Pineywoods Fly Fishers

                Founded 1988

    Chapter of the Southern Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers

          Web Site http://home.sprynet.com/~waltermc

President: Jimmy Lee            Secretary/Treasurer: Ken Baker

From the Editor

Welcome New Member

Bill and Carla Ragland of Lufkin just joined our club. Both are already fly fishers but Carla said Bill is more into then she. Bill ties flies and is eager to learn what we tie and fish with. Like some of us they fish for trout in Arkansas and camp in Bull Shoals and JFK State Parks, on the White and Little Red Rivers. Bill works offshore on oilrigs so we will be lucky if we can get him to join us at all of our outings. We hope they enjoy our club and spend many years fishing with us.

New Member Idea

We need to adopt a program of taking new members fishing. It was suggested to me that Jimmy assign someone, one of our older members, each time a new member joins. Royce can tell you that we lost at least one member because he was never invited him to fish. Verbal invitations like we give are not enough, we need to follow through and actually call and arrange a trip so they can meet us and we them. Hugh Bell was the best at this that I have ever seen. We all know what it feels like joining a new organization, if no one approaches you to welcome you, then you immediately feel rejection. We need to do all we can to make our new comers feel at home. How about a new member outing quickly after they join. I suggested a buddy plan years ago but that did not go over. Have any ideas to improve this situation?

Meeting Idea

Our friends at the Brazos Valley Fly Fishers in Bryan/College Station suggested that their membership bring their favorite fly to a meeting and show it off and explain how they fish it. That sounds like something we need to try at least once.

Rendezvous

Remember that Friday November 5^th we open the doors at North Toledo Bend State Park at 3pm for a great weekend of tying flies, cooking eating and generally having fun. Bring your whole family. Visit http://home.sprynet.com/~waltermc/Rendez/indexR.html  for all the details, there is a printable map on the website. Hope to see some new faces there this year. We have 5 newbees coming from the New Orleans Fly Fishers attending and several more from other areas. It is the most fun activity of the year.

First Ratcliff Outing in Years

We had a good outing on Saturday at Ratcliff Lake but the water was unusually chocolate looking. About half the club showed up to fish and eat hamburgers, we had a perfect day for it but a few members did not catch fish. A local bait chunker told us that the bass would start hitting top water between 4 and 5pm but most of us never witnessed this. Gene Sullivan in his new kayak, paddled by about 6pm to tell us that he really got into the bass in the far end of the north inlet. He caught them first on Elk Hair Caddis then changed to poppers and did well. We need to take our pocket radios next trip!! Thanks to all of you who joined us and to the rest of you Shame on You, you missed a fun day!

The Tale of the Three Fly Fishers

 by Bill Heugel

The Southern Conclave called again and Walter McLendon, Don McMurry and yours truly decided to travel, camp, and fish our way there and back.  Don has a large 4-door pickup truck but he didn’t count on the amount of fly tying and presentation stuff plus food and clothes and camp gear Bill and Walter had.  Of course Don had some of his own.  He managed to pack all our gear in the truck and even left room for me in the back. What impressed me is that at each stop he was able to put it all back together again like the pieces of a puzzle. 

Our first stop was Beavers Bend.  We only managed two fish.  We tried fishing the spillway creek where many improvements were made for fly fishermen.  It didn’t work for us.  We got instructions on how to fish it at the conclave from some experts.  Walter even got one of them to offer to take us and show us how to fish the stream. 

Somewhat dejected we headed for Tahlequah, Ok to fish for smallmouth bass.  We camped next to the Illinois River and as soon as we had our camp set up we headed for it.  Walter spotted some large fish but could not get them to take his fly.  He did manage a few later in the evening.  Bill struck out. 

The next day we met with Griff and Leonard from the local club, NE Oklahoma FF.  They took us to their favorite spot on the river.  It looked great.  Walter managed to catch plenty of his favorite bluegill and pumpkin seed.  Leonard showed us how it was done and caught plenty of smallmouth and a few other species.  In the afternoon we went to another spot.  Bill fished with a new fly called the LP Craw.  It proved to be great with the tiny smallmouth.  The biggest I landed was about 9 inches.  Walter again hit it big with the Bream. Don did well with bream and some black bass.  My craw finally hit the big one.  It must have been big because I never did see it.  It made some good runs and flashed some white bottom before it broke off. 

On to Mountain Home and the conclave.  We camped at Bull Shoals State Park on the White River. The first night we went to a gathering at the Ramada for eats and talks.  The next day we started the conclave with Walter taking care of the FFF booth, Bill tying flies and Don just checking things out.  That night we went to a Pinsel, Moskal, Landry function for great eats and good company.  Next day was another conclave day.  In the afternoon, Bill and Walter gave their presentation on Fly Rod Technology.  The exciting event was the fire in the projector.  Ask Walter about it.  While we had much to offer, we also learned a bunch. That evening we went to the auction and had some of Jay’s Cherry Wine.  On Sunday AM Don and Bill fished the White below the dam.  Fishing was slow but the fish were nice sized.

Another exciting event was when Don took a bite of a yellow jacket.  The YJ did not like it and stung him on the lip.  That gave Don a completely different look.

Sunday afternoon we headed for Heber Springs and the Little Red River. Fish were rising and jumping everywhere.  Don caught all of the fish, I had one on and Walter busted.  The next AM we headed for the same spots.  Walter managed to show us all up by catching a limit.  Looked like things would really be great for the afternoon.  By 1PM the generators were spinning.  The next morning we had about an hour of fishing and then ran into more generation. 

Every trip has its special moments.  Here are a few that really stand out.

1.      Fire in the projector.

2.      The attack of the angry yellow jacket

3.      The loud splash when Don fell in the water

4.      The creel blues sung by Walter and Don.

5.      Walter’s leaky waders

6.      The skunk that came in our camp and almost climbed Walters’s leg.

We had a great time and those of you who didn’t come missed a lot of information, fun and good companionship.  Come join us next time.

Beavers Bend Outing

by Walter McLendon

Howard & Gail Hinton, Don & Deloris McMurry, Skip & Tara Hall and I convoyed to Broken Bow, Oklahoma for a great Friday plus weekend. The problem was that everyone in the world beat us there. Can you imagine that gigantic park full to the brim in all campsites? Fishermen everywhere? We lucked out and drove around until we were on the last stretch of campsites in Area C and found two sites across from each other. We only saw three sites total that were vacant and campers driving around searching like we were. Howard and Gail’s motor home is outstanding; I will have to keep Linda away from it. The first evening, we tried fishing spillway run with no success but we were engulfed with people there. Then we fished the last bridge upstream the following morning, the fish were unusually inactive but what hurt was to follow three bait chunkers catching trout on Power Bait.  I know that part of the river like the back of my hand but it has changed now, it is silted in where rock ledges used to house trout. A nice fishing hole has now disappeared.  The power baiters kept our waters muddy downstream as they walked through the silt.

We tried Area II down below the park dam Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Don caught 3 or 4 and Howard one, during the evening. On Sunday morning, after about an hour or more on the river, all the other fishermen disappeared, there was not a sign of fish and they had just stocked on Thursday. We finally called it quits and packed for home. These three couples really know how to cook, I hope they all come to Rendezvous this weekend.

Airport Security

by Ron Scheepstra

I recently have been struggling, via e-mail, with some one from Amsterdam airport security. The end result is that we as of the beginning of this year not allowed to bring fishing rods through security on European airports. There are exceptions, but be prepared to stick your rods in your luggage. Per airport it is different, some airports explicitly mention fishing rods, other airports call them “sport sticks” (what in gods name is a sports stick). Anyhow I can go on and on, but just wanted to warn members just in case they are flying over seas with fishing rods. And it does NOT matter if they are 3, 4, 5 or even 6 pieces. If you carry them trough security you WILL be stopped (sadly enough)

Trout Stocking

by Howard Hinton

We can look for our trout to be delivered on November 9^th, probably during the afternoon.

Editors Note: We should give these fish a few days to get over the shock of water changes before we tax them with our fly rods. Remember it will be catch and release until before summer comes. We need to teach everyone the proper methods of handling trout and how to catch and release so they will survive. Touching them with dry hands will remove the slime on their skins making them vulnerable to diseases.

Workshop Planning

by Walter McLendon

For those who have attended our annual Workshops, you know we have planned for about every class possible but members do not seem interested in asking for something but then later in the year, they comment that they wish we had more classes for something they lack. Now is the time to ask!!! A fly fishing club should be dedicated to teaching, to sharing what we have learned. Workshop is for that purpose. We can have casting classes for all levels, fly tying classes, spear fishing classes, shadow box fly mounting classes, materials dying classes, just anything you would like to learn but you must tell us what you are interested in. I can tell you that it is not a good feeling to offer a class that no one takes, especially when we have new casters who cannot make a decent cast.

How about a Trade Event at Workshop, where we bring anything and everything we would like to trade or sell. Linda has an Orvis Power Matrix 10, 10’, six weight titanium rod to trade, interested in that? Together, Linda and I have 25 fly rods we are willing to talk trade with. Just let me know what you would like to do at Workshop, please.

PWFF CLUB DUES

by Ken Baker

We have had up to this time, 22 people who have paid club dues for the coming year. There could be a few more, as some members paid a couple of months before they were due in October and the membership chairman Walter McLendon and I along with President Jimmy Lee are working on how to deal with this. A couple of them will be given a sort of grace period and will be considered paid for the coming year. We are also working on a plan for the coming year that will pro rate the dues paid during the year at a rate of $ 1.25 per month from January to October.  Dues from October to October are $15.00 per year if you have e-mail so you can get your newsletter that way.  The dues are $20.00 if we send you a printed copy. If this seems to be a problem with anyone, please contact us and we as a club will try to work it out.

Also a printed membership list has been sent by e-mail and it will be updated periodically as people pay dues during the year.

I would like to make a short report on the outing we had, Saturday, October 16, at Ratcliff Lake.  We had this for the Octoberfest that we had at Kurth Lake last year.  We could not get that facility this year.  I think about 15 members met and had a good day.  Some fished and we set up in the Pavilion for tying.  Several brought canoes and kayaks.  The weather was good and we had a good time visiting, cooking hamburgers and hotdogs.  The day reminded me of the first outings PWFF had at this spot several years ago, when we would meet, float tube and have a cookout, under the leadership of Bill Lambing.  Maybe we need to try this again.  I know Walter will have something to add to this so I will stop for now.

I look forward to seeing you on November 2^nd, at our regular monthly meeting and as always" A BAD DAY FISHING BEATS A GOOD DAY WORKING'".

FFF Merchandise Website

by Walter McLendon

Some neat items are now on sale at the FFF! http://www.fffcatalog.com/  Besides clothing, books, videos and such, there are gifts for yourself or your fishing buddy (hint-hint), one unique item I saw was a coffee mug and a cereal bowl with only the beautiful spots from a brown trout. Another is a key chain with an actual fly encased in clear plastic. Check this out if you want to look like a real fly fisherman on the water or at our meetings. Minimum orders are $50 and there is a flat $15 shipping charge, so if you fall short and want to accumulate an order with fellow club members, we can do that.

LMFRF One Fly Event

by Walter McLendon

Just to inform you that the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation in Broken Bow, AR has scheduled a One Fly Fishing Event for Saturday, Feb 26^th, 2005. I am due to speak at their business meeting that day about them joining the FFF so I will be there, in case some of you want to join us. They have a new test website under construction if you want to check it out http://www.ncic.com/lmfrf/index.html

Recommended Fly Box

(you need to tie and carry these flies to ensure a good day of fishing)

Trout:

Carrot Nymph (12-14)

Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear Nymph (12-16)

Pheasant Tail Nymph (12-16)

Prince Nymph (12-16)

Scud Nymph (12-16)      [White River]

Sowbug (12-16)              [White River]

Tellico (12-14)

Olive Wooly Bugger (weighted or bead head) (8-12)

Partridge & Red (12-14)

Partridge & Orange (12-14)

Partridge & Yellow (12-14)

Smidge (12-16)

Adams (14-16)

Griffith’s Gnat (14-18)

Light Cahill Dry (14-16)

Miller (14-16)                   [Little Red]

Midges (18-24)

Red Ass (14-16)

Royal Coachman (12-14)

Hopper (10-12)

Elk Hair Caddis (10-16)

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.

Calendar

Nov 2      PWFF meeting, Lufkin Mall 

Nov 5-7    Rendezvous, North Toledo Bend State Park

Nov 20     Little Missouri River Trout Outing

Dec 4      PWFF Christmas Party

2005:

Feb 1            PWFF meeting, Lufkin Mall – program “boat building”

Feb 18-20    Little MO’ Fly Fishing Festival   Murfreesboro, AR

Feb 26         Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation meeting Broken Bow Library & LMFRF One Fly Event

Mar 5           Fly Fish Texas  Athens, TX

Mar 17-19    Sowbug Roundup  Mt. Home, AR

Apr 5           PWFF meeting, Lufkin Mall – Ken Richards program – “Fishing Arkansas, Smallmouth & Trout”

Apr 15         Spring Rendezvous  Lake Darbon, LA

May 3          PWFF meeting, Lufkin Mall – Steve Robbins program – “Good Ol’ Fashioned Bream Bustin’ with a Fly Rod”

May 6-7      Smallmouth Rendezvous  Tahlequah, OK

Jun 2-5        Southeastern Conclave  Calloway Gardens, GA

Jul 15-17    Grand Isle Outing  LA

Aug 8-13    FFF Conclave  Livingston, MT

Newsletter

Send your articles, photos and other material to mailto:[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.