Check This Isssue
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JANUARY 2015 OFFICIAL DESERT FLY CASTERS NEWSLETTER President's Drift Joe Staller • January 2015 I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and that Santa brought you that new high end rod, reel, waders, kick boat, etc. that you not only need----you deserve! This can be a tough time of year to fish, but I always try to get out a few times to the local lakes, so at the very least I can tell my fishing buddies from cold climates that I was out fishing for bass and crappies in my shirt sleeves while they were out shoveling snow. Heads up that our annual DFC banquet will be held Wednesday February 11, at the Knights of Columbus hall in Chandler. For the most part, it will be like our recent ban- quets with the board supplying turkeys, ham and ribs. We’re going to try something a little different this year though--we are asking member with names beginning A-F to bring a dessert, and those with names G-Z to bring a side dish. The DFC banquet committee is hard at work to make this a great event, but we could use your help in soliciting donations from local businesses, as well as consider- ing making a donation on your own. This is the big annual fund raiser for our club, and helps fund the activities in our club. Your help is much appreciated! JANUARY It’s also not too soon to start thinking about giving back to the fly fishing community. The Desert Fly Wednesday, Casters do a great job for our members in providing education (fly tying, casting, rod building, fly fish- January 14, 2015 ing 101) as well as great monthly speakers (Skip Morris, Phil Rowley, flyfishingfood.com guys) and fun Chit-Chat: 5:30 • Dinner: 6:30 outings (White Mountains, Lee’s Ferry, the San Juan etc.) I’m hopeful that we have some folks in the club Meeting/Guest Speaker: 7:00 that are willing to step up and help us provide these services. You do not need to be an expert fly fish- erperson—enthusiasm and drive go a long way! Please contact me or other members of the board if you Elks Lodge would be interested. 1775 West Chandler Blvd. Chandler, Arizona 85224 Tight Lines, keep your powder dry, and zip up your tent door at night. Those mice are sneaky. Very sneaky. Joe Questions? Comments? ...Catch me at: [email protected]... [email protected] JANUARY DFC CLUB MEETING... Let's talk fly fishing with the DFC Trout Bums on Wednesday, January 14, 2015. Hook up with our resident master of peregrination & fisherman as Gentry Smith lays out our 2015 DFC Trout Bum activities, outings and stuff! Check this isssue... The real story of our Annual Banquet Deer Articles featuring: Ed Lawrence- Vince Deadmond 2015 DFC Education Classes Furled Leaders / Dick Brooks January Flies • WMLF Winter Update Charlie's DFC Banquet Update...and much, much more! Catch all of us DFC TROUT BUMS...We talk fish, we fish an' fish an' talk fish while enjoying the out-of-doors in Arizona! Desert Fly Casters I met Dwayne when I was fly fishing somewhere near Sedona. Dwayne ap- peared pretty confused with his red and green waynedeer collar, a batch DWAYNE of red berries in one hand and an old compass in the other. He stood on the bank at stream side watching as worked my old bamboo fly rod. It was DEER late November, as I remember, with this writing most of what went on 12 years ago. (DFC TROUT BUM) I had just ended my day on the stream, made my way back to the car, along the foot path and couldn’t help wonder to myself why Dwayne was following me. When I opened the trunk and sat down to take off my wad- ers, Dwayne finally trotted up close to me and asked me about the bam- CATCH US HERE: boo fly rod. I explained to him its history and of the gentleman who had built it special for me. What gives here? I was now talking to a deer, and Desert Fly Casters glad no one was around to see this strange encounter...who would be- Web Site lieve that me, of sound mind, spirit, and being sober, was talking to a deer! www.desertflycasters.com Dwayne wanted to buy the bamboo fly rod from me and asked kindly if President I would trade the red berries he had as payment. I of course was curious Joe Staller and asked why he wanted the fly rod. He informed me that he’d watched [email protected] other people fish and thought it was a fascinating sport. After all as he put it to me, he spends all of his time in the great-out-of-doors, so why not do Vice President some fly fishing? As I stood there looking at Dwayne with a wild expres- Michael Georgopapadakos sion on my face, an impulse bartering urge came to my mind. Quickly, I [email protected] accepted the berries as part of the trade and asked if he’d throw in his old compass too. He handed over the compass and he gave me a high hoof Secretary along with my hi-five as we cemented the deal on the spot. Helen Corson Now, at this writing, if I remember back to that moment, Dwayne had a [email protected] happy look on his face, but seemed puzzled as he tried to copy some of Treasurer the moves he had seen me make when casting the rod. I have to mention Harriet Georgopapadakos here he made a mess of the fly line and the fly that was attached to the [email protected] thin tippet material got hung up in his antlers. Looking back on this odd situation of standing next to a deer, I felt sorry Programs Some recollections for him and thought it would be wise if I mentioned that he should be- Gentry Smith while searching my gray come a member of a fly fishing club, where one could participate in cast- [email protected] matter in the attic of my mind ing instructions, among other activities to improve ones skills once on the streams. I also thought to myself, maybe Dwayne might fit in with some of Outings and our Annual Tom Horvath Banquet deer friend... the resident characters we have in the club. Dwayne didn’t miss a beat as mhorvath@reddenconstruc- I purposed this club idea to him. He thought the idea of becoming a real tion.com Trout Bum would set him apart from the dull life he had found along with his fellow waynedeer buddies. This he expressed with great pride knowing Membership he would have fellow fly fishing friends he’d eat berries with and talk of Dave Weaver trips near the streams he had known for most of his life. A change of pace [email protected] sounded good along with meeting new friends. This is where some of my memory is a little hazy. It was after my sugges- Website tion of club activities Dwayne mentioned needing a ride to where the club Bill Batchelor [email protected] was located. He conveyed to me that walking any paved roads was too deafening with his clomp-clomp hooves. It was not much of a problem to News Letter By Bob McKeon open my sun roof on the car, stuffing Dwayne in the passenger side sitting Robert McKeon DFC Trout Bum straight up, his head above the roof line. Carefully we pulled out of the [email protected] parking lot, watching for low branches then motored to Phoenix. We ran into a small snag aside from stopping at all “deer crossings,” as I of course had to make a pit stop at Sunset Point to take care of the coffee I’d consumed earlier that day. Dwayne sitting with his head sticking out from the sun roof really didn’t attract much attention as he sat waiting for Mark it down on your calendars! me. He was clever enough disguising himself by donning my sun glasses WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015 and tossing my western on top of one of his antlers. No one really both- ANNUAL DFC BANQUET ered us until I came out of the men’s room and found 2 highway patrol cars near by along with 2 officers in a somewhat animated conversation EARLY DONATIONS... deciding which one would approach the car and talk to the deer. As the Received to date a Creek Company officers turned towards their vehicles, their backs to me, I slipped in the car Sport XL pontoon, a Creek Company dropped it in reverse then turned the wheels towards the exits. Watching 420 float tube, miscellaneous fly the rear view mirror I noticed one of the large rigs backing out of a parking tying equipment, miscellaneous flies spot to continue their trucking journey. And, as it was the big rig blocked and several discount for various fly my view of any highway patrol wanting a car chase. fishing equipment. I did get Dwayne to our monthly club meeting and he was excited with meeting some of our club members, including a few of our resident char- Stay in touch with us, we need all acters who are always hanging around. He was very excited to hear that of your support for the yearly DFC we had an annual fund raising event close to Christmas that following Banquet.