Sample ClubWire from the FFF.

FLY FISHERS,

Welcome to the December 1998 issue of the Federation of Fly Fishers ClubWire News Service.

-o- We're always looking for ideas, so please help out by sending stories, conservation projects, club meeting tips and so on.

-o- Please check to see that I'm getting a copy of your newsletter.

-o- We'd appreciate your running the membership plugs whenever you have space.

Merry Christmas,

Shirley Fulton FFF ClubWire Editor

IN THIS ISSUE

* Conservation Starts and Ends at Home * Casting Tips and Tricks with Jason Borger * The Angler's Eye * New Years Resolutions

FFF Website News:

+ New Look for FFF Webpage + Membership Plug + Fly of Month

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CONSERVATION STARTS AND ENDS AT HOME (FFF CLUBWIRE)

I got a phone call recently from an FFF member up in Wisconsin who specializes in catching bass on a fly rod. He reported great success, including 20-30 bass days exclusively on the surface with dry muddlers and deer hair poppers. His obsession bears out recent surveys showing that for fly fishers in America, warmwater fish are almost as popular as trout.

 But this warmwater zealot did not call just to tell me about fly fishing for bass. He was concerned about his favorite small lake where shore owners were turning their shorelines into city lots. Manicured lawns were being mowed right to the water's edge and every time there was a rain, the runoff went right into the lake. Some owners were even fertilizing their lawns, increasing the poison. Wasn't there a federal law prohibiting such practices, he wanted to know?

Such non-point pollution -- runoff from ranches, fields, feedlots, streets and lawns -- is thought by many to be the most serious problem facing the streams, rivers and lakes of North America. And to a degree, my friend was right: These practices are discouraged by federal law -- the Clean Water Act. But correcting this problem is almost exclusively a state, county or even township responsibility. You need to work locally, not through Washington.

This is true of many if not most efforts in fisheries conservation. Catch-and-kill fishing regulations, hatchery displacement of wild fish, riparian destruction, agricultural pollution of ground water and so on mostly require action at the grass roots. The critical focus for effective fisheries action may not be Congress, but rather, less glamorous county boards, soil conservation committees, fish and game commissions, watershed associations, regional fish managers, and city councils.  

Obviously because local actions are critical, conserving fisheries requires that you too focus at the state, city and county levels. This is exactly the reason -- by charter and inclination -- why the 260 plus FFF clubs operate in a bottom-up fashion on the key grass-roots issues. While FFF is a national organization, its principle goal is supporting local efforts because that is where the action is. Without exception, the estimated $400,000 or more raised locally by FFF groups stays at that level to solve critical problems -- locally.

Are you concerned about your fisheries? If you don't belong to an FFF club, join one. If you do belong to a club, put your bucks and you back into supporting its efforts. And by the way, join FFF. That is the glue which holds it all together.

(By Tom Jindra, FFF president)  

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CASTING TIPS AND TRICKS with JASON BORGER (FFF CLUBWIRE)

TENSING AND RELAXING

Regardless of whether you're gripping a single-handed rod or a double-handed rod, there are two things you can do to help you control your casts better: tensing and relaxing. If you tense your grip slightly as you prepare to stop the rod, it helps to "lock" the muscles and tendons in your arm and wrist. That, in turn, allows you to more easily bring the rod to a halt. One caveat: don't clamp down so hard that you leave fingerprints in the cork. Just a slight squeeze will do the trick.  

Relaxing is just what it sound like: relaxing the muscles in your hand and arm after the cast has been made. Relaxing not only takes tension away from your muscles, but also helps to dampen any aftershocks in the fly rod. Such a damping action will assist in creating smoother line flow through the air. The idea with relaxing isn't to get so loose that the rod falls to the ground. The idea is to just slightly open the fingers that are curled around the rod handle--just enough to remove a bit of tension and to allow the rod a frog's hair of lee-way.  

Try a bit of tensing and relaxing the next time you cast, you may find it allows you to be more controlled more easily. And the more control you have, the more precisely you can get the fly to the fish.

(Excerpted from Jason Borger's latest book, THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING, due out in 1999)

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THE ANGLER'S EYE (FFF CLUBWIRE)

Hitting A Curve Ball Is A Genetic Thing

In the middle of my first year of organized sports, I was told that "hitting a curve ball is a genetic thing." Some people can see the ball as it leaves the hand of the pitcher, determine quickly that it is going to curve and anticipate where to meet it with the bat. Some people cannot. It was a polite way of telling me that I should move on and choose another sport.

Taking up baseball was not my idea. At first you follow the advice of your elders, but having been led down the wrong path once made me less than anxious to listen to any new plans. I decided to strike out on my own search. I was looking for something safe that did not require you to wear protective clothing, that was not dependent on the weather forecast, and did not require physical exertion. I chose fly tying!

I saved carefully and ordered a beginner fly tying kit. It was perfect. I was the only one that knew what the strange tools were for (sort of) and the possible outcome of this endeavor. Every kid in the neighborhood played baseball, but there wasn't another kid for a thousand miles with a fly tying vise. Yes sir, this was cool. 

After the initial excitement wore off and everyone walked away scratching their heads, I got down to business. When I looked in the box for the first time, I secretly wished it contained the curve ball gene I had been diagnosed to be lacking. I struggled through the instruction book and spent months trying to complete my first fly.  

I am convinced now there must be a similar gene stuck somewhere on a chromosome that predisposes someone to take up fly tying. You can either fritter> away countless hours at the tying bench or you cannot. It's a "genetic thing." How thankful I am that I could not see a curve ball at all and became a free agent at the age of twelve.

(by Gary Fuller, Editor of the Southern Oregon Fly FIshers)

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NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS (Note to Editors: Feel free to adapt these to your own club's needs, such as by mentioning specific events, projects or outings.)

As the New Year begins, it's a good time to look back and see how many things you managed to complete on your personal fly fishing checklist. Some of these might be simple goals, some might be lifetimes dreams. Regardless, if you have let another year slip by without acting on these thoughts, strive for the coming year to be different. It will make you a better angler, a better club member, and therefore, a better person. One for each month!

1. BECOME MORE INVOLVED IN YOUR CLUB. Find a speaker for a meeting program, serve as an officer, serve on a committee, help with the trout stream clean up, something like that.

2. TAKE A CHILD FISHING. If you don't have a child, then take somebody else's. The future of our sport depends on the next generation taking over from us.

3. WRITE AN ARTICLE, FACT OR FICTION, FOR THE NEWSLETTER. Everybody knows something about fly fishing, or you wouldn't be in the club. If you take a trip somewhere, write about it. If you learned a new pattern that just ripped the fish, write about it. Worried about your grammar? Don't be. Your humble editor will gladly polish your work for publication.

3. JOIN THE FFF. Just because you are a member of our club doesn't mean you are an FFF member by association. The FFF does a lot of good work in our area and around the world to protect all species of fish and the waters in which they live. FFF needs your support.

4. BUILD A ROD. There is nothing like catching a fish on a rod of your own hand. The sense of satisfaction you get is unequaled.

5. BROADEN YOUR FISHING HORIZONS. Don't be a snob (or "specialist" as we call him). Don't just fish for trout. Check out the fantastic bluegill, bass and crappie fishing. And don't forget the white bass, wipers, catfish, and walleye.

6. IMPROVE YOUR CASTING TECHNIQUE. Learn to double haul, curve cast, offhand cast, parachute cast, pile cast, pendulum mend, aerial mend, add some distance, gain some accuracy, etc. We have certified FFF casting instructors in our club, so use their expertise. A few others of us can do some of those techniques reasonably well. Just ask for help.

7. COME ALONG ON A CLUB TRIP. If you haven't yet joined us on a trip, you are missing out. The fishing is often good, the company is always good, and the food is great. You will catch some fish and likely will learn a few things as well.

8. LEARN TO TIE FLIES. Like catching a fish on a rod you built, catching fish on flies you tied is greatly rewarding. We have some very fine tiers in the club, all of whom are glad to help.

9. RECRUIT A NEW CLUB MEMBER. More members means a greater range of knowledge. More collective knowledge means more information exchange among members.

10. FISH YOUR DREAM LOCATION. Whether it be Alaska, Christmas Island, the Bahamas or ?

11. WRITE A LETTER. Conservation issues are often highlighted in this newsletter. These issues are not considered important by decision makers because they hear only one side. Anglers are often quiet about their cause, so politicians think no one cares. Set them straight, let them know anglers care about the resource, and, that we vote!

12. FISH MORE. This one's a no brainer. Did anyone out there fish TOO MUCH in '98 (Spouses are not allowed to answer that one)? I didn't think so. No anglers I know, other than guides, get to fish more than a couple of days a month. Take the time. Make the time. Nothing is more important than good mental health, and fly fishing is the best "mental floss" of which I know. Besides, as the old proverb says, Allah does not deduct from man's allotted time on earth, those hours spent in fishing.

(From articles by Craig Phillips of the Flint Hills Fly Fishing Club in Manhattan, Kansas and John Fairchild of the Dallas Texas Flyfishers.)  

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FFF WEBPAGE HAS A NEW LOOK, WITH NEW COLORS AND NEW FEATURES

After almost two years, we have upgraded the FFF webpage for easier navigation and faster connections for all pages. In addition, there are new content areas, including FLY FISHING RESOURCES and Experts on biology of ALL FISH IN ALL WATERS. Take a look! Over the next month we will finish these changes, including some tutorials on fly tying and casting. If you are interested in contributing some material to our teaching archives, contact the FFF WebKeeper, Jim Abbs at accwritr@itis.com.

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PLEASE POST THIS SHORT MESSAGE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER

Have you considered joining the only organization in the world dedicated to fly fishing and preserving waters for fly fishers? Find out why Lefty Kreh believes in FFF membership at http://www.fedflyfishers.org/joinlefty.html. Also, you can join FFF on-line at http://www.ool.com/fff/join_frame.html.

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FLY OF THE MONTH

HENDRICKSON (LIGHT AND DARK)

The fly of the month for the winter season is one of those 20-80 flies. Namely, the 20% of the flies that catch 80% of the fish. This month we will focus on a long time favorite, the Hendrickson. Basically, the Hendrickson is a hatch of mayflies, not a fly pattern as such. It is a mayfly of the Ephemerella subvaria and important for several reasons.  

First, it is found in almost all states east of the Mississippi where cold water harbors trout, including. Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota---where fly fishing in America started.

Second, for a great number of fly fishers, it is one of the earliest mayfly hatches and indeed, it takes place as early as the first week of April in southern Pennsylvania and Maryland. It is described by Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi in their book Hatches II, as "truly the exhaulted king of the early season". Others have called it the most exciting early mayfly hatch. If fact, if you would have the time and inclination to travel it should be possible to fish the peak of the Hendrickson hatch every week for two months, slowly moving from Southern Pennsylvania through New York and finally into Michigan, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then into Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Finally, it is not only a hatch or species of mayflies, it is also a distinct fly pattern, chosen to represent the Hendrickson mayfly of course. As a fly, Eric Leiser calls the Hendrickson our most important early fly---a good reason to make sure your fly box is well-supplied. The Hendrickson was first developed in 1916 by Roy Steenrod of Liberty, New York and named after A. E. Hendrickson. Interestingly, this classic Catskill pattern, includes one of the most unusual materials. The urine-stained belly fur of a red fox. This latter requirement was not part of the original Hendrickson, but came to be the standard based upon the colorful writing of Art Flick.

For more information on this fly, materials and how to tie it in both a dark and light version, check out the FFF webpage at http://www.fedflyfishers.org. Just click on Flies of the Month. A print quality graphic is also be available for downloading and use in your newsletters.

(by Jim Abbs)

The Federation of Fly Fishers PO Box 1595 Bozeman, MT 59771 (406) 585-7592

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