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Volume 10 Issue 4
April 2005
President’s Line
Bill White
Dear Club Members –
An assortment of beverage bottles (soda pop, domestic beers,
juices, Gatorade®, purified water), chip bags, milk jug, a condom
in package sunk in mud bank, two softballs, two rubber balls, a
Whiffleball® with roots growing through it, assorted bobbers, a
golf ball from the KSU driving range, a bag of long grain rice,
a few dead trout, strike indicators, yards and yards of
monofilament, a partial sack of potting soil, a bag of charcoal,
several stacks of Vegas cigar butts near the best fishing holes,
and the front of a rural mailbox … these are just a few of our
favorite things we found on the Slough Creek clean up this
past weekend. About a dozen club members braved the cold to
see if the trash was “biting”. I was not sure if there would be
enough stuff to make it worth our while. We got a great haul;
about eight 30-gallon trash bags full.
think that people are creating new patterns but the literature
would indicate otherwise. We all are basically tying “standard
patterns” when facing fly-fishing history. This month we have
crappie patterns. This opens the field to dries, wets, nymphs,
flymphs, terrestrials, and streamers. Only a dozen or so flies
are needed to enter, so lets get tying.
With graduation coming on, gardens to put in, overtime at
work, and all of the other commitments that crop up at
Springtime, be sure to leave time for fishing and fly tying.
As ever and keep fishing,
Bill
I especially want to thank everyone for the great turn out and
the good job that was done. The creek looked a whole lot better.
Also, a hearty thank you goes out to all who participated in the
“For Women Only” program on the weekend of the 18th. Among
fly tying, rod rigging, casting, fishing, and cooking, everyone
seemed to be having a great time.
We are having a great year. In the next few weeks we will have
the Gar/White Bass trip to Fall River. Catching just one goodsized gar would make my whole spring. The Salida trout-fishing
trip is a great deal … according to Neal Hall, travel, hotel,
food, and license should cost less than $250. Finally, there is
the May Day crappie fishing outing at Everett’s. Everett is
planning different prizes as well as food.
Club members at the Slough cleanup
One area where I believe that the club could improve
participation is with the fly swap. It does not matter if a person
is tying a standard pattern or if the person is a beginner. This
is an opportunity to share, not a fly tying contest. We often
IN THIS ISSUE
Programs: Alec Jackson, Ed Engle Seminars, Page 2
Activities: Calendar, Page 3
Fly Tying: Patterns for Salida Trip, Page 4
Trip Report: Arkansas River Colorado, Page 5
Everett Hodges helping with the Womens Fly Fishing Clinic.
Next Meeting April 7th 7:00 P.M.
Flatland Fly Fishers Website
http://www.flatlandflyfishers.org/
2
Flatland Fly Fishers
April Meeting
Steve “Troutmaster” Ryan
Eric Schmidt and Neal Hall will give a presentation about the upcoming Salida, Colorado trip. We will be tying after the
presentation.
2005 OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
Bill White
05president@flatlandflyfishers.org
VICE PRESIDENT
Everett Hodges
05vp@flatlandflyfishers.org
SECRETARY
Bud Johnson
05secretary@flatlandflyfishers.org
TREASURER
Bill Ethridge
05treasurer@flatlandflyfishers.org
ACTIVITIES
Neal Hall
05activities@flatlandflyfishers.org
CONSERVATION
Ken McCloskey
Alec Jackson –Ed Engle Programs
During the last week of February I was able to attend programs presented by
professional fishermen and fly tiers Alec Jackson and Ed Engle. Both men have
achieved a measure of fame as innovative fly tiers. Alec’s Northwest Steelhead
patterns and the spey hook bearing his name are a staple of serious steelhead
fishermen.Ed has become a master of the small fly, working the tailwaters of
Colorado’s South Platte River.
Although they each seek large trout, their flies have evolved to reflect the
environment of the fish. Steelhead do not eat during the return to their native
river, but can often be enticed to strike at a well presented fly.Tailwater trout
feed heavily on huge numbers of insects and can become extremely selective.
During last summer’s club program Alec spoke of the reasonable fly. His simple,
well tied patterns reflect that philosophy. Ed’s very small flies also share that
common purpose. After watching both men tie you can see this shared
viewpoint. The flies they tie are constructed simply, often with only three or four
components. Their flies are tied fast and easily yet simplicity does not restrict
their effectiveness.
It is always a pleasure to see an accomplished professional demonstrate his
skills. While working at the vise both men were able to reflect on past
experiences on and off the water. Hopefully Alec will be able to return to Wichita
for a third time and again share his knowledge. A magazine article written by
Alec Jackson can be read at the web site www.speyshop.com . Ed Engle’s day
long seminar was sponsored by the Heart of America Fly Fishers of Kansas City.
His book Tying Small Flies is a great starting point for anyone interested in
fishing and tying small flies. Steve Webb
05conservation@flatlandflyfishers.org
MEMBERSHIP
Eric Schmidt
05membership@flatlandflyfishers.org
PROGRAMS
Steve Ryan
Pseudo Spey - Alec Jackson
05programs@flatlandflyfishers.org
WEBMASTER
Songbin Chon
05webmaster@flatlandflyfishers.org
EDITORS
Mike Carr & Steve Webb
Alec Jackson
05editor@flatlandflyfishers.org
The Skunk - Alec Jackson
Receive Newsletter by E-mail
If you would like to receive your newsletter via e-mail, In Color
Contact Eric Schmidt; Membership
Flatland Fly Fishers
3
2005 Activities Calendar
Neal Hall
May 5
April 7
Monthly Meeting - Great Plains Nature Center 7:00 P.M.
Monthly Meeting - Great Plains Nature Center 7:00 P.M.
Carp Fishing:
April 9 White Bass and Gar at Fall River:
The spring fishing outing to Fall River will be on April 9 .
We will meet at the usual place on Fall River. That would be
directly east of Climax Kansas on the Wildlife refuge road.
About 2.5 miles after you cross the bridge over Otter creek
you will come to a place where the road divides Fall River
and Otter creek. After you pass that point turn north at the
next left access. That river access is where we will be. I call it
the Fall River Steps and the Gar Hole because of the large
area where the limestone has eroded to make water steps with
about a 20-foot drop and a large hole where the fish
congregate before they make their run on up the river. There
is a place to camp if you are so inclined. The facilities are out
your front door wherever it may be. I will prepare a shore
lunch about 1:00 p.m. if there is enough interest to warrant it.
Neal
See page 8 for map
th
The Club is planning a summer carp-fishing program to
happen in June. We haven’t set the date yet. This will be for a
first rate carp-fisher person to come and give us a seminar on
Saturday and then go fishing on Sunday. More on this as I
work out the details.
June 2
Monthly Meeting - Great Plains Nature Center 7:00 P.M.
Neal Hall at the
Slough cleanup,
Sat March 26th
April 21-24 Salida Trip
I have contacted the Days Inn in Salida and have set up a
block of 6 rooms for the Flatland Fly Fishers. They are going
to let the Club have the, two-queen bed, rooms for two people
for $39.99 a day plus continental breakfast. If you want to
make use of these rooms for the planned club fishing trip on
April 21st to the 24th you will have to call and make your
own reservations. The phone number is 719-539-6651. Tell
them you are with the Flatland Fly Fishers. They will hold
these rooms for us until the middle of March after that there
is no guarantee that you will get a room at that location for
that price.
Travel to Salida is usually by carpool. One year we had six of
us load up in a suburban and head out at 10:00 p.m. We
arrived in Canon City on Thursday morning ready to buy our
licenses and start fishing up the canyon to Salida. Some chose
to leave Wednesday morning and get to Canon City by 5:00,
buy their licenses and fish that evening In the Canon City
area. There are some nice Browns that will take a fly every
now and then. You will need to find a place to stay on
Wednesday night if you try this.
Neal
Start Keeping Fish at the Slough
Everyone should start keeping some fish from Slough Creek
the last stocking was this week, and the remaining fish will
not make it through the summer.
Everett Hodges
presented Alec
Jackson with this
custom Salmon
fly.
May 1 Fishing at Everett’s Place:
On May 1st we will have a special fishing outing for Crappie
at Everett Hodges pond up by Newton. Bring your light rods
and maybe your float tubes and we will see how many crappie
we can clean out of his lake for him. It’s getting overrun
Fly Swap for April meeting
Fall River Patterns
4
Flatland Fly Fishers
Flytying
Flies for April
Black Foam Caddis
Emergent Sparkle Pupa
X Caddis
Hook: Dry fly 14-16
Thread: Black 8/0
Abdomen: 2mm Black Foam
Wing: Deer hair
Hackle: Brown
Hook:Dry fly:14-16
Thread:Match underbody
Overbody:Sparkle yarn
Underbody:Half sparkle yarn, half fur
Wing:Deer hair
Hook:Dry fly 14-18
Thread:Tan
Shuck:Amber zelon
Body:Tan antron
Wing:Natural deer or elk hair
R.W. Dress Down Caddis
Hot Butt Caddis
Peacock Caddis
Hook: Scud 12-18
Thread: 8/0 Brown Olive
Body: Dubbed Hares Mask
Rib: Thread
Hackle: Grizzly
Thorax: Red or Green Peacock Herl
Head: Brass Bead
Tied by Rory Wiske
Hook: Dry fly 14-16
Body: Dubbed
Wing: Elk or Deer hair
Butt: Poly-yarn,hot pink,orange,or
chartreuse
Hook:Dry fly 14-16
Thread:Black
Body:Two strands of peacock herl
Wing:Deer hair
Hackle:Brown and Grizzly
Dark Caddis
Mini Skunk
Shop Vac
Hook: Dry fly 10-20
Thread: Black 8/0, 6/0
Body: Black and Charcoal fibers
Wing: Dark Dun or Brown Elk Hair
Rib: Black palmered hackle (trimmed)
Tied by Bill White
Hook: Natural Bend size 14
Thread: Orange 8/0
Body: Twisted Peacock and Ostrich herl
Wing: Polar Bear
Tail: Red hackle fibers
Collar: Black hwn hackle
Tied by Everett Hodges
Hook: Scud 18-20
Thread: Olive 8/0
Body: Olive Pheasant Tail wrapped
Wing: White Z-Lon
Rib: Copper Wire counter wound
Tied by Mike Carr
Flies from March Swap
Salida Patterns
Flatland Fly Fishers
5
Fishing the Arkansas River Colorado
Eric Schmidt
It was Saturday, the mountains were socked in with heavy
clouds and the wind was howling through the valley. This was
not good news for the fly fisher, but this was a fishing trip and
we were not going to let the weather beat us. My fishing
cohorts for the day and I decided that the river might be a little
hard to manage, so we decided that the ponds just up-stream
from the Salida fish hatchery would be the ticket. It took all of
about 30 seconds before the now famous words from Spencer
rang out above the whining of the wind, FISH-ON! After the
day was spent, we released well over 100 fish. The best part
was that fly pattern did not matter, as a matter of fact we tried
to see what patterns didn’t work (they all did).
This was a day that we had on the 2002 Salida trip. I highly
recommend this trip, it is the best the club has, and I believe
that the Arkansas River is the most underrated of rivers in
Colorado. So if you can get away for a few days in April, join
us in Salida for some of the best Brown Trout fishing in
Colorado.
For those who are thinking about or planning on going here
are some helpful hints.
Driving directions
US 400 to Dodge City
US 50 to Salida. 522 Miles
Flyshops
Salida
ArkAnglers
7500 West Highway 50
Salida, CO 81201
http://www.arkanglers.com/
Anglers Junction
“Junction” of Hwy 50 & 291
Salida, CO 81201
Royal Gorge Anglers
1210 Royal Gorge Blvd.
Canon City, CO 81212
http://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/
Colorado Fishing Permits
Daily Fishing Permit: $5.25
5 Day Permit: $18.25
Nonresident Annual Fishing Permit: $40.25
Equipment- The weather can be very unpredictable, so I would
recommend a 3 or 4 weight rod for calm or normal fishing
conditions. When the wind is blowing I use a 5 or 6 weight.
Leaders and tippets ranging from 4x to 7x are necessary.
Waders and boots with felt soles are a must. Floatant, strike
indicators, and split shot are accessories that should be in the
vest.
Clothing- Weather changes rapidly in Colorado, so be prepared
for it to do just that. Temps can range from below freezing at
night to 60 degrees for daytime highs. Fleece jackets and pants
are necessary. Also, your rain jacket should never be out of
arms reach. I would recommend some gloves for mornings and
cold days; I hear it can snow that time of year (55 inches in
2001).
Continued on Page 6
6
Flatland Fly Fishers
Fishing the Arkansas River Colorado
Hatches- The mother’s day caddis is the bug of choice this
time of year, but don’t plan on it. Be versatile. There are two
types of caddis that could be hatching so make sure you know
which one is present. The mother’s day caddis
(Brachycentrus Occidentalis) is black to dark gray in size 14
to 16. The secondary caddis hatch (Hydropsyche
Occidentalis) is slightly smaller and more of an olive to olive
gray color in size 16 to 18. There may be no caddis present at
all, like on rainy, cloudy, or snowy days, these are blue
winged olive days. This is where versatility is important; you
might fish both types of flies numerous times in a day.
Nymph fishing is the most productive way to fish, which is
the most successful.
Fishing Tips- There is a lot of water to fish and something
like 1,200 fish per mile, so you need to pick the spots that
should be holding fish, fishing blind will not produce as well
as reading the water. This is what I do. Look for current
seams, this is where fast and slow water meet, fish the edge of
the fast water. Also fish the spots directly in front of and
behind boulders. If you find a riffle that has fairly even
current, swing a soft hackle. Is you are fishing nymphs make
sure you a weighting it enough to get it down fast, this could
take as much as 4 bb size split shots. One last thing, DON’T
wade through the water you should be fishing, fish the bank
first then wade in and work your way out. Happy fishing!
Flies
Bead head pheasant tail-14,16,18
Bead head prince nymph- 12,14,16
Bead head copper john- 16,18, copper, green, chartreuse
Caddis larva-14,16, green, brown
Bead head sparkle pupa- 16, bright green
Soft hackles- 14,16, peacock, pheasant tail, green, olive
Elk hair caddis- 14,16,18, black, olive gray, olive
Blue winged olive- 16,18
Flatland Fly Fishers
7
Board Minutes
Flatland Fly Fishers
Officers Meeting March 10th, 2005
All Board present except 2
1 Advisor present
Everett advised that he would have more information on the
requirements of a club for nonprofit corp., next meeting.
Everett also advised that he was investigating the cost of
liability insurance for the Flatland Fly Fishers club. A
question was ask regarding who or what would be covered by
such insurance, the officers, club members or just the club, if
it is just the club it would seem to be of little value since the
club has very limited assets. Everett will check and advise.
The Board of Directors minutes for last month were published
in the Flatland Fly Fishers newsletter. There was no vote to
correct or approve.
Eric Schmidt, membership, advised that the Flatland Fly
Fishers club now has 90 paid up members.
Ken McCloskey, Conservation, ask that everyone check the
Kansas Wildlife website.
March 26 Slough Creek clean up, plastic bags will be
furnished.
Steve Ryan, Programs/Education, program went well, a lot of
people either tied or learned to tie the patterns that were
listed in the Flatland Fly Fishers newsletter. Listing patterns,
with pictures and material seemed to work well.
Neal Hall, Activities, There were communications problems
with the Midwinter event. One person needs to be in charge
and responsible for each event this will eliminate a lot of
the communication problems.
Women’s Event, Fall River Fishing, Salida Trip. All are
planned and published.
Haven High School rod building went well and he will
conduct the Casting Clinic tomorrow.
Steve Webb/Mike Carr, Editors, Everyone very pleased with
the Flatland Fly Fishers newsletter. They would like for
everyone to send information, articles, pictures, etc., to them
by the 20th of each month in order to be able to put it in to
the next months new letter. Everything else is going OK.
Songbin Chon, Website, 7 pages updated this month, needs
Fishing reports or other information that is beneficial for club
members to be sent to him via E-mail.
OLD BUSINESS:
Neal will advise choices for the Annual Picnic next meeting.
Officers Job description are in the BI-Laws and Club
operating procedures.
Winter Program and Presenter needs to be firmed up within a
month or so or it will be to late to get a good one. Also need
to know if the Club will need to raise money for this event.
Other issues will be discussed at the next Board of Directors
meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Ken made a motion, seconded by Neal, to eliminate the 2005
Spring Event. Motion carried, there will not be a 2005Spring
Event. If the Club wants one in 2006 plans
need to be
made and confirmed within the next month or two at most.
Women’s Event: Nature Center doors will be open by 6:00
PM, starts at 6:30 PM, 3-18-05, Fishing 9:00 AM, 3-19-05
Slough Creek. Fish will be cooked for lunch.
Fall River: Map will be published in the Flatland Fly Fishers
newsletter, Neal will be there at 8:30 AM, Lake side lunch
will be available.
Salida Trip: 3 rooms are filled and 3 rooms are available,
more if there is enough demand, those intending to
participate in the trip need to advise Neal ASAP.
Approximate cost $250.
(Neal and Eric will provide a Powerpoint presentation at
April Club meeting.)
Crappie Fishing at Everett’s Pond, May 1, There will be no
Alcohol allowed at this function. The Club will supply food
and drink. Prizes will we awarded. Those who intend to
participate must let Everett know ASAP.
Club meetings and activities are for PAID members. The
Flatland Fly Fishers Club welcomes visitors, but recommend
that they join if they are going to attend meetings.
Financial Report
Bill Ethridge
Assets
Bank Balance
$2416
Liabilities and Equity
Opening Balance Equity
$1414
Retained Earnings
$344
Net Income
$657
Current Balance
$2,416
Gar Hole
N37.72205 W96.16219
Climax
To US 400
Flatland
Fly Fishers
P.O. Box 49164
Wichita, KS
67201
Flatland Flyfishers meet monthly at the
Great Plains Nature Center, located at
6232 E. 29th St. N, Wichita, KS
Wichita’s Only Dedicated FLY SHOP
Receive a FREE raffle ticket for every $20.00 purchase*
1617 S. Longfellow, 316-682-8006
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