President         Kenneth Baker                                                                                                   

V-President     Royce Feaster                             Chapter of the Southern Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers         

Sec./Tres.        Bill Heugel                                                                                                                  

http://freepages.outdoors.rootsweb.com/~wem1

 

October  2001

SCATTERSHOTS  

From The Prez

            We had a very interesting program at our September meeting.  Bill Heugel presented a talk and slides on a fishing trip he had just returned from where he fished for North Atlantic Salmon.  He also showed us some of the flies he used.  The presentation was very good.

           

The month started off with the annual club breakfast at the Ellen Trout Park pavilion.  Jay Renken was in charge and he cooked his famous “Pancakes”.  We also had biscuits and Royce Feaster’s Gravy.  I cooked sausage and Walter scrambled eggs.  I think the attendance count was 23 members and spouses.   Many brought fly rods and practiced casting.  A few even caught small bream.  I know all that attended had a good time.

           

Our next function was a tying class on Sept. 13^th at St. Cyprians Church.   The class was under the direction of Bill Heugel, who is the tying coordinator for the club.  He enlisted help from several members.  The club provided the material and I know we all enjoyed the session and learned something.  The session was attended by fifteen members and spouses.  We plan to have these classes often, and I urge you to avail yourself the opportunity to attend.  Our heart-felt thanks goes to Hugh Bell for offering the facility for this class.

           

The Forest Festival is going on as I write this article.  Once again several of us are manning a booth and tying flies.  I know the usual group will show up and represent our club.

 

            Due to the fact that the Southern Council Conclave will be October 5^th and 6^th at Mountain Home, Ark., and several of us will not only attend, but also will be leaving early, it was decided by the club members to cancel the October meeting.  I like forward to seeing you at the November meeting.

           

Club dues are now due.   Please bring your dues to the Nov. meeting or mail them to

PWFF,  P O Box 153651,  Lufkin, Texas,   75915-3651.

           

You are now able to get the newsletter off the PWFF web site.  We will e-mail the web address again so you may pull the newsletter anytime you want it.  For those that don’t have a computer, we will continue to mail out a copy to you, and to any other that prefers to get it thru the mail.  Just let Royce Feaster know if you want it by U S Mail.

           

We have several plans for the club for the coming year.  We will be presenting the events calendar soon.  We want the outings and other events to be what you, the members, want to have and will participate in.  This club is for all and not just a few.

           

We have ideas to revamp our Open House by making the day more our members.  I plan to utilize more of our club tyers along with a featured guest.  We will still have our casting contest along with our raffles and auction, and cook out lunch.  You will hear more about that soon.

           

I would really like to know what you as a member would like for our club to do.

            Should we have more outings?

Are you interested in more tying classes?

            What kind of programs do you like?

 

I have tried to cut down on club business so we can have more time to talk fishing.  These are just thoughts of things we can do if you like.  Let me know of anything else.

           

I would urge you first of all to participate in some of the activities.  I know you may not be able to be involved in everything the club schedules.  I know that not everyone ties flies.  No one is going to force you to tie.  I know several people who fly fish and never tie a fly.  I even know some who tie flies and never fish.

           

Again, we want this club to be your club.  Let us know your desires.

           

The Rendezvous is coming up and there are some changes this year.  I know there will be information in the newsletter so I will rely on it for any information you need.  I know it is at a different location for this year only.  I know if you attend it you will enjoy it.

           

As was stated in the last newsletter, Bill Heugel is the new fly tying coach for the club.  He will be glad to help you with any problems or questions you may have concerning your thing.  Also, Sonny Mahan is the casting coach.  Call him if you need help with casting problems.

           

As always remember, “A Bad Day Fishing Is Better Than A Good Day Working!”

 

FLYLINES

From the V-Prez

 

            As most of you know by this time, our club president, Kenneth Baker, suffered a heart attack early on the Sunday morning of September 23^rd .   He is doing well at home at this time.  He still is not finished with the hospital because there will be surgery later to correct the rest of the problem.  Cards can be sent to him at  208 Darlington, Lufkin, Tx 75901.   Home phone 936-632-1022.   Or better yet, go by and see him.   He isn’t going anywhere.

           

Rendezvous

By W. McLendon

 

It is nearly deer season again and that means Rendezvous!!! A true fly fisherman can give up a couple of days of the religious practice of pursuing the trophy prize to join his peers in a weekend of rest and recuperation. This year, we are moving Rendezvous to Lake Bistineau, about 50 miles east of Shreveport. Our usual location will be shut down for renovation for several months. Instead of the 5 bunkhouses we normally share, we will have 20 cabins that sleep 8 each. Everything else will be much the same.

For you newcomers, about 65 of us get together for an unorganized weekend of fun, eating and fly tying. We take our families so the kids and spouse can have a mini-vacation, in a very nice state park. Please visit our website http://freepages.travel.rootsweb.com/~wem1 for details.

I hope to see you there!

 

Texas Forest Festival

By W. McLendon

 

I would like to thank Hugh Bell, Jimmy Lee, Ken Baker, Royce Feaster, Bill Heugel, Jay Renken and Linda for volunteering to man our annual booth. We endured a little rain this year but managed to expose fly-fishing to the public again. We agreed to drop our fly rod casting feature so we can be relocated to a more favorable location next year. Casting forces us to an area where we are isolated somewhat from the people who frequent such demonstrations as ours. Our present location gets the flow of people to the Carnival but most are in a hurry to get on a ride rather than even look our way. Everyone donated their flies to the Texas Forestry Association’s annual fundraiser for Teacher Education of Forestry.

 

The Texas Forest Service had several kid projects to entertain the children with aquatic insect hunts and gold fish races for prizes. It might be time for us to modify our routine fly tying demonstration with something more suited to the kids. Please be thinking of ways we can make this event more fun and educational. We have a display of East Texas insect life cycles with matching flies we have tied for each stage in the lifecycle of the mayfly, dragon & damselfly, stonefly and caddis fly. There are also imitations of ants, grasshoppers, mice, frogs, grub worms, etc. Kids get interested in this part even when they are too young to understand tying a fly. If you like working with kids, please plan to join us next year and suggest some unique, inexpensive ways to make our booth the best we can have.

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Fly Tying Class

Its time to consider our next class and when to schedule it.  It will be on Dry Flies.  We will cover more about tails, wings, dubbing and hackle. These flies are good for Bream, Trout, and Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass. 

Some of the future classes will include pencil poppers, foam flies, and saltwater flies  We can also go back and revisit the deer hair.   

Open House

We have talked much about the desire to reorient this spring activity to a club activity instead of an East Texas event on fly fishing.  Ken Baker asked us to consider a name change for the event.  After thinking about it, Walter and I came up with two names to be considered.  Fly Fishing Workshop or Fly Fishing Clinic.  Lets try and settle on a name at the next meeting.  Bring any thoughts you may have as well.

Dying to Dye?

At the soon to be renamed open house, we can dye some materials.  You need to be collecting duck feathers, squirrel tails and deer tails.  Then during that unnamed event, we could spend some time coloring those or others you have purchased or want to have a different color.  We have available in the quality dye, olive, black and yellow.  We might even try some of the Rit Dye and the latest which is Kool Aid Dye.  This activity will require some preparation the night before in order to get the materials ready for the process. 
Lets talk about it at the November meeting.  I will if you will!!!!

Fly Tying Coach

Its now official, I am your fly tying coach.  Please call me or email me about any questions you may have.  I get to Lufkin and Nacogdoches at other than meeting nights and we could schedule some hands-on events during those times.  If I don’t know the answer, I know where to find it or who to ask.  Lets make this job work for all of us. 

Tying Tips

When adding materials such as chenille or tinsel to the hood place it under the hook shank.  This will eliminate any lumps that show on the top of the hook.  Makes the fly look better.  Also build transitions between materials of differing thickness.  For example when you put lead on the hook shank build a transition to the hook shank with thread at each end of the lead. 

Lets Build Rods

How would you like to build yourself or some lucky friend or relative a custom rod?  We have members who have all the skills.  It would take a few nights to work on it and maybe some time at home.  By working together we can save some money on the cost of bulk materials like glue, thread, and tools.

The cost of the rod would depend on the quality of the blank, guides, grip and reel seat.  Prices can start around $50.00 for the H&H beginner rods and go up from there.  Hook and Hackle has blanks from Pacific Bay, St Croix and Diamondback  in two piece and 4 piece rods.  In addition to the standard rods, there are some with spigot ferrules. 

There are other rod blanks available from other catalogs suppliers including NetCraft and Cabelas.  You might also want to rework some old rod you have.  The techniques we will employ are not limited to fly rods.  Casting and Spinning rods could also be built or reworked.

Come to the meeting in November and lets talk about it and see about scheduling the activity.