he long, cold rainy winter has

drawn to a close and the pro-

spects of good spring trout fish-

ing are upon us. In fact, I can

think of a nice local stream I

would prefer to be on right now instead

plunking away on my PC in an effort to

wrap up this edition of our newsletter.

As you will note, we are starting the sev-

enth year of STREAMSIDE and for

better or worse, I have been at the helm

of it since its inception. Needless to say,

I am at the point of wanting someone

else to step in and take over some of my

administrative responsibilities with this

and other duties. Actually, if someone

has some reasonably good PC skills, and

software that includes MS Publisher,

Word and/or Excel, boy do I have a job

for you. A few hours a month would be

a big help and take some of the load off

of yours truly so he can devote some

time to other pursuits. If you are interest-

ed, call me or email me at your conven-

ience.

Speaking of other pursuits, I have been

nominated to be the next President of the

Mid-Atlantic Council of the Federa-

tion of Fly Fishers. The Council has

done a lot for our club and I have certain-

ly enjoyed the fellowship of a dedicated

group fly fishers who are working hard to

make a difference from a conservation as

well as a youth education standpoint.

This summer I will be travling to Living-

ston, Montana to attend the FFF’s Na-

tional Conclave and will represent

MAC. Joe King has decided to come

along with me and we are hoping to hook

up with club member Bud Bovard wants

to show us some streams in Yellowstone

Park that few fisherman visit. Bud works

in the Park selling flies at a local shop

during the summer and has fished the

Park extensively over the course of his

tenure. We are also hoping to get up to

Rock Creek the week before

Volume 7 Issue 1 Quarterly Newsletter of the Dame Juliana League Spring 2001

here is nothing quite as fas-

cinating to watch as a fly

fisher presenting a small

fluff of a fishing fly deli-

cately onto a stream’s sur-

face. The only sound you

hear is the whispering made by the fly

line moving through the air. There is no

violent impact that you would normally

see with bait smacking into the water.

Just a few tiny rings forming on the wa-

ter where that tiny fluff has gently set-

tled. This is one reason that fly-fishing

is considered a silent sport.

Fly-fishing has always generated its

own mystery due to the fly casting

presentation. It has been interpreted

by some as a difficult skill akin to

practicing precise ballet movements.

This perception of a fly fisher’s skill

over the years has added to the belief

that fly-fishing is difficult to master.

People believe that only years of in-

struction and dedicated practice can

prepare someone to successfully mas-

ter this presentation technique. Add

to this mystic that the practitioners of

this silent sport have also been la-

beled by their mannerisms.

One such mannerism regards

their choice of sporting apparel. You

can automatically look at a group of

fishers heading towards the water and

instantly pick out who are the fly fishers.

Looking at their costumes and the tools

they are carrying easily does this. A fly

fisher’s costume consists of a variety of

boots and chest high waders, vests with

multiple pockets, instruments; such as,

hemostats, line clippers and other small

gadgets can be seen dangling from their

clothes. You will notice that they usual-

ly have a laminated wood landing net

hanging down their backsides, clipped to

a ring on the back of their vest. If you

could see inside their vest’s bulging

pockets, you would find a number of

small hinged boxes. Each box is filled

with hand-tied hair and feathered hooks

of all sizes, colors and shapes. The ma-

jority of the fly fishers tie their own

flies. And this practice creates another

large and unusual variety of tools and

materials in order to accomplish this ac-

tivity.

Their hand carried tools consist of a

fly rod and reel. Simple quickly turns

to complex when you learn of the vari-

ous combinations of fly lines loaded on

their reel. These lines are labeled as,

sinking, sinking tip, floating, and weight

forward, double taper, shooting heads,

etc. Their fly reels vary from being very

simple fly line holding devices to so-

phisticated instruments computer ma-

chined out of exotic aerospace alloys.

These state-of-the-art reels possess effi-

cient adjustable drags and carry large

amounts of braided backing lines. Their

fly rods are classified by weight, length,

flex ratios and handle designs and they

may be made of traditional bamboo, fi-

berglass, or exotic combinations of

graphite and boron composite materials.

It’s no small wonder that most men

and women, who pursue fishing using

the hook, line, sinker, and worm norm,

do not understand fly fishers. The fly

fisher investment in their apparel, tool-

(Good is continued on page 3)

Notes From The

Tying Bench by Bob Molzahn

T

Change Is Good by Chuck Hodgson

T

FFF and the League Recognized on French Creek

STREAMSIDE Page 2

n the days when trout fishermen

wore fedoras, cast silk lines with

split-bamboo rods, and thoughtfully

smoked their pipes between mayfly

hatches, the Letort Spring Run in

the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania

stood as the crown jewel of American dry

fly fishing.

Made famous by the writings of Charles

Fox and Vincent Marinaro, anglers

nationwide would descend on this gentle

limestone creek for the privilege to cast to

its exceptionally large and selective brown

trout. An entire subculture of angling

evolved along its banks, when Fox and

Marinaro realized that many of the Letort's

more prodigious browns spent their days

picking crickets and beetles from the

surface film, rather than aquatic insects.

The rich vein of fly patterns that

followed the Letort Hopper, Letort

Cricket, Jassid, and others have

become standards in fly boxes

worldwide.

Today, the Letort may still be one

of the most-visited trout streams in

the Northeast, though for many it has

become more shrine than fishing

destination. When I first came to the

creek several years ago, the first

angler I saw asked me to take his

picture as he stood thigh-deep in the

river. He came from Ohio and always

wanted to see the famous Letort, he told

me. When he drove off, I realized he never

made a cast. Come to think of it, I did not

either.

For the regulars who do challenge its

skittish trout, a fish or two per day is

considered a very good outing. In essence,

the Letort has become almost a sanctuary;

where a wild trout can wax fat on bugs and

minnows and perhaps even die of old age.

But now the Letort's big browns face more

than just the ogling of a visiting angler or a

well-placed Letort Cricket drifting over a

favorite lair. The Atlanta-based retail giant

Home Depot wants to build one of its

megastores virtually on the Letort's banks.

The proposal, which has been approved by

the Borough of Carlisle, calls for clearing

19 acres, much of it on a wooded tract

where a defunct radio station once stood.

The development would come within 300

feet of the river.

Yet a Home Depot spokesman, John

Simley, said that there is still plenty of

room between wild trout and shoppers.

"Three hundred feet gives you an awful lot

to work with," Simley said, pointing out

that the store would be landscaped to

create a visual buffer.

He said that Home Depot plans to

construct a complex water treatment

system to trap the grease, silt, oil and litter

that would inevitably gush from the store's

parking lot when it rains. The water from

the treatment system will be of "drinking

water" quality, Simley said.

The Letort's regulars remain

unconvinced. "Quite frankly, I feel that

this isn't the best use of the land because of

the inherent danger to the stream," said Ed

Shenk during a recent walk along the river.

"Everybody who's ever really fished here

is deeply concerned. "Shenk, widely

considered to be the Letort's best angler,

has fished the creek for more than six

decades. A spry man in his 70's, he has

witnessed many changes to the river, from

a steady decline in water flow caused by

drilling of nearby wells, to siltation of

much of the streambed. In the early 1980's,

a pesticide spill nearly wiped out the

creek's population of wild browns. But the

Letort's trout and aquatic insects have

persisted, thanks in large part to the

limestone springs that still replenish the

creek with mineral-rich 52-degree water.

"The Letort's in amazingly good shape

for such an urbanized setting," said Fred

Bohls, vice president and conservation

chair of the Cumberland Valley Chapter of

Trout Unlimited/FFF. Bohls said Trout

Unlimited has not yet opposed the Home

Depot development, but has instead given

the retailer a long list of conditions that

would have to be met to win the

conservation group's approval. Besides

stormwater issues, these include

controlling light pollution that could draw

mayflies away from the river, and

protecting a small tract of existing

wetlands on the property. Carlisle has said

it would withdraw its approval of the

project if

Trout Unlimited's criteria were not met.

One of Trout Unlimited's primary

questions is why Home Depot has not

chosen to build at a massive strip mall that

sits less than a mile away. Two of the

stores, Montgomery Ward and Ames are

closing, which would free acres of space.

"The Home Depot proposal is far from a

done deal," Bohls said. "There are still lots

of unanswered questions, which is why

we're asking anglers to go to our Web

site," "then write or e-mail Home Depot

and voice their concerns about

this project." Their website

is:www.homestead.com/cvtu.

Eventually, Shenk came to

Vince's Meadow, where Marinaro

himself developed his famous

Jassid pattern. Just upstream,

where the river flows past a

twisted ramble of submerged

branches, Shenk caught Old

George, a 27-and-a-quarter inch

hook-jawed male that took three

years of stalking before Shenk

finally fooled it into taking a streamer.

Directly across from Vince's Meadow is

where Home Depot wants to build.

"It's remarkable that the Letort has lasted

as long as it has," Shenk said, stopping at

plaques commemorating Marinaro and

Fox. Inscribed below a stern-looking

likeness of Marinaro is an excerpt from his

seminal book, "A Modern Dry Fly Code."

It reads: "The Letort is a hard taskmaster

and does not treat lightly any violation of

dry fly technique."

How Home Depot will treat this quiet

river, so rich with angling history, remains

unresolved. But Shenk and many other

anglers, who have seen the Letort's ups

and downs through the years, admit it is

something they do not care to imagine.

Editors Note- This article was taken

from a local Harrisburg newspaper.

Sadly, I think it tells the Letort story very

well.

A Shrine For Trout May Change Forever by Stephen Sautner

I

STREAMSIDE Page 3

Good continued from page 1

ing and materials may be thought of as an

enormous expense. Expenses which the

typical bait and spin casting fishers believe

are unreasonable. However, if they ever

compared the fly fisher expenditures

against the new breed of the so-called semi

-pro or pro-tournament Bass fishers, these

expenses become less unreasonable.

Another mannerism that categorizes fly-

fishing is that it has been around for hun-

dreds of years. The well known knowl-

edgeable voices (the writers, photogra-

phers, fly shop owners, guides, instructors,

and fly tiers) and practitioners of fly-

fishing is typically dominated by a limited

group of ladies and gentlemen. These “old

sage prophets” are the recognized subject

matter experts and they are very opinionat-

ed in what they believe is the specific con-

duct to be practiced by the fly fisher. The-

se are the sources who have always perpet-

uated the traditional knowledge of fly fish-

er costuming and tooling.

Mannerisms may also be attributed to

some of the attention that today’s fly fisher

is receiving from the news media. This

generally focuses on the practice of “catch

and release” of gamefish. This is not a

new practice as it has been around for

years as a personal choice of the fly fisher.

Fly fishers and the associations they be-

long to, have always supported the state-

ment “a good gamefish is too valuable to

only be caught once.” Lee Wulff, a New

England fly fisher prophet and an early

founder of the Federation of Fly Fishers

(FFF), who now makes presentations in

heavenly waters, is credited with making

this statement back in the 1960’s.

Some government authorities and conser-

vationist groups treat “catch and release”

as a necessary measure in order to elimi-

nate the over harvesting or what they be-

lieve is the extinction of gamefish. It is

questionable whether or not this is an ef-

fective restraint due to the unintentional

damage, which can be caused by the im-

proper handling and release of gamefish.

The lack of controlled harvesting can also

nurture large qualities of small gamefish.

Fly-fishing proves to be the most suc-

cessful in the safe release practice. This is

due primarily in the method by which a

fish is hooked by a fly versus bait. The fly

hooks in the fishes’ lip areas versus the

deep throat hooking resulting from bait.

Another plus for the fly fisher is the usage

of barbless hooks and their knowledge of

the correct handling and release process.

Both the FFF and Trout Unlimited (TU)

organizations have published documented

guidelines to address the proper handling

and release procedures. The additional

usage of “slot regulations” to establish size

restrictions on “catch and release” pro-

motes the development of a larger sized

fish population.

The majority of fly fishers treat “catch

and release” policies as a manner of per-

sonal choice as they believe that conserva-

tion is better served by the protection of

the gamefish’s habitat. As habitat conser-

vationists, fly fishers are the outspoken and

strong defenders of environmental issues

related to gamefish. They are key financial

supporters and volunteer workers for or-

ganizations such as the FFF and the TU.

The support of environmental issues is a

natural for fly fishers as their success in

resolving these issues ensures that their

adversary, the gamefish, will continue to

prosper and perhaps even have an oppor-

tunity to extend its range.

There have been a number of significant

things that have a direct impact on fly-

fishing and its future. These events have

promoted fly-fishing into what could be

considered a growth industry.

A significant growth of new people, both

men and women, are adopting the sport of

fly-fishing. This specific demographic age

group can be referred to as “baby bloom-

ers”. They are now approaching their early

WE WELCOME OUR

NEW MEMBERS!

—————— Michael Cappuccio Michael Cola

Shawn Silcox & Bob Corr

James Cunningham

Paul Davis Donald Eichler

Kate Ermilio Mike Ferraro

Rick Hahn Paul Hameleers

Ed Hill Ray Lees

Frank & Marina Ketterman

Jeff Leary Robert Lecher

Kirby, Mary Ann & Josh Lewis

Lou, Nancy & Nick Libbi

Jeff Lucash Jim Shaugnessy

Ralph Schlichthernlein

STREAMSIDE Page 4

Notes is continued from page 1

to check out the feisty rainbows that live

there. We are keeping our fingers crossed

that the fires will not strike again as they

did last year. Apparently, the Bitterroot

was hit particularly hard and was closed

for almost two months to fisherman.

Closer to home, the float stocking effort

on French Creek on March 10 was hugely

successful mostly because of the great

turnout we had from our club members.

We were even able to float stock the open

water stretch from Hoffecker Road Bridge

almost all the way to the Kennedy Bridge.

This is the first time this section has been

floated by the club in over 12 years. By

the way, this section can be accessed from

the Hoffecker Road Bridge by walking

downstream on the south side of the creek.

The property is owned by Camp Hill and is

open to fishermen. My thanks to all who

participated and to Bob Bonney our

Waterways Conservation Officer for a

great job in organizing this annual event.

A few weeks ago we also received a load

of browns and some big rainbows from our

friends with the Chester Valley

Sportsmen’s Association. Member Jim

Younker worked with hatchery manager

Ray Andrews to set it up. Fishing in the

French should definitely be good this year.

Our Learn to Fly Fish Course on April

28 is filled and overflowing with a long

waiting list. This is the ninth year for the

course and is shaping up to be the best one

ever. This event is a major fundraiser for

us and allows us to pay for top notch

speakers like Barry and Cathy Beck.

We also have 14 club members going

north to the Ausable River in northern New

York State and the Hungry Trout on May

18. We will be mixing it up with an equal

number of Long Island Flyrodders. I

grew up on Long Island and I have come to

consider them a sister club, mostly because

their members have always shown our club

members a lot of interest, respect and

friendship whenever we have been with

them A few of us, including myself and

my brother, Dean Molzahn, are members

of both clubs. We are looking forward to a

good time, as always.

You may also have noticed we have a

few new sponsors thanks to the efforts of

Joe King. Eyler’s Fly’n Tackle in Bryn

Mawr, TCO Flyshop in Reading and the

Sporting Gentleman in Media and

Wilmington have joined us. We also

added Virtual Farm Creative in our last

issue. Sponsors are those organizations

that provide us with raffle prizes. Raffles

generate income and we continue to thrive

as a result. We urge our members to

support all our sponsors with their

business.

In the words of John Dwyer, “May your

leaders sink, your felts hold, and your flies

float high !” Tight lines!

GRAY’S OUTFITTERS

FULL SERVICE FLY SHOP

FRESH & SALTWATER FANTASTIC SELECTION IN STOCK

RODS BY

•THOMAS & THOMAS•GREEN RIVER• •DIAMONDBACK•ST.CROIX•

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REELS BY •J. RYALL•STH-ROSS•ISLANDER• •BAUER•HALLEN•SCI-ANGLER•

•PRECISION•HARDY•

(610) 630-0988

5 Minutes from Valley Forge Park

2458-C West Ridge Pike

Jeffersonville, PA 19403

What's New In Fly Tying by Jack Mickievicz

I was monitoring the Flytying bulletin board and noticed several favorable

comments about a relatively new tying

thread, at least new to me. People were

repeatedly looking for a supplier of

Giorgio Benechi's 12/0 thread for tying

midges. Apparently, it is only available

from Chris Helm’s Fly Shop in Toledo

Ohio at the present time. He sells it for

the discounted price of $2.35 per 100

meter spool.

Exclusives like this don't last long in

the day and age of the internet, besides; I

just LOVE upsetting apple carts. I'll

have samples to look at and try at the

next couple meetings if I don't have a

brain fart and forget to come that is.

Here's a rundown.

Incredibly strong for it's size, gel spun

polypropylene. Colors available: Black,

Brown, Sandy Dun, Lt. Dun, Dk. Dun,

green, Dk. Green, Orange, Yellow, Red,

Olive, Lt. Brown, White, and Grey. 100

meter spool with color coded end clip.

Available NOW.

The Mighty Serendipity Next to the Green Weenie this could be the best fly ever invented. Try it as a

dropper and your catch rate will increase Hook: TMC 2487 #20-#24

Thread: Brown

Rib: Fine Copper Wire-Palmered

Body: Brown -Thread or Antron Floss

Head: Spun Deer Hair Clipped Flat

HELP NEEDED!!!

If you have PC skills and software pro-grams such as MS Publisher, Word and

Excel and would like to donate a few

hours each month to the Dame Juliana

League we can use you. Call me at 610-

524-0901 if you want to know more.

Editor STREAMSIDE (MS Pub-

lisher, some writing required)

Membership Chairman (MS Word,

maintain member list, send back

confirming letter, type nametags)

Program Chairman (Schedule pro-

grams for monthly meetings with

Board input)

Monthly meeting announcements

(MS Word, using templates develop

monthly announcement, both back

and front, buy stamps, deliver to Joe

Vasile to send out)

Thanks! -Bob Molzahn

STREAMSIDE Page 5

Good continued from page 3

tion and are willing to pursue the

instructional training they need along with

the expert knowledge of a hired guide.

Their interest in pursuing the role of a fly

fisher can be measured by their large

numbers attending regional fly fishing

shows. A noticeable indication of their

interest and influence is the increased

usage of the fly fisher theme in commercial

advertising on TV and within other news

media? “Baby bloomers” are the

advertising and major product sector

executives today and they understand their

targeted audience.

They are definitely providing increased

visibility and awareness for fly-fishing.

This influx of new enthusiasts has an

impact on the availability of fly fishing

consumer products. This is nourishing the

motivation and the growth of the fly

fishing product industry. Suppliers are

now making tremendous advances with the

variety, quality and functionality of their

equipment. When you combine this

increased numbers of consumers along

with the recent challenge of saltwater fly-

fishing, the amount of product choices now

available can be overwhelming. Not only

has the available market increased but also

so have the number of competing

suppliers, in both saltwater and freshwater,

and their increased variety of new

products.

Yesterday’s suppliers provided the basic

fly fisher with what may be referred to as

the traditional products. These products

had made little if any technological

advancement throughout the years. They

were considered tried and true by their

users and were relied upon due to their

extensive heritage.

Today’s suppliers have embarked upon

some great product improvements using

technology advances in materials and

manufacturing processes that they could

not have considered years ago. However,

product advances of this nature require

costly investments in order to take

advantage of technology gains.

Development, testing, advertising,

endorsements and the initial release of a

new product is a costly undertaking and the

consumer absorbs these costs. This may

help to explain why new fly fishing gear

continues to be expensive with no price

reductions. Even the traditional equipment

is holding its values. I suspect this is a

result of limited new production on the

traditional items. The suppliers are aware

that the traditional equipment will phase

out of favor as the consumer is attracted to

the latest technology advances.

Change Is Bad by

Chuck Hodgson

ast January, I was eating lunch

at the Fly-Fishing Show in

Somerset, New Jersey. I was

sharing a table in the crowed

lunchroom with a fly fisher,

unknown to me, who was at least 10 years

my senior. This gentleman, without even

requiring an introduction, just started

presenting a personal opinion dissertation

regarding the large number of people in

attendance at this show. Why they were at

the show and their impact on equipment

prices. Not to mention what he thought

about the parking conditions outside the

building. I did agree with him that this

year’s attendance seemed quite a bit larger.

But, I also suspected that there were more

exhibitors added this year. I discounted

the parking, he should have seen last year’s

parking as a result of a snowstorm. While

I quickly tried to finish lunch, he continued

his out-spoken theory on why there was a

large crowd. His belief centered on his

theory that the sport of fly-fishing had

become way too easy. Everybody sees it

on TV and it is now in all of the movies.

Everybody is doing it and there’s no

technical skill or challenges required

anymore. The new and expensive

equipment that is available today just

makes everything way too easy. That’s

why all these young people are here at the

Show. They’re the ones with all of the

good jobs, making lots of money and their

buying habits are pushing equipment prices

way too high. He continued his

dissertation by stating that he wished that

fly-fishing were as difficult as it used to be.

“Why, when I started, it was . . .” I quickly

excused myself from the table.

You know, I had just listened to a theory

which proclaimed “Out with the new – go

back to the old” or “Change is bad”

without offering any comment. Just think,

I have been attempting to fly fish and tie

fly’s for over 38 years and sure I haven’t

been doing it on a consistent day-to-day

basis, but when did it become too easy? I

had seen the movie “A River runs through

it” a couple of times, read the book and I

have the video of how Jason Borger did the

shadow fly casting scenes. But I don’t

recall my casting improving from

watching. Did I not watch it enough

times? Didn’t I pay attention? When can I

expect my casting or my fly tying to not

require practice or skill development?

What did I miss? Do I have to start paying

more attention to the TV commercials and

the sea of new products? Should I start

investing in all new equipment so it would

be easier like it was theorized? Maybe, but

I don’t think so.

ORVIS® DOWNINGTOWN BRANDYWINE SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER 70 QUARRY ROAD, UNIT K (Just Off Rt. 30)

DOWNINGTOWN, PA 19335 Over 10,000 Flies

Extensive Selection Of Fly Rods, Reels, And Lines

Fly Tying Materials And Supplies

Casting Lessons And Trips Available

Tel/610-873-8400

Fax/610-873-3830 A Sporting Tradition Since 1856

L

MORE HELP NEEDED!!

The next edition of STREAMSIDE is due out in June 2001. If you would like

to write an article, story or poem please

do so and send it to me, Bob Molzahn at

FrenchCreek@email.djlflyfishers.org or

P. O. Box 178, Kimberton, PA 19442

by February 28. All articles received

will be published.

STREAMSIDE Page 6

STREAMSIDE

Dame Juliana League Fly Fishers P. O. Box 178

Kimberton, PA 19442

www.djlflyfishers.org

Inside this issue..

Change Is Good..Change Is Bad

Letort Woes

Fly Tying Materials Update

Notes From The Tying Bench

Dame Juliana League Fly Fishers

-Our 30th Anniversary-

President- Bob Molzahn

Vice President- Larry Heimes

Secretary- Rick Stevens Treasurer- Joe Flather

Sponsor Relations- Joe King

Fly Fishing Course- Sheldon Toombs/Ed Nugent

Stream Improvement- Larry Heimes

Outreach- Mel Walters

Board Members- Bob Moser Jr.,

Jeff Nissle, Dick Allebach, Todd Palmer

Member dues per calendar year are

$15-Individual, $20-Family.

For new members please add $5.

Articles, news, and fly tying tips are gratefully

accepted. Please send them to

Bob Molzahn

(frenchcreek@email.djlflyfishers.org)

P. O. Box 178, Kimberton, PA 19442

610-524-0555 (FAX)

Editor and Publisher—-Bob Molzahn

Dame Juliana League

is an affiliated member club of the

Mid-Atlantic Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers

Visit our website at

www.djlflyfishers.org

FIRST CLASS MAIL TO:

Our 30th

Anniversary

Year