Kelly Creek Flycasters

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE    

Saker Medevarapu - Kelly Creek Flycasters President

Greetings Club members!

There has certainly been a lot happening in the nation this week: Politics, crushing debts, failed bail outs, plummeting and sky rocketing stock exchange points. I have been busy trying to figure out if I should put all my spare cash in the stock market (buy low), or draw out all my savings and put it in a sock and bury it in the back yard and start stocking up on bottled water and Spam!  But whatever happens I am pretty sure the fish do not care who (or what) is wearing lipstick, what the price of gold is per ounce, or if some lending agency made a bad choice on who it was going to extend credit to.  So take heart because like all important things in life it ALWAYS comes back to fly-fishing!

The women’s class last month was a smashing success as always. This is been maybe the fifth or six year that we have offered the class and it always seems to be well received by the community.  In fact we several people attend from the Moscow-Pullman area.  From the various reports I received, fishing was fair and most of the ladies caught or rolled fish.  True to form it rained on the group without relief Saturday evening straight through Sunday!  Bob Clark retired from cooking this year in favor of teaching, but Dan Centenari did a fine job stepping forward and helming the kitchen this year.  Thanks Dan!  Although not many people actually fell in (except Bob Clark) at least one tent and one person’s truck was discover not to be waterproof….We look forward to a report from Rene, Linda, or Skip at the meeting!

We have a lot of things to cover in this next meeting so I hope you all will come to the October show.  We have several board members that are exiting this year and we need to get people thinking about elections in November.  Our board members term is a three year commitment but fear not!  There is not a lot of work to be done.  We also have had several discussions regarding the name of our scholarship.  It was originally the Bill Van Theil scholarship, then subsequently became the Bob Burnham Scholarship.  Currently, the suggestion is, instead of renaming the scholarship each time a club member passes on, simple call the scholarship the “Kelly Creek Flycasters Memorial Scholarship” in memoriam of ……  Please keep in mind that there will always be some dissension regardless if we change the name or leave it as is.  That is why we need the membership to vote on this at the next club meeting and put the issue to rest.

At this month’s meeting Joe from Idaho Fish and Game will address the membership on current steelhead regulations.  Apparently there has been some confusion regarding the interpretation of the current regs and they want our help to determine the best way to eliminate ambiguity.  Sounds like there might be a pop quiz involved so study up!

I know a lot of our membership is hunting this time in October, but please mark the meeting date on your calendar and plan to attend.  Our guest speaker is flying in from Colorado and will be speaking to the Clearwater Flycasters in Pullman on the topic of Fly-Fishing in Colorado on Wednesday, the day before our meeting.  So those of you who have the time may want to zip over to the Pullman and see that show too.  They meet at the Best Western-University Inn in Moscow; their dinner starts at 6:30 and the meeting at 7:30.  Our speaker, Ken Iwamasa, will then speak to us  on Thursday on Fly-Fishing in Mongolia for monster Taimen!  I have always had a giant fish thing, and I am pretty sure I am not alone, so I am looking forward to seeing this month’s show!

See you there and remember to bring some cool flies or something neat to donate to the raffle!

Saker

Kelly Creek Flycasters OCTOBER Program

Thursday, October 9^th at 7:00PM

China Inn, Lewiston ID

Program:  Fishing for Taimen in Mongolia  by Ken Iwamasa

Ken Iwamasa and Peter Mullett travel to various regions of Mongolia in search of Taimen, (Hocho, hochen) - the legendary predatory fish of all Siberia, Russia and Eastern Europe.  There are undocumented records of this fish in excess of 200 lbs.  While fish experts are not clear if this fish is either a trout or salmon, it is clear that Mongolia is one of the last pristine spawning and nursery waters of this predatory trout/salmon that lives entirely in fresh water. Come hear about the terrain, the people, the rivers, the huge flies and the various other fish we catch and the equipment we use to catch these fish.  

Peter Mullett has been going to Mongolia, annually, since 1999 and has been working with Mongolians develop fly fishing eco-tourism in the Darhat Valley.  Please see his website WWW.Mongofly.com  and my article in the Sept 2007 of Fly Fisherman magazine on the Taimen of the Darhat Valley.

2008 Women’s Fly Fishing Clinic

Kelly Creek Flycasters have supported the Women’s Fly Fishing Clinic for 6 years now.  Our involvement began back in 2000 where it was held on the Lochsa and then we returned in 2004; evening classes were added and the camp-out was moved to Kelly Creek.  We have been involved every year since and each year it is well attended.  It averages about 20 women, sometimes more.  This year there were 24 and the event was held Sept 10^th, 17^th for class room lectures and the overnight weekend was Sept 20^th-21st.   

The clinic included two evenings full of class room lectures of introductory information and instructions on fly casting, rods, reels & lines, flies, equipment, entomology, and proper clothing.  It was concluded with a personalized fishing experience.  The fishing was reported as good for most.  Many experienced their first catch on a fly rod and several reported having a “fish-on!”  Such thrilling experiences as we all know!    

There was a change this year that proved lucrative for our club.  It was the loss of the National Wild Turkey Federation as a sponsor.  In the past they collected the registration fees, this year we did, making it our second largest fund raiser for the club.

An additional reward is the increased memberships it has brought the club in previous years.  We have several memberships that originated from the Women’s Fly Fishing Clinic and whom seem to enjoy taking it each year.  Some that have joined because of the class (speaking from memory) include but are not limited to Renee Krokos, Jeanie Norton, Joanne Speck, Linda Vance, Ginny Foote, Kathy Von Bargen, Trish Campbell, Laura Hildabrandt, Skip Shaw, Sandi Lowther and myself.  We hope to gain a few more this year as well.   

The other change this year was our “Camp Cook.”  Bob Clark and his Dutch Oven dinner will always hold a special place in our hearts and stomach, but this year he decided to pass the hot pads and this year it was my ever entertaining husband Dan who agreed to receive.  It wasn’t  Bob’s Dutch Oven, but a hot spaghetti meal Saturday evening followed by warm pancakes & sausage links the next morning were well received by all in the pouring down rain.  Thank you Potlatch Corp for your generous donation towards the meals and Dan, you did a fantastic job!

Classroom education, Campfire stories, Fishing stories, Knots both intentional and unintentional, Good food, Good company….together provide for a Memorable Experience for those attending!                             

Special Thanks to the members that donated their time to this event –

            Zach Funkhouser  Jerry Cebula    Dan Centenari    DJ Centenari      Jeanie Centenari

            Bob Clark              Rob Clark        Will Godfrey       Craig Lannigan  Bill Lillibridge

            Fred Smith             Fred Trevey     Matt Van Vleet   

Board Member

Jeanie Centenari           

KELLY CREEK FLYCASTERS TREASURER’S REPORT

Account Balances through September, 2008

Kelly Creek Flycasters

2008  EVENT  SCHEDULE

Kelly Creek Flycasters Board of Directors

TYING CORNER – Pine Creek Special

Article by Bob Bates, FFF Clubwire

John Kimura from Alturas, California was tying flies at the 2008 Fly Fishing Conclave in Ellensburg, Washington on May 3rd.  All of us are looking for a fly that will catch fish in many different places and conditions. John has used this pattern successfully in streams and lakes. Also, it can be fished using a variety of techniques.

Materials & Equipment:

Hook:  Mustad 3906 size 8
Thread:  Black can use any size 6/0 to 14/0
Bead: White 1/8-inch
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Blue Grouse

Step 1: Normally he smashes the barb, but while demonstration tying he leaves the barb on so people can put them on a card. Put bead on hook with small hole toward eye. He used one bead with a small hole that was large enough to go over the eye. He pushed it on after the hook was in the vise. Put thread on hook behind bead and wind to a point above the barb.

Step 2:  Wind thread forward to a little behind the bead. Tie in peacock herls by the tip. He didn’t count the herls, but there could be a six or seven or so. With lesser quality strung herls you can use quite a few and come out with a nice body.  Wind the thread back to a point above the barb.  Put a little head cement on the secured peacock herls. Braid the peacock herl with a three legged braid.  Could spin it on, but hand wrapping gives the whole thing a quarter turn and tightens everything. Spinning gives a tight thread but not the material. Wrap herl bundle forward to near bead then back to a little past the point of hook then forward to bead. Secure and trim excess. This gives a good fat tapered body.

Step 3: Select a feather with speckles on it and barbs long enough to reach from the bead to the bend. Strip off the fuzzy material carefully. Hold the feather by its tip and stroke the barbs back so the feather can be tied in right behind the bead. Short fibers can be cut off. Curved side toward the body, concave side out. John ties the feather on the side of the hook.

Step 4:  Moisten fingers and fold the fibers back as the feather is wound. Tie off, whip finish, put head cement on it and trim thread.

Step 5:   Pull bead back to cover the tie down for the hackle. Reattach the thread in front of the bead and build a small head. Whip finish, trim thread and put on some head cement.

Closing Comments: John uses different feathers for special purposes. Partridge is a good substitute for the grouse. He uses quite a few different bead colors: red, yellow, green, burnt orange, gold and silver. He and his friends use a lot of burnt orange in one lake because the water boatman have a little orange in them, and rainbows love flies with a little burnt orange in them. Try a few Pine Creek Specials they might help your success rate.