www.wyflycasters.org
Vol 41 No 11
The Monthly Newsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters
November 2014
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October 2014
What’s inside Bob Homer, President Derrick Dietz, Vice President
Cheryl Wilson, Secretary Lee Tschetter, Treasurer BOARD OF DIRECTORS Terms expire in 2015: George Axlund, Joe Meyer Terms expire in 2016: Lee Wilson, Kelly Kukes
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PLATTE RIVER REVIVAL
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ROBINDER OUTING
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ERIC’S MIDGE
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FISHING HIGHLIGHTS
11 CLASSIFIEDS CALENDAR
Terms expire in 2017: Bob Fischer, John Yost, Spencer Amend The Backcast is the monthly newsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters Editorial content does not necessarily reflect the views of the officers, board or members of the Wyoming Fly Casters. Annual dues are $20 for an individual, $30 for a family, or $250 for a lifetime individual membership or $450 for a life- time family membership. Visit the club website at www. wyflycasters.org. To pay dues or contact the club, write to P.O. Box 2881, Casper, WY 82602. The deadline for submission of information for each issue is a week before the end of the month. Make contributions to the next issue by e-mailing material to the Backcast editor at secretary@wyflycasters.org or call (307) 2671903. The Backcast is available either in electronic format or through USPS snail mail. To receive each newsletter through a monthly e-mail, you must be able to open .pdf (Adobe Acrobat, a software program available free of charge) documents. Usually, each issue is roughly 1 MB in size, some are larger. Your e-mail provider may have limits on the size of attachments. In order to be added to the e-mail list, send a request to secretary@wyflycasters.org. In addition to receiving each issue of the newsletter earlier than your hard copy peers, e-mail subscribers are able to print each copy in vibrant color -- an added plus if the issue is rich in color photographs. By sub-scribing electronically, you also save the club roughly $17.40 a year in printing and postage expenses.
Front Cover : Photo by Lee Wilson, 2014; Back Cover : Photo by Lee Wilson, 2014
NEW MEMBERS!
If you haven’t already, call Joe Meyer at 307-235-1316. He’ll give you pointers and advice to make sure you catch The big one! Mission Statement: The mission of the Wyoming Fly Casters is to promote and enhance the sport of fly fishing and the conservation of fish and their habitat.
Description:
The Wyoming Fly Casters club was formed in 1974. The membership currently consists of approximately 160 members. The WFC was organized by a group of dedicated fly fishermen and since the club’s inception the Wyoming Fly Casters have strived to further the sport of fly fishing through conservation and education. Conservation of our water resources is one of our primary goals and in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department we have and will continue to carry out worthwhile projects for the benefit of Wyoming fisheries. In addition to conserving Wyoming’s water resources we encourage conserving the fish themselves. A fish safely released today will live to give sport to others. For easy access to digital version of newsletter go to: www.wyomingflycasters.org
Wyoming Fly Casters
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President’s letter Hello Fellow Flycasters!
As we approach the doldrums of a long winter there are plenty of ways to help the time “fly” by and along the way get some good information as to catching more fish. First on the list is to attend the next general meeting November 12, 2014. Our own Kelly Kukes will be our featured speaker. Kelly will tell us all about the ecology of trout streams. We can all learn from this and I am sure all will enjoy her presentation. Next on the list will be Lyin' and Tyin'. These relaxed, hands-on workshops give us an opportunity to learn how to tie one or several flies as well as make new flyfishing friends. There is nothing as rewarding as later catching a fish on a fly that you tied! The sessions will start at 8:00 am. and to go noon. If 8:00 is too early on a Saturday, no problem. Just come a little later. The informative sessions are designed for ALL levels of fly tyers, from beginner to advanced. Joe Meyer along with his helpers will be there to instruct, guide and help the tyers. We will meet the first Saturday after our general meeting in November at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Building at 2211 King Blvd here in Casper. The workshops will be held each Saturday after our general meeting from November through March. Award winning flies can come out of these workshops! Next, if there is enough interest, we can put together a rod building glass. Let me know if you are interested and I'll see if I can work with the folks who teach it. Award winning poles have come out of these workshops too! As we move into December, let's all plan on attending our annual Christmas dinner. This will take the place of our general meeting and is a great way to meet other members and gather new ideas so we can catch that big lunker!! On January 1 we have the Polar Bear Flyfishing outing! Put it on your calendar. More information will be available next month. We also begin the Fish of the Month effort in January. This is a fun way to make sure you get out and catch at least one fish each month while fly fishing. You can get the form from Lee Tschetter or we will have a supply of them at our November and December meetings. It is surprising how many days are not too cold and the fish are hungry! I am planning to do it for sure this year. And last, but not least, I would like to extend a huge thank you to Casey Leary for being a supreme streamkeeper at our Miracle Mile outing. The fishing was great and so were the sandwiches. Thanks, Casey, for a job well done! It was enjoyed by all who came. As you can see, there are more than ample opportunities to gain new skills, information and have some good times. No more winter doldrums! I hope to see you at these get-togethers. In the meantime, Keep a taut line! Bob
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October 2014
We had 623 volunteers with 13 Wyoming Flycasters participating! We removed over 100,000 pounds of litter and debris including more than 50 tires. We protected over 750 high benefit trees by wire wrapping them.
Wyoming Fly Casters
2014 Robinder Outing
Thank you for great attendance this year! We had a great day- good food, good friends, and a fish or two!
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October 2014
Attention Fly Tyers! We are working on getting new members ready to hit the water, and we need your help! We are currently asking for the following flies so that Joe can add these to the new member packets. Each member will receive a few flies to welcome them to the club and get them started in the right direction. Here are a few of the flies we are looking for:
Pine Squirrel Leech Halfbacks Stimulator (See next page) Elk Hair Caddis Midges
Renegades San Juan Worms (various colors) Rock Worms Eggs Pheasant Tail Nymph
Flashbacks (pg 9) Bead-headed flashbacks
Wyoming Fly Casters
Eric’s Midge
Credit for this pattern, and images below go to Charlie’s Fly Box. If you have a minute, check him out on Facebook, and on his website - http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/
Start the thread a couple eye lengths back from the hook eye and tie in a sparse (about 1/5th of a strand) clump of gray Antron or Z-lon.
Hold the antron tight and wrap the Cut a strip of 1 mm black Razor Foam thread smoothly back over it to the that is about as wide as the hook gap. bend of the hook, making sure it stays on the top of the shank.
Tie the foam strip in at the bend of the Strip the butt of a slightly undersized hook with a few tight turns of thread. blue dun hackle feather and tie it in at the bend of the hook. Make sure the inside of the feather is either facing the shank or facing down.
Bring the thread forward to an eye length or so behind the hook eye, forming a smooth thread body as you go. Palmer the hackle feather forward with about six turns to the front of the body, tie it off and clip the excess.
Pull the foam strip forward over the top of the body and hackle and tie it down behind the hook eye. Trim the excess foam flush and wrap over its stub end.
Whip finish the thread and clip it. Cut the hi viz material a bit longer on the back and a bit shorter on the front, leaving plenty of material to see on the water.
Tie a small clump of brightly colored antron or McFlylon in on top of the thread head with a narrow band of thread.
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October 2014
WFC Board Meeting October 15, 2014 Members present: Bob Homer, Spencer, Lee Tschetter, John Yost, Lee Wilson, George Axlund, Joe Meyer, Cheryl Wilson. Members excused: Kelly Kukes Meeting called to order at 7:01 p.m. John motioned to approve prior meeting minutes. George seconded. All in favor Treasurer’s report: Lee explained that there will be a deposit within a few days of the meeting. He is waiting until there is more to deposit. There were clarifications for who the checks were written out to- they have been written in (see Treasurer’s report). Spencer motioned to approve the report. Joe seconded. All approved. Christmas party- we discussed price of the tickets and decided on $10 per person. The Blue Downey project has been put on hold. We discussed the fact that we raised money at the banquet for the project. There were additional stipulations placed on the project, and it was delayed. The project is still planned to happen, but it will be postponed. We would like to see what their current plan is, including a time line. The final decision was to put our commitment on hold. They will need to come back to the board and re-present their plan. Our commitment will expire in 12 months (October 2015). All in favor. Joe discussed the fact that we might not have a place for Lyin’ and Tyin’, should the Oil and Gas Commission become unavailable. They might limit the use of the building on the weekends. We still haven’t heard anything from Brad, the Eagle Scout. The only thing we have heard about the project is that there are donors looking to route their donations through the Foundation for tax purposes. We will start putting ads out for Lyin and Tyin in the paper, and possibly try to get back on the radio. We will have to make sure we will have a place to meet. Meeting Adjourned at 7:58 p.m. Cheryl Wilson
Wyoming Fly Casters
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Letter from the Editor
Flycasters, It seems like we actually have Autumn this year! It has been great fishing, and the colors have been fantastic. We went to the river at Speas last weekend and had a lot of luck! There were a few people out on the water that day. The Robinder outing at the Miracle Mile was also a great day. We had a great turnout. Lyin’ and Tyin will be starting up again soon- the first session will be the second Saturday of November- the Saturday after the general meeting. We will have more information at the general meeting in November. The Christmas party will be December 10th- tickets are $10 per person, and tickets will be available starting at the November general meeting. For more information, contact any board member.
Cheryl
My fishing buddy, Jack
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October 2014
OCTOBER FISHING HIGHLIGHTS
Check out this big Brown from a guide in Arkansas!
Anne and her Brown at the Miracle Mile
I caught a nice rainbow out at Speas for my Fish of the Month - October
Joe Meyer was selected as a winner in the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) national fly tying competition! His selection wins him a PHWFF expense paid trip to the National Fly Tying Symposium in New Jersey in November 2014. Congratulations Joe!
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Wyoming Fly Casters
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Calendar
October 2014
GENERAL MEETING 7:00 P.M.
LYIN’ AND TYIN’ 8:00 A.M.
BOARD MEETING 7:00 P.M.
A look ahead: • The Christmas party will be on December 10th.
Wyoming Fly Casters P.O. Box 2881 Casper, WY 82602
November 2014