SCATTERSHOTS

From The Prez

By the time you get this newsletter, Christmas and possibly New Years, will be over. I hope you and your family had a good Holiday Season and that you got a lot of good flyfishing stuff.

I am still progressing great from my heart surgery and by the 8^th of February I should be able to do what I want to do. Of course one of those things is to go fishing.

I hope you have paid your club dues by now. If not, please do so as soon as possible. Dues are still $20.00 a year.

Due to the first Tuesday falling on January 1^st, our monthly meeting has been moved to January 8^th. I hope we can start off the new year with a good attendance.

Our Pineywoods Fly Fishers Workshop (formerly the open house) will be March 16^th. We look forward to Tom Nixon meeting with us. He will present a fly tying demonstration that day, and also a program that night. He is very interesting and knowledgeable, an author, master tyer, and a very good fly fisherman. I hope you mark your calendar now to attend and to invite your friends. You will be getting more details later, but as of now we are planning to have our members do some tying, making this truly a “workshop”. We will also have a Casting Contest under Jay Renken’s direction. Bill Heugel, who is the club Tying Coordinator, will be in charge of the tying activities.

I also urge you to be planning on the articles you wish to put in both our raffle and the auction held that night. Both of these are highlights of the day. We will also have our usual hamburger cookout for lunch.

We also have plans for some tying classes and a rod building class. More on these later. I know that even if you don’t want to tie or to make a rod, I know you will enjoy attending these functions. The first tying class will be January 29^th.

Another activity that will be coming up in a few months is Fly Fish 2002 held at Athens. Several of us go each year and tie flies or help with casting instruction. It is always a fun day, and I hope you will put this activity on your calendar also. More details later.

Another activity attended by several PWFF members each year is the annual Fly Tying Festival in Houston held at the Holiday Inn – 7787 Katy Freeway ( I-10 and Antoine). There are over 30 top fly tyers in attendance. They have a beginner’s corner, several vendors, and a number of seminars. This is hosted by the Texas Fly Fishers. More information can be obtained on their web site:

http:/home.att.net/_txflyfishers

Once again I am asking two things of you as a club member:

1. Are you receiving the newsletter? It is on the website (address at the top of the newsletter) for you that are computer people. If you are like me and do not have a computer, we will send you a printed copy each month. We just need to know if you desire to receive one in the mail each month. Even if you are on-line but desire it, we will mail you a copy each month. This is the way we communicate with our members, and we need to know that you are receiving the newsletter.

2. This is your club. What do you wish this club to do? If activities are presented that you are not in favor of doing, please speak up. Also, if we are not doing something you desire, we also want you to speak up. This is not a club for a chosen few. This is a club for all members, so let the majority rule. Our desire as officers is to present something for each one of you.

I know a few of you have been able to fish and I look forward to the time at our meetings where you can share your fishing reports. See you January 8^th, and as always “A Bad Day Fishing Beats A Good Day Working”.

FLYLINES

From the V-Prez

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday, and Good Fishing to all and to all a good night.

Fishing Report

From Tom Rees

Lake Palestine - white bass, striper hybrids both of good size off points in 18-20 ft on prism jigs bounced off the bottom. Hope to see you all at the next meeting.

Keep a tight line.....TOM

Workshop Guest Tier and Speaker

By Bill Heugel

Tom Nixon will be our speaker and demonstrator for the workshop on April 20, 2002. Tom is a nationally recognized fly fisherman presenter, and tier. He lives in Lake Charles, LA. He has tied and presented his programs at many events including the conclaves. Those of us who have come to the Rendezvous have had the benefit of one on one interaction. The same kind of interaction will be available at the workshop.

Tom’s specialty is bass and bream flies. Living in South Western Louisiana he knows our kind of East Texas fishing. He has developed flies to compete with the bait casting and spinning rod lures. Among his famous innovative flies are the Calcasieu Pig Boat and the Louisiana Mickey Finn. Tom has just released the third edition of his book “Fly Tying and Fly Fishing for Bass and Panfish”.

His special flies use spinners and rubber hackle. He has also developed techniques for fishing with plastic worms as well. The latest Fly Tier magazine features flies that use spinners and mentions Tom as one of the folks that has continued to use spinners with their flies. Seems before spinning baits spinners on flies were quite common.

This should be a fun and informative event, make sure to reserve the day. I have tried making some of Tom’s flies and it is not as easy as he makes it look.

Fly Tying Class

By Bill Heugel

January 29^th : That’s the date for our next tying class. We will be working on the Adams family (pun intended). We will be meeting at St. Cyprians Church at 6PM on Tuesday night. There are 11 Adams patterns that I have found in Flies for Trout by Stewart and Allen.

They are:

Adams

Adams, Down Wing

Adams, Female

Adams, Hairwing

Adams, Moosetail

Adams, Parachute

Adams, Reversed,

Adams, Spent Wing,

Adams, Swedish,

Adams, Thorax,

Adams, USD.

The most recent I have found is an Adams Humpy!!

The basic pattern doesn’t represent any particular insect, but it looks like many and is an outstanding trout and bream catcher. We will be tying several of the patters to work with different materials and different methods of attaching the materials. I have some outstanding small hackle so we can also work on small flies like 16 or 20. This month’s fly of the month is the standard Adams. Bring your tools and materials and meet the Adams Family!!.

Spring Rendezvous

By W. McLendon

We have enough interest in doing a Spring Rendezvous with people responding but not specifying a desired date other than avoiding Sowbug and some other dates. I finally choose May 18th for our best date but when I called to make reservations for Area II in Bistineau, all weekends of May and June are already reserved. The only date available was April 12 & 13th so I went ahead and reserved it. How does that weekend sound for everyone? It follows the SE Conclave the weekend before so I hope you guys going there can still join us.

Check in will be 3 PM on Friday April 12th and checkout at 11 AM on Sunday April 14th. We will have 6 cabins that sleep 8 people each so we can accommodate 48 total. The main building kitchen/dining area is much like Area I were we just held Rendezvous. There is a formal boat launch area, swimming pool and playground but it requires short drive around the lake inlet we will be on. This site is on the water, right in front of the main building. We can easily launch our kayaks and canoes there. You will not be able to see the lake proper because the cypress trees are very thick in the inlet but the fishing is where we will be. I hope this date will suit everyone. I didn’ have anyone except John Petrie who could not make that date and he had 4 full months!

Please email me back so I will know if you are planning to come. I will keep you informed on the tally committed. April should be a great time to enjoy a Spring Rendezvous. Many of you chose Lake Bistineau over NTBSP after staying there. It is nice to have a private cabin and the kitchen/dining arrangement was very desirable at Bistineau. I hope we have a very successful Spring Rendezvous that will endure year after year.

For Sale

I have a friend, a newly fly fishing widow, who would like to sell her red 15 foot, Coleman Ram-X canoe. Her husband bought it on my recommendation since I own one and previously had another. They only got to take it out 3 or 4 times before he died so it is like brand-new!

Visit http://www.goodtime.com.au/canoe/ramxcan.htm for specs and details on the canoe.

Then you can make an offer, since she would like to get all she can for it.

Thank you. Send me any questions you would like on it.

Walter McLendon

Guest Editorial

Why TPWD Needs More Money
By ALAN ALLEN
Sportsmen Conservationists of Texas
It’s almost a sure bet hunting and fishing fees will soon increase, because Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) says they¹re broke, but how much increase? The rate of inflation indicates the Super Combo license, currently $49, should be $55 to $56; but one TPW Commissioner recently said he sees nothing wrong with charging sportsmen $61. I do.
  There are two reasons TPWD has again been backed into a budgetary corner.
  The first reason is the Texas Legislature keeps giving TPWD new duties, but almost never provides General Revenue (GR) to finance them. That leaves the commission eyeballing their best source of funding, the hunters and anglers of Texas.
  Sportsmen provide over half of the agency¹s budget. The average Texan contributes almost nothing. Besides Park users, other TPWD constituents give almost nothing. And TPWD admits that Parks normally have not brought in sufficient revenue.
  The second reason TPWD needs more money is the commission allows far too many hunting and fishing dollars to be spent on programs and projects all Texans should be financing. For far too long they have tried to make a statewide agency produce too many statewide benefits using revenue from only a tiny portion of the statewide population. To make matters worse, they have asked for almost no GR during the last decade.
  Here are a very few of the many examples of statewide benefits sportsmen are, and have been, paying for over my lifetime: Flood rescue by game wardens, rescue gear and maintenance; most TPWD salaries, staff and supplies for TPWD administration; nearly all endangered species projects, administrative fees to the Texas Comptroller, warden assistance to state troopers and sheriffs, most of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, eco-tourism promotion, and water pollution/conservation efforts.
  If sportsmen weren¹t paying for such projects, maybe environmentalists and others would pony up some bucks for endangered species.
  The governor, the commissioners he appoints, and legislators, should seriously consider using GR to pay some salaries and for some of the many statewide benefits they churn out over at TPWD. The cap on the Sporting Goods Tax should be removed to increase the TPWD budget.
  They also should create two agencies out of TPWD, a Parks Department, and a Fish & Wildlife Department. That would simplify the financial Gordian Knot that now exists. It also would remove the temptation to spend sportsman dollars on parks.
  To comment, drop a note to Gov. Rick Perry, PO Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711, and the TPW Commissioners, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744, phone 1/800/792-1112.

2002 Fly Tying Festival

Here is an announcement of the next Fly Tying Festival. If you are interested in watching quality tyers and getting one-on-one communication, plan to attend and learn more about fly tying. It would be nice to get some car pools going for it.

Walter

2002 FLY TYING FESTIVAL

Hosted by the Texas Flyfishers (Houston)

Fly Tying for everyone......expert, novice or beginner!

The 8th annual Fly Tying Festival hosted by the Texas Flyfishers of Houston presents a unique opportunity to sit beside, and learn from, some of the best fly tyers in the nation. Bring along a youngster and introduce them to a lifelong, fulfilling pastime - fly fishing and fly tying.

30+ Fly Tyers from Texas, Louisiana, Oregon. Simultaneous fly tying demonstrations - warm water, cold water and salt water patterns. Programs with closed circuit video for viewing tying skills up close. Beginners' Corner - Hands on instruction. Learn to tie one of the easiest and most productive flies ever devised - the Wooly Worm! Vendor Booths with the latest in products and services.

WHEN: Saturday, February 2, 2002 from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eight hours of continuous fly tying demonstrations. Drop in and browse or stay the whole day.

WHERE: Holiday Inn, 7787 Katy Freeway, (I-10 and Antoine) 713/681-5000.

$59.00 rate for out of town guests.

COST: $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 under 18 or $14 entire family.

The Texas Flyfishers is an active member club of the Federation of Fly Fishers and is dedicated to education, conservation and fun. Visitors are welcome to attend meetings held at 7:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month (January through November) at the Holiday Inn (North of US 59 between Kirby & Buffalo Speedway).

Dave Whitlock Seminar

Montgomery County Flyrodders

Present

Dave Whitlock

Saturday, January 26, 2002

9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Cost: $35.00 or $45 per family.

Location: Deckers Prairie Community Center, 32434 Decker Prairie Rd.

Directions: From I-45, take FM 2920 west to Tomball, turn right (north) on Hwy 249,continue past couple stop lights to Stage Coach Rd., turn Left, note: Stage Coach Road changes name to Deckers Prairie Rd., continue to the new building on the right across from a Church. There will be signs along the way.

Dave will present an all day seminar on various fly fishing and fly tying subjects such as tying and fishing the famous Dave's Hopper. He will be available for autographs and will have books and video tapes for sale. There will be items for sale on a silent auction.

For further information call;

Dan Houchin- 936-321-3373, [email protected] or

Mike Hurst - 713-927-9948

Rod Building Class

Bill Heugel

It looks like we have plenty of interest in the club to have the class. Review the information on rod building on our web site. There is a good article in the American Angler about making your own fly rod. You can view it at their web site WWW. Flyfishingmagazines.com

They have included some tools which will be very helpful. These include:

· A rat tail file for shaping the inside of the grip.

· A fine file for dressing guide feet. A dremel tool is also good for this. A forceps is helpful to hold the guides when doing the dressing.

· Razor blades or X-Acto knife for trimming the thread.

· A pair of small scissors

· A book for adding tension to the thread. This should be a sizable book, not a paperback!! There are also some wrapping devices which can be used here as well. Janns Net craft has some of them.

· A burnishing tool or ball point pen for working the thread.

· A tape measure for laying out the guides and matching the rod peices.

· Wrapping stands. I did several rods before I went to a wrapping stand. However the article in American Angler does show how to construct some simple inexpensive stands that will give you that extra hand.

I will bring the article to the club meeting so you can take a look at it.

At the next meeting we can discuss the needs and make sure everyone has identified everything they will be needing to make the rod. We may be able to set the date for the first class. Before we can begin we will need to make sure that everyone has everything in hand.

I can provide the masking tape, glue, layout pencil, and of course the all important pen for signing your rod!!!

Get your thoughts together and let’s start the sign up at the next meeting. If you want me to order things from Hook and Hackle, please make a list of what you want. I will hold the order until we have inputs from all the participants.

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Remember!

Mark your calendar for our club meetings, Every First Tuesday of each Month,

7:00 P M in the Lufkin Room in the Lufkin

Mall.

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Calendar

Outings and Events

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January 8 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

12 White Rock Creek for white bass

26 Dave Whitlock Seminar MCFR

February 2 TFF Fly Tying Festival in Houston

5 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

16-17 Beavers Bend OK. Trout

March 5 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

15-16 Sowbug Roundup Mt. Home, AR

16-17 Shallow Water Expo Houston Texas

23 Fly Fish 2002 Athens, Texas

April 2 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

4-7 SE Conclave Gulf Shores State Park, AL

13-14 Spring Rendezvous Lake Bistineau, LA bass & bream

20 PWFF Annual Workshop, Chamber of Commerce

May 4 Willow Oak Park/Heugel Haus Lunch Toledo Bend bass & bream

7 PWFF meting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

June 1 Tag Team Event place to be determined

4 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

July 2 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

August 6 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

September 3 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

21-22 Rockport reds & specs

October 1 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

3-6 Conclave Mt. Home, AR

19 Red Hills Lake Breakfast bass & bream

November 1-3 Rendezvous North Toledo Bend State Park

5 PWFF meeting 7:00 P M Lufkin Room of Lufkin Mall

16-17 Caney Creek Park Sam Rayburn bass

December 7 Christmas Meeting Chamber of Commerce

14 Tyler State Park trout stocking

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More Club Calendar to follow as dates confirmed

(Check your calendar, there have been several dates that have been changed)

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Outings: Walter McLendon assisted by Jimmy Lee

Library: Jay Renken

Conservation: Gene Sullivan

Programs: Linda McLendon

Membership: Walter McLendon

Editor: Royce Feaster