Across the Stream – April 2009
A Publication of Heart of America Fly Fishers
Monday, April 20 - 7 pm
Darren Watson on Wyoming Cutthroat Slam
Monday, May 18 - 7 pm
Steve Daly - Mountain View Fly Shop
Gervis Beiriger Memorial Committee
by Mark Borserine
The funds donated to the club in memory of Gervis Beiriger are segregated from other funds and per the family’s wishes dedicated to the purpose of Environmental Education. A Committee is being formed to determine the use(s) of these funds. Anyone interested in participating or making suggestions should contact Kevin Carril: rrac3@sbcglobal.net; 913-362-9379.
Hartell Conservation Area Outing
by Peet Crissey
For all of you who checked out the 2009 Outings Schedule, you may have seen that we were planning a trip to WindRush Farms on May 15-17. That has now changed to a one-day outing on May 16 to the Ronald & Maude Hartell Conservation Area in Clinton County, Missouri.
This conservation area is located in a great secluded spot 5 miles north of Plattsburg, Missouri. Back in 1947 a group of outdoor enthusiasts (called the Clinton County Sportsman’s Club) purchased the land from Mrs. A.C. Hartell. Because of the membership’s strong desire to have close-to-home fishing they created the first two lakes on the property in 1950.
Over the years the area grew in size to nearly 80 acres, including 7 lakes and stream frontage on the Little Platte River (Smith Fork). For over 50 years, this was a popular area for club members to fish, picnic, and camp. Eventually the club membership dwindled and in July of 1999 the club decided to donate the property to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Bring your float tubes and kick boats. All fishing is catch and release only and only flies, artificial lures and soft plastic baits may be used.
The lakes we’ll fish are the 1.7 acre, Redear Lake, and the 3.4 acre Quarry Lake, both managed for trophy bluegill. The 5.1 acre, Picnic Lake and the 3.2 acre, Lunker Lake are managed for trophy largemouth bass.
To get there take Hwy 169 north through Smithville, Tremble and Grayson. Turn right (east) on Hwy 116 for 7 miles to Plattsburg, MO. On the east side of Plattsburg turn left (north) on Hwy 33. Turn right (east) on 280th Street. Watch for a Hartell Conservation sign.
For more information call Hartell Conservation Area directly at 816.271.3100 or feel free to call me (Peet Crissey) at 913.706.7299.
See you there Saturday morning!
Earthfest
Earthfest is Saturday May 9th, from 11 to 4 at Theis Park, south of the Nelson Art gallery. Please check your calendars and see if you can join me in representing our club at a booth. There is limited space - no flycasting is possible.
What could be more fun than spending a spring afternoon in a park, talking to people who are interested in conservation and flyfishing? Well, I guess that I can think of a few things more fun, but these events are certainly quite entertaining and as a bonus this gets our club name out into the public.
Bill Brant
Mike George wins Scandanavian Open Fly Tying Competition for 5th Time!
Mike’s winning entry from the 2010 Mustad Scandinavian Open fly tying competition. This makes 5 out of 6 wins and one second for Mike!
Mark Borserine
Spring “Tune Up”
by Mark Borserine
The weather is warming and the season is coming! Time to tune up our casting.
There are Five Essentials of Fly Casting; if your casting is not what you want it to be, the fault is the lack of one or more of the essentials.
1. The Rod Tip must move in a straight line path throughout the cast. There two ways we move the rod: rotation and translation. Rotation is the change in angle of the rod butt by the rotation of the hand. Translation is the linear change in position of the rod butt (without change in angle). A cast consists of both translation and rotation. Rotation is usually not a problem (most have an excess of rotation) but what seems to be lacking in many casters’ technique is translation. To achieve a straight line path (and therefore a narrow loop), rotation should occur at the end of the cast. The angle of the rod butt remains the same (translation) until the thumb is 90 degrees to the target, then and only then rotation occurs, ending with the stop. See the 5 photos: the 1st is the beginning of the back cast, from a low position to minimize slack (notice the rod butt is parallel to the forearm); the 2nd is the thumb at 90 degrees to the target on the back cast (rod butt still parallel to the forearm), rotation begins here; the 3rd is the position at the stop – notice the 45 degree angle between the rod butt and the forearm – the rod has rotated. The rod did not rotate (change angle) from the beginning of the back cast until the thumb was 90 degrees from the target. This translation is what is missing from many casters technique; simply concentrating on the translational phase and only rotating (the wrist) at the end of the cast will work wonders! The 3rd photo is also the beginning of the Forward Cast. The remaining 2 photos are the same phases in the forward cast; notice the rod butt remains at the same 45 degree angle to the forearm until the rotation after the thumb is 90 degrees to the target, ending with the rod butt parallel and tucked under the forearm. Concentration on and careful practice of these basics will correct many casting faults! If your casts lack energy and have wide loops, chances are that lack of translation and beginning rotation too early is the culprit.
2. Slack line is kept to a minimum. The casting “system” works by being under tension. Slack can appear many places in the cast; the most common are at the start of the back cast and with poor timing between the back and forward cast. Make sure you start your back cast with the rod low to the water and the line straight – strip out any slack. Let your backcast unroll before beginning the forward cast; and, follow your rod hand with your line hand throughout the cast. Many anglers let their line hand just dangle in front of the body around the waist. On the forward cast this will cause about 30 inches of slack that you’re not aware of, which is why you can’t shoot as much line as you want!
3. The Casting Stroke starts slowly and is an overall acceleration to an abrupt stop. Many casters lack a complete stop; when you stop the rod – STOP! Squeeze the hand and release tension when the rod stops moving. The loop is formed when the rod is stopped and the line passes the rod tip. A major cause of “weak” loops is lack of a firm stop.
4. Power must be applied smoothly and gradually. You must maintain or increase the bend in the rod throughout the cast. Uneven application of power or “spiking” anywhere during the cast will result in a concave path of the rod tip which causes tailing loops, which cause those pesky “wind knots”. Remember, the cast is a system of constant tension. Spiking the power applied too early in the cast is the most common cause of tailing loops and, in my opinion, the second most common fault seen in fly casting; second to lack of translation in the movement of the rod. Bruce Richards of Scientific Anglers observes in an excellent article he wrote on Rod Acceleration how many articles, books and instructors encourage spiking or dramatically increasing the force at the end of the cast. While Bruce acknowledges that there are some exceptional casters who can maintain control by doing so, most of us “average” or “normal” humans (of which I am one), are much better to concentrate on achieving “near constant” acceleration – Bruce is absolutely right – a sudden “spike” in power anywhere in the cast is very difficult to contral.
5. The Casting stroke length and casting arc must vary in proportion to the length of line being cast. This is simply, ”longer line-longer stroke, shorter line-shorter” but it is frequently violated. The foundation of successful distance casting is simply lengthening your stroke but most anglers who can’t seem to get any distance are applying more power but not lengthening the stroke and all they’re getting is tailing loops (short strokes are the second most common cause of tailing loops). Practice using more and more line and lengthening the stroke and casting arc; but remember, rotation occurs at the end of the stroke! Many casters fall into a trap of increased rotation throughout the longer stroke and all they get is wider loops which rob energy from the cast. Increasing the Casting arc means increasing the distance between where the rod tip begins and ends, it does not mean rotating throughout the cast!
If you will concentrate on improving your ‘Basic’ or ‘Foundation’ cast, all of your casting will improve. Without a solid Basic Cast as a Foundation, all of your other efforts will only magnify your mistakes. To quote Sheila Hassan: “casting distance without a foundation will just cast your mistakes further!”. Practice, Practice, Practice !
Beginning with the April meeting we will offer casting clinics beginning at 6:30 before each meeting. We’ll work on the Five Essentials I outlined above. Bring your rod or we’ll have the club’s available to use. I know you’ll find the time well-spent. Improvements in casting lead to more relaxing fishing with less effort and the ability to place your fly where and how you intend to equals more enjoyment of the sport!
HOAFF Donates to KC Wildlands
by Kevin Carril
HOAFF recently donated $500 to Kansas City Wildlands (KCWL) to be used in their restoration of the riparian corridor in the area of the Upper Blue River Conservation Opportunity Area (COA). KCWL is a not-for-profit coalition of resource professionals, private conservation organizations and conservation-minded citizens established to restore and manage the remnants of the original landscape in the metropolitan area.
What is the Upper Blue River Conservation Opportunity Area? Conservation Opportunity Areas (COA) are public/private partnerships that join together to apply an “all wildlife approach” to specific outdoor areas. There are currently 36 of these Conservation Opportunities Areas in Missouri statewide and their partners include such well-known groups such as Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy and Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The Upper Blue COA, which is the newest partnership, is within our metropolitan area and includes the corridor of the Blue River from the state line south into Swope Park. HOAFF is one of the conservation partners as is Kansas City Wildlands. Current priorities of the Upper Blue COA include eradicating invasive plants, reestablishing native vegetation and promoting the creation of recreational trails.
Specifically, KCWL plans to use our donation toward eradicating Asian honeysuckle and garlic mustard within 4 remnant areas within the COA. The eradication work will be followed by planting trees and wildflowers. KCWL gets a lot of “bang for the bucks” by organizing volunteers for weekend workdays. Each of these events includes an educational component explaining the significance of the threat to the lands and stream, and the importance of the restoration work. This spring they anticipate a minimum of 250 volunteers will participate in this work.
Several weeks ago I participated in one of the honeysuckle eradication workdays along the Blue River (it was actually just an afternoon) and I was very impressed by KCWL’s organization. 40 volunteers of all ages descended on a streamside area overgrown with this noxious plant. Several hours later the area was noticeably opened-up. The almost impenetrable wall of bushes was gone.
I invite you to learn more about Kansas City Wildlands and the Upper Blue River COA by visiting their websites. KC Wildlands is at http://www.kcwildlands.org. The Upper Blue River COA website can be located by going to http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/cws/coa/. Click on number 36 on the Missouri map.
2008 Officers
President
Darren Watson
816-805-8761 dwatson@lawingfinancial.com
Vice-President
Jim Bebb
913-721-3397 jbebb@communitynationalbank.net
Past President
Mark Borserine
913-381-0722 majborser@aol.com
Secretary
Jim Jorgensen
913-469-1950 jjorgensen@ci.lenexa.ks.us
Treasurer
Ron Carruthers
816-741-7251 rcarruthers2@kc.rr.com
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
Harold Green
Outings
Ron Carruthers
816-741-7251 rcarruthers2@kc.rr.com
Peet Crissey
Bruce Kessler
Membership
Dan Sulit
913-268-3848 kenaisu@aol.com
Frederick Clark
913-831-0305 fclarks@planetkc.com
Mark Rauth
Conservation Chair
Kevin Carril
913-362-9379 rrac3@sbcglobal.net
Missouri - Mark O'Hara
Arkansas - John Bell
Metro KC - Harold Green
Web Master
Bill Brant
816-941-9691 billandkathy@kc.rr.com
Raffle/Auction
Mark Borserine
913-381-0722 majborser@aol.com
Michael Knight
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
Supernumerary
David Andrews
816-741-8314 davidgandrews@kc.rr.com
HOAFF Logo Lapel Pins
We now have enameled Lapel/Hat/Vest Pins with the HOAFF logo. Every new member who joins in 2008 will receive a pin. The pins will be available for sale for $5.00 each.
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.
Best Shad Kill in Years
by Clint Wilkinson, Wilkinson Outdoor Adventures
This Winter blessed us with one of the greatest natural phenomenons in the world of fly fishing for trout, “THE SHAD KILL”. It’s been at least five years since we’ve experienced a really consistent kill so we were due. As surface temperatures on the lakes become colder in late Winter months, populations of threadfin shad begin to die off and are pulled through the turbines, from the reservoirs into the tailraces, during periods of moderate to heavy generation.
I guess the planets were aligned because I have not seen fish like this since Mark Borserine and Dave Andrews fished with me in February of, well I don’t even remember but it was many moons ago. I’m sure most of you heard the stories.
Unfortunately, this event is impossible to predict and the weather is often foul when the fishing is at it’s best; as it was on this particular day last month. I was guiding two of my clients from New Orleans on a sunny but frigid day when it happened. We started fishing directly below Bull Shoals Dam where they both began hooking Fat 16-20 inch rainbows; to give you perspective on what I mean by Fat, I weighed a 16 incher that was over two pounds. After an hour or so of this almost non-stop action, Mac set the hook on a strong take and we immediately knew that this was no ‘bow. The fish stayed down for quite some time like it was trying to burrow it’s way into China. After a substantial battle the beast surrendered to the net, a beautiful male brown trout that went about six pounds, a trophy in anyone’s book. But it was far from over! About an hour or so later John set the hook on a fish that we honestly thought might have been bottom for a second, and then it ran shaking it’s head about as slowly as a locomotive trying to build momentum.
This is one way you can tell you’ve got a monster on. the head shakes are slow and drawn out as opposed to the fast head shakes of the average trout. “That’s a huge fish”, I yelled, as I caught a glimpse of the fish down below. John looked like he had seen a ghost simply because of my reaction which probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do on my part but, what can I say, giant browns still get my blood pumping even after all these years of guiding. After a long fight that took us about 1000 yards down stream we netted one of the biggest browns I’ve had a client land in years, a huge 29 inch female that was 11-12 pounds, the fish of a lifetime! John and Mac had to catch a flight out of Little Rock so that’s how we ended our day and it was only 12:30.
This is what can happen when you’re lucky enough to be here at the right time in February. Happy Fishing to all of HOAFF and thanks for all your support over the last 10 years.
Upcoming Events & Programs
April 17-19 White River Outing
April 20 Darren Watson on Wyoming Cutthroat Slam
May 15-17 WindRush Farms Outing
May 18 Steve Daly – Mountain View Fly Shop
June 6 One Fly Tournament - Lake of the Forest
June 15 Fly tying / casting / social
July 17-19 Little Red River - Heber Springs, AR
July 20 Dennis Whiteside Ozarks Smallmouth Guide
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Bob Jacklin's Fly Shop
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Brass Door Motel
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www.whiteriver.net/brassdoor/
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Chartered Waters
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Dale Fulton's Blue Ribbon Flies
1343 Highway 5 South
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Diane Christopher-Fulks Wildlife Watercolors
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Dicks Sporting Goods - Leawood KS
11801 Nall Avenue
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Feather-Craft Fly Fishing
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Fishing Pole Guiding, Inc.
27 Haddon Road SouthWest
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Flats Lander Guide Service
Paul "Sodie" Sodamann
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Gaston's On the White River
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Gaston's Tackle
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Joe Tomelleri - Artist
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K&K Flyfishers
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Parkview Lodge
5477 State Highway 165
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Rainbow Fly Shop
4621 S. Shrank Drive
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Reading Fly Shop
11937 Highway 64A
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Rim Shoals Resort
153 Rims Shoals Camp
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Sand Springs Resort
1996 Hwy 64
Lebanon, MO 65536
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Spring View Motel
11726 Highway 64
Lebanon, MO 65536
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3731 W. 95th St.
Overland Park, KS 66206
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Tightline Guide Service
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Rolla, MO 65401
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Two Rivers Fly Shop
13718 AR Highway 5 South
Norfork, AR 72658
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11451 Highway 64
Lebanon, MO 65536
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Wapsi Fly, Inc.
27 CR 458
Mountain Home, AR 72653
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White River Trout Lodge
752 County Rd 703
Cotter, AR 72626
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White Sands Motel
P.O. Box 340
Cotter, AR 72626
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Wilkinson Outdoor Adventures
Clint Wilkinson
336 Stephanie
Gassville, AR 72635
870-404-2942
Yager's Fly Shop
2311 Wakarusa Dr.
Lawrence, KS 66047
785-842-1239