Kelly Creek Flycasters

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

***IMPORTANT NOTICE***

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE    

Saker Medevarapu - Kelly Creek Flycasters President

Hello folks!

Although we have had crazy amounts of snow this past few weeks, remember that there is always a silver lining!  With a little bit of luck maybe our record snow pack will stick around to give us a little more water this summer.  And we all know what that means for our fishing this season!

I personally have not been fishing much these past few months, or even tying although my boxes are in desperate need of replenishment.  I have been working hard at trying to have a cane rod ready for donation.  I think that I should have it done by next week but I still need to give it the seal of approval before committing it to the banquet.  Our banquet is shaping up nicely!  The committee has done a great job with placing posters around town, Moscow, Pullman, Orofino, up on the prairie and other towns from here to there.  We have several radio spots on AM and FM stations, and various other print media, that give us a significant amount of visibility!  Plus we have collected a real nice group of items for our fund raiser, both of the fishing and non-fishing variety!  Not to mention the package that we have put together for the Gold Ticket draw; it is a nice group of premium stuff of $750 to $1000 worth!  I am not going to let the cat out of the bag and tell what this select group of goodies are but suffice it to say that I am going to buy the Gold package!

Those individuals that signed up to donate non-perishables should please bring them to the meeting and those that offered baked goods should please bring them to the banquet.  You will be receiving a friendly reminder from a committee member this week.  I know that our club meeting falls on Valentine’s Day but I hope most of the membership will be at the meeting.  If taking your honey to a meeting in a crowded room, with a bunch of dudes liberally scented with Eau de Fishy, does not sound like the auspicious beginning of an evening of romance then you are quite possibly beyond help and should attend the meeting anyways!

Tickets will be available at the meeting so bring enough money for tickets and please bring a few flies for the raffle.

Hope to see you there!

Saker

Kelly Creek Flycasters FEBRUARY Program

Thursday, February 14^th at 7:00PM

China Inn, Lewiston ID

Program:  Wilderness Access  by  Dale Coryell

Come hear Dave Coryell from the Moscow Fly Shop talk about fishing some unique and remote water in Alaska’s Togiak Wilderness Area.  The pristine Togiak River is home to Artic graylings, rainbow trout and salmon.  Check out Dale’s web site at www.wildernessaccess.com

Sunny Days to Come

I know that when people look at me they must think that this dude is the model of health and vigor.  He has got muscles from Brussels, probably runs 23 miles a day, must eat 8 raw eggs in the morning, and could crack a walnut with his buttocks.  Well you would not be far from the truth (for the most part) but it was not always so.  When I was a little kid, barely knee high to a grasshopper, some of my earliest memories where of Vicks Vapor Rub, inhalers, humidifiers and hospitals.  I know that it is hard to picture such a towering pinnacle of health, such as myself, as a scrawny wheezy asthmatic but I assure you that it is true!  Oh ya!  I was so skinny that mom refused to let me wear short sleeved shirts on account of my skeletal arms.  Such was my dress code until I left home for Academy!  But I digress from the point of my ramblings.

I remember one such event that shaped part of who I am today.  I shared a small room with my brother, in it we had a small nightlight that cast a dull yellowish hue to our beds.  In one corner sat a small green humidifier.  I can still remember it with startling clarity.  It was made from a thin flexible plastic and about 5 inches tall.  The lid sat like a guard tower posted in the middle of the basin.  The lid covering was made of the same green plastic but the underside housed the motor and spindle.  The spindle was a white post that was mounted on a white disc that had short stubby teeth around the perimeter.  Somehow this device would spin and propel a mist through a slit on the far end of the basin.  I remember being fascinated at how such a thing could turn water into mist and magically help me breath easier.  However, this one particular night it offered me no solace.  The next line of defense was the hot water tent for lack of better description.  My parents would boil some water and put something minty/eucalyptusy stuff in it, I would then have to put my face over it.  They would then cover my head and the pot with a towel.  This would usually do the trick, but again not that night.  Of course the inhalers had already failed by then.

I do not remember the why, maybe we did not have a car then or maybe dad was trying to conserve gas, but dad would always carry me to the hospital.  But I do remember that he seemed to walk for an eternity before we got there.  Most of my flare ups where at night and this was no exception.  This night was like any other,  but I remember the harsh darkness being broken by the streetlights every fifty or so feet.  My dad would hold me tightly as he hurried, almost like we has trying to impart some of his strength to me.

I do not remember the specific interventions that were done this time, probably just the same as last time, but I do remember that this time was different in one regard.  It was my birthday.  I received smartly wrapped gifts and the obligatory cake but the specifics of what I got has long since faded into obscurity.  Except for one gift, it was long and thin and a little oddly bulged at one end.  As it turned out, this gift happened to be my very first fishing rod!  It was a little closed faced rod that came with a fillet board and knife.  The reel was a dark green on the foot section and the closed dome part was an off white color, the rod handle green and the rod white plastic with green thread wraps.  The fillet board had a picture of a large mouth bass on it (I came realize later).  This was such a marvelous gift that my Uncle Richard had acquired for me and I was wroth with anticipation for my discharge so I could catch my first fish!

The closest body of water was the Red Deer River.  Back then, it was a sluggish and warm river but it had fish in it!  Mostly pike and pickerel (what I grew up calling Walleye and Sauger) but every once in a while someone would catch a sturgeon.  As soon as we got home I dug up the earthworms from the garden, or garden hackle for those of you with finer senses, and put them in a 2 liter milk carton after cutting off the top and filling it with dirt.  My uncle rigged me up with a snelled hook above a tear dropped shaped lead weight that had a gold colored loop.  After I got the casting basics, I lobbed out a short cast.  I was prone to the insecurities of youth, and kept asking my uncle if it was far enough out or if he thought a fish was there.  He would invariably say yes  and I would invariably reel up and cast a little bit farther anyways.  In next to no time, I remember the rush of feeling my first fish on the line!  I did not know if it was big or small, but I knew it had to be alive!  But shortly after hooking it the line went slack changing my elation to deflation!

 “It happens sometimes” my uncle said, ”bring it in and we’ll put another worm on.”

But as I attempted to comply, the line started to go tight again!  My baby was still on!  It was not very big, truth be told it was quite small, but I was elated to have landed my first fish!  It was what we call a Gold-Eye.  A sleek, silver fish with large tarpon like scales with, you guessed it, large gold eyes.  We had a bucket and I filled it with water then put my fishy in it.  I could not let it be killed, my little buddy, so we took it home.  We put it in a fish tank and I named it Sunny.  Why Sunny your guess is as good as mine.

Ever since that day my desire to fish, and to marvel at what lives just below the waters’ surface, has been a driving passion for me.  It is a joy that I love to share with my friends and my family.

Board Member

Saker Medevarapu 

Fly Fishing Fair

February 23, 2008

Set aside Saturday February 23, 2008 for a full day of fly fishing education and fun.

The Fly Fishing Fair has been organized and is currently being promoted on several radio stations along with 300 well placed posters and in two newspapers.  Some TV promotion will follow as well as several live radio interviews.  The committee is serious about getting the members of the club as well as the general public out to our fly fishing program and fund raiser.  John Claassen has put together the programs and classes for the 9 AM to 4PM activities at the Quality Inn at Clarkston.  Here is a chance for club members to come and learn more about their sport and to give a hand to the committee in putting on the day events.

Under the direction of committee chairman Zach Funkhouser, the evening banquet will feature Brian O’Keefe, his photography and skill fly fishing Chile.  There will be a grand assortment of merchandise for the raffles and silent auction.  A live auction conducted by club member Will Godfrey will feature some of the finest fly fishing tackle and art to be found.  The evening event will wrap up a very fun day of activities.

It is important that each club member buy the ticket they desire and attend the banquet as well as the general Fair.  It is important that the club members bring their family members and sell a ticket to their friends.  The Gold Ticket Package is well worth the investment and opportunity to win a group of spectacular fly fishing gifts.  When you see the Gold package you will be happy that you bought the right ticket.  Remember, the Gold Package tickets must be purchased in advance of the evening event.  Now is the time to get your tickets at the Bank of Whitman in Clarkston or at Traditional Sports Fly Shop in downtown Lewiston.  We have limited seating so now is the time to buy your ticket.

We are grateful to our tremendous sponsors who have helped to fund our Fly Fishing Fair.  Make sure you thank the people associated with our sponsors and above all and as you can, use their services and products.  Our sponsors are in alphabetical order - The Bank of Whitman; Maplewood Dental; Lewiston Orthopedic Associates; The Potlatch Corporation; Traditional Sportsman Fly Shop; and Tyler & Kelly Trademark Motors.

The program, class schedule and tickets will be available at the Thursday, February 14^th Club meeting. 

KELLY CREEK FLYCASTERS TREASURER’S REPORT

Account Balances through JANUARY 2007

Savings CD:                                                $5,089.10

Checking Account Balance:                         $8,747.33

                                                                  ----------------

Total Funds:                                               $13,836.43

Kelly Creek Flycasters

2008  EVENT  SCHEDULE

Kelly Creek Flycasters Board of Directors

TYING CORNER – Pale Morning Dun

Article by Bob Bates, FFF Clubwire

Often you will find fly patterns that will imitate different mayflies closely enough to catch fish in a variety of situations.  This is one of them.   In the western U.S. we have the Pale Morning Dun that some people consider the most important mayfly around.  In the eastern part of the U.S. there is a mayfly called the Sulphur.  Then there is the Eastern Pale Evening Dun that also has a yellowish body and legs.   If you want more details on these mayflies get a good book on mayflies and start studying the chapter(s) on the Genus Ephemerella.

Depending upon where you are PMDs might be hatching from May to September. The nymphs are classified as crawlers and live in the medium to slow water streams. It has “Morning” in its PMD name, but they hatch from mid morning to mid afternoon (sometimes as late as 6PM). According to some descriptions the dun actually breaks out of the nymphal shell before it breaks through surface film. Everything gets pretty wet, and the wet wings have to dry before the dun can fly off. So it sits on the water surface for quite a while. This is a dangerous time for the mayfly, but a good time for fish and anglers. You will find that cool and misty days provide longer lasting hatches than hot dry days.

Jim Johnson, Big Fork, MT tied this pattern at the 2007 FFF Fly Fishing Show and Conclave in Livingston, MT. Jim has tied at a lot of shows, and at one of the shows a guy from Pennsylvania said: “Hay! That’s going to be a perfect Sulfur” as Jim tied his PMD.

Materials & Equipment:

Hook: DaiRiki 300, sizes 12-18
Thread: Danville, Flymaster, yellow
Tail: Coq DeLon
Wings: Wood duck
Body: Superfine dubbing, PMD yellow
Hackle: Ginger or tan 

 
Step 1: Attach thread and build a thread base leaving the thread at mid-shank.

Step 2: Coq DeLeon feather, stiff fibers toward the tip make good tails.

Step 3: Pull off the fluff and any short fibers. Select a few fibers that are all the same length. Tie them on to make a tail that is 1-1/2 shank lengths long.  This is much longer than the books say, but it will all work out. Then move the thread forward to a point about one eye width back from the eye.

Step 4: Pick a wood duck feather that is flat across the top.  Pull off the fluff and short fibers. Squeeze the fibers into a brush and tie them on with the tips forward where the thread is hanging. Make wings about a shank length long. Cut off the butts at about mid shank, and wind thread rearward to cover the butts.  Leave thread hanging at the bend. Note: with the longer than “standard” tail and wings mounted forward of the usual 1/3rd point, the fly will never tip over on its nose.

Step 5:  Put dubbing on thread using your favorite method.  When rolling dubbing between thumb and first finger, always roll it in one direction. Wrap dubbed thread forward toward the wing. Taper the body larger to the front, and stop wrapping a little short of the wing. This is to leave room for wrapping the hackle.

Step 6:  Pull up wing and put just a few winds of thread in front. Don’t put on a lot of thread winds to stand up the wing as some books say. Leave thread behind the wing. Pull off fuzz and long fibers from the hackle feather tie it down behind the wing. Barbs on the hackle feather are about two gap widths long. (This picture was taken before Jim did the next part of the step.) Fold the stem back and tie it in so it helps hold the wing a little straighter. This saves about 5 turns of thread.

Step 7:  Put three hackle wraps in back of the wing and three in front so the wing in the middle of the hackle. Secure and trim excess feather. Put Super Glue on an inch or so of your thread and wind the head. Let the bobbin hang a little while until it dries. Need water proof Super Glue for this. According to Jim most of the Loctite Super Glues are water proof. Pull the wings apart to give the traditional appearance of a mayfly. Use a black felt pen to darken the head; then you can put a little head cement over the threads.

Closing comments: 
This is a high floating PMD that will catch a lot of fish. The PMDs where Jim lives are fairly large so he can tie on size 14 hooks. However, other PMDs are as small as size 18 hooks. Pick a fly that matches the size of mayflies floating on the surface. Also look at the body color of the natural carefully as some PMDs have a slightly pinkish or reddish tinge. I might be wrong, but I don’t think that you need follow what Earnest Schwiebert once specified: “pinkish urine-burned red fox belly fur” there are other ways to achieve the pinkish cast. (Red or pink thread or mix in some reddish dubbing).

Riffles, Runs & Lies is edited by Diane Lillibridge on behalf of the Kelly Creek Flycasters.

All club members are welcome to submit articles for inclusion into the club newsletter

by contacting Diane at KCFNewsletter@cableone.net or by phone at (208) 743-8970.