons. The main reason is fish
usually begin feeding. Tailwater trout
like rising water. It allows them to
leave the deeper runs and channels that provide them cover in low water and
move out of these areas and forage under the cover of higher water.
Secondly, the magnitude of the water rise may not
force you out of the river. This depends
of course on how many units were turned on.
If they only tuned on two units at Bull Shoals you can probably fish
through it. However, if they turned on
all eight units, the resulting increase in water depth would force you off the
river in most locations. How can you
tell how many units have been turned on?
You could carry a cell phone and upon noticing a
change in water conditions call the dam information number. Heck, if you have a cell phone you could
call every few hours to see if there’s been a change. If you don’t have a cell phone just watch the water conditions
change for a few minutes (this assumes that you have already moved to an area
of safety). Usually generation is not
begun all at once. It begins slowly and
gradually ramps up as more units are turned on. Presumably this is done as a safety service to sportsmen on the
river so that if you are ten miles downstream, you aren’t faced with a wall of
water six feet high all of a sudden. By
the way if you ever wonder how high the water can get on either tailwater, just
check out the high water marks on the edges of the river. It will surprise you how high the water can
get during full generation.
How much time do you have from first noticing a water
level change to realizing it’s full force?
The answer to this question has many variables but usually you have from
20 to 30 minutes. On Bull Shoals
tailwater if they have turned on all eight units, you’ll be forced off the
river in most locations by the continuous rise in water in 30 minutes or
less. However, if they only turned on
two or three units and the water seems to have stopped rising, that may be a
supreme opportunity to continue fishing.
Ok. That’s
all there is to it. Hydro generation
secrets of the tailwaters are now officially revealed! Now for some additional data. Additional generation information is also
available at Southwestern Power Administration’s website which can be accessed
at: www.swpa.gov. Click the
“generation” box and it will take you to a page that shows every dam under SWPA
control. This includes the entire White
River system. This page shows both
recent actual generation and expected generation for the coming week at each of
the dams.
Finally,
below is a table which shows various locations on each river and the
corresponding AVERAGE flow times. Good
luck. See you on the stream.
From
Bull Shoals Dam Site
Distance Ave. Flow Time:
Bull Shoals State Park ½ mile 10 to 15 min
Gaston’s White River Resort 3
miles 45 min to 1.5 hours
White Hole Access 8
miles 2 to 3.5 hours
Wildcat Shoals Access 11
miles 3 to 4.5 hours
Cotter Access 18 miles 4.5 to 8 hours
Rim Shoals Access 24 miles 6
to 10 hours
Ranchette Access 29
miles 7 to 13 hours
From Norfork Dam Site
McClellan’s Dock 2.5 miles 10 to 15 minutes
River Ridge Park (handicap access) 3.7 miles 1
to 1.5 hours
White River Confluence 4.5 miles 1.2 to 1.7 hours
2005 Hooked on Fly Fishing Program
by Hod McIntosh
How about that weather, was the end of April cold and
windy enough for you? Well, I guess not! We had 24 members at the Prairie
Center on Saturday the 23rd of April and 19 on the following Saturday. What a
great turnout for a club of roughly 108 members. Yes, I am proud to be a member
of this Club!
While we didn’t have many students, those who choose
to attend received great attention and instruction. The light turnout gave our
club members a chance to become better acquainted and share new knots and fly
tying techniques. We were also fortunate to have Paul “Sodie” Sodamann all the
way from Manhattan, Kansas, with us both days.
Sodie is a Federation Certified Master Casting
Instructor and he shared his talents with our students and club members and
many of us had some one-on-one casting lessons. He also shared his ideas and
techniques for teaching fly casting with Tom James, John Bell and Cliff Cain
which should make us more effective in teaching casting.
In closing I would like to thank each member who came
out to the Prairie Center to support the 2005 Hooked on Fly Fishing Program.
Also special thanks to Ray Zook for the great display of fly fishing
equipment, Jim Mattes for publicizing this event, Mark Borserine for
leading the fly tying instruction, Tom James and John Bell for
the fly casting instruction, Bill Lindley and Cliff Cain for
teaching the knot tying and Fred Clark and his crew for managing things
at the lake. Thank you all !!
White
River Outing
May
13-14-15, 2005
By Jim Jorgensen
One of the favorite destinations of club members is
the White and Norfork Rivers around Mountain Home, Arkansas. If you are new to
the club this would be an excellent opportunity to fish some of the best trout
water within easy driving distance of Kansas City and get to know other club
members better.
We will be staying at the White Sands Motel near
Cotter, Arkansas. See their ad in the newsletter for additional information
(Rates/night with tax: $41.62 single, $50.22
double, and $72.15 for club room that sleeps four).
The restaurant at White Sands is open and under
separate management. Also available nearby is the Brass Door Motel (see ad the
newsletter). Everyone is responsible for making their own reservations and
coordinating any outside activities.
The White and Norfork Rivers are both tailwater
fisheries. Since these are both power generation dams water fluctuations need
to be consider. Flow rates for Bull Shoals are available by calling
913/595-6779.
A good
source for fly patterns and other stream information is Dale Fulton’s Blue
Ribbon Flies www.mtnhome.net/brf/ (see ad in the newsletter).
Directions
to Mt. Home, AR from Kansas City
by
John Bell
With our upcoming club outing to the Mt. Home, Arkansas
area I thought it would be nice if we shared some directions regarding the
route to take to get there.
• Take US71 South out of Kansas City (approx
20mi) to Harrisonville, Mo.
• Two miles South of Harrisonville, go East
on Missouri 7 (approx 45mi) to Clinton,
Mo.
• At Clinton, go South on Missouri 13 to
Springfield (approx 90mi)
• At Springfield, go East on Interstate 44
(approx 10mi) to US 65
• In Springfield go South on US 65 (approx 10mi)
to US 60
• In Springfield go East on US 60 (approx 40mi)
to Missouri 5 at Mansfield
• At Mansfield take Missouri 5 South to Mt.
Home, Arkansas (approx 80mi)
Upcoming
Guest Speaker - Olaf Borge
by Mark Borserine
Our Guest Speaker for May 16th will be very interesting,
especially to those of us that use cane rods or are interested in learning more
about them, or are just fascinated with some of fly fishing’s history. Olaf Borge is an importer and purveyor of
silk fly lines from France who is a nationally-recognized expert on the use,
care and renewal of these very special tools.
Olaf is very active in the national community of cane rod
enthusiasts. I first learned of Olaf
from an article on silk fly lines in “Field & Stream”. When I first bought a Phoenix Double Taper 4
wt. for my bamboo rod, I discovered an entirely new dimension to it. If you come May 16th you’ll have the opportunity to cast
a silk line – I think you’ll be very surprised! Olaf’s website is www.silkflylines.com; you will find it very interesting.
A quote from Olaf’s website:
“After
trying many types of lines I have gone back to the old, hard-to-get silk double
taper. This is not because of contrariness or nostalgia, but because this line
performs better in every way. Silks don’t shoot as well as the glassier
floaters, but trout fishing is seldom a distance contest. They are denser than
the synthetics so they cheat the wind better and they have tips that are 20 to
25 percent finer. This finer point not only disturbs the surface less, but also
means you can use shorter, more manageable leaders. When greased properly silks
actively repel water and can be picked off the surface for the backcast with
less disturbance than a line that floats only because it is a bit lighter than
water. Then too, the tip floats and I have yet to find a floating line on which
the last few feet of line doesn’t sink.” Leonard M. Wright “More Sensible
Tackle” from “Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect” 1972
Upcoming Events & Programs
May
14, 2005 Spring Outing -
White River, Mountain Home Ark.
May
16, 2005 Olaf Borge - Silk
Fly Lines
June
18, 2005 One Fly - Pony Express Lake
September
19, 2005 Club Picnic - Shawnee Mission Park
October
15, 2005 Fall Outing - Branson MO
December
3, 2005 Winter Outing - Bennett Springs MO
Visit
our Advertisers:
Black
Dog Sports
www.blackdogsports.com
The
Fishing Hole
Ray & Jonell Fincke
(913)
642-5554
3731
W. 95th • Overland Park, KS 66206
Rainbow
Fly Shop
4706-D
Shrank Drive
Independence,
MO 64055
816-373-2283
9-5
Tuesday - Saturday
K&K
Flyfishers’
Everything for Todays Flyfisherman
• Total Equipment Selection
• Great ”How To” Schools
• Pro Staff for Your Questions
• Fishing Trips: Alaska • Canada • Montana • Bahamas
87th & Grant, Overland Park, KS 66212
www.kkflyfishers.com • 913-341-8118
Fishing
River Custom Rods
Bill
Kreitz
13715
Nation Rd.
Kearney,
MO 64060
E-mail:
b.kreitz@att.net
816-628-5071
Cell:
816-392-6720
River
Run Outfitters
2626 Hwy
165
Branson,
MO 65616
417-332-0460
877-699-3474
(toll free)
www.riverrunoutfitters.com
Branson
Lodge
2456
State Highway 165
Branson,
MO 65616
1-800-334-3104
www.bransonlodge.com
Sawdust Clay Art
Handmade
wood sculptures of your favorite fish.
PO Box
575 • Liberty, MO 64068
(816)
792-4603 • lylesw@mdc.state.mo.us
Loon
Outdoors
www.loonoutdoors.com
Pomeroy
Auction
James “J.P.” Rozine
Auctioneer
Kansas City, Kansas
(913) 334-2153
Blue
Ribbon Flies
West
Yellowstone, Montana
www.blueribbonflies.com
Lilleys'
Landing
1-800-LILLEYS
367
River Lane
Branson,
MO 65616
www.lilleyslanding.com
Dr.
Slick Co.
www.drslick.com
Rio
Products
5050 S.
Yellowstone Hwy, Idaho Falls, Idaho
83402 USA
• Tel. 208-524-7760
Fax
208-524-7763
e-mail:
rio@rioproducts.com
website:
www.rioproducts.com
Spring
View Fly Shop
Ed
& Kay
417-588-2116
11726
Highway 64
Lebanon,
MO 65536
Bennett
Spring State Park Concession Shop
26248 Hwy
64 A
Lebanon,
MO 65536
417-532-4307
1-800-334-6946
Gaston’s
Tackle
Bennett
Springs State Park
11798
Highway 64 - Lot 63
Lebanon,
MO 65536
417-532-9449
Sand
Springs Resort
1996 Hwy
64
Lebanon,
MO 65536
417-532-5857
417-588-3110
fax
www.sandspringsresort.com
Wilkinson
Outdoor Adventures
Clint
Wilkinson
272
Wild Cat Shoals Road
Gassville,
AR 72635
870-404-2942
CGFlyfish@excite.com
Riley’s Station
Miles
& Michelle Riley
129
CR 640
Buffalo,
AR 72653
whiteriver.net/rileys/
888-533-2151
870-425-4221
Dale
Fulton’s Blue Ribbon Flies
1343 Hwy. 5 South
Mountain Home, Arkansas 72653
(870)
425-0447
Fax
(870) 425-6954
http://www.mtnhome.net/fultons/
http://www.mtnhome.net/brf/
E-mail:
bluflyar@mtnhome.com
Two
Rivers Fly Shop
13718 Hwy
5 South • Norfork, AR 72658
870
499-3060 • Fax 870 499-5951
www.tworiversflyshop.com
Wapsi
Ask for
Wapsi at Better Fly Shops Everywhere!
Mountain
Home, AR 72653
Brass
Door Motel
Hwy 62W
Gassville,
AR 72635
Motel
Phone
(870)
435-2988
Restaurant
Phone
(870)
435-2288
(877)
272-7736
White
Sands Motel & Restaurant
Highway
62B - Next to Cotter's Rainbow Arch Bridge
870-435-2244
whitesands@mtnhome.com
www.whiteriver.net/whitesands
Bass Pro Shops
www.basspro.com