SALINAS VALLEY FLY FISHERS ! APRIL 2018

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2018 Board Member:

Greg Smith!: 595-4406 President

Dave Gambetta: 970-5065Vice President

Richard Higgins: 750-9132Secretary

Roger Caton: 633-4659Treasure

Lou DeSilva: 262-9068 Member !Bill Pshide: 424-3063 Richard Wilson: 758-5313 Chairmen:Rick McCombs:

! (209)267-8088Newsletter Editor

Bill PshideFly Tying

Dave GambettaWebmaster

Fly TimesPresident’s Message By: Greg Smith

Upcoming EVENTS:

Fly Tying: April 11th. Monthly Meeting Wednesday

April18th.

Board Meeting April 25th.

fishing items. Not to be outdone, Dave Gambetta built and donated to the raffle, a six foot ladder specific to Pyramid Lake, that had all of the bells and whistles, (literally), and the lucky winning ticket went to Rich Higgins. Congratulations Richard!!!! Dave Gambetta really outdid himself building the ladder. Many thanks Dave, great raffle prize.

Fly tying night focused on the flies specific to the Pyramid Lake outing. The room filled up early with 11 fly tyers and 4 Fire Extinguishers. Novice fly tyer Chuck Slough was ready to put on a demonstration on how to put out a truck fire, photos only. The pranksters are at it again. Everyone showed up to tie the popcorn beetle, midnight cowboy and a few chironomids. Paul Dobin was the lucky winner of the raffle (fly fishing tool). Up Coming Event (continued on pg 3.)

For last monthʼs General meeting a big thanks goes to guest speaker and club friend Jason Bacherio, Biologist from Hunter Liggett. Jason always brings great information as to what ponds are open, where the fish were planted, what ponds are fishable, and what road accesses are open to the various ponds. This year Hunter Liggett is being more utilized by the Army for training, so access to the fishing ponds is going to be more difficult. As always, one needs to check on-line for availability.

When Jason was done, I gave a brief overview of the upcoming outing to Pyramid Lake, highlighting the various flies, lines, leaders and different types of ladders to use at Pyramid Lake.

At our raffle, Bill Pshide filled the table with excellent

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Fly Tyer’s Corner with Bill Pshide

This month’s fly:the Copper John

• Hook: Daiichi 1710 #12-18• Thread: Danville Black 6/0• Head: Gold Bead• Tail: Brown Goose Biots• Abdomen: Olive Ultra wire• Wingcase: Pearl

The Copper John Story

The Copper John originated from John Barr of Boulder, Colorado. John's original pattern, in 1996, called for a copper wire abdomen, a tail and legs of Hungarian Partridge, and a thorax of peacock herl with an epoxied Turkey quill wing case. He designed it as an attractor fly to draw attention to a more realistic dropper fly to be used below it. John wanted to achieve a slim, yet heavy, nymph pattern that would allow for a quick descent and have a flashy look to get the trout's attention. It took John three years to achieve the pattern he desired. Since 1996, the pattern has been modified to have a Goose Biot tail, Brown Hen Back for legs, and Skinny Skin for the wingcase material with a Pearl Flashabou over the top of the Skinny Skin. The biots and hen back were much more durable than the original materials. The Skinny Skin is more durable, but it also accepted only one drop of epoxy, rather than the two drops that were required by the turkey quill. In 2001, Wapsi came out with multiple colors of tarnish-proof wire to give the pattern a wide range of colorations. It is an attractor fly shaped to look like a mayfly or stonefly nymph. Having a broad nymphal shape, it can pass as a caddis larvae with the chartreuse wire abdomen. Larger sizes in black or brown wire can pass for dark stoneflies, and the red patterns can be used for PMD hatches or Yellow Sallies. Black colors in size 18-22 make excellent Baetis or Trico imitations. His favorite colors are copper, red, chartreuse, and black. John likes to use a Hopper pattern as the floating fly and drops the Copper John pattern below it. His preferred rig set-up is a 7.5 foot 3X mono leader with a heavy butt section to the Hopper fly, next is 2-4 feet of 4X fluorocarbon to the Copper John, and 12 inches of 5X Fluorocarbon to the dropper. Under a Strike indicator, John may use the Copper John as the first fly and have two nymphs dropped below it.

http://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/daiichi1710.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/daiichi1710.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/danville_thread.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/danville_thread.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/beads.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/beads.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/goosebiots.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/goosebiots.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/ultrawire.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/ultrawire.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/flashabou.htmhttp://stevenojai.tripod.com/shopable/flashabou.htm

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March ActivitiesApril Club MeetingWednesday, the 11th.

Program not yet determined@ the Flying Artichoke

Fly Tying, Wednesday, April 18th.

Airport Board Room

SVFF Board MeetingWednesday, 25th.

6:00 pm @ The Flying Artichoke (all members welcome)

Club OutingFort Hunter Liggett

Kids DaySaturday April 14th.

Outing Report: Pyramid Lake from the Smith-master

This years Pyramid Lake Club Outing should be labeled March Weather in the Mountains. SNOW, WIND AND RAIN. Hats off to the eleven fly club members that ventured over Hwy 80 in the snow and reached Pyramid Lake. How bad was the weather?? Two guides cancelled before the outing due to the snow, rain and wind. To say the least, fishing was tough, very tough. I was very impressed with the eleven members dressing for the worst. But wait, again Dave stood out in the rain and snow with leaky waders, not one pair, but two pairs of leaky waders. Chilly. Someone in the group offered Dave wader repair cement, and another offered Dave a pair of scissors. Fishing was slow for most, except for new member Chuck Slough with 2 fish, Loren with one, and myself with one. A BIG THANK YOU goes to the Monterey Fly Club who hosted an outstanding Pot Luck Dinner on Friday night: filet mignon, chicken, ribs, salmon, many salads and desserts. Letʼs do this again next year, lots of fun.

(Presidentʼs Mess. cont. from pg. 1)

General Meeting Wednesday April 11th

Club outing: Hunter Liggett Kids Day April 14th, 6`00 a.m. to 12`00 noon

Fly Tying April 18th Copper John

General Meeting Wednesday April 11th

Club outing: Hunter Liggett Kids Day April 14th, 6`00 a.m. to 12`00 noon

Fly Tying April 18th Copper John

I hope to see you all at the Wednesday evening meeting.. Tʼll then: Good Fishing - Greg

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The Photo Page

Rod is saying: “Honest, I caught all these with my 5 wt. fly rod on a Royal Coachman fly I ties myself ”

Tim, on the other hand actually caught this nice striper on a fly rod

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Thinking About Fishing

Fishing with Family and Friends:

Like many of you, I started fishing with my Dad at an early age. Mostly we fished the Monterey Bay for rock fish, salmon, and crabs. On the weekends during trout season Dad would take us kids to fish Los Padres Dam or the Pond at the White Rock Club (located at the end of Robinson Canyon Rd). Trips to Lake Nacimiento to camp and fish the shore line for bass and bluegill was a summertime vacation. Growing up I was always fascinated by tying lures or hooks on a line and hoping for a fish to grab my Super Duper lure or a salmon egg on a hook. I soon learned that the tug of a fish was the excitement that I was after. During one of our family outings, Dad stopped by a trout farm in Carmel Valley and that was pretty good fishing! All of us had fish on at the same time and life was good, until Dad had to pay for all of the trout that were caught.

I carried the passion of fishing later in life with my family and friends. Taking my family fishing was a time of peace and serenity, enjoying the moments when they caught fish and the stories that were told. But at the same time the solitude of the outdoors was something I looked forward to also, enjoying the various trees, birds, mountains, lakes and streams.

Recently on a club outing to Pyramid Lake, the weather was quite active with snow, rain and high winds, (my kind of adventure). I found myself fishing alone along the lakeʼs edge. Soon, a club member arrived to fish and endure the elements with me. Not long after we started fishing, I heard a voice, Fish-on, and I grabbed my net. Netted the fish and the celebration began, cheering and high fives. Now thatʼs what I call fishing with friends. Not long after we released the trout, I hooked up and the same ritual took place, more cheering and high fives. So really not much has changed for me; finding solitude, fishing with family and friends is what I still enjoy. Greg Smith

Fishing and Fishing Buddies ! It seems like fishing mean different things to different people, but I think it’s safe to say it is something special to folks who take the time to join a club, come out to meetings and get up at O’dark:30 to drive all over hell and gone with another club member, who they just barely met at the last meeting, and to go fish a stream they never heard of ... Well that’s how it starts, but that’s not how it ends up. Along the way you develop “Fish’n Buddies. Fish’n Buddies are a rare breed. You don’t develop this kind of relationship because you work at the same place, or because your wives play bridge together, or even that you share political or religious beliefs. Well, that one about religion may not be quite true, because what you do share is kind’a like a religion. Once you’re hooked, you have officially transcended into a peculiar realm that certainly has a spiritual quality. Things just become a little different. There’s something special about the sound of the water thrashing over a riffle or the way a trout poking your fly with his nose makes your heart thump. Now, not all the difference are spiritual, among other things, if you’re an honest person you find yourself suddenly telling little lies about the size and number of fish you caught..Don’t worry that’s normal. You also, no matter how polite you’ve been your whole life, find yourself making fun of people when they lose a fish, or especially if they falling the water..I mean that stuff is hilarious..But, don’t worry they’ll probably come to your rescue if you actually start to drown. Yeh, Fish’n Buddies are something special, so next time you go fishing... Take one along.. Rick (ed)