february meeting - fidalgo fly fishers€¦ · february meeting tuesday, february ... the resulting...

VOLUME 50 February 2015 NUMBER 2

FEBRUARY MEETING

Tuesday, February 17, 2015 @ Farm House

Wet Fly: 6:00PM

Dinner/General Meeting: 7:00PM

Greetings from the President: By: Bruce Freet, President

Please note that this month’s meeting is on Tuesday, February 17

th because of Phil Rowley’s speaking

schedule. Phil is a pleasure to have with us again --- he is easy to talk with, extremely knowledgeable,

excellent fly tier, and wonderful speaker.

Things are looking upward in February as the days become noticeably longer. The Skagit steelhead season is

closed now, except for Marblemount to Rockport, and the chironomid hatches should have an early start on

Pass Lake with the mild winter. The unusual situation of stocked steelhead in Cranberry Lake provides us

with another local fly fishing opportunity. Looking ahead, our 2015 Outings Survey is completed and Carl

Hendricks is beginning to work with the 20 Club members who are interested in exploring fly fishing trips

together. With the help of old and new members alike, I have completed the 2015 Committee assignments

and you will find it on the back of this month’s meeting agenda. Their active planning and participation will

benefit everyone, so I am looking forward to what they do this year.

After our February 5th board meeting, we met with the Farmhouse manager to discuss our thoughts for

improving the meeting room sound and projector system. We are proposing a ceiling drop-down screen that

is larger, add another ceiling speaker, have a ceiling mounted projector, link the computer connection with

the sound system, and have our programs at the west end of the room. These ideas were well received, but

making these changes will take time. When completed, they will provide improved sound, larger

photographs, easier set-up for each meeting, and improved safety (no extension cords as tripping hazards on

the floor, etc.).

An Active Member Club of the Federation of Fly Fishes

February Presentation: By: Phil Rowley

Tactics for Tough Days

Not all trips work out exactly as planned. Fly fishers can take almost every factor into account but if the main

guest of the party doesn't want to show up what is the fly angler to do? The program looks at the all too often

reality of fly-fishing stillwaters. What to do when fishing is tough. For most the opportunity to get on the

water is limited and not subject to quick rescheduling. Weekends, days off and vacation are typically booked

and planned well in advance. This program takes a detailed look at what factors lead to tough stillwater fly

fishing, the resulting effect on fish and most important of all what can fly fishers do to beat the odds. This

program doesn't guarantee great fishing on every trip but when the odds are swayed in the opposite direction

fly fishers should still be able to salvage a trip while others suffer in frustration.

Here's a brief biography of Phil:

Phil Rowley has been fly fishing for over 30 years. His love of fly fishing has taken him across North

America in pursuit of trout, Atlantic and

Pacific salmon, char, pike, walleye and

numerous other species on the fly. But Phil is

best known for his stillwater exploits.

A former commercial fly tyer, Phil has written

for almost every major fly fishing publication

in North America. He has authored three

books and numerous feature articles and two

regular columns. Phil's first book Fly Patterns

for Stillwaters is a best seller. In addition to

his writing, Phil has four instructional DVD's.

In 2007, Phil was a member of the gold medal

winning team at the Canadian Fly Fishing championships.

When he isn't on the water Phil Rowley travels North America performing at outdoor shows, providing

seminars, speaking to fly clubs and conducting fly-fishing schools. Phil also provides instructional stillwater

guiding on the lakes located a short distance from his Edmonton area home.


Fly of the Month By: Mike Connolly

Name: Grizzly Damsel, Drag Queen and Waste Troll Leech

Grizzly Damsel

Hook: Daiichi 1260 or 1270 #10-#12

Thread: 8/0 or 70 Denier Olive

Tail: Grizzly Marabou, Olive

Rib: Fine Copper Wire

Shellback: Mirage Opal Mylar

Wingcase: Olive Stretch Flex

Thorax: Grizzly Marabou Aftershaft Feathers, Olive

Hackle: Partridge

Bead: Copper (7/64” #10, 3/32” #12)

Drag Queen

Hook: Daiichi 1260 or 1270 #4-#8


Body: Arizona Simi Seal, Peacock and Stillwater Solutions Peacock

Crystal Chenille

Spun Together in a Dubbing Loop

Hackle: Guinea Dyed Olive

Thorax: Arizona Simi Seal, Peacock

Head: 2mm Tan Sheet Foam, Tied Hammerhead

Waste Troll Leech

Hook: Daiichi 2220 or 1720 #8 (Weighted)


Tail: Mixed Brown and Olive UV2 Marabou

Body: Mixed Brown and Olive UV2 Grizzly Saddle, Folded in a Magic

Tool and Spun in a Dubbing Loop


Important Items!

Board Meeting Time Change

The executive board decided to meet from 5:00 to 6:00 pm instead of starting at 6:00 pm. We will

continue to meet on the first Thursday of the month at the Farmhouse.

Update on Neilan Hart

A couple of years ago, many of you contributed to help defray the medical expenses for Neilan Hart, a 5 year

old boy suffering from leukemia. Today, Scott Willison from The Confluence Fly Shop is happy to report

that Neilan is doing well after almost a year of extensive treatment at Children's Hospital in Seattle. He is one

resilient kid and still very spirited despite immeasurable hardship at such a young age. Neilan is currently in

remission, leading the more playful life of your average 6 year-old and attending kindergarten in Seattle

where the Hart family resides. His father, Trevor, remains extremely appreciative of fellow fly fisher's

support and generosity with the fundraiser we held in the fall of 2013.

Pass Lake Fly Fishing History - V: By: Danny Beatty

WALT JOHNSON - I

While researching old newsletters (WAHOO) for the Pass Lake Fly Fishing History I found this biography

written by Walt Johnson. The Steelhead program by Deene and Dick was well received by the members

present. Walt Johnson was a well known fly fisher, especially for his Steelhead fishing on the North Fork of

the Stillaguamish River. This writing about Steelhead fits in with the early part of Deene’s and Dick’s

program. It also has information on the North Fork’s fly fishing only regulation which came about at the

same time as the Pass Lake regulation.

Russ Willis had contacted Walt, his long-time friend and steelhead fishing partner, and asked him to write his

fly fishing biography. The following is Walt’s response to Russ’s request.

Born in 1915 at Kirkland, Washington, I was drawn to fishing at an early age, spending much time

exploring the many creeks and ponds on the east side of Lake Washington. (I) made many memorable pack

trips into the high Cascades for trout, namely in the lakes of Snoqualmie and Stevens Passes. A school chum

and I made our first trip to the North Fork Stillaguamish area in the 1930s., traveling in a 1923 Model T Ford

touring car back when the highway was just a narrow black-top road. We had to pull ourselves to the north

side of the river at Hazel by means of a basket suspended over the river on ropes and pulleys. We camped on

the old Mt. Higgins trail in an abandoned Boy Scout cabin and fished Dick’s and Rollins creeks, catching

numerous fine rainbow trout. Little did I realize that someday I would be fishing summer steelhead in the

river itself.


Having lived for several years on the shore of Lake Washington, I had the opportunity to catch many fine

sea-run cutthroat, coho salmon and even the big yellow perch and bass that were prevalent at that time. In

1940 I was married and moved to Seattle where I resided until retirement. While working in my father’s

business I met Reuben Helm, a fine angler and sportsman, and we made numerous trips together for trout.

One day Reuben came to me and stated that he had met Enos Bradner who at that time had a book shop in

the Broadway district. He said that Mr. Bradner was also a fly fisherman of note and tied his own flies. Both

Reuben and I had been interested in fly fishing but didn’t now where to begin at the time. Dawn Holbrook

also had a small shop on Broadway where he tied flies commercially as well as featuring custom rods of his

own design and those made by the late E.C. Powell of Marysville, California. Reuben obtained a few feathers

and hooks from Dawn and we began tying our own crude affairs that left a lot to be desired.

The Washington Fly fishing Club had recently been formed and we were invited to join by Enos Bradner

and Letcher Lambuth. Neither of us had taken a summer steelhead and in those days most steelhead anglers

were regarded with awe and reverence. It seemed that his was a sport for the select few. However, we

absorbed as much as we could. The first fly closure of its kind had just been initiated on the N.F.

Stillaguamish and Pass Lake in Skagit County through the efforts of the few charter members of the Fly

Club. Opposition from farmers along the river as well as other clubs was intense but with firm persistence

and diligence the Fly Club won out. Many downstream migrant steelhead had been destroyed by the use of

bait and the club wished to prove that if the river managed on a fly only basis the native runs of steelhead

would improve.

One July Reuben spent his vacation with friends who lived near the South Fork of the Stilly. While

fishing one morning he had hooked a bright summer steelhead of around eight pounds that, on its long run,

had wound up his automatic fly reel like a window shade until the reel exploded as its spring broke. This was

lesson number one and we soon learned that these reels were not meant for steelhead fishing and went our

and purchased Pfleuger Medalist single-action models. Reuben then journeyed to the North Fork and before

long returned with his first summer-run. I caught the fever and every weekend would find us on the famous

Deer Creek riffle. On my first morning I hooked six fish and lost every one of them due to “buck fever.” It

seemed that trout habits were hard to overcome. The strike was so violent and disrupting that I froze on the

line and the leader popped on the fish’s initial run. After careful contemplation, the following weekend found

me fast to my first summer steelhead of six pounds which I subsequently beached, using an orange shrimp

bucktail. That was the beginning of a life time love affair with steelhead trout. Later I purchased property on

the famous Elbow Hole of the North Fork where I maintain a cabin to this day (November 1978).

In the early days of the fly-only closure there lived at Oso, near the Stilly, a gentleman named Cal

Hollingsworth. At the time Cal was a man of better than 70 years with snow-white hair. Like many of the

locals, he took unkindly to the fly-only closure and that “Seattle bunch”. However, he accepted it gracefully

and, rather than resist, he acquired an old beat-up fly rod and made his way to the Deer Creek riffle. He had

to carry a wading staff because of his age but on any weekend morning he could be found patiently casting

for steelhead. Soon he started to catch them regularly. Many a Seattle fly angler would arrive at daylight and

fish without results only to have old Cal come along about 8 a.m., wade into the head of the riffle and hook a

steelhead. He would day, “I never tied a fly in my life, the only ones I use were either given to me or I found

them on the beach.” The stalwarts of the Fly Club took special liking to old Cal, whom they dubbed “The

Patriarch of the Stilly,” and felt they should show their appreciation for his acceptance of the regulation. As a

consequence, a group of us went together and chipped in for a new bamboo fly rod, reel and line. We arrived


on the river early, stashing the new equipment in the bushes nearby. When Cal arrived, we greeted him and

when he stopped fishing we gathered around on the bar for a visit. Cal’s equipment was in sad shape, the

guides were held on by adhesive tape, the silk line was nearly rotten and rod varnish was badly checked.

However, he was proud of his outfit and when one member asked to see it, he eagerly consented.

The club member began to peel the tape from the guides, then took the line and tested it by jerking. One

could see the surge of crimson in Cal’s face as anger welled up inside. At the precise moment, one of us went

to the bushes and produced the complete new outfit and presented it to Cal. Tears welled up in his eyes as he

gratefully accepted it and from that day forward that “bunch” of Seattle anglers were number one in Cal’s

book. Cal had great concern for the steelhead he loved and during periods of low water would dig a channel

in the mouth of Deer Creek so as to allow the fish to escape to their spawning areas. Later he was afflicted by

a heart attack and the doctor told him to stay off the river but he confided in me one day, “I sneak down there

every chance I get and take a steelhead”. It was men like old Cal that set the example for us that followed and

we all learned out lesson from his philosophy and probably became better sportsmen because of it.

As I became more proficient in the art of steelhead fly fishing, I began to search for ways to make my

sport more challenging. Having watched such experts as Ken McLeod and others take this magnificent fish

on dry flies, I was convinced that this was the way to go, and using a 3½-ounce Powell rod I finally took my

first on a dry fly, a ten-pound, fresh-run hen that soon made a believer out of me. I had, at that time, done a

little writing. My first article appeared in the Fishing Gazette of London, England, in 1939 and I had

correspondence with the editor of that notable periodical, namely Mr. R.L. Marston. This was when England

was still going it alone against the Nazis in the war and he told me of the V-2 bombs being rained down on

London. A remark in one of his letters still is etched in my memory: “We will win this war even if the U.S.

has to give us a hand.” At about that time the Charles F. Orvis Co. was making ski poles for the Army out of

bamboo impregnated with bakelite resin (a then new process). They stated that after the war they

contemplated using this process to produce fly rods of which they already had made a few samples.

I wrote to them and later received the first Bakelite-impregnated fly rod in the Northwest, an 8-foot, 4½-

ounce beauty that accounted for many steelhead. Spurred by my success in taking fish on this lighter than

usual tackle, I inquired if they made a smaller and lighter rod and was sent their Deluxe two-piece model of 6

feet, 1¾ ounces. Later I acquired as a gift from Duckie Corkran, then president of Orvis, their newly

developed one-piece superfine of the same dimensions. This gift was in appreciation for articles I had written

for the Orvis catalog. Lee Wulff had made these small rods famous fishing for Atlantic salmon in the east

and I found that I was soon taking summer steelhead effectively with dry flies on these little rods and that

they were fully capable to the task if handled properly and they provided the ultimate thrill in steelhead fly

fishing.

Walt’s Purple Spey


Up Coming Events:

Salmon Habitat Tour in February has been changed. Sue Madsen, Ecologist for the Skagit Fisheries

Enhancement Group, can take our members on a tour of the Rockport salmon habitat restoration site

on Saturday, April 11.

Lynnwood Fly Fishing Show, Saturday and Sunday, February 14th and 15

th. We have a small group

going on the 14th. An email was sent to members that said they would like to go. I have room for

one more in my truck (Carl Hendricks email me).

Danny Beatty will be doing a fly tying demonstration at the LaConner Senior Center on Tuesday,

February 17th at 12:30 PM. The purpose of the demonstration is to give people who may be

interested in pursuing fly tying some information on tools, materials and some basic fly tying

methods. Club members who can get away in the middle of a weekday are welcome and

encouraged to attend. The LaConner Senior Center is located in Maple Hall at the south end of First

Street with an address of 104 Commercial Street. 360-466-3941 for Jana, the Center's Director. The

Center is only open on Tuesday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Lunch is served at 11:45 AM for those

who may want to arrive a bit earlier than 12:30.

The Pass Lake Fish Census is slated to begin on March 14 and continue through April 4th, so it

includes both the Chironomid Capers (March 21) and the April Fools (April 4) outings

2015 International Fly Fishing Fair Bend OR @ The Riverhouse Hotel & Convention Center, Aug.

11-15th

Note: Please check the Outings and Event page on the web site, things get added from time to time.

Outing Survey: By: Carl Hendricks

We have completed the outings survey. We are working on planning and proposing outings to the club based

on these surveys. We have put together lists with each of your names on the outings you said you would be

interested in so that the coordinator of that outing will be able to contact you with information. Each month

we will post the outings that are planned so if others are interested in an outing you will be able to contact the

outing coordinator to get all the information.

Dick’s Fish House Dinner: By: Dick Raisler

Fidalgo Fly Fishers Christmas auction participants: Christina Anderson, Ann Bodle-Nash, Boshie Morris,

Cathy Schaeffer, Sheila Tomas, and Ellie Wright enjoyed an evening of beverage, food, and hilarity at

Dick’s Fish House. The menu included: appetizer of smoked steelhead, wedge of iceberg lettuce, tomato,

blue cheese and bacon bits, rosemary rolls from the BreadFarm, baked smashed red potatoes, sautéed kale

with sesame seeds, Brook Trout Almondine and a dessert of sourdough chocolate cake with Fireball whiskey

sauce. Chef Dick prepared the meal and fly caught the brook trout in Montana’s Cutbank Creek. Dan Farmer

tel:360-466-3941


and Ollie Iversen volunteered as wine stewards, servers, shoppers and kitchen help.

Web Site – Bulletin Board:

As many of you know we have a Bulletin Board on the web site. Please take a look at it from time

to time. Some articles that are too large to post in the Wahoo will be added to the bulletin board.

These articles could be on events around the State or Country and publication that are sent to the

club.

January Outing – Steelhead Fishing Skagit / Sauk Rivers: By: Carl Hendricks

A number of Fidalgo Fly Fishers spent the day floating the Sauk and Skagit River this past month with Ed Megill. Ed

provides a great day of fishing and education on how to read the river to look for fish. Along with that he was a great

instructor if you wanted to learn how to spey cast. He had a number of spey rods to try. I would like to say thank you to

Ed for offering this opportunity to our club members. Next time if this offer is available I would jump at the opportunity

to float the river with Ed.


Photo of the Month: Photo By: Floating Camera

Fisherman: Bruce Freet, Dick Raisler and guide Ed Megill

Two Fidalgo Fly Fishers getting ready to float the Sauk River for the day.

Fly Shops:

The Confluence Fly Shop

2620 N. Harbor Loop Drive #9

Bellingham, WA 98225

(360) 312-7978

february meeting - fidalgo fly fishers€¦ · february meeting tuesday, february ... the resulting...

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