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SOFF News
Vol.21 No.5 The Monthly Newsletter of The Southern Oregon Fly Fishers, Inc.
May, 2014
The beauty of fly fishing is the variety
of fish that will take a fly. SOFF members validate that point as they fish
other then the traditional fresh water
rivers and lakes for different species.
SOFF NEWS
A publication of
Southern Oregon Fly Fishers
P.O. Box 1144
Grants Pass, Oregon 97528
Web Site: www.soff.org
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
John Storfold
President/Fly Tying Chair
Jerry Keeling
Vice President/SOFF Wear
Rich Steed
Treasurer
Who said you can only catch salmonoids on a fly? It obviously wasn’t David Haight as he displays a find 15 lb. Redfish he caught while on a recent
trip to New Orleans. Dave said that he using a 9 weight rod and casting a
shrimp pattern in a saltwater marsh near the mouth of the Mississippi.
Jan Knapik
Secretary
Board Members
Jim Simpson
Immediate Past President
Dave Grosjacques
Habitat Chair
Ron Cremo
Joe Knapik
Dave Archambault
Members at Large
Duane Chebul
Newsletter Editor/Web Master
E-Mail. [email protected]
Dinner Reservations: E-mail - [email protected]
or call the Club at (541) 955-4718
SPECIAL MENTION
Rich Hosley: Dale Heath:
Ray McClenathan:
Vacant:
David Haight:
Sue Keeling:
Rich Steed:
Ed Michalski:
Membership
Fly Tying Instructor
Programs
Auction Chair
Outings Chair
SOFF Wear
Historian
Raffles
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
Page 2
Saturday and Sunday. The fishing was
spotty with Bruce Bochman and Jerry
Haynes having the hot hands on Saturday. The big fish honors went to Ray
McClenathan who on Sunday and Monday with a couple of double digit rainbows, with one at 27 ½ inches and easily over 10 pounds. Monday the wind
finally died down and the water was like
glass, but almost too good. The fishing
was not much better with only a good
fish here and there as stated. On the
positive side, we all had a super time
and the camaraderie and fishing stories
around the campfire were great.
We are scheduled to install the liner
in the casting pond this coming Saturday,
May 2nd and by of reading the newsletter, may already be done. We can only
hope. I will have more information after
the fact and hope all goes well. It will
be nice to
have the
casting
pond back
for us and
others to
use.
Last
year
I
w r o t e
about having the foresight to go through
your equipment and make sure your
line is in good shape, your reels are in
good repair, your leaders are fresh, etc.
I went to Pronghorn Lake with a running line used for my shooting head
that had a memory that was much better
than mine. It was so bad that I could not
cast it. So the moral of the story is that
the best of intentions doesn’t do you any
good unless you actually do them. So
take this as a reminder for those that like
me who haven’t checked out their equipment over winter to do so and avoid the
same problems that I had.
HELP WANTED: Before I end this
month’s article, I would like to AGAIN,
put out the plea for a volunteer to take
over the job as Auction Chair. I have
done this job for four years and it is time
to pass the baton. I am more than willing to help, mentor, and be part of the
committee but I really need someone to
step up and help us out. This is an important job and very rewarding as this
is what provides the club’s budget for
the year. I am hoping that those who
cherish this club as much as I do will
find a way to give back to the club by
taking on this important function. This
is not a solo job. The person will have
a committee to assist with the task at
hand and provide guidance.
FROM THE BOARD
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
I
by
John Storfold
don’t know about you, but this
year seems to be going quickly.
It just seems like yesterday that
it was New Years. But maybe it is just
me. This month we had our annual Fly
Tyers dinner and all that showed up
thoroughly enjoyed the exposition of
fine art of fly tying. Although we had
a great time, I was a little disappointed
by the turnout.
We
had sixty
people but
18 of those
were
the
enter t ainment, the
tyers. I am
not sure if
this is a factor that as a club we are not
as interested in fly tying as opposed to
other speakers or is it just the month
of the year. I would be interested in
some feedback on this issue. If you
did not attend, I would be interested in
your feedback particularly. Like I said,
the tyers and those that attended had a
great time and appreciated the talent
that was on display.
We had two outings in the month of
April. We had our ever popular Copeland Pond outing; although I was unable to attend, I hear there was a great
turn out and the fishing was good. I
also heard that there was a very large
carp caught. Next we had the outing
at Pronghorn. The weather was not
as friendly as it was for the Copeland
outing. It was windy and cold most of
“I would like to AGAIN,
put out the plea for a volunteer to take over the job as
Auction Chair.”
Beginning/Intermediate Fly Fishing Clinic
May 17th
T
he Southern Oregon Fly
Fishers will host a beginning/intermediate fly fishing clinic on Saturday, May 17th. The
clinic will be held at Reinhart Volunteer Park, and will run from 8:30 until
3:30. The fee is $25, which pays for the
shelter at the park, a sack lunch and
some fishing flies for each participant.
The following list includes some of
the topics to be covered at the clinic:
Safety, clothing and wading gear, rods,
reels, lines, leader, fishing knots, fishing locations and methods, aquatic
insects, types of flies, fishing regulations, handling and releasing fish and
reading water. There will also be more
Continued on Pg. 3
ATTENTION!
Board Meeting
The Board of Directors meet in
the conference room of the
Taprock Restaurant
The next meeting is scheduled:
May. 6th, 6:00pm or
the first Tuesday
of the month
All members welcome
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
PROGRAMS
Future Programs
Jun 19
Jul 17
Aug 21
Sep 18
Oct 16
Nov 8
Dec 18
Jan 15
Chip O’Brien
No Meeting
No Meeting
Whitney Gould
John Larsion
Annual Auction
TBA
TBA
WHEN:
May 15, 2014
TIMES:
6:00 PM
Social Hour and Fly Tying Demo.
7:00 PM
Meeting
7:30 PM
Dinner and Program
Page 3
WHERE:
Taprock Event Center
955 S.E. 7th St. G.P.
Fishing the Klamath Basin
Fly Fishing Clinic Cont. From Pg. 2
than an hour of casting instruction and
practice.
Jerry Keeling and Dave Grosjacques
double teaming the students at a previous
fly fishing clinic.
The class is limited to 12 people,
and usually fills up by the second week
of May. Club members are encouraged to get the word out to any relatives, neighbors or friends who might
be interested in learning more about
fly fishing. Signups will be taken until
May 15th at the Grants Pass Parks and
Recreation office at the corner of 6th
and “G” streets downtown.
Please contact lead instructor
Dave Grosjacques for any questions
about the clinic. He can be reached at
541-955-8052 or by email at dasa29@
msn.com
J
eff Fox is a local fly fishing guide club member and Grants Pass resident.
He has been guiding and fishing the Klamath basin for the better part of
two decades. This spring feed system is on of the best large wild trout
fisheries in the country.
Join us as Jeff shares his experiences and knowledge of the many and varied
fly fishing opportunities the rivers and lakes in the basin offer.
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
Page 4
CASTING ABOUT
Copeland Pond Outing Recap
A
By Duane Chebul
s usual, the Copeland The wind was strong enough to insure
Pond outing is one of the that you went one way and that was with
best attended outings that the wind. For me there was no amount
the club sponsors and this year it was of kicking or rowing or a combination of
no exception. Over 40 members and both to get any movement into the wind.
guests gathered for a day of warm water Fortunately, the wind only lasted some
fishing. Bass, crappie, bluegill and the 10 to 15 minutes just before lunch which
occasional carp were all on the agenda worked out as it blew the float crafts towards the
when fishpav i l ion
ing
this
where
urban walunch was
ter. In adserved.
dition, I’m
How
sure the
was the
hamburgfishing
ers ably
you may
cooked by
ask and
the outdependings chair
ing
on
–
Dave
who
you
Haight
talked to
with asit was eis i s t a n c e Relaxing after lunch at the Copeland Pavillion and taking
the
oppoutunity
to
compare
notes
on
the
hot
flies
bether
very
by Tanya
fore heading out again.
g o o d ,
Haight
good, to
along with
the other pot luck goodies were a wel- poor. For myself I would rate it as fair;
comed sight after a half day of fishing I’ve certainly had better days at the pond
and some
with all its
worse.
casting,
At least
kicking
I didn’t
and rowhave to
ing.
fly
the
T h e
‘sk u n k
day startf l a g’,
ed
well
having
enough
almost
as the anaccomglers were
plished
greeted
a grand
by a light
slam
–
breeze
b a s s ,
and some
crappie
over cast,
The Floatilla stopped for lunch.
and bluebut as the
gill and
day wore
on that was to change to cloudy with missing the carp; although, I saw sevlight rain and some moderate wind. eral of them roll and I later heard that
one was even caught.
Kevin O’Malley with one of several bluegills he landed at the outing.
The hot fly for the day was one tied
by Mark Swanburg that he demonstrated at the last club meeting. Those that
tied one or scored one from Mark at the
meeting all reported having good luck
with it. In fact Mark was fishing his fly
when he hooked a bluegill, but before
he could land it, a large bass estimate
at several pounds took the bluegill and
after a bit of a battle, released it and
sank back to the depths. Other flies that
worked were black or white woolybuggers and a favorite of mine, a Clouser
Minnow.
Dave Haight shows that not only is he
a good host and cook, but can hold his
own with a fly rod as he displays this
fine bass taken at the outing.
Continued on Pg. 7
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
OUTINGS AND WORKSHOPS
M
Holy Water Outing
ost of the people that fly at last month’s fly tying meeting, there
fish in Southwest Oregon are a variety of patterns that work well.
are familiar with the sec- It can be good to carry several patterns
tion of the Rogue River between Wil- since the trout can get picky if they see
liam Jess (Lost Creek) Dam and Cole a particular pattern too often. Also pack
Rivers Hatchery dubbed the “Holy Wa- your waders and usual fishing accester”. This ¾-mile-long area is restricted sories. Since the salmonflies get more
to fly fishing only and can provide ex- active as the sun goes down, you may
want to bring
cellent fishsomething to
ing for niceeat and drink
sized rainbow
and plan to
trout. One of
stay late.
the most popThe Holy
ular times to
Water is one of
fish the Holy
the best places
Water is durto target qualing the sality trout with
monfly hatch
dry flies in
in late May
the Rogue Baand
early
sin, and can
June. These
be a really fun
big
bugs
Photo by Sheryl Todd tapirback.com
place to fish.
readily draw
Salmonflies,
a
trout’s
meal
in
one
gulp.
Come join your
the trout to
fellow
club
the surface.
This can create great fishing; however, members for what should be a very enthe fishing can become challenging as joyable evening.
the trout become educated and learn to
David Haight, Outings Chair
examine every fly carefully to decide if
it is real or a fake.
The Southern Oregon Fly Fishers
will host an outing to the Holy Water on
Thursday, June 5. We will meet at River’s Edge Park, the main parking area
By Dave Grosjacques
on the south side of the Holy Water, at
4:00 PM. Bring your 5 or 6-weight rod,
he SOFF decided to host an
floating line, tapered leaders, and favorouting to Galesville Reserite adult salmonfly patterns. As we saw
voir this year. It was actually a February outing, even though we
scheduled it for March 1st. The reservoir
is a short drive from Grants Pass, just
Jun. 5
Holy Water
north of Glendale at exit 88 on I-5.
Jun. 26-29 Cascade Lakes
The weather the day before the outJul. 26
Umpqua Smallmouth ing was rainy and cold, and the day after
Bass
the outing was windy and wet, but on
Aug. 23
Klamath Basin
that day it was relatively warm and we
Sep. 27
Coastal Cutthroat
even got a bit of sunshine. Twenty SOFF
Oct. 25
Middle Rogue Steelmembers arrived at Galesville’s Mi
head.
waleta Park Saturday morning, ready to
Nov. 22
Sixes River Fall
fish. We had pontoon boats, drift boats
Chinook.
SOFF’s Galesville Outing A Hit
2014 Outings
Page 5
and lake boats launching, with everyone anxious to get the first trout of the
year. After a brief talk by Dave Grosjacques about the dam, the fish mitigation programs on Cow Creek, and the
ODFW stocking schedule for the lake,
we headed out to fish.
Bob James proudly displays a coho taken at the Galesville outing
Most fishermen got at least a few
fish, with the majority of the fish caught
being trout-sized coho. These fish are
planted as full smolts and are the excess fish from the hatchery program
that is in place to make up for the lost
habitat in upper Cow Creek that was
blocked by the dam. They are “fighters
and biters”, many long-time Galesville
fishermen like to say. At times when
the rainbow don’t want to bite, these
coho will.
T
Photo by Gloria Cone
Norm Cone at the Galesville outing.
All in all, it was a great day of fishing and friendship for the club members who made the trip. It gave us all a
reason to dig out our 4 and 5-weights,
Continued on Pg. 7
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
FLY TYING CORNER
Page 6
Bunny Zonker
Hook: Size 8-12 Standard Wet Fly.
Thread: 6/0 Black or one to match the Bunny Color, Your Choice.
Body: Bright Pearl Luster Cord (Usually This Fly is Tied With Mylar Tubing).
Tail and Upper Body:Bunny Zonker Strips ( This one is Burnt Orange, but You Can Tie This In Many Colors. My Favorite Colors are this One, Olive Green and Natural Bunny).
Tying Instructions:
This fly is an easy fly to tie and one of my early flies that I success with on some California lakes. I had gotten away from
this fly and now am wondering why.
Just like Mylar tubing. You slip the material over the hook so the hook is inside the material and tie it down just behind
the eye and just above the barb. Cut off any excess material. When I do this I make a few half hitches after I lash the material down behind the eye, cut the thread and restart the thread at the rear of the hook. After I tie down the back of the luster
cord, I tie in the bunny strip. I measure how much I need to go from the eye of the hook to the tie in point over the barb. I cut
a taper at the eye end and part the fur just above the barb and tie it in there. I then tie off my thread and cut it off. I start my
thread again at the front of the hook. I pull the fur forward and tie it down at the front and using some firm wraps to compress
the skin under the fur; I make a head and whip finish. I then go to the rear of the hook and slide my scissors under the fur just
above the bend of the hook and cut the skin, leaving the fur which makes a nice tail as you can see in the picture. This fly is
fished with an intermediate line stripping to imitate a leach or small bait fish. The Mylar or alternate material such as I have
chosen imitates the belly of a minnow.
Good luck and tight lines.
Fly Tied By: John Storfold
John Storfold
Fly Tying Chair
Ph. 660-6584
E-mail: [email protected]
Membership Form
Please make checks payable to:
SOFF and mail to: PO Box 1144,
Grants Pass, Oregon 97528
Regular..........................................$35.00
Family............................................$45.00
Youth..............................................$10.00
Contributing..................................$50.00
Lifetime (Individual)...................$350.00
Lifetime (Couple).........................$450.00
Name(s):
Address:
City:
State:
Phone: Home (
)
Work: (
Email:
Personal interests:
)
Zip:
Renewal:_____New:______
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
CHANGING LINES
COMING EVENTS
5-13
5-15
5-17
5-28- 6-2
6-5
6-5 6-10
6-19
6-26-29
SOFT Fly Tyers, Madrone
Mobile Home Park in
Gold Hill.
Club Meeting - Jeff Fox
Beginning Fly Fishing
Clinic.
Unofficial Club Outing to
Lemolo Lake.
Board Meeting
Club Outing - Holy Water
SOFT Fly Tyers, Madrone
Mobile Home Park in
Gold Hill.
Club Meeting - Chip O’Brien.
Club Outing - Cascade
Lakes.
provide a service to all the citizens of
the state and as such should be entitled
to more general fund money. Only time
and the legislature will decide how the
general fund pie will be cut.
If you’re at all interested in the direction that the department will be taking in the future, they will be presenting
their funding proposal to the public in a
series of hearings and will be soliciting
public input. These hearings will begin
in Clackamas County on May 19 with
additional presentations in LaGrande,
Bend, Newport, Coos Bay, Roseburg
and Klamath Falls.
Galesville Cont. From Pg. 5
Editor’s Notebook Cont. From Pg. 8
or I want piece of property that sits on
a river, stream or lake. Yes, these are
some of the things that make living in
Oregon desirable, yet what is the first
thing the people who purchase these
properties do? They put up fences with
big no trespassing signs on them. Access to rivers and streams for fishing
or rural property for hunting is no longer available. A couple of months ago,
I chronicled a story about how some
environmental groups were suing
ODF&W to prevent them from releasing hatchery salmon to compete with
wild fish. Another case in point of why
buy a license and go if there are no fish
available to be caught?
Here’s another avenue of thought
– has society become so out of touch
with how we were raised that fishing
and hunting no longer interests them?
Have they become so complacent
of the great outdoors that nature has
nothing left to offer them?
I’m certainly not going to solve
this problem at this writing, but I
know one thing and that is the cost of
doing business for the ODF&W cannot
simply be borne by the hunters and anglers license fees. Maybe the ODF&W
needs to make the argument that they
Photo by Gloria Cone
Russ Leavitt pontoons the shoreline at
the Galesville outing.
light tippets and trout flies. Stories were
told and plans were made for more fishing trips in 2014. Some of the stories
were even partially true. Look out trout,
here comes the SOFF for trout fishing
for the spring and summer!
Page 7
Copeland Cont. From Pg. 4
The cook is always the last one to eat.
As a bit of an aside, this was the first
time that I saw bluegill in the pond. I
have fished the pond numerous times
over the years and had never seen, heard
about or caught one. Now they seem
most prolific. During the course of the
day, I had numerous hits on the fly I was
using, but was unable to hook whatever
was hitting. It must have been bluegills.
All in all it was a great day –fishing
was ok with everyone catching something, an excellent pot-luck lunch and
good camaraderie. It just doesn’t get any
better than that!
Also the club wants to thank Bob
Copeland for the use of his pond, together with the use of his barbecue pavilion which added to the overall success of the day.
SOFF NEWS
May, 2014
Page 8
NON PROFIT ORG
U.S POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 420
Medford, OR
P.O. Box 1144
Grants Pass, Oregon
97528
E-Mail: www.soff.org
W
Editor’s Notebook
ell income tax time is
finally over and I have
made my annual contribution to the feds and the state and
now I was hoping to save a few bucks
for important things like fly fishing;
unfortunately, there may be a fly in
that ointment. I just read in the paper
the other day that the way the economy tanked the last few years, fewer
and fewer Oregonians are taking to
the field and stream which translates
into less license and tag money to sustain wildlife management and conservation. In order to plug the dike, so to
speak from the shortages the ODF&W
is experiencing, the agency wants to
raise fees for outdoor enthusiasts or
in more common terms, raise the cost
of fishing and hunting licenses.
Although the department has requested a larger slice of the pie from
the general fund, it is also looking at
more frequent increases in license
and tag fees. The department is bemoaning the fact that license sales
aren’t keeping up with expenditures.
If a remedy isn’t found, the agency
faces a projected $32 million shortfall
for the upcoming 2015-2017 budget.
The department’s solution is to raise
$8 million in increased fees while cutting back $8 million in program reductions and efficiencies which could also
include layoffs. Where the other $16
million is going to come from is still a
subject open to debate.
License fee increases are usually
done once every six years, but to soften the blow, the department is proposing that fees and licensing be raised
in smaller amounts every two years
instead of a larger amount every six
years which it is hoped would lessen
the impact on hunters and anglers.
I don’t know about you guys, but
with a senior citizen discount, my
Oregon fishing license, Columbia
River Basin Endorsement (new this
year),and tags cost me $51.25 and if I
didn’t qualify for the senior discount,
I’m sure that I would be looking at
a license cost of some $62. When is
enough, enough? Fortunately I can
afford the cost of the license, but how
many citizens of the state can’t? If the
ODF&W is concerned about the decrease in the amount of fees realized
by license sales now, what’s going to
happen when those license fees are
increase? Will there be a corresponding drop in hunting and fishing licenses as a result?
Maybe costs are not the only factor why there are fewer license sales
for both fishing and hunting. When
people move to Oregon one of the
most common things you’ll hear them
say – I want a piece of property that is
rural and abounds with trees, wildlife
and other tangibles of country living
Continued on Pg. 7