April’s speaker will be Pat Whitehill from Lewiston, Idaho.
It was at
one of our Lochsa fish-outs when we all gathered around the campfire.
Pat Whitehill was re-creating a story from his son’s guiding days. The
jist of the story was his son’s client was being stalked by a grizzly
bear and his son managed to shoot it dead, as it reared up on it’s hind
legs, just before attacking. It took them several days of floating to
complete their trip and subsequently the dead bear would make frequent
daily appearances as the current carried both fishermen and the bear’s
carcass downstream.
Since
that weekend, the club has had several requests to try and book Pat as
speaker for one of our meetings. It has taken several years of
persistence, but Pat has finally offered to come out of retirement to do
a program for us. Pat will share pictures and stories acquired over his
fishing career from salt water destinations to our home waters.
Join us on April 13th, 2006 for a great show!
Upcoming Events
|
SPRING BANQUET |
4/28/06 |
Zach
Funkhouser
(208) 743-0435 |
|
SPRING FISH
OUT |
5/13/06
|
Saker
Medevarapu. (208) 746-7721 |
|
KCF Picnic at
Wawawai Park |
6/3/06 |
Fred Trevey
(208) 743-5465 |
April 13th
Meeting-
Clarkston
Quality Inn
Dinner
begins at 6:00 PM
Meeting/Presentation at 7:00 PM
President’s
Message…….
Banquet….Banquet….Banquet, that’s the theme of this
month’s newsletter and the April club meeting. Make sure you plan to attend
our annual Spring Banquet being held on Friday, April 28th
beginning at 5:30pm at the Clarkston Quality Inn. Tickets will be $25 a
piece and will be on sale at the April meeting or with any board member up
to the event. As always, we’ll have a live auction, silent auction, bucket
raffle and program. We’ve got lots of items for sale including spey rod
combos, trout rods, reels, fishing trips and flies just to name a few. It’s
very important to the future of our club that we have a good turnout and
raise funds so come down and plan to spend a $100. With all the great
raffle items there is bound to be something you can’t live without.
During the March meeting we called for club members to
donate sale and/or raffle items to the banquet. If you plan to donate
something, please bring it to the April 13th meeting or tell a
board member what you will be bringing, that way we can plan ahead to get
the most out of your donation. Don’t forget to think about whom you’d like
to see named Fly Fisher of the year this year. Bruce Young will be
completing his survey. Our candidates are Terry Nab, Saker Medavarapu or
Bob Clark. I look forward to seeing everyone at the April meeting.
Catch you on the fly…….
Zach Funkhouser
A
not from our Secretary………
One of the things I’ve
put off because I thought it was of little value was to keep a journal of my
fly fishing trips. I was aware that Zach and Will Godfrey kept track of
their forays but didn’t do it for myself as “I had enough to do”. Last year
I finally changed my ways and started to log the data. I started with the
date and river (or lake in two cases) and logged the air and water
temperatures, cloud conditions, the type and size of “bugs” swimming or
hatching, and which flies worked and those that didn’t. I noticed one of the
side benefits is that I’m more aware of what’s happening around me and
believe this has led to more successful and enjoyable trips.
This put me in the
position of tying flies this winter that were most productive and not just
what looked good to me or that I thought should work. I will still try new
patterns but will let the fish let me know what they like. Time will tell
this year. I’ll be covering some new water both in Montana and Southern
Idaho this year, so it will still be a learning experience. At 62, who says
you can’t teach an ol’ dog new tricks.
Along another line, I
know some of the KCF members have strong opinions on some of the fly fishing
organizations, both pro and con. I have been a FFF member for about 10 years
now and have attended seven of their national conclaves. The one thing that
keeps me coming back is I always learn something new. They offer fly tying,
casting, and other related classes of interest on a fee basis as well as
free seminars on various topics and fly casting demonstrations that anyone
can attend. They have at least two days with fly tying demonstrations that
you can sit and discuss a tying technique with the person demonstrating it.
All in all, it’s been a worthwhile endeavor for me. This year’s Conclave
will be held in Bozeman, MT from 25 through 29 July.
The
last topic I would like to relate is a story I had on the Big Hole River
last year. I usually fish this river with a friend from Darby, MT. I arrived
late one evening to fish the river for two days. Lou and I were talking
about things when he related a story that happened about a month before.
Lou, his brother Jerry and a friend were going to fish the same section of
the Big Hole where we were going the next day. Lou and Jerry fished down
river for whitefish to smoke and their friend went up river by himself. He
was walking up the river from the bridge when he saw a cow moose with a
calf. He stopped and made a big circle around the animals, but not big
enough. The mother moose spotted him and the chase was on! When the moose
was too close, he would swat her nose with his fly rod. They played ring
around the rosy when their friend finally made it to a tree he could climb.
The moose stayed there about 15 minutes and wandered off. He gave her some
time, but not enough, when she chased him back up the tree. The next time he
waited longer when she went back to her calf.
Their friend never got
to fish and when he got back to the car about three hours later, Lou and
Jerry saw their friend coming down the road with a broken fly rod, holes in
his hip boots and a whipped face.
All of this was fresh in
my mind as we headed out the next morning. Lou went down river and I headed
up river. I was fishing or about an hour when I heard something moving
through the alders. I reeled in and watched where I heard the noise coming
from. About 15 feet away a cow moose emerged. I was looking up at her for
maybe 10 seconds (but it seemed longer) when she put her head down and
continued on. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I was! I walked up the
river about thirty feet more when I reached a sandbar full of moose tracks
that she used to cross the river … I was in her way but grateful she wasn’t
aggressive. This certainly added to the outdoor experience for me.
Bruce Young-
Member
Profile – Ted & Mary Sellitti
(pictured with Dave Ames)
Ted and
Mary Sellitti joined the KCF following the women’s fly fishing clinic in
September 05. Ted has loved fishing since he was a young boy. He
learned to fish with his Father from the Pacific Ocean shoreline in
Santa Cruz Bay, CA. Mary got hooked on fishing when she caught a 74
lb. Alaska King Salmon in July of 1988!
They have
had the opportunity to take some wonderful fishing trips as a result of
being members of the Safari Club International. They loved the Great
Slave Lake in the N.W. Territories enough to go back for a second time!
Last year they enjoyed their first fly fishing trip on the Yellowstone
River in Gardner, MT. It’s the thrill of catching those fish that keep
them hooked. Mary confessed (with a twinkle in her eye) that she loves
the fact that several times she has out fished Ted! They have two sons
and a beautiful granddaughter who all live in California. Ted and Mary
are retired and moved to Kooskia in May of 2005. They love it here and
look forward to meeting all of you!
Say
“Hi” when you see Ted & Mary at the April meeting!
Treasurer’s Report
Account
Balances through December, 2005
Checking
Account Balance: $ 548.17
Savings
Account Balance: $ 5,107.03
Total
Funds: $ 5,655.20
Kelly Creek Flycaster’s
Board of Directors
Zach & Boomer (the guide) on the Green River
March 2006
