Kelly Creek Flycasters

  www.kellycreekflycasters.com    P.O. Box 2131 Lewiston , Idaho 83501

President’s Message………………….    

                Finally some rain!  I’m glad to see a cool turn to the weather and some rain - it somehow feels more like spring now.  Being an avid morel hunter, I’ve been hoping for the rain, and it will certainly help the fish both heading upstream and down.  Hopefully the moisture will stay for awhile, so we can actually get in the woods to camp during the summer.  The turbidity in the water should also spur the salmon and steelhead to head to their spawning grounds.

At the March board meeting the directors approved a draft web site for the KCF that was produced by Ginny Foote and Zach Funkhouser.  You can watch their progress at www.kellycreekflycasters.com, though the final product may take awhile.  Club members are encouraged to make suggestions and submissions for webpage content.  The presentation was very impressive, and I’m sure the club will be happy with the result.

April 16^th is our annual spring banquet at the Helm.  We’ll be having an auction with items donated by local businesses and club members.  This is our major fund-raising event for the year, so please plan on attending and buying some of the great items.  Tickets are available from any club officer, at the Traditional Sportsman in downtown Lewiston , and at the April general meeting (April 14^th).  The banquet will have a buffet table, so we need to know by the April general club meeting if you will be attending the Saturday banquet.

Bill Lillibridge – President

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Directors Note…..

Once again this year Gloria and I made a trip to the Olympic Peninsula. Mostly it was to see friends and relatives but I did get to fish one day. I went to the Queets with some friends from Boise . The drought we suffered this year also hit the peninsula hard. The rivers were very low and clear when we got there. This is bad news over there because it means the spring run of big steelhead will be delayed until a freshet brings the flow up. We fished hard just below Hartzel Creek and also above it for about 7 hours. We had one on for awhile and got it close enough to see that it was very dark- likely over a redd and had been in the river a very long time. Even though we did not get anything it was still great to be on such a beautiful peaceful river.
    We saw 3 different herds of elk and even watched 12 or 13 swim across the river. I understand these Roosevelt Elk are the largest elk in North America . It was neat to see them. All in all it was a fun time and if you ever get a chance to fish over there in the Olympic Rain Forest, take advantage of it. 

Dave Clark

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  REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

THURSDAY, APRIL 14TH, 2005

Social Hour & Dinner at 6:00pm

Program at 7:00pm

This month’s presenter is Paul Bowen from Idaho Falls , Idaho  

As much as we may wish otherwise, Idaho draws fly fisherman from all over the world to ply its legendary waters.   The South fork of the Snake River is among Idaho ’s jewels.  When Saker was a student in Pocatello he was very intimidated by his first trip to the South Fork.  It was crystal clear, swift, and very BIG water with bugs everywhere!  He was brand new to fly-fishing, had no natural ability or skills to speak of and all the naturals on the water made him doubt his selection of poorly tied flies.  Again and again he would crawl away from this river in defeat, vowing to snap his Eagle Claw rod in two, hurl his Zebco reel into its dark depths and never return. 

South Fork local Paul Bowen has over four decades of experience fishing this river throughout the seasons.  Paul will present on how to meet all emergences on the river, he will discuss techniques for taking big South Fork browns and he will have drift boating and wading tips.  Come learn from the person with more experience than anyone on the South Fork.

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Kelly Creek Flycasters

Spring Banquet

Saturday, April 16, 2005

The Helm Restaurant, Lewiston Idaho

  THE KELLY CREEK FLYCASTERS WILL BE HOLDING ITS ONE AND ONLY FUND RAISER FOR THE 2005 YEAR IN APRIL.  PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND THIS YEARS SPRING BANQUET, SUPPORT THE KELLY CREEK FLYCASTERS AND HAVE A GREAT TIME.  TICKETS ARE $25.00 A PIECE AND THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE SCHEDULED:

  5:30pm – 6:30pm   Wet Fly Hour

6:30pm – 7:30pm   Roast Turkey & Ham Buffet

7:30pm – 8:30pm   Live Auction, End Silent Auction

8:30pm – 9:30pm   Guest Speaker – Dennis Breer

Fly Fishing Utah ’s Green River with Dennis Breer

Straddling the borders of Utah and Wyoming , slicing through the beautiful Uinta Mountain Range on its way to join the Colorado River , resides the magnificent Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the fiery red rock cliffs of the Green River .  The number of fish per mile the Green River boasts is hard to believe. The crystalline water is unique even among Rocky Mountain streams.  Please join Dennis Breer as he takes us the length of this spectacular fishery.

ANYONE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING THIS BANQUET CAN CONTACT ANY KCF BOARDMEMBER FOR TICKETS.  THE LAST TIME TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE IS AT THE KCF’S  REGULAR APRIL CLUB MEETING ON THE 14^TH AT 7:00PM AT THE HELM RESTAURANT.

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KELLY CREEK FLYCASTERS TREASURER’S REPORT

Account Balances through February 28, 2005

Checking Account Balance:                      $544.22

Savings Account Balance:                         $6,345.16

Total Disbursements for February:          $211.35

Kelly Creek Flycaster’s Board of Directors

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KELLY CREEK FLYCASTERS - 2005 CALENDAR SPECIAL EVENTS

SPRING BANQUET                                                                         4/16/05

BURLING POND CLEAN-UP AND BREAKFAST                     5/21/05

BOYER PARK PICNIC                                                                    6/18/05

LOCHSA FISH-OUT(adopt-a-highway)                                         7/09/05

MONTANA FISH-OUT (Rock Creek, includes a Friday)              7/22-7/24

KELLY CREEK FISH-OUT            (at Kelly Forks C.G)                8/20/05

WOMEN’S FLY~FISHING CLASS (KCF assist)                          9/10/05

LOCHSA FISH-OUT (adopt-a-highway)                                        9/17/05

STEELHEAD FISH-Out (Salmon R. or Grand Ronde)                 10/15/05

Kelly Creek Flycaster’s Fly of the Month

Dry Muddler

Hook: 3XL or 4XL, Size 4 to 10
Thread: Size A, color of choice
Tail: Paired slips of "treated" turkey quill
Body: Floss, color of choice
Under wing: White over dark calf tail
Wings: Pair slips of "treated" turkey quill
Head/collar: Spun and trimmed deer hair

Step 1: Mentally divide the hook shank into four equal parts and reserve the forward one-fourth for the Muddler's head. Start a thread base at the one-fourth point and wrap back to the end of the shank. Prepare two turkey quill slips from a matched pair of feathers that are about as wide as one-fourth the distance of the hook gape. Measure the tail so it is as long as the distance of the hook gape and bind it in place. We find this step is much easier if you start at the back and work forward. Trim the excess tail material at the one-fourth point. Attach the floss and construct a body covering the back three-fourths of the hook shank.

Step 2: Apply an under wing of white over brown calf tail. Note it ends even with the back of the body.

Step 3: Prepare two turkey slips from the matched feathers that are as wide as three-fourths the distance of the hook gape. Measure them so they extend to the end of the hook bend and bind them to the sides of the under wing. Trim the excess wing material and leave your thread at this location.

Step 4: Trim, clean out the under fur, and stack a clump of deer hair that is about as big around as a pencil. Bind this clump to the near side of the hook, flaring it in place. Repeat the process on the far side of the hook. Bruce's "flaring in place" collar as described here evenly distributes the hair around the hook.

Step 5: Pull the butt ends of the collar hair up and advance the thread forward. Trim and clean a third clump of hair. Spin it over the bare area on the hook directly behind the eye and in front of the collar hair. Whip finish and trim the thread.

Step 6: Trim the hair to form the finished fly. We find a drop or two of Aqua Head or other head cement is a good final step before going fishing. Try this great pattern, you will like it!

This pattern provided courtesy of the Federation of Fly Fishers, for more fly tying information see their website.

Terry Nab with a Clearwater River steelhead, September 2002

“It was late in April, with the river running fine and as clear as a young parson’s conscience.”

                                                                                    Tom Sutcliffe, M.D.

                                                                                    Reflections on Fishing (1990)

“An old phrase evokes the fly-fishers spring: the sweet of the year.”

                                                                                    R. Palmer Baker

                                                                                    The Sweet of the Year (1965)

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