texas flyfishers and monthly outings › 2016 › 02 › windknots-jun… · texas flyfishers and...

Monthly Publication of the Texas FlyFishers Volume 34, Issue 6, June, 2015

Texas FlyFishers and Monthly Outings So, you want to go fishing but you’re not sure where to go or, who you would fish with? Do you know that most months, the Texas FlyFishers offers two outings, one for freshwater and one for saltwater, open to all of its members? Well, maybe now is the time to familiarize yourself with one of the benefits of being a member of this fine organization.

Here’s how it goes, the club has two volunteer outing chairs, one for saltwater outings and, one for freshwater outings. The primary duty of the outing chair is to pick locations and set up the calendar of outings for each month, except for December, and then post the list on the website. Since there are several “traditional” outings held each year, like the John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular or, the Redfish Rodeo, the outings chairs may only have to come up with four or five new trips.

Once the outing location has been set, the chair will begin looking for volunteers to lead the outings. The first order of business for the outing leader is to put together an outing plan. This will include the designating a meet up location, date and time of the outing, particulars about the outing, including any additional costs or special needs, and the logistics involved with the outing. While most outings are usually one day in length and take place within relatively easy driving distance from Houston some, like the upcoming South Llano River Trip, may take place over two or three days. Once the outing has been set, the outing chair will post the outing website, along with a link to the online signup sheet. After that, all that is left to do is present your outing to the membership at a monthly and then, show up and have a good time fishing. If you have any questions about the process, contact Mike Quigley ([email protected]), Don Puckett ([email protected]) or, one of the other members who have previously hosted outings. They are usually happy to share their experiences and lessons learned.

So, I hope you will take the time to participate or, better yet, lead an outing. It’s part of your membership and, it’s a great way to learn new waters as well as some of your fellow club members. Tight lines, Chris Sumers

Also, in this month’s issue… • Annual Election of Officers Page 2 • What’s Happening this Month – Meeting, Double Haul, Fly Tying & Outings Page 3 & 4 • Conservation – The Fieldworkers Club and their 2015 Expedition Page 4 • Outing Reports – Rainout on the Colorado and Laguna Madre Page 6 • Flood Damage – Lower Mountain Fork, Broken Bow, OK Page 8 • Fly Of The Month – Ligon Bream Killer Fly tied by Puck Page 9

©2015 Texas Flyfishers - All Rights Reserved 2

Annual Club Elections The June monthly meeting of each year is election night for the Texas Flyfishers. Any member in good standing can vote or, be nominated for one of four officer positions. The floor is open to all nominations and motions. The actual vote is always an open ballot, tallied by a show of hands or by voice acclamation. The only qualification to vote is that your name must be on the current membership roster, which will be presented by the Membership Secretary if there is a close and hotly contested race. Winning requires only a simple majority. This new slate of elected officers will manage the affairs of TFF for the next fiscal year, which runs from July 1st, 2015 to June 30th, 2016.

One thing for certain, these four officers cannot do it all alone. Committees will be appointed and volunteer help is needed. If you want to participate as a committee chairman, committee member, or some type of ad hoc advisor, please step forward and inform any of the officers. Your assistance is greatly appreciated and, in the process, you will learn much about the sport of fly fishing.

The Texas Flyfishers has a reputation of achievement to complement its talented membership roster. TFF was one of the first fly fishing clubs in Texas, and its members are known for their award-winning talent in fly tying and fly fishing.

TFF sponsors three banner events each year: the Dr. Ed Rizzolo Fly Tying Festival, the John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular, the Mini Expo and, the Redfish Rodeo. Each event is special in its own way and you can volunteer to keep these events going.

The Annual Club Auction The Texas Flyfishers have done it again. Thanks to all of the companies who so generously donated items for the auction, to the guides and individuals who donated trips, lodging and clinics. This year’s event was a great success.

The success of the 2015 Auction was a result of the many hours of work put in by the members of our club. We would like to thank all who donated their time, items for both the silent and live auctions and for all who came to the auction and so generously spent their money in support of our club. Without you, this would not have been so successful.

And, what more can be said about Corey Rich, the auctioneer extraordinaire. He has been doing this for so long that he has perfected the art of squeezing every nickel out of potential bidders. Way to go, Corey.

Please support the companies and guides who support our club. Use their products and services and remember to tell them thank you and that you are a Texas FlyFishers when you do. Mary Kay and Skip Donovan

Coming in the July Windknots – Port O’Connor One Fly – The Tradition Continues


What’s Happening This Month: Monthly Meeting: June Monthly Meeting – Tuesday, June 30th, 2015, 6:30 pm. The speaker is Jim Kelly from Dallas who will speak about the Lower Mountain Fork in Oklahoma. The meeting location is the Community Center Building in Bayland Park, 6400 Bissonnet St., Houston, Texas 77074.

Education: Double Haul Clinic: The beginning of an addition for which there is no cure.

David Lemke will be holding a two hour Double Haul Clinic on Saturday, June 20th, 2015. If this is one of the mysteries of fly casting that continues to evade you, this is your chance unravel the mystery.

Class Overview

One of the essential tools needed by most flycasters is the double haul. Its power in increasing line speed and distance to the cast makes it the cast that flycasters ultimately need to be able to perform to achieve greater control over their fly line. Once learned, many experience casters find it difficult to stop hauling.

This short clinic is designed to give the intermediate casting student the ability to use hauling techniques in their everyday casting and to start casting greater distances than can be achieved with a single hand cast. You will learn to

Pantomime techniques used to develop the proper coordination and muscle memory to perform the double

The practice drills and techniques required to develop a good double haul;

Double haul, which is a haul on the back cast and a haul on the forward cast; and

Shoot line properly in conjunction with the haul to get the desired results – a well-directed, tight loop at a greater distance than could be achieved without the haul.

Because this technique requires casting skill and coordination, the student should be a strong intermediate caster, able to cast reasonably good loops in forward and back cast at 40’. Class size limited to 6.

When: Saturday June 20th, 2015

Time: 09:00 – 11:00 am

Where: Meyer Park Lakes

Cost: This class is free for all current, dues paid Texas FlyFishers members. For non-members, the fee is $50.00. TFF members will be given priority.

Pre-enrollment is required, No walk-ons.

David will send details to folks who enroll.

For additional information on this class, contact David at [email protected]


Monthly Fly Tying: Katy Navy Fly Tying Group: June 16th,2015 – The Katy Navy Fly Tying Group’s June fly will be the Rattle Rouser, the go to fly of our good friend Capt. Chris Phillips. For time, location and directions contact Don Puckett – [email protected]

Outings: Note: Details and signup for the monthly outings are posted on Club website in the Forum section

June Freshwater Outing – South Llano River, Junction, TX, June 12-14, 2015. For time, location and directions contact Don Puckett - [email protected]

June Saltwater Outing – Fence Lake, Fulton, TX – Saturday, June 27th, 2015, Stalk redfish and trout in the clear shallow waters of Fence Lake, nestled in the eastern shore of Aransas Bay and St. Joe’s Island. Outing Leader: Chris Sumers, [email protected]

Conservation:

The Fieldworkers Club

Are you looking for adventure and, at the same time, fish in the name of science and conservation? Then, check out the Fieldworkers Club. The Mission of the Fieldworkers club is “to enable science that will pave the way to improved recreational fisheries, while creating positive lifelong memories and opportunities for learning for its members.” For this to happen, founder Adam Marton has put together a yearly expedition with the expressed purpose of bringing together like minded anglers, noted scientists and featured leaders in an exotic locale for 6 days of guided fishing and tarpon fishing workshops. This year’s expedition will headquarter at El Pescador on Ambergris Caye in Belize and the expedition leader will be noted angler, Andy Mill, author of A Passion for Tarpon, one of the definitive works on tarpon fishing.

If you are interested in the Fieldworkers Club or, if you would like more information about the 2015 Expedition, please check out their website at www.fieldworkersclub.com or, contact Adam Marton at [email protected]

This could be you! One of the “extras” of the trip


Non-Club Events This Month:

Happy Hour at Orvis Houston - Wednesday evenings at 6:00 pm., 5727 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77057, (713) 783-2111. Call for dates.

Mark Your Calendar – Coming Events: July Freshwater Outing – White Oak Bayou, Houston, TX, July 11, 2015, For time, location and directions contact the Outing Leader, Mike Graham

July Saltwater Outing – Port O’Connor One Fly, Port O’Connor, TX – Saturday, July 25th, 2015. Outing Leader: Michael Quigley - mfquigley at yahoo dot com

July TFF Monthly Meeting – July 28, 2015 - Greg Stunz, Phd., Professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Reel Recovery: Fund Raisers:

On behalf of Reel Recovery, I want to thank all the TFF members who donated to two recent fund raisers sponsored by TFF/Reel Recovery Texas. Special thanks go out to the TFF Reel Recovery (RR) Team volunteers and others in TFF who directly helped make these fund raisers a success. Together, these two fund raisers have raised close to $5,500 in donations toward the 2016 Houston area Reel Recovery retreat. This is just fantastic!

The Creekwood Park Family Fund day in the Woodlands netted a donation of approximately $1,130. While attendance was low at the fund raiser, personal donations and donations from the drawing (red ticket) items were a success. Thank you Eric Moody for leading the effort, and special thanks to team leaders John Purcell, David Lemke, Andy Payne, Jerry Hendon and other TFF volunteers for all the efforts they gave to the event.

The "Reel E’m In" quilt donation netted a donation of approximately $4,300 - over the top fantastic! The quilt was won by a member of the Fort Worth Fly fishers. The winning ticket will be posted on reelrecoverytexas.org. There is no question that the donations on raffle ticket sales to TFF members, Houston Fishing Show attendees, and Trout Fest attendees brought in the largest part of the donations. However, donations came from several other sources including fly clubs, TWFF, the TP&WD Athens Fishing Day attendees, and many private donors who bought tickets from our TFF RR Team volunteers. Dave Steffek and Nancy Lappin will be attending monthly Tri-County Quilting Guild meeting very soon to personally thank the builders of the quilt.

2015 Reel Recovery Houston Area Retreat, Navasota Oct. 9-11, 2015:

The first ever Houston Area retreat is only a few months away. The TFF RR Team is beginning a push of retreat flyers to men who are recovering from cancer in any stage, any type of cancer through local hospitals, clinics and retailers. We certainly need all TFF members to reach out to any man they know who can be eligible to attend the retreat. This also includes any member of TFF recovering from cancer. Last year, 3 members of TFF went to RR Retreats. Others have attended in previous years.


If you feel you would like to discuss attending, please contact John Staigerwald at 713-305-7834 or Paul Akscyn at 713-306-5310, both are past retreat participants. Or, just go to reelrecovery.org and fill out an application. As of May 30, 2015, eight men are signed up as participants. The goal is 15 retreat participants but, we would like to sign up ten (10) more to fill the retreat and have some back up applicants. Thanks, Dave Steffek

Scheduled Retreats

Three spring retreats have already been successfully completed, serving 39 men. The fall retreats are Broken Bow, OK, Sept 27-29, 2015, Navasota TX, Oct 9-11, 2015 and Glen Rose, TX, Oct 23-25, 2015.

Hold my beer and watch this! Float Plans Summer time is here and we all hope to be on the water as often as possible. But, whether you are going for just a few hours or, if you plan an all-day or overnight cruise, leave a copy of a written float plan with your marina, yacht club, or friend. A float plan includes a description of your boat, who is on board, a description of the safety equipment you are carrying, where you expect to be, and when you expect to be there. Instruct the person holding the float plan to notify the Coast Guard or other appropriate agency if you do not return within a reasonable time after your scheduled arrival (taking into account weather, etc.). When you arrive at your destination, or if your plans change, notify the person holding your float plan to avoid unnecessary worry and possible waste of search and rescue resources. There is no special or official form that you must use for a float plan, though you may find convenient pre-printed ones available in boating supply stores and catalogs, or you can generate a customized form using the USPS Float Plan template ( http://www.usps.org/o_stuff/fp_form.html ) Do not attempt to file the form with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard will not accept float plans.

The USPS template is a flexible tool for helping you generate a customized float plan. You may use it in several different ways.

1. You can fill in all the information needed, "Generate" the plan and print the results. 2. You can fill in only the information which will not be changing, "Generate" the plan, and print the results.

You can then fill in information on your customized paper forms as needed. 3. You can generate a customized form as above and then SAVE the generated template as a local file on your

machine. You can then open your local template in your browser any time you need a plan, type in the missing information and print your plan. Or, if you want to generate a new local template, you can open your local template in your browser, add or change the "fixed" information, "Generate" a new plan, and SAVE the new template in your local machine. Note: The default save name will be "fplan.cgi", however, you should change it to "fplan.htm" so it will be easier to recall.

Outings Reports:

May Freshwater Outing – The outing scheduled to the Colorado River at Columbus had to be cancelled due to heavy rains and unsafe conditions on the river. Stay tuned for next month’s report from the Annual S. Llano River Trip.


May Saltwater Outing – Chocolate Bayou, May 30th, 2015. Weather allowing, we will post this report in the July Issue.

April Saltwater Outing - Texas Fly Fishers Invade the Laguna Madre, Report and photos submitted by Mike “Golden” Graham. Note: Since the original report was 9 pages long, I decided to let the photo’s do the talking. Good show, guys.

TFF Members: Mike Graham, John Purcell, Mike Frankoff, Jared Frankoff, Gary Evans, Scott Fossum

Guide: Ben Paschal - lagunamadreoutfitters.com

Conditions: Windy & sunshine

Species: Redfish, Speckled Trout and Snook


In addition to the Laguna Madre Trip: My (Golden) weekend was just getting started as I had a money tournament with a bunch of Roofers in Port Aransas to go to. I caught three fish (25 and 20 inch reds and a 22” flounder) all sight-casted to with a gold spoon. Long story short, while wade fishing with a new friend (and an ardent fly fisher at that) he caught the big $$$$ trout of the tournament 29 – 5/8” during our last wade of the day! Cha-Ching!

Thanks for the great report, Mike

Reported damage at Beaver’s Bend State Park in Broken Bow, OK Terrible damage. Scroll down to see the picture. Forwarded to us from Dave Steffek

The Corp turned down the water. Do not ask if they are done, please. Lake is still at full flood pool. More rain is forecast. However, it gave the powers that be a chance to see damage and repair the pumps lost that provide potable water to the Park, Hochatown, and Broken Bow.

Below is a picture that Ranger Mike Carter just sent me. This is the remnants of the long Evening Hole Bridge. Eddie’s bridge is presumed to be gone. Cold Hole we know is gone. I do not know about the swim beach bridge. The Evening Hole Bridge also had one of the main water lines for the park running across on the downstream side of the bridge.

Sorry to be the messenger for this, Patrick Waters

Editor’s Note: After all this rainwater is gone and we have the opportunity to scout out the damage, I think we are going to find that a lot of our favorite fishing spots will have suffered a similar fate. Chris


Fly Of The Month:

Ligon Bream Killer Fly Tied and illustrated by Don “Puck” Puckett

The Ligon Bream Killer Fly was originally tied by Accardo and Peck. I use it for bass and large bluegill. Puck Materials: Hook: Mustad 3366A size 6-10 Thread: Black 6/0 thread or larger Weight: Lead wire (optional) Body: Extra-large chenille Legs: Rubber legs Wing: Squirrel tail


Tie the chenille in behind the hook eye.

Wrap the chenille down the hook shank, past the bend of the hook

And then spiral the chenille back forward to the eye.


Tie off the chenille and cut.

Tie on a pair of rubber legs to either side

Tie on the squirrel tail just behind the eye, with the tips extending out over the hook eye


Bend the squirrel tail fibers back and tie down. Whip finish and glue

Split the legs and trim to length, if required


Finished fly

Until Next Month, Tight Loops!


The Texas FlyFishers Executive Committee Marcos Enriquez John Purcell Bob Brill President Vice President / Programs Membership Raymond Lindeen Jim Richards Charles Osborn Treasurer Secretary / Programs Webmaster Corey Rich Mike Frankhoff Frank Schlicht Legal Conservation Chair Education Chair

Mike Graham Don Puckett Mike Quigley Communications Chair Freshwater Outings Chair Saltwater Outings Chair Chris Sumers Skip and Mary Kay Donovan Alex Blacque Dr. Rizzolo Fly Tying Festival Auction Chairs Door Prizes For more information, go to the club’s website at www.texasflyfishers.org

texas flyfishers and monthly outings › 2016 › 02 › windknots-jun… · texas flyfishers and...

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