Across
the Stream - June 2005
A
Publication of Heart of America Fly Fishers
HOAFF June Meeting
Monday, June 20, 2005 - 7pm
Kevin Kurz
Patagonia Fly Fishing
Kevin Kurz, owner of K&K Fly Fishers, will talk about his
recent 17 day fly fishing trip to Patagonia.
President's Message
One Fly - June 18th
by
Mark Borserine
We have our One Fly outing coming up on
June 18th. This event is a lot of fun every year! The lake Jim and Bill have picked looks like
a really good one: Maple Leaf Lake has lots of Bass Structure and is right off
I-70 for easy access. Bill Lyon will be
cooking and I understand that his skills with the grill are second to
none. Come and enjoy!
If you’ve never done “warmwater” fly
fishing before (Bass, Bluegill) this is a golden opportunity to give it a try
with some assistance from members who do it regularly. Lots of people only consider fly fishing in
connection with cold water and trout; but warmwater species are every bit as
enjoyable and in our own backyards! I
have a book on Bass Fishing from 1945 that I bought in an antique book shop.
Unlike today’s concept of Bass Fishing which includes high-speed boats, stiff
bait casting rods, plastic worms, spinnerbaits, etc. in those times a Bass
Fisherman was expected to be skillful with the Fly Rod first and foremost and
secondary was the casting rod.
Seventy-Five perecent of this book is spent on Fly Fishing; remember
that 1945 was before the large reservoirs and powerful outboards!
I attended a meeting of the FFF Southern
Conclave Club Presidents and SOC Directors this last weekend at Rim
Shoals. The FFF is rapidly becoming
“member friendly” again. Clubs will be
receiving part of the dues back as was done some years ago! There is a membership drive underway and new
members will receive a $50 value “grab bag” of items donated by Scientific
Anglers. Also, FFF dues will be going
up mid-summer to $35 per annum from $29 currently so between now and July 1st
is a good time to join! Also consider
Life Memberships: $50 down and two years to pay; a total of $460 and going up
July 1st to $500.
One
Fly Outing - June 18 - Maple Leaf Lake
by Jim Jorgensen
For a fun outing that doesn’t take all weekend and
within easy driving distance of KC don’t miss this year’s club one-fly outing
at Maple Leaf Lake. It is a fun chance
for club members to get together and experience some of the local fishing for
bluegill, bass and crappie. We will
coordinate activities from main parking lot which has access to restrooms and
fishing docks. The club will provide
lunch and soft drinks at around 11:30.
Get there whenever you can, although the sun coming up on the water early
morning is about as peaceful as it gets.
Most people arrive in the morning and leave some time after lunch.
To get there from Kansas City go west on I-70 to
Junction H, turn Right to South Outer Road that runs adjacent to the
interstate. Turn Left onto the outer road, 1 mile to Maple Leaf Lake. If
you get to Higginsville you’ve gone too far and will have to turn south and
back track along the south outer road.
We will meet in the main parking lot.
www.anglersfishinginfo.com/mo/mapleleaf/mapleleaflk.htm
The basic approach to the one fly is to see who can
use one fly to catch the most fish and the greatest cumulative length of fish,
but in the five or so years we have been doing this our record keeping tends to
get a little muddled, we sneak in an extra fly or two and can’t seem get around
to declaring a winner, so don’t get discouraged and quit if you loose your fly.
There are numerous bluegill opportunities near one of
the brush piles or other fish habitats strategically placed around each
dock. For the best bass fishing,
however, bring a boat, the standing timber in the lake’s western arm provides
bass with their favorite places to feed.
Boats with motors of 10 horsepower or less are
permitted on the lake, but anglers who bring kick boats, float tubes, or canoes
and johnboats won’t have far to paddle. Prime fish habitat is within a few
quick dips of a paddle. Just position your boat between the buoys on the lake,
and you will be right on top of one of many specially built fish habitats. But be prepared to get hung up. The sunken
cedar trees and wooden stakes used to create fish habitat make the lake tricky
to fish, but the end result - better fishing - is worth it.
Most manmade lakes have smooth bottoms that don’t
provide fish with the cover they need to rest, hide from bigger fish or lie in
ambush for a meal. But the Conservation Department took care to make this 140
acre lake a great place for fish to live and grow. Originally a 35-acre lake,
the Conservation Department converted the old dam into a jetty that extends
into the middle of the new lake.
Large underwater earthen peninsulas were added to
serve as fish travel lanes around and between the fishing piers and docks. The
peninsulas’ steep drop-offs provide fish with the protection of deep water.
Cedar
trees placed in strategic locations alongside these structures give fish cover
and attract aquatic insects for them to eat. Recycled cement from a nearby
highway ramp construction project provides a maze of underwater rock islands
where fish can hide.
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
Jorgensen 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
Bill Lindley will be the featured fly tyer for June. 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
Following the March 23rd meeting in Rogers, Arkansas, the
consultants considered the comments and came back at the April 11th
meeting
with several different regulation scenarios.
The purpose of the April 11th meeting was to come to a consensus
as to which plan to recommend to the Game and Fish Commission at the upcoming
May 12th meeting. Similar to the previous
meeting we broke up into groups of 4 to 8 and discussed the pros and cons of
each plan. At the end of the meeting each discussion group explained to the
larger group which plan we thought was the best.
Now, after hearing that round of comments Darrell
Bowman and the fisheries team have come up with the new “science based”
proposed regulations for the Beaver Tailwater.
Here’s how it will be implemented.
1) Reduce rainbow trout stocking rate to 96,000
eleven-inch catchables. (This is a reduction of about 50% of current levels).
2) Reduce brown trout stocking to 5,000 six-inch
fingerlings every other year.
3) Eliminate the current 16 inch minimum length
on brown trout.
4) 13” to 16” inch slot limit on trout for the
entire tailwater.
5) Limit 5 trout per day, only one over 16 inches.
6) Bait fishing allowed with SINGLE BARBLESS HOOKS
only.
7) No-Bait Zone replaces the current Catch and
Release zone.
The overall objective (gleaned from the April 11th meeting) is to: Improve put-and-take fishing and quality
trout management using a river-wide 13-16 inch slot for all trout and include a
zone where bait fishing would NOT be allowed.
The proposed regulation scenario sets up a great
experimental design to evaluate bait restrictions. With the river wide slot
limit, and a section of “No Bait”, it should be possible to evaluate the
effectiveness of the single barbless bait fishing areas versus the “No Bait”
area. With a river wide slot limit, bait fishers will be doing a lot of catch
and release fishing.
Only
time will tell whether the single barbless hook restriction will reduce the
usual 20% to 30% hooking mortality associated with bait fishing for trout.
White
River Outing
May
14-15, 2005
By Mark Borserine
The White River outing was enjoyed by all
who came, I believe seven in all. There
was no generation at either tailwater and they were both quite low. Everyone who came caught fish fairly
consistently. The usual patterns and
tactics were working. The best,
however, seemed to be small (size 16 and below) black and red midge pupa
patterns fished as nymphs. This was
probably due to the low and very clear water.
There were lots of fish visible in the tailwaters!
An impromptu dinner was held at Gaston’s
restaurant on Saturday night and six of the seven were able to come: Bob Mueller, Scott Laurent, Bob Postle, Jim Babb, Olaf Borge (our guest
speaker for Monday night) and Mark Borserine.
Unfortunately we did not connect with Bill Lindley until Sunday morning;
we wish Bill had been at dinner with us since he’s always a good companion.
Scott and Olaf both caught nice
fish. Since Olaf is used to very small
streams in his native Wisconsin, this was the largest Brown Trout he’d ever
caught – congratulations, Olaf!
Silk
Fly Lines
by Mark Borserine
Our guest speaker on Monday night the 16th was Olaf Borge from
Viroqua, WI. Olaf is the nation’s
leading importer of silk fly lines (which are made in France). Everyone who attended found the presentation
and especially the demonstration very interesting. Every one in attendance had the opportunity to cast a silk fly
line in comparison to a PVC (‘conventional’) line. Everyone who did was amazed at the casting characteristics of
silk. Several comments were heard that the silk line felt “heavier” than the
PVC although both lines were of the same weight; this is because of silk’s
smaller diameter which allows it to cut the wind and shoot further.
Olaf provide everyone with handouts that
will be a valuable reference whether or not one ever acquires and uses a silk
line. Olaf attended our White River
outing (see picture with Brown Trout) and invited a group of us to come up to
his area of SouthWestern Wisconsin, the “Driftless” area, for some small stream
fishing! If anyone is interested
contact Mark Borserine; this is an outing we can put together!
Stanford
Miller
November
15, 1913 - May 6, 2005
by Mark Borserine
I first met Stan in June 1957 when I
started to work at Employers Reinsurance Corp. (ERC). Stan had much success in
the field of reinsurance moving up the corporate ladder becoming the President
and then the Chairman of the Board and CEO of ERC.
He was very active serving on boards of
many civic and professional organizations which included several years as an
active board member of The Nature Conservancy. But above all he was an outdoors
man. I remember a day early in my time with ERC. I was waiting for an elevator
on the top floor of our old building downtown and just as the elevator door
opened, Stan ran out of his office yelling to hold the elevator. Stan was
excited when he stepped on the elevator saying he had just received a telephone
call from a canoe buddy telling him that the recent spring rains were going to
produce White Water on one of Stan’s favorite Ozark streams and they were
headed to southern Missouri to ride the water.
Stan had many interests outside of his
profession and I quote from his obituary:
“Stanford was an intrepid traveler and
had visited many exotic destinations. As an outdoor enthusiast, sailor, skier,
canoeist and, above all, a fly fisherman.”
Now for a bit of club history, it was
back in 1985 that Stan contacted a couple of other people who were also
interested in starting a fly fishing club and they were Bob Fyan and Terry
Middleton as well as two fly fishers from his company namely Dick Griffith and
me. We were invited to his home to discuss the plans for creating a Federation
of Fly Fishers club here in the Kansas City Metro area and this was the
beginning of our club.
So, Stan many thanks and from your new
vantage point, please keep an eye on your club, the Heart of America Fly
Fishers, we hope to continue to make you proud to be our founder.
A Tale of Two Stockings with
Ol'Twofly
By John Bell
When I was down in Rogers, Arkansas for
the last Fish and Game meeting on April 11th, regarding changing the Beaver tailwater
regs, I had the opportunity to fish the Beaver tailwater the next morning,
before heading back home.
While I had planned on fishing, I didn’t
have much time (maybe a couple of hours if I worked it right). So, I told
myself I would quit as soon as I caught my first trout. I was traveling light.
Just a rod and reel, and one box of “tailwater” flies (all wets; mostly scuds,
buggers, eggs, and san juan worms). No vest, just a lanyard with a couple of
tools and some leader material. Not a lot, but enough stuff to catch a couple
of tailwater trout.
Upon arriving at the river, I found
conditions to be against me. The air temp was in the 40’s, the wind was blowing
and both generators were on full. Perhaps this explained why there were no
other anglers about. Not exactly what you like to find, but I was only after
one fish. Even when the water is high there is a little bit of wadable water at
the boat ramp up by the dam. I pulled my waders on over my street clothes and
went fishing.
An hour later all I had caught was cold,
so I walked back up to the car to warm up. While sitting in the car I heard a
rather loud truck coming down the hill to the boat ramp. It was the hatchery
truck. And he was backing down the boat ramp! I laughed to myself that my
fishless fortune would likely change soon and I’d be on my way home.
I walked down to the truck and asked the
operator if I could be of any help. He had just dropped 1,000 catchables and
they were so thick that you could have walked across the river on their backs.
There were so many fish in the water that I actually considered not fishing as
it would have been too easy. The truck driver talked me back into it when he was
pulling away as he said, “you’re fishin’ flies and probably won’t keep any
anyway, and if you waded in among them, it would help to disperse them.”
Ok, in the name of science and fish
dispersal, I’ll give it a go. I thought my first cast would bring a dozen
strikes, but I was surprised as it drifted through all of them without one
trout showing any interest. Unfazed I cast again with the same response. Then a
third cast. A fourth. A fifth. All without any interest from this mass of trout
literally at my feet. Still unfazed, I began to take stock of my situation. Ok,
I can take a hint, they’re not interested in scuds, probably because they don’t
see a lot of them at the hatchery. I’ll try something else.
Thirty minutes later I have now tried
every fly in my “tailwater” box and still to no avail. Just to make sure they
can see the fly, I sight fish to several of the salmos. Amazingly, they move
out of the way of the fly. Now, I am beginning to get fazed. I retreat from the
river to take yet further stock of the conundrum that I find myself in.
While considering my predicament, yet
another hatchery truck shows up, with yet another 1,000 catchables and they are
dumped into the river. Now, there are 2,000 trout milling about my legs.
“Catchin’ a few?” the truck driver wryly asks. Not willing to admit my failure,
I said “just starting, but it looks like there are a few fish about.”
My understatement on the number of trout
in the river before us drew a laugh from the truck driver, and he was off,
leaving me alone with the 2,000 trout.
Before I can organize myself to make
another foray into the water, the wind picks up a bit and seedlings from the
trees along the bank begin to fall to the water. They looked very much like dry
flies as they floated down the river. The trout picked up on this and began
rising to the vegetable material.
Now, not only are there 2,000 trout in
front of me, but every damn one of them is rising to a hatch of seedlings on
the river’s surface. If I had had a dry, I could have hooked 500 fish. For a
moment I considered driving over to the Beaver Dam Store and picking up a few
Elk Hair Caddis which would have matched the hatch nicely. In retrospect, I
should have.
However recalling a bit of advice given
to me by an honored and experienced fishing guide to “Never leave rising
trout”, I stay. Still not willing to admit defeat, I make another attempt to
hook just one fish. I had floatant so I tried greasing every fly I had in an
attempt to get one to float like the seedlings. No go.
Weighted flies just don’t float very
well. In an absolute final attempt to hook a fish I try attaching a size 18
scud to one of the seedlings. Still no go. Slowly the seedlings stop falling,
the trout stop rising, and the fish begin to disperse. For over an hour I have
fished to rising trout so thick I could have stepped on them. And hooked not
one!
I laughed to myself on the drive home
replaying the event over and over in my mind. I consider the many times I have
been skunked by selective and wary trout and chalked the experience up to a
well educated fish and a not so smart angler.
Now, after this experience, I am face to
face with the exact opposite situation. I have been skunked by (2,000) trout so
dumb that they didn’t know a representative food form when they saw it! And that is the “Tale of Two Stockings”.
Southern Council Meeting
By Mark Borserine
As I said in the President’s Message, I attended a
meeting this last weekend, May 21st of the SOC Club Presidents.
There is a lot of news specific to the Southern Council itself:
Conclave
Last year the SOC donated $23,000 to Conservation
projects within the Southern Council.
The SOC’s only source of income (other than donations, which are fairly
minimal) is the Conclave held each year in October (7,8,9 – 2005). Attendance at the Conclave and generosity at
the Auction and in the Raffles is where the funds come from!
This year’s Conclave which will be held October 7,8
& 9 is shaping up to be the best ever!
There will be 12 on the water classes and events held on Thursday the 7th alone! If you’ve never attended a conclave, this is a must and you
should be returning each year. The
educational opportunities are incomparable!
The announcements of classes and events are coming
out soon – the way to get the class you want is to register early! Opening of registration is when the Conclave
issue of “Long Casts” hits the street in late June.
The raffle prizes will be much better this year! The “Big” raffle is for a Mitzi skiff, a
$25,000 boat, motor trailer package. We
have tickets for sale at each club meeting at $10 per ticket or 12 for $100. The drawing will be held on October 8th at the Awards banquet.
Scholarships
There are $1,000 scholarships available to College
students in the 2nd or above year of study in a biology
or environment-related field. There are
generally very few nominations, so if you know someone deserving let one of the
officers of the club know.
Conservation
The SOC gave $23,000 this last year to conservation
projects. These are generally in the
form of matching funds based on requests from the clubs! HOAFF can get some of these funds added to
our “pet projects” as well.
Council
Awards
Are listed on the Southern Council website. Again, there are very few nominations each
year. If you can think of someone from
our club or in the Council who is deserving, let one of the club officers know!
Upcoming Events & Programs
June
18, 2005 One Fly - Pony Express Lake
June
20, 2005 Kevin Kurz - Patagonia
Fly Fishing
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