THE BACKCOUNTRY FLY FISHING ASSOCIATION OF BREVARD An Active Member Club of the International Federation of Fly Fishers™ www.bffa-brevard.org Volume XXVI Number VII April, 2015 Monthly Dinner Meeting Thursday, April 2nd, 6:30 PM Our program for April will be presented by Louis Gaudet, of Harry Goode’s Outdoor Shop. Memaw's Bar B-Q Eau Gallie Blvd. Indian Harbour Beach Louis taught at L.L. Bean and Orvis casting schools He has been in this area for 2.5 years. and was a freshwater trout guide for 8 yrs on the Farmington river in Connecticut and Delaware river in New York. Louis has been fly fishing for 20 years, starting at age 6 He is on the Scott fly rods pro staff. Page-1 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE BFFA Officers and Directors Last week, my wife and I booked a fishing trip to Pine Point Lodge, a remote fishing resort on the Minnesota Canadian border. No roads, no cell phones, no emails to return - just a week of Smallmouth Bass on a popper , and if I’m lucky a tango with a 40” Pike or even a 50” Muskie. July can’t come soon enough! Chairman of the Board: Don Davis [email protected] President: Bryan Hatfield (Home) 779-8458 [email protected] Vice President/Programs: Dominc Agostini (home) 557-7124 Yesterday, my youngest daughter Kathryn called; she’s a Writing, Editing, and Media major at Florida State University. Secretary/Treasurer: Ron Winn (Home) 777-3341 [email protected] “Dad, I’ve decided to take the summer semester off, so I’ll be home for the month of June and July,” she said. “Perfect,” I responded, “you can join your mother and me in Minnesota! I’ll get your rods ready.” Conservation Director: Bill DeLuccia (Home) 729-8188 [email protected] Her response: crickets - and I’m not talking bait; her silence said she wasn’t interested, but her good manners said, “Okay, Dad, thanks.” Education Director/Fly Tying: Jeff Ward 242-2815 [email protected] An hour ago, I received this email from Kathryn: Outings Director: Mike Reynolds (Home) 409-5669 [email protected] Dear Dad, I came across this poem about a year ago. Just wanted to share- Auction Chairman: Frank Catino 777-5706 [email protected] Love, Kathryn Fishing by A. E. Stallings Newsletter Editor: Frank Perkins 676-0863 [email protected] Dave Hackett 255-4750 The two of them stood in the middle water, The current slipping away, quick and cold, The sun slow at his zenith, sweating gold, Once, in some sullen summer of father and daughter. Maybe he regretted he had brought her— She'd rather have been elsewhere, her look told— Perhaps a year ago, but now too old. Still, she remembered lessons he had taught her: To cast towards shadows, where the sunlight fails And fishes shelter in the undergrowth. And when the unseen strikes, how all else pales Beside the bright-dark struggle, the rainbow wroth, Life and death weighed in the shining scales, The invisible line pulled taut that links them both. Source: Poetry (July 1998). Webmaster: M.E.DePalma (Work) 954-563-2148 [email protected] THE BACKCAST is published monthly by the Backcountry Fly Fishing Association of Brevard P.O. Box 524 Melbourne, FL 32902-0524 Page-2 ADOPT A BOAT BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST Dr. Aaron Adams, of Florida Tech and Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, is asking for our help. He is looking for guidance from recreational anglers on where to focus research, conservation, and restoration efforts that address our recreational fisheries. Please provide answers to the questions below, and we'll forward them along to Aaron. 1. What are the top 3 threats to recreational fisheries of Indian River Lagoon? The more specific the answer, the better. 2. What are the top 3 projects or approaches to restore IRL's recreational fisheries? You can provide your answers via email to [email protected], or by phone at 676-0863 The Editor has decided that his boat need a new home that will provide it more exercise. Anyone able to provide this home can get a real bargain. Frank Perkins FLY TYING The particulars are as follows: Boat: 1975 Lucraft. 13’8”, 375 pounds, 68” beam Motor: 2005 25 HP Johnson Trailer: 1987 Harding Trolling Motor: 2006 Minn Kota, Model 35T, 27 pound thrust Battery charger Jeff Ward will be tying the Weedless Shrimp Fly in April. Materials Hook: Mustad 34011 #4 Weight: Lead Strip Eyes: Shrimp & Crab Eyes Body: Copper Chenille SF Blend Mullet Brown SF Blend Redfish Antennea: Copper Krystal Flash Legs: Barred Orange Sili Legs Great fishing boat. To see it, contact Frank Perkins at 676-0863 or [email protected]. FLY TYING AT HARRY’S Free Fly Tying Class at Harry Goode’s Outdoor Shop The last Saturday of every month! 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM FISHING REPORTS All you need to bring is a fly tying vise. Louis Gaudet at Harry Goode’s reports good recent catches of Reds and Trout in the Indian River Lagoon near Sebastian Inlet All other materials will be provided. Page-3 Each year our club awards a certificate and prize to a Brevard student for work in Scientific Research. Page-4 TOO MUCH NATURE JEFF WARD The morning was near perfect on the Indian River flats. I was fishing the open sand holes on the grass flats in about four feet of water. Predators like sea trout, snook and redfish use these transitions as ambush points to attack baitfish like finger mullet and pinfish. I have always had a love of topwater fishing so this early morning I was casting an olive Dahlberg diver, a fly that makes a subtle plop and dives a few inches under the water on each strip of my line. My eyes strained to focus through my polarized sunglasses to pick up any kind of flash or shadow of a predator about to strike my fly. Then it happened, the strike. I never saw it coming. A seagull from a hundred feet above dived down and crashed my fly. I couldn't yank my Dahlberg from him before he took it back to the skies. Certainly a fly rod is not designed to fight an aerial battle. This is embarrassing. I know you bow to a fish when he becomes airborne but do you constantly bow when fighting a seagull? When I do finally get him to the boat I just want to cut the leader but my eco-morality would not let me leave this bird with a decorative piercing. We don't need gulls with bling. With no protective glove, which I do now keep in my boat for any future bird battles, I grabbed the fighting bird and removed my fly with a pair of pliers. When it was all said and done my hand looked like I had done a tonsillectomy on a woodpecker. My hands stung from a hundred pecks when I rinsed them in the brackish estuary. Abandoning the deeper flats I moved to fish the shallows between the docks that line the shore. When I cast my fly toward the shore I feel my boat lurch. A manatee has come up to the boat and is pulling on the hand towel I have hanging over the side. This encounter with an endangered species made me lose all concentration on fishing. As I knelt down to get a closer look at this creature playing with my boat, I heard the water explode where I had just cast my fly. Within the first ten seconds of the fight a jump revealed that I had a nice snook on the line. Did I hook this fish or was it the manatee dragging the boat which subsequently pulled the rod and fly who gets credit for hooking this snook? The fight was on. I knew I had to keep the snook from running through the dock pilings where he would be looking for a cut off on the barnacles. If I could get him to deep water the fight would be much easier. My eco-morality kicked in again as I soon realized the trolling motor was not an option. That manatee was scratching his back on the prop. Almost all of them already have prop scars on their backs. While using side pressure I managed to steer the snook away from the dock toward deeper water. Now the fight would be easier...right...no. Coming in full bore, looking like mini nuclear subs with their conning tower dorsal fins and pushing a wake of water over their backs, were two dolphins These creatures believe in catch, release and eat. They also have an uncanny sense of whether a fish has an exposed hook in it. They will wait for anyone to unhook and release an easy meal for them. Side pressure loops the weary snook back to the boat. My first attempt to lip him failed as he swam right past me down the side of the boat. Then all hell broke loose. The snook sped up and launched himself up the back of the manatee out of the water towards the dock again. This caused the manatee to panic and blow water six feet in the air with his huge tail as he decided this is not the place to be. This commotion also sent the dolphins into a watery frenzy With one more loop away from the dolphins, I finally grabbed the snook by the lip and lifted him into the boat for a photo. CPR...catch...photo...release.. I moved my boat as close to shore as I could and revived the tired snook between my boat and the bank. In water that's eight inches deep, I knew he was safe from the opportunistic dolphins. As his strength came back I released him into the dock pilings where he would be safe. It was all over. I used my trolling motor to move to open water. It's time to sip coffee, relax and enjoy the warmth of the sunrise. I thought to myself "I went through all this for one fish. Would I have to go through all this again for another? God I love nature and I thank him for the beautiful day, but I'm not young anymore, how about nature just a little at a time." Page-5 BFFA April 2015 Events Monthly Dinner Meeting Thursday, April 2nd, 6:30 P.M. Memaw's Bar B-Q Eau Gallie Blvd. Indian Harbour Beach Board Meeting Thursday, April 9th, 6:30 P.M. (Meet at 5:00 PM for dinner ) Note special location during tax season Squid Lips Pineapple Ave. at the river Eau Gallie Outing Fly Tying No outing this month Monday, April 20th, 6:15 P.M. Melbourne Public Library Fee Ave. Melbourne THE BACKCAST Backcountry Fly Fishing Association of Brevard P.O. Box 524 Melbourne, FL. 32902-0524 Limit your kill, don’t kill your limit ! Please practice Catch and Release.
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