News 2 15 - North Arkansas Fly Fishers

Tale waters
The Voice of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers
February, 10, 2015
North Arkansas Fly Fishers meetings
are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each
month. Meetings are held at the Van
Matre Senior Center located at 1101
Spring St Mountain Home, AR
72653. Membership meeting starts at
7:00 pm. All members and guests are
welcome and encouraged to attend.
NAFF Board of Director’s meetings
are held on the first Tuesday of the
month at 2:00 pm 1st Security Bank
on 9th St. All members are welcome
and encouraged to attend.
North Arkansas Fly Fishers
February Program - Brian
Wise on Fishing for White
Bass, Hybrid, and Striper
Fishing in the Tributaries of
Lake Norfork
Tale waters
Sowbug Update
This year’s Sowbug Roundup, the
18th annual, will recognize two
NAFF members. Terry Louis who
was active with Sowbug up until
just a few weeks before he passed
away and Tony Spezio who was
the founder of the Sowbug
Roundup.
An Early Sowbug Roundup
Visit North Arkansas Fly Fishers
Online at
www.northarkansasflyfisher.org
Officers
President — Ken Sickels ……(870) 321-2661
Vice President — Tom Emerick (870) 499-3382
Secretary — Pat Smith ..…..(870) 425-1755
Treasurer — Wayne Buck….(870) 305-4104
Directors
Conservation — Michael Schraeder….870)-421–
1432
At Large — Mark Burgess……..(870) - 421-7804
Education — Tommy Hagan ..(870) 430-2091
Membership — Paul Ashton …(870) 425-9230
Past President — Mike Tipton ..(870) 404-8845
Appd. by President — Vern Berry (870) 421-0720
Tale Waters is published 2nd Tuesday of each month. Article deadline is
1st Tuesday of the month.
Staff: Mike Tipton & Rita Billbe
Contact:
sowbug@northarkansasflyfisher.org
At our February meeting, Missouri
guide Brian Wise will discuss seasonal fishing for white bass, hybrids,
and stripers in the tributaries of
Lake Norfork.
Brian Wise is a fly fishing guide in
extreme southern Missouri. His
mainstays are the wild rainbow
trout and large predatory brown
trout of the North Fork of the
White River, but he is also a selfproclaimed smallmouth junky and
loves the seasonal striper fishing as
well. Brian has been the head guide
at River of Life Farm for over a decade and has been featured in print
such as Southern Living Magazine,
Outdoor Life, Fly Fisherman, Field
and Stream, Rural Missouri Magazine, on television shows
Cont. Pg.2
Sowbug Donations are Sorted
There is a lot that goes on behind
the scenes during the run-up to
the Sowbug Roundup. Sowbug is a
fundraiser that is based on getting
people to come to our show to see
fly tyers and then spend money on
the stuff that we have “for sale” in
our silent auctions and raffles
(Actually there is a lot more to
Sowbug than this, but I am simplifying for this discussion.) Pat and
Chet Smith handle the complexities of inviting tyers (some rather
prima dona-ish) to our show. Amy
and Dennis Galyardt drive the
process of obtaining and sorting
items for the auctions and raffles.
Cont. Pg.2
Tale waters
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Sorting — from page 1
A few years ago Dennis and Amy
sold their place in southern Missouri and moved to Colorado. We
are very lucky that every year they
return to Mountain Home to escape the Colorado winter, fish the
White River, visit friends, and
help with the Sowbug Roundup.
During their time in the west they
keep a lookout at bookstores, swap
meets, eBay, and discount outdoor
outfitters for items suitable for
Sowbug. When they return to
Mountain home they bring a truck
load of suitable stuff. In January
they compose a letter that raves
about the good deeds that NAFF
does throughout the year and mail
it to national fly fishing businesses
to solicit donations. As these donations and local donations are
coming in Dennis, Amy, and their
crew of minions catalog and sort
all the items. This is a non-trivial
task as we have three one day silent auction, 6 daily silent auctions, a live auction, and 5 daily
raffles! This is a lot of stuff. The
goal is to come up with a distribution of items that encourages attendees to participate in the auctions and to buy raffle tickets. The
distribution needs to be such that
anyone can participate in the raffles and auctions with some expectation of winning.
NAFF is very fortunate that we
have volunteers like Dennis and
Amy and their minions (Wayne
Buck, Ken Sickels, Fred and Corky
Stumpf, Cindy Louis, and Reuben
Swenson) that are willing to put in
the time needed to make the Sowbug happen.
Beginners Fly Tying Class
February President’s
Message
Hope you all saw the photo of Blair
Jennings in the Baxter Bulletin receiving her spring scholarship check
for $2,000.00 from the Club. It was
a real honor to present Blair with
the check. Blair is a senior at AR
Tech University. What a grateful
and gracious young lady. I wish all
of you could have been present and
felt like I did after meeting Blair.
Most satisfying experience. Thanks
go to all Club members paying dues
and helping with Sowbug which
allows the Club to grant scholarships.
lying around. If you’re like most
anglers you have a spare reel collecting dust. A recent inventory of the
Clubs storage facility revealed a
need to replace four reels. We have
25 roods and 21 working reels. If
someone has a functioning reel for
a 5 weight rod and would like to
donate the reel to the Club, please
bring it to either our February or
March meeting.
The Club has a number of upcoming events that need members to
chair and organize Club involvement. If interested see Vern Berry at
next Club meeting(s).
Ken Sickels
Both tying sessions held in January
were successful. Tom Emerick was
our lead instructor for the begin- Brian — from page 1 such as NBC’s
ner’s session. Thanks Tom. Thanks Today Show, Outdoor Channel’s
to Chet, Vern and Kevin for assist- Ultimate Outdoors, several appearing with the beginner’s session. ances on Outdoor Channel Outfitters, and is a Field Producer for
Vern Berry organized the intermediChasing Waters on the Pursuit
ate session held with Davie Wotton. Channel. When Brian isn’t guiding,
Thanks Vern.
he is fishing with his 8 and 10 year
old boys.
Second request. Surely some members must have a used reel or two
Tale
Talewaters
waters
February Fly of the Month
“Original” Y2K Bug
Hook - #13 nymph – 2x heavy, 1 x
long (ie. Tiemco 3761
Bead – 1/8” or 5/32” brass with
silver or gold finish
Weight - .015 or .020 lead wire
Thread 6/0 Uni thread, Fire Orange
Body – Egg Yarn, Orange and Yellow or other combinations
Tie It
Flatten hook barb and slide bead
onto hook, small hole first. Put
hook into vise. Push bead against
hook eye and wrap 3 or 4 turns of
lead wire behind the bead and
break off lead close to the hook
shank so it will fit into the bead.
Slide the lead wraps into the large
hole in the bead to center it. Break
off excess lead and flush with the
bead.
Start thread behind the bead and
build up enough thread to hold the
lead wire in place. Continue wrapping the thread to near the hook
bend and back to 1/16” from the
bead. Half hitch the thread and ap-
ply a thin layer of super glue to the
thread and inside the bead. If excess
glue gets into the hook eye, blot it
with a piece of paper towel.
Cut a 1 ½” length of each color egg
yarn. Thin each piece of yarn to
about 2/3 of full thickness. Center
the light color yarn at the thread
(1/16” behind the bead) and tie it
onto the back side of the hook
shank with 3-4 wraps of thread. Half
hitch and put a tiny bit of super
glue on the thread where it touches
the wrapped hook shank. (Avoid
excessive glue, it will soak into the
egg yarn and turn it into a rock). Tie
the center of the darker color yarn
to the front of the hook with 3-4
thread wraps at exactly the same
spot where the first piece is tied. Lift
the yarn and move the tying thread
to just behind the bead. Take 2 or 3
turns just behind the bead and then
whip finish. Put head cement on
the whip finish to prevent unraveling. The yarn may now be combed
out to produce a fuller fly. Grasp all
4 yarn ends and pull them straight
back. Cut them all at once just behind the hook bend. The finished
fly should have a conical shape. If it
is too bulky use less yarn on the
next one.
Many color variations can be used
with good results. Experiment.
Fish it.
The Y2Kis fished just like any
weighted nymph. It works best in
fast water, the faster the better. Use
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a strike indicator set at somewhere
between 1 and 2 times the water’s
depth to keep the fly on the bottom.
Cast across or slightly upstream and
immediately mend upstream to get
the fly line behind the indicator.
Mend as needed to keep the drift
drag-free. When the indicator starts
to swing at the end of the drift, pick
up and repeat. In very fast water,
use the “high stick” method with an
indicator. If the indicator stops or
goes under, you know what to do!
Fred Bach
Tale waters
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Jimmy T’s February
Fishing Report
February has started out with a
bang with lots of folks showing up
to fish the now open C & R area
up by the dam. This area opened
up on Sunday Feb 1st this year.
This guide, unfortunately, was out
ill and was not able to fish this
event this year. However I did get
to fish in January.
The upper end of the river
from the dam down to below Gaston’s has been producing some
good brown trout this winter and
the fish have been biting on dropping water and especially so when
the sun is shining on the water. So think eggs. Any type of
eggs. Unreal eggs, yarn eggs, plastic pegged eggs and even those
new soft eggs. Various colors have
been working with no specific color other than orange or maybe
peach. Using a 9 foot Maxima
leader with some CFC of some
three feet added to that is where
I've been putting the first egg with
a dropper of 18 inches below
that. I've been placing a B or BB
shot another 12 inches or so above
the first fly and in heavier flows
two of these shot will do the
trick. I've also been using the
thing-a-ma-bobber until the water
reaches the 2,000 cfs level and
then either taking the indicator off
along with another shot and
switching to the styro type toothpick pegged indicator or even a
couple of Palsa as the better fish
seem to get spooked by these larger indicators. This has produced
some good brown trout for me
this past January with the best one
at around 9 lbs.
Now for the action so far
in February. Have not heard of
anything really big being caught
but lots of 18 to 24 inch fish to
the net and not just on
eggs. Midges have produced at the
dam the past couple of days (think
red) as well as some SJ Worms after Saturday’s rain (think cane
worms). The C & R usually fishes
well in the early spring if there are
not too many boats or people
there. When it get crowded with
16 boats or so, it is usually time to
leave when the catching slows and
head down stream to less crowded
territory. This plan should hold
out through the end of March
when the spawning is done and
the brown trout begin to move
back to their normal haunts. By
then the caddis action should start
to work and the fishing will be a
bit better further downstream towards The Narrows and Wildcat
Shoals. At this time this guide will
switch over to fishing caddis larvae
and emergers while waiting on the
dries to show themselves.
Jim Traylor
February Raffle
Prime Items
Mayfly Rotary Vice Kit
Or
Crystal River Fly Vest (Size XXL)
Regular Items
Box of 12 Flies
3 drawer storage cabinet
Tiers Thread Pack
Tiers Sample Pack (1)
Tiers Sample Pack (2)
Tiers Sample Pack (3) (Note all 3
are different)
2 Old Books “Fishing Lake and
Stream” by Ray Schrenkeisen
(1946) and “Trout Fishing” by
Dan Holland (1949)
Framed Fishing Print
Tale waters
COE Update - Volunteer
Opportunities
As with many public service organizations, the Corps of Engineers,
and locally Mountain Home Project Office, utilize volunteers to
assist in accomplishing our duties
and missions. In many aspects of
our responsibilities volunteers are
the difference between providing a
high level of service and not offering that service at all.
A variety of volunteer opportunities are available and some volunteer positions will have specific
skills or requirements that are
needed, such as in an office setting
or some may involve some heavy
lifting or equipment operation.
The biggest attributes asked of a
volunteer are a sense of contribution and cooperation, willing
hands, and to represent the Corps
of Engineers in a positive and professional manner.
Some of examples of positions include park maintenance, landscaping, park hosting, general office
work, power plant maintenance,
water safety interpretation, recreation program assistance, and trail
maintenance. There are also special events that members of the
local community often assist with,
including the Ozark Isle MobilityImpaired Deer Hunt, Ozark Isle
Youth Deer Hunt, Federal Lands/
Shoreline Cleanup, and Eagle
Awareness.
Go to http://www.volunteer.gov/
to review current volunteer position openings and to submit an
application. Upon receiving your
application, the volunteer coordinator will contact you and ask you
to provide a resume with at least
two references for our review. Upon selection, you will be asked to
sign a volunteer agreement and a
personal background check is required.
The benefits of volunteering are
many: a sense of pride, being part
of a public-service organization, a
role in managing our country’s
natural resources and man-made
assets. Volunteers earning 100 or
more service hours in a year will
receive an annual pass which allows for free access to all Corps of
Engineers-managed day use facilities nationwide. Additionally, vehicle mileage reimbursement may be
Page 5
offered to those utilizing their vehicles.
Jon Hiser
Tale waters
Page 6
Sowbug Tyers Report
ternoon!! Just drop us a note at
sowbugtyers@centurylink.net or
give us a call at 870-425-1755. My
goal is to not have an empty chair
anywhere on the floor!!
Pat Smith
Can’t believe that Sowbug Roundup is less than two months away.
Mounds of paper to be generated
between now and then or it will be
complete – well – chaos is the only
appropriate term I can think of!!
We have currently 135 tiers on the
list and still space for more. I had
a phone call last week from one of
our Texas tiers who wanted to let
us know he would not be able to
be at Sowbug. His granddaughter
was getting married that weekend.
The longer we talked, the worse I
felt for him. Then I mentioned
the Shindig on the 27th and his
response was “Whoa”!! Turns out
he had his dates confused and the
wedding was the weekend before.
He’s thrilled that he will be able to
come.
Otherwise, it’s just sorting out
who gets to tie when. Regretfully,
the majority of the tyers want to
tie on Friday and on Saturday
morning. Someone is going to be
disappointed but can’t be helped.
It’s impossible to put 75 tiers in 60
chairs!!!
HOWEVER, we still
have chairs for any club members
who want to tie in either session
on Thursday and on Saturday af-
Feb. Membership Report
Newsletter Distribution
Changes
Some changes are coming for
members that receive the newsletter in hardcopy form. Our current
costs for distributing hardcopy
newsletters is $2.90 per copy per
month. The membership cost for
the hardcopy version only covers
about 90 cents of this.
We have 33 members receiving
the newsletter in hardcopy form.
Starting next month (March),
members with an email address in
our database will be converted to
the electronic version. Complementary members (other fly-fishing
clubs) will also be converted to the
electronic newsletter.
If you are receiving the newsletter
by hardcopy and you do not have
a computer or email, You will continue to receive the newsletter.
New Members
Please Join me in welcoming our
latest new members:
Alan Piorek of Flippin AR
William Andrews of Broken Arrow OK
Paul Ashton
Tale waters
Page 7
Auctions, Raffles, Prizes
Galore at
Sowbug Roundup
Does the Sowbug Roundup get
better every year? We like to think
so! There are certain things that
we have come to depend on and
expect. Great prizes for auctions
and raffles at the Sowbug are some
of those.
This year’s venue is a little different with a Shindig on Friday evening including a Live Auction,
which will have a theme. Since
NAFF has been in the Mountain
Home area for many years there
are memorabilia items for the auction that go back to earlier times.
Some of these once-in-a life time
items include:
A 9’ 5wt Granger Bamboo Fly
Rod (circa 1948) that once
belonged to Chuck Davidson. Chuck was one of
the “founding fathers” of
the NAFF and the “Sage of
the Norfork.” This rod
caught innumerable trophy
fish for him and can still
do the same for you.
Earl Stanek’s “Dragonfly
Dome” (circa 2000).
Earl’s fly tying skills were
incredible and his flies appear real. His glass dome
displays were highly sought
after at the Sowbug
Roundup for many years.
Earl, long time member of
NAFF, can no longer tie so
this is the last chance to
own one of his masterpieces.
Earl Stanek’s Dragonfly Dome
A custom fiberglass nymphing
rod made by Bob Brunsell
in the 1960’s. Bob was an
author, instructor, rod
builder and conservationist
who helped to found
NAFF. He developed the
“Brunsell guide spacing”
for fly rods that enhanced
their shooting ability.
Flies tied by “Tony Spezio,
Dave Whitlock and Tom
Schmucker, all who have
been instrumental for the
past 18 years in the Sowbug Roundup.
And more to come!
See the NAFF website for a complete catalog of Live Auction
items.
The special raffles this year are
spectacular too. Someone will win
a complete Sage 1 outfit or a fish-
ing kayak. We have a Dave Scadden pontoon craft, a complete fly
rod outfit and float tube package,
Tenkara fly rod outfit and more
on 3 day silent auctions. Daily
Silent auctions include rods, reels,
lines, flies, books, fishing décor
and a plethora of items from local
merchants, national tackle distributors and club members.
Wow! So do the auctions and raffles get better every year at Sowbug? We like to think so! You
simply must come to see, absorb
and revel in the incredible amount
of fly fishing knowledge, skills,
tackle and memorabilia at Sowbug
Roundup. Spread the word and
be there.
Dennis Galyardt
Tale waters
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Sowbug Shindig
The first annual Sowbug Shindig
will be held on Friday, March 27,
at St. Peter’s Catholic Church.
The Guest of Honor will be Tony
Spezio, the “Founding Father” of
the Sowbug Roundup. The Shindig will include finger food, wine
and beer, live music, and a live
auction. The live auction will present a limited number of high
quality items. Tickets are $10.00,
but all NAFF members (and spouses) and fly tyers will be admitted
free! Tickets will be available at the
Sowbug Roundup, no tickets will
be sold at the door and everyone
must have a ticket. There will be
250 tickets available.
Shindig Help Needed
Karen Tipton, the kitchen mistress
for the Sowbug Shindig, is asking
for help. She needs help in the
kitchen preparing the food items
and she needs volunteers to provide desserts. If you are interested
in helping, please contact Karen at
870-404-3 344 or karentipton@centurytel.net. If you can provide a dessert, please contact Karen prior to the evening of the
Shindig. She needs the desert
numbers for planning purposes.
Tale waters
Good News for the Fourth
Fly Fishing Seminar at BCAS
in 2015
The final arrangements are almost
complete for the Baxter County Alternative School (BCAS) Fly-Fishing
Seminar. Four years ago we started
with seven male students and this
past year we had 13 coed students.
Again this year the students will
learn how to tie ten-to-twelve different types of flies ranging from midges to streamers. They will learn the
basic techniques of fly casting and
knot tying. The good news is that
our students will be able to go fly
fishing with us on the White or
Norfolk Rivers. Hopefully, we will
be able to go on three outings again
this year.
We are thankful for the administration of BCAS who give us one hour
of school time, and to the students
who donate one hour of their personal time after school to enjoy this
Page 9
seminar. This gives us the two hour
time slot to work with our students
on a one-to-one basis each Thursday
afternoon.
With volunteers like Everett Hidlebaugh, Tom Emerick, Vern Berry,
and Danny Barker, we should have
another successful year.
Last year, thanks to NAFF, we were
able to give away one four-piece fly
fishing combo to one of the students we felt had the greatest potential to utilize this gift beyond school.
In addition, we gave fly tying vises
and tools to three other students
who had a real desire to continue
tying flies.
Over the past years, NAFF has given
the BCAS Fly Fishing Seminar their
old spring style vises and has provided hip boots for students
Ron Hulstein
Riverside Retreat on the White River
Cabins with hot tubs and fireplaces
Lodge that sleeps 20~Guided Fishing
10 minutes from the North Fork River
www.whiteriverresort.com
870 499-3056
Activities of Interest to NAFF members
February
Tuesday 10th Sowbug Committee Meeting 1:00-3:00 Baxter County Library
Tuesday 17th NAFF Club Meeting 7:00-9:00 Van Matre Senior Center
March
Monday 2nd Trout Unlimited 6:00-8:00 El Chico’s
Tuesday 3rd NAFF Board Meeting 2:00-4:00 First Security Bank
Tuesday 10th Sowbug Committee Meeting 1:00-3:00 Baxter County Library
Tuesday 17th NAFF Club Meeting 7:00-9:00 Van Matre Senior Center
Thursday 26, 27 & 28th Sowbug Roundup 9:00-4:00 Baxter County Fairgrounds
Friday 27th Sowbug Shindig 6:00-9:00 Catholic Church of St Peter the Fisherman
PO Box 1213
Mountain Home, AR 72653
North Arkansas Fly Fishers