Across
the Stream – February 2008
A
Publication of Heart of America Fly Fishers
HOAFF February Meeting
Monday, February 18 - 7:00pm
Fly Tying Social
Night
President’s Message
Fishing with Friends
by Darren Watson
am looking forward to a great fishing season coming up in
2008. One of the nice things about our
club is the friendships and social aspect of fishing. For many years I went fishing by myself
because I didn’t know anyone else that enjoyed fly fishing. Once I joined HOAFF I have developed many
good friendships and have enjoyed fishing that much more.
Our Spring Program is fast approaching. Bob Jacklin will be here on Saturday Feb
23rd. He has been a guide and outfitter
for over 36 years and enjoys sharing his experiences with others. Last year our Spring Program was a great
success. If you haven’t signed up yet be
sure and let us know at the next meeting.
We need a head count as we are providing lunch.
We have been getting quite a few new members lately. Be sure and introduce yourself when they are
at the meeting and outings. It’s great
to see new faces and let’s make them
feel welcome.
I’m excited about the White River outing coming up on March 7-9th.
We have 14 people signed up for the lodge.
That leaves 2 spaces still open. Also, you can stay at some of the many
places available if the lodge is full. For those who didn’t know, Gassville was
hit hard by a tornado. Many of the
places we have been were damaged. Let’s
keep them in out thoughts as they are going through a difficult time.
HOAFF Logo Lapel Pins
Each current member
who renews in the first 90 days of 2008, by March 31st will receive an enameled
Lapel/Hat/Vest Pin with the HOAFF logo. Every new member who joins in 2008 will
also receive a pin. The pins will be available for sale for $5.00 each.
Bob Jacklin Spring Program
Saturday, February 23, 2008 • 8:00am - 4:00pm
Bob Jacklin has been a fly Fishing Guide and
Outfitter in the Yellowstone region for over 36 years and has a full service
Fly Fishing Shop in West Yellowstone. He is a world-class fly fisherman, fly
tyer, and fly casting instructor.
Bob holds a Masters Certification as a fly
casting instructor, and sits on the FFF’s Board of Governors for fly casting
instructions. He has been tying flies commercially since 1963 and is a past
recipient of the FFF’s Buz Buszek award for his contributions to the art of fly
tying. There are few people in the country with as much in-depth knowledge of
fly fishing, fly casting, and fly tying as Bob Jacklin. He is a charter member
of the Federation of Fly Fishers, on the pro-staff for St, Croix Rods, Ross
Reels, and Cortland Lines. In 2004, at
the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, Bob Jacklin was inducted into the
very prestigious “Fly Fishing Hall of Fame.”
HOAFF
& FFF members: $40.00 • Nonmembers: $50.00
Registration
fee includes a catered lunch
Community of Christ Church • 79th & Mission
Road
2008
Officers
President
Darren Watson
816-805-8761 dwatson@lawingfinancial.com
Past President
Mark Borserine
913-381-0722 majborser@aol.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
Newsletter Assistant
Mark Borserine
913-381-0722 majborser@aol.com
Programs
John Bell
785-843-1782 j.bell@kcc.state.ks.us
Cliff Cain
913-558-5069 cliffcain@hotmail.com
Education
Norm Crisp
913-645-1994 streamsideff@yahoo.com
Outings
Ron Carruthers
816-741-7251 rcarruthers2@kc.rr.com
Jim Bebb
913-721-3397 jbebb@communitynationalbank.net
Membership
Frederick Clark
913-831-0305 fclarks@planetkc.com
Dan Sulit
913-268-3848 kenaisu@aol.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
Bill Brant
816-941-9691 billandkathy@kc.rr.com
Raffle/Auction
Mark Borserine
913-381-0722 majborser@aol.com
Spring Programs
Dick Martin
816-781-9557 rlm@mllfpc.com
Don Grundy
816-781-9019 dgrundy@sbcglobal.net
Event Coordinator
Bill Brant
816-941-9691 billandkathy@kc.rr.com
Southern Council Liaison
Hod McIntosh
913-722-3684 singingreels@kc.rr.com
Supernumerary
David Andrews
816-741-8314 davidgandrews@kc.rr.com
Club Trip for Smallmouth Bass
by
Jim Bebb
Mark your calendars for a trip to the Eleven
Point River, May 2, 3, and 4. The club has reserved a house in Alton, MO. It
sleeps eight and rents for $100 a night. There is also a motel in town
(417-778-6208) that has good rates, $35 for a single and $50 for a double.
Accommodations are limited so early registration is important. The first eight
paid reservations of $25 will get the house. After the house is full you will
need to make your own reservations.
The Eleven Point Canoe Rental (417-778-6497)
will take your reservations and provide drop off and pickup services for those
who want to float the river. I believe you can also make arrangements with them
if you wish to “float your own boat” and just want shuttle service. There are
access points at Thomasville, Cane Bluff, and Greer Crossing which are all an
easy drive from Alton.
The recent member survey completed by the
Outing Committee indicated the Eleven Point River would be one of the most
popular trips of the year. There will be both wading and floating opportunities
for everyone. Unfortunately, the size of the river does not accommodate a large
number of fishermen in the same place all at the same time. Your patience, flexibility,
and cooperation will make this a great trip for everyone.
HOAFF Apparel is here
Hats $15 • T-Shirts $12
Now
you can get a T-shirt or a fishing hat with the new Heart of America Fly
Fishers Logo.
White River Outing
Friday March 7, Sat March 8, Sun
March 9th, 2008
We have reserved the White
River Trout Lodge overlooking “The Narrows” on the White River. Last year was a great time! We will provide Breakfast on Sat morning,
and BBQ dinner Saturday night around 7:00pm.
A light breakfast will also be provided Sunday morning before heading
home.
The Lodge holds 16 so the
more we get the less it will cost per person.
The 2 nights total is $800 for the lodge plus food. Last year we filled up the lodge and had
others staying various places. The first
16 people that send a $50 deposit will reserve you a place in the lodge. Please send the Deposits to;
Make check payable to HOAFF
Darren Watson
Lawing Financial Group
11020 King St 4th Floor
Overland Park, KS 66210
816-805-8761
dwatson@lawingfinancial.com
Special Membership Meeting in March
by Bill Brant
A special meeting of voting members will be held at the club
meeting March 17th, 2008. The purpose of the meeting will be to vote on club
directors and to conduct any other club business that is of interest to the
members.
The organization of the club is governed by bylaws that were
adopted in 2005, and then amended at later dates. The bylaws define the rights
and responsibilities of those involved in the club. Following are some of the
highlights:
• Members of the club have the right to elect Directors and also
have the right to remove Directors.
• The Directors elect the Club Officers and watch over the affairs
of the club.
• The Officers run the day-to-day affairs of the club, the Officers
include the positions you would recognize, such as the President, the
Treasurer, and the numerous chairs.
The current Directors are John Bell, Bill Brant, Cliff Cain, Tom
James, and Jim Jorgensen. Bill Brant is retiring, which opens up 1 board position.
Mark Borserine has agreed to fill that position.
At the special membership meeting, members will be free to
nominate individuals for the open Director position. Following nominations, the
members will then have the opportunity to vote.
The new board of Directors will vote to elect this year’s
officers. The proposed slate of officers is listed at the end of this article.
When you look over the list of Officers, you will notice 2 new
names this year: Jim Bebb and Dan Sulit. Be sure and thank them at the next
meeting for helping out. You will also notice that there are a few empty
positions. If you are interested, we would be glad to have your help.
If you want to provide any input on the running of the club, feel
free to contact any of the Directors before the March meeting or attend the
March meeting and speak your mind.
Slate of Officers and Directors
Directors 2008
Director John Bell
Director Mark Borserine
Director Cliff Cain
Director Tom James
Director Jim Jorgensen
Officers 2008
President
Darren Watson
Vice-President
Open Position
Past President
Mark Borserine
Secretary
Jim Jorgensen
Treasurer
Paul Bennetts
Newsletter
Tom James
Newsletter Assistant
Mark Borserine
Programs
John Bell
Cliff Cain
Education
Norm Crisp
Outings
Ron Carruthers
Jim Bebb
Membership
Dan Sulit
Frederick Clark
Conservation Chair
Kevin Carril
Missouri Open Position
Arkansas John Bell
Metro
KC Open Position
Library
Doug McDonald
Web Master
Bill Brant
Raffle/Auction
Mark Borserine
Spring Programs
Dick Martin
Don Grundy
Event Coordinator
Bill Brant
Liaison SC
Hod McIntosh
Supernumerary
David
Andrews
Spring Outing
- WindRush Farms Trout Stream
April 18 - 19,
2008
April 18 - 19, 2008, is the Heart of America Fly Fishers Spring
Outing to WindRush Farms Trout Stream. WindRush offers 2 miles of a private
spring branch tributary of the Upper Meramec River. There is a wide variety of
pools, runs, and riffles. It is stocked daily with trout that average twelve to
fourteen inches in length. The biggest anybody has caught so far weighed nine
pounds but they see lots of three to four pounders.
The catch & release rod fee is $50 per day. On side lodging
offers The Cabins, 8 units in 2 refurbished 1840’s log cabins. Each unit has 2
double beds plus a furnished kitchen and bath. Cabin rents for $100 per night.
Solitude is a cabin that sits in a mature oak woods and with a large deck that
overlooks a two acre spring-fed lake stocked with trout. The cabin has a dining
room, kitchen, large living room with a fireplace and two bedrooms that sleeps
6 comfortably. Solitude rents for $175 per night.
There are plenty of other activities in the area, antiques in St.
James, Steelville and Salem. They have cut hiking trails along the creek and up
the ridges.
For more info
checkout their website at www.windrushfarms.com.
Optimum Line Length
by Mark Borserine
When Paul
“Sodie” Sodaman was teaching John Bell and I distance casting one time in
Topeka, he stressed the same thing this article by Jason Borger does. The foundation of every good cast is
beginning with your Optimum Length; many people try to cast too much line!
Casting Tips and Tricks
with Jason Borger
Optimum Line Length
Actually
getting out and practicing your casting is one of the best things you can do to
improve your fishing success. However,
there’s always that big question: How much line should I be practicing
with? Well, when it comes to learning
new skills or honing old ones, I recommend using the Optimum Line Length.
The idea
of Optimum Line Length came from my father, Gary, and is based on selecting a
length of line that works well for every caster and every rod. The trick for obtaining the Length lies not
in some big mathematical algorithm, but rather, it’s found in a very simple
experiment: Begin with about two rod
lengths of line (excluding leader) and make the standard overhead cast (no
hauls, etc.). Then, lengthen the line
two feet and cast again. Repeat the
process until you have to begin to work beyond your basic energy level in order
to cast the line (you’ll feel it). Then
shorten the line by a foot each cast until you’re comfortable again. That’s your Optimum Line Length; mark
it! The Length will vary for every rod
and every caster, but for the majority of casters and rods it’s usually
somewhere between 27 and 33 feet.
Practicing
with the Optimum Line Length will ensure that you’re not modifying your casting
stroke (with extra energy and motion) as you also try to learn or hone a skill.
(Jason Borger, the Club-Wire’s casting columnist
is Editor of “The Loop”; the publication of the FFF’s Casting Instructor
Certification Program).
Ralph
by
Steve Jenkins
I don’t
know when he started the fly shop. It was just there, along NY highway 313 as
it parallels the Battenkill for several miles just west of the New York-Vermont
state line. It was a small fly shop that looked much like a gasoline filling
station for many years back. It had the right size and shape, including the
covered porch, supported by two columns, where the pump might have been. It was
largely of frame construction, but there was a native rock façade on the lower
parts of the structure.
This is
where Ralph held court. My first visit to his shop was in 1970, after we
returned to upstate New York, and I decided to get serious with fly-fishing. I
was with Jim, my earliest Battenkill fly-fishing mentor. He wouldn’t think of
fishing the Battenkill without stopping in at Ralph’s shop. Generally, we
stopped after dark, when fishing was over. It might have been 9:30 or 10 PM,
but Ralph was still there, selling cold drinks and giving advice. Even in 1970,
Ralph was an ardent catch-and-release promoter. Yet, he had a board on the wall
where fishermen recorded the length of notable fish, hopefully released. By
season-end, there were always several 18-inch fish listed. I wondered even then
how many were really caught and how many were someone’s dream.
Ralph’s
shop also carried a small inventory of many of the on-stream essentials, like
leaders and tippet material. Of course, he had a large supply of flies. While
Ralph always had a vice at hand, I don’t think I ever saw him tie a fly. I’m
sure he did, sometimes, but I suspect he arranged for other local folks to tie
most of the flies he sold. Still, Ralph had his special patterns, most created
from his experiences fishing the Battenkill.
My
impression of Ralph could be summed up in one word, “Tweedy.” If you could visualize the typical
fly-fisherman of the 1920s, Ralph would fit the picture. He was tall and thin,
with a gentile manner that fit his grey hair and deliberate demeanor. If you
had met him on the stream, he would not have been out of place in a tweed
jacket, dress shirt, collar and tie. He would have had his gear in a bag over
one shoulder with a willow creel on the other shoulder. His rod would have been
an 8-1/2 foot bamboo, probably made by Gillam or Young. He would have been
right at home on the Neversink or the Willowemoc. But, on the Battenkill, Ralph
just looked “tweedy.” I never saw Ralph
on the stream and would probably have been disappointed if I had.
In addition to the fly shop, Ralph owned land along some
of the best stretches of the Battenkill in New York. I was told he had been a
commercial artist and worked in St. Louis. But, for the years I knew him, he
apparently was focused on his fly shop. You would surely say here was a man
that had his priorities right. He had worked hard on the NY Department of
Environmental Conservation to adopt special harvest regulations on the Battenkill.
Enacted in the early 1970s, the new rules specified artificial lures only, and
a 12-inch minimum on any trout kept. These rules were among NY’s first to
specify something other than a daily kill limit. They applied on the first four
miles of the river from the Vermont state line. Some of his property was within
this regulation area. To his credit, Ralph permitted fly fishermen to use his
property for access to the stream.
One of
Ralph’s farms was just off Hickory Hill road and bordered by Camden Creek, a
tributary with prime spawning water for both brown and brook trout. Four
hundred yards upstream from the mouth, the river flowed west along a steep hill
on the south bank. After passing over a log crib dam, it dumped into a deep,
mysterious pool, over which a large black willow tree stood as a sentinel on
the north bank. About ten feet out from the big tree was a large stump that had
washed into the pool many years ago. It stood upright with its mass of roots
providing outstanding cover for many trout, and an eager obstacle to carelessly
cast or drifted flies. This was Ralph’s special hole. He talked frequently of a
20-inch brown trout he caught there.
I fished
the runs just upstream from Ralph’s hole many times in my early years on the
Battenkill. The log cribbing installed by the CCC in the 1930s was still in
place, controlling the river’s flow and providing cover for trout. This whole
stretch was very “fishy” looking. Ralph claimed his hole worked best when the
tiny flies were on the water. This meant fall – good hatches of blue-winged
olives and tricos could be depended upon to stir up lots of trout interest. At
the time, I didn’t know one of these mayflies from the other. And, I didn’t
know that they were only available together in the fall. I was a rank novice,
but eager for any information available. Ralph mentioned the hole one evening
in response to a question about his favorite spot. He then sold me two flies,
size 20 or 22, in a dusty blue-grey with duck quill wings. They were beautiful
little flies. He said to use a long, fine leader and be on the stream in the
evening. I must have tried those flies for two years, in Ralph’s hole and
elsewhere, but never even had a strike.
One
evening, a few years later, Ralph showed me a beautiful rooster neck, a
grizzly. This was in the era when good neck hackle was hard to come by, before
the hybrid necks we now find so plentiful. He was mighty proud of this neck. It
was a thing of beauty, indeed. He said a friend sent it to him from Arkansas.
As the story unfolded, I learned Ralph spent his winters there, near Mountain
Home. It seems he and this friend were driving through the hills one day and
spotted this big rooster in a farmyard. They tried to buy the rooster, but the
farmer wasn’t selling. Apparently, the friend returned later and “harvested”
the neck.
Well, I
grew up in those same hills, but on the Missouri side. His story piqued my
imagination. Somehow, I visualized this “tweedy” guy and his pal in their quest
for the neck. I speculated that the farm included a falling-down barn and one
of those old-timey log houses, with pigs and chickens in the yard, instead of
grass. Other “dogpatch” litter was probably abundant. Here are these two “city
fellers”, knocking at the door. Pa comes to the door, barefooted, in his
overalls. Ma is in a typical “country” dress, likely made from feed sacks. She
is almost out of sight, behind Pa. The conversation might have gone like
this: “You have a big rooster out there;
would you be willing to sell it?”
“Sell my
rooster? Wal, I d’kno. Whatcha wan ‘em
fer?”
“Well,
we’d like his feathers. We tie flies and could use that particular color.”
“Ya mean
all ya wan is them feathers?”
“Yes,
that’s all we want.”
“Wal, I
d’kno, a bunch of hens ain’t no good without a rooster. How much would ya pay
fer ‘em?”
“We could
pay you three dollars. Would that be okay?”
“Three
dollars and all ya wan is them feathers?
I declare!”
So
our heroes pay the money and drive away with the rooster. Now, I guess Ralph
and his pal were pleased with the purchase. But, imagine the story the farmer
had for his buddies about these two “city fellers” that came to his door one
day, paid him three whole dollars for a rooster. Imagine, that much for just a
plain old rooster. He’d have been too tough to eat, and no good otherwise
without a bunch of hens. That story may have been told and retold throughout
the north Arkansas hills for twenty years. But, it was a mighty fine neck.
Upcoming
Events & Programs
Feb
18 Fly Tying Social Night
Feb
23 Spring Program - Bob Jacklin
Mar
6 Norm Crisp - Alternatives to
Trout Parks - Discovery Ctr
Mar
7 - 9 White River Trout Lodge,
Mountain Home, AR
Apr
5 Blue River Clean-up Project
Apr
18 - 19 WindRush Farms Trout Stream,
Cook Station MO.
May
2 - 4 Eleven Point River Smallmouth
Bass Trip, Alton, MO
June One Fly Tounament
Sept
15 Annual Picnic Shawnee Mission
Park
Oct Fall Outing
Nov
17 Annual Auction
Dec,
2008 Annual Banquet Bennett Spring
Visit
our Advertisers:
Black
Dog Sports
The
Fishing Hole
Ray & Jonell Fincke
(913)
642-5554
3731
W. 95th • Overland Park, KS 66206