Founded 1988

I just wanted to thank Buddy Price for his diligent efforts over the time he was our newsletter editor. Having done this job for several years in the past, I know what it takes and the fact that it is basically a lonesome job because most club members will not contribute. What makes this fact amazing is that we all as fly fishers want to learn more about our sport and hobby. Some are willing to share what we have learned from others but many more just stand mute and expect the club to continue to fill their cup, so to speak. I may never understand but I accept it.

Buddy was a real jewel in our club, even though his work and family took much of his time and interest, he still found the time to do things for the club. I also need to mention Hugh Bell here because he was a different kind of club jewel. Instead of spending time working like Buddy, Hugh took advantage of his days off to invite club members to go fishing with him. In this endeavor, I think he selected everyone. Anyone lucky enough to get that opportunity was fulfilled for sure because he was a delightful person to fish with. It’s too bad these two jewels have relocated from us but both still want to stay in touch and we will continue to do that for sure.

Please take this opportunity to become more involved in the club, whether it be sending in tidbits for the newsletter or taking someone fishing. The club can only endue and feed on interaction between members. You really owe it to yourself to share what you have learned with our new members and support our activities as much as you can. Members who do not do this need to ask themselves why are they in this club. We typically lose 10 or more members each year. I used to call the people who quit coming to meetings or just quit paying dues and most everyone said they did not have time for the club. Well to me, they did not consider the club important enough to prioritize it higher than all the other things in their lives. As you all know, you only get out of something what you put in to it, so consider putting in a little more and see what happens. I called Coy Hood since we have not been seeing him and he told me that he is not a fly tyer and just wants to fish. I did not argue but thought about when he did come to our tying classes how Wynona really enjoyed herself. Coy prefers to spend the big bucks traveling to far places to catch big fish but he does still have their cabin on Sam Rayburn where he can fish any day he wishes. You just have to ask what did our club lack for Coy, I hate to see him drop out but that’s the way it is.

Our club philosophy has been to give back to members what we take in each year. That means we offer door prizes, breakfast cookouts, Workshop, Christmas Party and anything else we can muster up. Our fly tying contest effort fizzled out due to inadequate participation. Bill Heugel thought that baby up and felt letdown as it pooped out. We used to have pretty successful fishing outings but today most members seem to find family activities more important. We declare our club a family organization and we mean it. We don’t expect wives to become fly fishers just because we are but we would like to see them taking part and having fun anyway. Kids too, they are our future and hopefully fly fishing will become part of their future. So if you know of ways we can improve, by all means say so. Remember, you all own a piece of this club, don’t let someone else determine what we do unless you don’t really care.

I volunteered to be newsletter editor but feel free to join me, I need a partner and more. There is plenty of room for 5 editors. Pick a column or subject to write on and send it to me each month. We have no rules, we are flexible and sure would love to hear from each of you. Give it a try; you just might like it.

Shane Cox teaches at Angelina College and is fairly new to fly fishing. He joined at our casting outing last Saturday. He will not be able to come to our meeting since they will be vacationing in Colorado doing a little fishing. Contact Shane if you need a fishing partner. Welcome Shane, we look forward to many years of sharing with you.

Cynthia Tayloe is also new to fly fishing but unlike most of us she fishes 3 or 4 times a week! She and her hubby Tom just purchased kayaks but Tom is busy in his CPA business and does not have an real interest in fishing yet. He is a hunter at heart and I have known him for a few years. I spent yesterday morning with Cynthia rigging up her new 7 weight rod. She is casting pretty well but like most of us is having problems shaking the spinning tackle habits. Welcome to the club Cynthia, I hope you find us to be a lot of help to you.

I just came back from Destin and Port St. Joe. We got our limit of Red Snapper (20, 4 - 8 lb range) a dozen Mingo, 1 mangrove, haft dozen or so trigger and 2 keeper grouper on Monday, and limit (15) of Speckled Trout on Tuesday afternoon and 15 on Wednesday morning at Port St. Joe on live bait. I took my fly rod, but too windy, as the Tuesday afternoon trip was leaving the dock at 1 p.m. and back in at 3 p.m. because of a sever thunderstorm. The next morning was breezy, and took a while to cast net for bait, then about an hour of fishing (both were suppose to be 4 hr trips) - winds kicked up more so went in about 11:30 a.m. It was fun.

I have been fly fishing in the area around home and mostly 12 - 14" trout and some ladyfish. The fellow fishing with me got one small Snook too. I haven't seen any red's yet, but they should make a show anytime around the oyster reefs. Two Manatee's came up behind the boat 2 weeks ago and we watched them feeding on the grass for about 15 minutes, then they moved on. That is about all from the Florida net.

I just wanted to let everybody know my new email address, [email protected]. For those that don’t know, I’ve taken a new teaching job at Benedictine College, in Atchison, Kansas. This puts us much closer to family, so our new little daughter will know her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Since I leave for China tomorrow morning, everyone take and have a good summer! I’ll be in touch eventually!!!

Just to let you know the bluegill are spawning big time at Toledo Bend. They really began to turn on right before the rain started. I've been working near there for the last couple of weeks and found out that crickets have been the main bait, but with all fish there's always an alternative. I did see one man buy 400 crickets though. Right before the rain started the water temp was 83 degrees, but after 2 weeks of heavy rain the water temp dropped only 2 degrees according to my temp meter on my LCR. These readings were taken near the middle of the lake and near the dam. From what information I've been getting most of the larger fish have been coming from the usual places, shallow flats near deeper water with the larger fish in 3' to 4'.

The water has warmed to a balmy 88 degrees but they are still on the spawn. I've been finding them on the same pattern as Toledo Bend but at Pinkston they favor the bluff banks instead of the shallow flats. While fishing there last week a 10 year old and I caught 61 one morning and kept the best 18. While bringing in a little one, a bass about 5lbs decided he wanted it too. He won!!! Size 14 hook was no match for the bass, most especially since the perch probably swallowed it anyway.

Gary Tatum and I took a trip to the lake to fish the marsh for some red fish. Fishing in Louisiana when you are over 65 only requires a Texas License. We pulled up to the Hackberry Charters lodge south of Sulfur to see the owner cleaning loads of trout and reds. Our anticipation was growing. He said the lake was calm and the fish were hitting anything on the surface. Gary and I rushed to change our cloths and head for the launch ramp. We first tried to find a spot Ron Begnaud had talked about at the Spring Rendezvous. However due to various circumstances we missed a turn and did not find it.

Our next approach was to go to a spot Gary had fished before. When we got there someone else was already there so we went further into the marsh. We found a location where the baitfish were all over and jumping out of the water. We fished there and saw 4 good size reds, problem was they would not take what we had. We fished till dusk and headed back. The wind had been blowing which made fishing somewhat more difficult that what the lodge owner had described.

Next morning at daylight we hit the water again. This time we tried fishing some marsh drains for trout. No luck. We then did some exploring in the marsh and ended up in a lake after much turning and twisting. There were some fish there but we didn’t manage to catch any. Again the wind made poling the boat difficult. We finally decided to head back. Without a compass or GPS, we twisted and turned and made only one major mistake. We went down one drain, which closed in on us, and we ended up polling the boat out to where we could turn around. Not too bad for some amateurs. I think I would still be out there but Gary seemed to have some sort of direction sense.

The ride back to the ramp was tough. The wind was high and so were the waves. I was sitting in front of the flat bottom boat and took most of the pounding. I was glad when we hit the smooth approach to the ramp. When we finally got back to the lodge the owner told us fishing had been bad all over. Some consolation, we didn’t do much worse than most of the other fisherman. One of these days we will hit it big and what a story that will be to tell.

Pineywoods Fly Fishers should consider a trip to the lake. It seems to hold lots of fish and has some great marsh around it. Since a LA fishing license is not required if you are in the older ranks, it even makes it affordable. It takes about 2.5 hours for me to go there from my house. I will be fishing with Ron Begnaud later in July and should have more to report next month.

Ken Baker and Royce Feaster took the first place trophies again. Does this mean these two guys are the best fly fishermen in our club? They have won so many times, each forgets their count. Since this is a fun event only, it is easy to congratulate them and wish them well next year. If we had rules, they would be in trouble. I think we had 13 take part. The fishing was tough, I hope the lake has not changed for it is so convenient for us. Next year I think Linda and I will follow Ken and Royce just to pick up the spoils.

Ten of us met at Grace Richardson Park to practice and learn casting. We first got hung up on rigging rods and reels but finally got into the meat of the program. I had hoped that several beginners might want to learn about rods and casting techniques but my family were the only beginners so I concentrated on teaching them. Bruce Sublet came to improve his saltwater casting problems and I think he did. Shane Cox joined our club there and enjoyed the day also. This event is one that I consider an opportunity for club members to help teach others. You always learn something while teaching others, thus improving yourself. We needed more one-on-one instruction, maybe next time?

Two Rivers Fly Shop in Mountain Home, Arkansas http://www.tworiversflyshop.com is sending us a book for our library, “Tying Trout Nymphs” by Deke Meyer. I posted their website link on our website in exchange for them posting us on theirs. Chris and Jim own Two Rivers and they have a nice fly shop right on Highway 5 just before you get to the confluence of the White and Norfork Rivers when heading north. They offer guided fishing trips, advice on local lodging, what’s working in flies, and anything you need to know. Visit their website for fishing conditions and drop by their shop on your next trip up. They would like to see us bring the whole club up for an excursion and help us enjoy it. Hopefully I will be working with them in the future, it is nice to have such friends when in their area.

For you who have videos and books checked out of the library, please set them on the coffee table so you remember to return them on Tuesday. We are experiencing too many past dues now and must do something to correct this.

We now have a favorable vote tally of 19 for and possibly one against (I have had no definitive NO’s communicated to me). Please contact me with your opinion if you have not yet. We have procured our normal booths at the Expo Flea Market for August 7 & 8^th for our annual club garage sale. If we want to raise money for this proposal, begin holding back items to donate to the club for the sale. We usually raise about $400 in this venture but if everyone who has voted “yes” to trout stocking will donate and help with the sale, we can raise much more.

On May 6, we had another favorite outing that the members that participate in, always enjoy. It was the annual visit to the home of Bill and Connie Heugel, on Toledo Bend. I think six members, in addition to Bill and Connie were present. They were Jay Renken, Gene Sullivan, Walter and Linda McLendon, Buddy Price and myself. We fished until noon and then enjoyed food prepared by Bill and Connie. We then sat on their deck and visited until it was time to come home. The food was good and so was the fellowship. Jay and I fished in Jay's boat, Walter and Linda in their kayaks while Gene and Buddy used float tubes. We caught several fish, although they were not really big, some were nice and all of them were fun. Jay and I had a discussion as to who caught the smallest one, and it was real close. I think Buddy probably caught the largest one. All in all it was a great day and we thank Bill and Connie for their hospitality.

The other event was our participation in the Texas Forest Service’s Forest Awareness Week. It is held at their lakes behind Hudson School, we have been assisting them for several years. They have about six stations representing different functions of the forest service operations and school kids go in groups to each station and observe demonstrations. The PWFF had station #1 and we demonstrated tying flies and had casting demonstrations. Several of the kids were able to actually cast a flyrod, under the watchful eye of Walter McLendon, Jay Renken and Jimmy Lee. Bill Heugel, Royce Feaster, Buddy Price and I tied flies and answered questions. I think Jay and Jimmy also tied a couple of flies. We all enjoyed the time there, although two days were rained out. Lunch was provided for us both days and we were able to fish the lake after we finished each day. I know Buddy caught a bass but I don’t know about Royce. Jimmy Lee caught a bream the first day. It was a good time although tiring and is in keeping with our goal of attempting to teach kids the art of Fly Fishing.

Once again I urge you to participate in this function when you can, and as always" A BAD DAY FISHING BEATS A GOOD DAY WORKING'

I have been asked by some club members about the monthly drawing. It is fairly simple so here it is. You are asked to bring at least one fly to be put with others and your name will be put into a hat, or as in our case a coffee can. During the meeting a name will be drawn and the winner receives the flies. If you do not bring a fly, you can participate by contributing a dollar. After the drawing for the flies, we draw for a door prize and the winner gets his choice of items in our door prize items. The dollars contributed goes into the funds used to replace door prize items.

Added information is this. I started bringing three flies and evenly dividing the other flies so we can draw more than one name. Usually we draw three times. If each of you will bring more flies, 3 or more, we can continue this practice. Also if we have a guest speaker and he gives us flies or anything else, we usually give that in a special drawing. Because we received a large box of material from a fly fishing store that went out of business, we have a large selection of items to give away for door prizes, however if you have material or some other fishing item that you are not using and would like to give the club, we can put it in the door prize box. It seems like the members enjoy winning something, especially something they can use, so come prepared. Tie a couple of extra favorite flies and enjoy the fun.

Monthly club meeting are held in the Lufkin Room, Lufkin Mall at 7 PM, the program for the first hour and then door prizes and fishing discussions until 9 PM.

Mar 5      Fly Fish Texas, Freshwater Fisheries Center, Athens, TX
Mar 10-12  Spring Rendezvous, Lake Bistineau State Park, LA 
Mar 12-13  Shallow Water Expo, Austin, TX
Mar 17-19  Sowbug Roundup, Mt. Home, AR
Aug 8-13   FFF Conclave, Livingston, MT

Send your articles, photos and other material to [email protected] or mail to Walter McLendon 139 Lancewood Circle, Lufkin, TX 75904. I can scan your photos and return them at the next meeting. If you know of any future events or activities of interest, please send them to me. Monthly article deadlines are set on the 25^th of the month so the newsletter can be completed by the Thursday preceding our Tuesday meeting.