Across
the Stream – June 2007
A
Publication of Heart of America Fly Fishers
HOAFF June Meeting
Monday, June 19, 2007 - 7pm
Mike Kruse
MDC
Trout Biologist
Mike is
one of the prime movers in the Mill Creek acquisition and other MDC and Nature
Conservancy acquisitions. He will be
bringing us up to date on what is happening at MDC fisheries and will also be
available to answer your questions.
President's Message
by Mark Borserine
An
article in American Angler about prevention of heat injuries reminded me to
encourage our members to take precautions such as using sunscreen, wide-brimmed
hats and long-sleeve shirt and long pants to prevent skin injuries; sunglasses
to prevent eye injuries and to avoid dehydration. Have good fishing this summer, but take care
of yourselves!
Enjoy
the summer season to the fullest. Norm
Crisp’s presentation at our last meeting was especially helpful with all his
great ideas to make our trips more enjoyable and more productive. Of course, the best advice is that if you’re
traveling to an area you’re unfamiliar with - get a guide! I’ve been very lucky over the years and while
some guides have been better than others; I can honestly say that I’ve never
had a bad guide. One reason
I think is that I’ve always been cooperative and taken their advice; after all,
that’s what I hired them for! If I’d
known exactly where to go and what to do, I wouldn’t have hired them!
White River Trout Management Summit Meeting
by Norm Crisp
On May 14th and 15th
the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission held what was billed as “The Mountain
Home Trout Summit”. On behalf of HOAFF I attended the summit. The summit was
convened to have the fishing and general public provide their input on what the
goals for the rivers should be what actions the AGFC should take and
recommendations on how to achieve the goals. Complete information on the AGFC’s plan can be viewed on line at http://www.agfc.com/fishing/resources-fishing/trout-in-arkansas/trout_plans/tailwaters_meetings.aspx.
The
meeting was conducted by Dynamic Solutions, a consulting company that
specializes in facilitating meeting for natural resource management agencies.
Participants segregated into groups of 5 to 8 to work on providing input. On
May 14th the individual groups were asked
to brainstorm their goals for the fisheries. On May 15th
groups were asked to brainstorm the management issues to reach goals and also
advise on how to implement the goals and issues. At the end of each evening the
lists prepared by each group were briefly discussed and then posted on the
walls for all to see. Each participant was given ‘stick on dots” and asked to
place one or more dots on the goals, issues and advise they felt was most
important. During the brainstorming periods the AGFC staff was not in
attendance.
The
results of this activity were mixed as would be expected. Certain themes such
as “More big fish” or “improve the quality of the fishing reoccurred. However
the goal which received the most dots, more than twice the number of the next
goal, was improved water quality. With issues, as with goals, Water Quality
received more than twice as many dots as the next issue, Enforcement. In terms
of advice, the results were somewhat different. The priority item was to
“manage the Norfolk as a special area”.
The
summary of the Summit can be viewed at http://www.agfc.com/!userfiles/pdfs/fisheries/mgmtplans/BullShoals-Norfork_PublicWorkshops_
Summary.pdf
Casting
Games
Prior
to the next three meetings beginning at 6:15 outside the Church, we’ll hold
Clinics on Casting for those interested. Each clinic will cover a different
aspect of casting with the first this coming June 18th
being on making accurate and soft short casts. Short casts can be the most
difficult of all casts to execute properly! I encourage you to bring your own
rod and reel, if not, we will have up to 10 outfits.
Take advantage of these Clinics to increase your enjoyment of the sport!
Do You Know Your Trout Stream
Etiquette?
Take
This Quiz From the FFF Club Wire
With
the beginning of another fishing season upon us and lots of new trout anglers
among us, I thought it a good time to review some basic stream etiquette. Believe it or not there are some basic rules
of engagement that come into play when two anglers meet while fishing a stream
or river. All too often in our haste to
enjoy ourselves, we may ignore the effect of our actions on other anglers who
are already present. Take a look at the
following ten situations and if you can’t answer YES to all of the questions
you might need to rethink the effect of your fishing priorities on other
anglers. By the way, don’t expect to
learn this stuff while fishing at trout parks like Bennett Springs or Roaring
River. While these are good places to
learn how to catch trout on flies, you will not find many anglers there who
practice these rules. And when you do
run into a courteous angler, let him or her know you appreciate their courtesy.
1) While
fishing a river you arrive at a favorite pool to find another angler already
fishing there. You believe there is
enough room for two anglers to fish. Do
you ask the other angler’s permission before casting into that pool?
2) While
passing an upstream-fishing angler on a small stream, do you note his or her
rate of movement, stay back from the bank, and walk far enough around to leave
that angler an estimated half-hour of undisturbed water before fishing again?
3) When
fishing your way down along a creek, you notice an angler approaching you from
downstream. Do you stop fishing and move
around that angler, thus honoring the tradition of yielding the right-of-way to
an upstream-fishing angler?
4) When
you are fishing a spot where anglers must wade or float through to reach other
water, do you yield your right-of-way to such access?
5) When
you approach an angler on a lake or creek, do you stop far enough away to leave
a little unfished water between your casts and his or
her longest casts and drifts?
6) While
float-tubing you notice a fish rising behind a nearby angler’s float tube
within his or her casting range. You
also notice that the angler seems preoccupied in casting to other rising fish. Do you alert that angler to the fish rising
behind the tube and cast to it only if invited to do so?
7) While
boat fishing on a river, you find yourself approaching a wading angler. Do you guide the boat’s course away from the
water being fished, keep as low and quiet as possible, and avoid dropping
anchor where it might disturb that person’s fishing?
8) When
walking along a spring creek or river, do you walk well back from the banks to
avoid spooking fish and even farther back around any visible angler?
9) When
you encounter another angler, are you likely to acknowledge that person’s
presence with a friendly gesture, smile or greeting?
10) When
approaching a river pool, you see an angler on shore who isn’t fishing. Do you consider that he or she might be resting
the water and ask permission to fish there?
If
you are able to answer yes to each of these questions, you are well on your way
to becoming an etiquette aware angler.
2007 Officers
President
Mark Borserine
913-381-0722 majborser@aol.com
Past President
David Andrews
816-741-8314 davidgandrews@kc.rr.com
Secretary
Jim Jorgenson
913-469-1950 jjorgensen@ci.lenexa.ks.us
Treasurer
Paul Bennetts
913-338-3837 pbennetts1@comcast.net
Newsletter
Tom James
816-718-0393 tom@blackdogsports.com
Programs
John Bell
785-843-1782 j.bell@kcc.state.ks.us
Cliff Cain
913-558-5069 cliffcain@hotmail.com
Education/Recognition
Bill Lindley
913-888-3177
Norm Crisp
913-645-1994 streamsideff@yahoo.com
Outings
Darren
Watson dwatson@lawingfinancial.com
Ron Carruthers
816-741-7251 rcarruthers2@kc.rr.com
Membership
Travis Knight
816-246-4168 tdk883@yahoo.com
Frederick Clark
913-831-0305 fclarks@planetkc.com
Conservation Team
Kevin Carril
913-362-9379 rrac3@sbcglobal.net
John Bell
785-843-1782 j.bell@kcc.state.ks.us
Library
Doug McDonald
913-764-6678 mcdoug5148@sbcglobal.net
Web Master
Vicky Newton
816-943-8306 svnewton@sbcglobal.net
Raffle/Auction
Jim Mattes
913-268-6161 jimmattes@mattesappraisal.com
Spring Programs
Dick Martin
816-781-9557 rlm@mllfpc.com
Don Grundy
816-781-9019 dgrundy@sbcglobal.net
Historian
Bill Brant
816-941-9691 billandkathy@kc.rr.com
Southern Council
Liaison
Hod McIntosh
913-722-3684 singingreels@kc.rr.com
Supernumerary
Ray Zook
816-941-2862 rzook@kc.rr.com
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
HOAFF Apparel now available
Now you can get a T-shirt or a fishing hat with the
new Heart of America Fly Fishers Logo. Hats $15, T-shirts $12
Spring Steelhead 2007
by Jim Ohnemus
To
quote Gary Bader after he caught his first Alaskan Steelhead,” This Steelhead
made my whole trip worth while”! This was Gary’s first trip to the Situk River (pronounced see-tuk). Dave Howard, Mark Smith and myself have
visited this area before for Spring Steelhead.
The Situk River is located at the top of the Inside Passage,
just a short drive from Yakutat, AK. The little town of Yakutat is amazing,
think about this, it is so small that the phone book is ONE page long, and yet
it has a major airline with two flight a day! It is the smallest town in the
world to have a major airline service to it!
When
I found how great the Situk River was for Steelhead,
I thought that I would have to charter a bush plane from Ketchikan. So finding
out about the flight connection from Anchorage, Dave Howard and I started
trying to find a place to stay and make arrangements for fishing a guide for
the Situk.
We
found a great place to stay, a newly constructed house that sleeps 12 and a
kitchen to cook our meals! It also had satellite TV and free phone service (cellphone do not function there).
Next
we found a great fishing guide, Bob Fraker, he is
only one of two to be grandfathered in to use an 18 ft jet boat on the Situk River! He has been guiding on the Situk
for 32 years and he just had his 65 birthday in May while guiding us.
He
would continually tell us what poor fishermen we were. To prove his point, he
would jump out of the boat and have a nice Steelhead on in just seconds, which
seemed so hard to believe! He did that several times on our three guided trip.
That was Bob’s way of trying to make us better fly fishermen. Bob had a very
special way to tying on his egg pattern. In his little fly box, he had about
eight different color of yarn and a pair of scissors. He had the yarn cut into
lengths of four inch pieces. He would take our tippet end and put it though the
eye of the hook and wrap it around the hook about six times and knot it with a
long tag end. Then he would add four different colors of yarn, tying then on
with the tag end, taking his scissors cutting off the tag end and lastly trim
the yarn into a egg pattern about the size of a quarter! He picked the colors
at random, tying new ones on, each time we broke one off. That happen to me
quite often!
Bob
also kept us entertained with all his Alaskan frontier stories, Zane Grey type
stories full of adventure, like the story running up river full speed and
having a Moose a jump in the boat and lots of bear stories. Before I repeat any
other story I must introduce you to Mike, a Jack Russell Terrier. This dog was
in our boat two of the three days. He would bark at Eagles flying over or when
he would spot them in a tree. When Dave landed a Steelhead, Mike jumped out of
the boat, ran up stream and attacked the fish, Dave saved the day by pulling
Mike off and returned the Steelhead back to the river, safe and sound.
Now
that you know Mike better, I can tell you a great bear story. Bob and Mike were
in a trapper’s cabin when a large bear put it’s paw under the door, upsetting
Mike. Some how, Bob “untied the door” and slapped it hard against the bear.
With that, the bear ran off. Mike seized the opportunity, jump up and bit the
bear on his ass, holding on for dear life with his teeth! Mike later returned
to the cabin knowing he had done his part!
I
feel these stories add to the fun and provide an inkling of adventure in the
Alaskan frontier.
Now
lets get back to fishing stories. We all agreed that being down stream from the
boat and wading back to the boat was the hardest part of the trip! The weather
was much better this year, sunny and in the mid forty’s. We did hike in some
snow when we fished above the nine mile bridge.
The
fishing was mixed above the bridge. Mark did well. I saw fish and cast to them,
but no takes.
Over
all trip was very successful, lots of Steelhead were caught. Mark caught the
most, but we thought he had a unfair advantage because he could see more fish
than us short guys! Gary caught the biggest, when we measured his Steelhead it
was 36" long.
We
all hooked fish that were in the 40" range or better, but none were
landed. Those big fish headed back to sea at full speed!
We
did have a double fish on and I had a fish at the same time to make a triple,
but luck would have it, I was unable to
land my fish!
Pond Fishing for Sunfish
by Norm Crisp
A
couple of years ago my oldest son did two great things great things for
Father’s Day. He took me to his “secret”
farm pond to fish and on the way home had me stop so he could buy us some beer. Thanks E for the beer, but more importantly
for reintroducing me to the joys of fishing for sunfish.
I’m
using sunfish rather than bluegill since many farm ponds and small lakes
generally contain a couple of different species. Besides bluegill many have green sunfish,
long ear sunfish or even hybrids. What
ever the species, the fishing techniques are generally the same.
Sunfish
fishing starts to really pick up as the water temperatures move into the low
70’s. That signals the start of the
spawning season. As spawning begins,
males move into shallow waters – 2 to 5 feet – and build nests. A firm sand bottom is preferred but even soft
mud will do. The males tend to
congregate in one area and “fan” out their plate sized nests. These spawning beds can be 10 feet wide and
30 or 40 feet long. While the males are
building the nests the females wait out from the shallows to where the depth
drops off. Once the nests are ready the
females move in to spawn. After spawning
the females return to their pre-spawning areas.
The males remain and actively and aggressively guard the nest. Spawning will continue for most of the
summer. Once you find the locations you
have found the fish.
The
waters with the biggest sunfish generally have good populations of bass. Not necessarily big bass, but a lot in the 10
to 12 inch range. These bass feed on the
young sunfish and keep the pond from developing a stunted population of
sunfish.
If
you can’t see the tell-tail foot prints of a spawning bed, the best way to find
fish is to walk or wade parallel to the bank casting to the edge and working
out toward the middle with successive casts.
If you prefer a float tub, move toward the edge until you find the ‘drop
off” and start working casts closer to the shore.
If
the pond contains green sunfish they will most often be found right next to
cattails or other emerging vegetation.
Green sunfish have a “bass like” shape and feed ravenously on the
bluegill fry that move into the vegetation for shelter and protection.
The
next casts out are the ones that will pay the benefits, both in terms of a
beautiful catch and the number of fish. Once you find out how far out the
spawning bed is the fun begins. Besides
being hungry, males are very aggressive in guarding their nest. No matter if the strikes come from hunger or
aggression, they do take your offerings.
If
there is any visible holding structure don’t pass it up. These locations will very often be the best
chance for a bigger bass. They tend to
hang around the structure and prey on the smaller spawners
or the newly hatched fry.
Finally,
the casts furthest out from the shore will produce the females which are
staging to move into or back into the spawning bed. Keep cast progressively further out toward
the middle until number of fish that rise drops off.
The
fly of choice is something that will float well and stand up to catching a lot
of fish!
Small
poppers are the stand by. But any dry
fly will work. For durability it is hard
to beat a fly like a Rat Faced McDougal or an irresistible. Most sunfish have a relatively small
mouth. Even so they can swallow a size
10 popper. The problem is removing the
fly to release them. A pair of hemostats
is critical, as is pressing down the barb.
The
best strategy after each cast is to allow your fly/popper to rest undisturbed
on the surface for a few seconds. When
your fly lands, especially in the spawning bed area, several fish will move
close and hang suspended just below the fly looking up at it. After resting peacefully, a slight twitch
will bring one or more of the fish up to inhale your offering. Miss or catch, cast right back to the same
area. More than likely one of the other
fish will take your offering.
For
the casts close to the emergent vegetation and any structure give the fly a bit
more action. In fact make the popper
earn its keep by creating a slash and a wake.
That will solicit some attention for the fish eaters.
Copyright
© 2007 STREAM SIDE ADVENTURES. Used with
permission
Upcoming Events &
Programs
June 19, 2007 Mike Kruse - Missouri Trout
July 16, 2007 Jeff Williams - Arkansas Trout
Aug 20, 2007 Dennis Dunderdale
- Arkansas Fly Fishing Guide
Sept 13, 2007 Norm Crisp Nymphing
Class - Discovery Center
Sept 17, 2007 Annual Picnic - Shawnee Mission Park
Oct 4-6, 2007 Southern Council Conclave - Mountain
Home, AR
Oct 15, 2007 Annual Auction & Raffle
Nov 2-4, 2007 Fall Outing - Lake Taneycomo,
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Mar
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