Miami Valley Fly Fishers, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the the improvement and preservation of fly in Ohio. Our goal is cleaner water and brighter streams. TIGHTLINES The Monthly Newsletter of the Miami Valley Fly Fishers

Next Meeting President's Thoughts June 10, 2019 Dayton FOP Shelter / Casting Pond 4275 Powell Road (Directions on Website)

NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED Meal Price - $10.00 The fun starts at 5:30 p.m.

P.O. BOX 151 Join us for our next outdoor meeting and Wright Brothers Station enjoy a grilled meal, camaraderie, and the Dayton, Ohio 45409 casting competition!

MVFF OFFICERS Hello Friends, President Ohio Power 2019 Sam Brown You still have time to make it to the 2019 Ohio We had a great turnout for the May meeting, in (937) 546-2106 Power Trip! (Most members are getting this spite of the weather and some equipment glitches. [email protected] newsletter electronically by May 29th.) The There were five new members and several guests Vice President dates are May 31 - June 2. MVFF members in attendance. The casting competition started Eric Rice will be in campsite C – most likely down the and our resident casting instructor, Bill Bennett (937) 215-2046 lane in the shade near the second restroom was out in the field helping members improve their [email protected] (outhouse). We will place MVFF signs in skills. The summer meetings are a great time to Secretary trailers so you know where we are camped and invite guests to mingle with members, see what Karen Via in cars that will be parked to hold spots for we are all about and find out how much fun we all (937) 620-7863 members to use. Saturday morning will be the have. [email protected] big Camp Pancake Breakfast cooked by your Mike Wolford has informed me, he will be Treasurer hosts. Feel free to bring anything to contribute. traveling and not able to attend the July 8th Kathy Williams Saturday evening we will have a potluck fish (937) 623-8283 meeting. We will need someone to take over the fry. Be sure to bring something to share for [email protected] Quartermaster duties for July. If you are this big meal! If you have never been to this interested, see Mike at the June meeting. Chaplain event, you will not be disappointed! The June 10th meeting should be interesting. With Shawn Johnson All the details can be found in the May the Canada and Ohio Power trips the first week of (937) 287-4480 Tightlines. [email protected] June, there will be a lot of tall fish stories. Come out and hear about the big one that got away. Website www.mvff.us Congratulations to Looking for some opportunities to wet a line with Spring Fling your fellow members? Check out the Club’s Editor Winners calendar for the schedule of Mid-Week Fly Tom Arnold Fishing. Ken Davy has the outings for the [email protected] Congrats to our April Spring Fling Raffle summer and fall updated. Winners: Rich Blankenship; Jeff Dusko; Clipart courtesy of the artist, The Madmen Chapter of TU is having an in- Dave Whitlock. Jana Champ; Jim Miller; Sam Brown; Nat stream water monitoring June 22nd from 9:00 a.m. www.davewhitlock.com Crossman; Karen Stokes; Sam Hudak; Dave to 1:00 p.m. They will be meeting at the Rte. 36 Brown; and Jim Calvert. ARTICLE DEADLINE FOR bridge. Check http://www.tumadmen.org/ NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE: A great raffle this year. Thanks again to Jana index.shtml for updates. June 24, 2019 Champ and Eric Rice in making this such an attractive and successful event. Continued on Page 2

June 2019 President's Thoughts (cont'd) Mid-Week Update

Do you want to be a mentor to new members? Please contact Phil The mid-weeks have been going along well, but our turnout Clay with your contact information. His email is on the Contacts remains mediocre. Hopefully our locations for June will inspire page of our website. more anglers to come out. We will be starting out with Argonne Lake in Possum Creek MetroPark on June 5th. It is usually clear, As I am writing this article, I am preparing to head to Michigan to fish with lots of bluegills, some crappies and some bass. Soft hackle a few days with our January speaker, Matthew Supinski. I have wet flies and small poppers work well for the bluegills and the bass high hopes to hit the big spring hatch for big Browns and maybe a respond well to woolly buggers and light-colored streamers. I few Steelhead on the Muskegon River. I am going through my list of have never been able figure out the crappies, so there’s a items to pack, listening to the news of high water we have now and challenge for somebody. how much we have had this spring. Make sure to be safe out there. On June 19th, we will be visiting the pond in Delco Park, in Be cautious wading and use your life jackets when floating. Kettering. There are lots of bluegills, crappie and largemouth bass Sam Brown here. Poppers and dark nymphs work well for the bluegills, dark MVFF President nymphs and small streamers will take the crappies, and the bass like large streamers and crawdad imitations will take the most Notes from the Library bass with poppers being just a little less effective. June 2019 Come on out and give these great spots a try! “Where is the Library?” he asked as we sat shoulder to shoulder ~ Ken Davy to find some warmth as much as space on the picnic table beneath the pavilion cover. New to the club and already showing interest Mid-Weeks Through November! in weekly fishing outings, club charity efforts, and the library’s possibilities he was taking notes. I explained that the library did Ken Davy has put together the entire schedule through November (see indeed exist and at a “normal” club meeting was available for remaining events below). Lots of fishing opportunities to take advantage perusing and checkout. I began to think about how we present of. The schedule is posted on our Calendar page, on the Events section of and use this unique collection of resources. Many in the club our Facebook page and you can get a copy here. have their private library that fits the their style, place, or From 4:30- 6:30 (maybe later) equipment for fishing. Some often suggest articles they have June 5 Argonne Lake https://goo.gl/maps/MLHELSRKFWG2 read or videos they have seen that they hope the club would enjoy June 19 Delco https://goo.gl/maps/aXCokwwysk42 and benefit from also. These we work to add to the club July 11 Rosewood https://goo.gl/maps/PQ8qvVRFmsv collection with gratitude. How do we encourage use? In this day July 24 Carriage Hil https://goo.gl/maps/Wbdj69nAeGF2 and age where everything, literally, is available by accessing the August 8 Oak Grove https://goo.gl/maps/zywbET8cY4k Internet from our computers, tablets, and phones why is it August 21 Arthur O. Fisher https://goo.gl/maps/iCmP3AenTQv important to have a physical library? My wife, the good-looking September 5 Deeds Park Dam https://goo.gl/maps/U8ksmCDp2CG2 lady that brings you the library news at club meetings, has September 18 Dr. Michael Bowers Lake https://goo.gl/maps/kdQRjFdszut October 3 Crains Run https://goo.gl/maps/RFahVEJRGXK2 worked in a university records office for nearly thirty years. For October 17 Twin Creek- Lake George https://goo.gl/maps/mekPs3v7j5y the last ten years they have diligently moved the entire schools October 31 Carriage Hill https://goo.gl/maps/Wbdj69nAeGF2 records (over 100 years) onto digital formats, yet the basement is November 29 The Black Friday Blast: full of file cabinets of printed records. Though we have passed West Liberty-Lions Park https://goo.gl/maps/Nb9D4yaK9j32 into an era of vast electronic information gathering and access we 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. remain a generation skeptical of that information’s physical security. What does that have to do with a library dedicated to the art of fly-fishing? Simply that knowledge in any format may be lost. Having that information in multiple formats, print and electronic, is added security for its access and survival. Then there are us old fishermen who just simply have to wear bifocals after years of reading fine print! Here are a few easy rules for accessing and using this treasure we call the MVFF Library. 1. Access a. Call or text Cindy or I and request a copy of the catalog (Our info is on the Contacts page.) b. E-mail us a request c. Look up the catalog on the MVFF website 2. Use a. Attend the monthly meeting and checkout a periodical, book, or DVD b. E-mail us a request and we will arrange to get the periodical, book, or DVD of your interest to you between meetings. Cindy and I will not be at the June club meeting since we will be looking for inspiration and trout in the western states of Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado. We will be following club activities on-line and where the mountains allow us to receive e-mail. All requests will be filled by the July meeting. Check it out. J.W.

www.mvff.us Page 2 Madam X June Instructions by Bill “Woody” Woodward Fly of the Photography by Bob Cain Recipe Month Hook…….…Dry, size 10 – 12 Thread….….Black, Olive, Yellow, or White 6/0 Tail…………Elk or Deer Hair Body……….Thread Wing……….Elk or Deer Hair 1. De-barb the hook and place it in your vise. Legs………..White or Yellow round rubber

2. Tie in the thread at the middle of the hook shank and wrap it back 5. Continue wrapping the thread over the body between the tail tie-in to over the hook barb. point and the hook eye until you have a fairly even body. End with 3. Select, cut, clean and stack a small quantity of elk or deer hair as a the thread approximately 1/8” to 1/4 “ behind the hook eye. This is tail. Measure the tail to equal the hook gap, then tie it in over the where you will tie down the hair in the next step. hook barb. (Be sure to keep the hair on top of the hook shank. If 6. Now pull the hair wing tips extending over the hook eye back over necessary, take a wrap of thread around the hair before tying it in.) the fly body forming a nice bullet head. (Try to pull the hair back up Wrap over the hair butts for approximately the rear 3/4 of the hook on top of hook shank as you form the bullet head.) Once you are shank, then trim off the excess hair butts. (You don’t want the hair tail satisfied with the bullet head, take the thread and make 3-4 firm to flare too much, so use slightly looser thread wraps at first, then wraps of thread to tie down the hair. tighten the wraps as you cover the butts.) Wrap the thread forward to 7. Cut two strips of round rubber legs about 2” long. Tie one strip on right behind the hook eye. each side of the fly at the same point as you tied down the wing. 4. Select, cut, clean and stack a slightly larger quantity of hair to Keep the thread wraps together in the same place. serve as a wing. Measure this hair wing to equal the distance from 8. Do a whip finish over the thread wraps binding down the legs and the end of the tail to right behind the hook eye. This next step is very cut the thread. important - trim the hair, removing the butts, to equal this distance. Lay the wing hair (with the tips pointing out over the hook eye and the 9. (OPTIONAL) If you wish to add an indicator, at the end of step 7, evenly cut butt ends touching against the end of the wrapped tail take a small piece of Glo Bugs Yarn (any color) and tie it on top of the butts) on top of the hook shank and tie it in right behind the hook eye fly at the same point as the legs with 2-3 thread wraps. Then after and then wrap the thread back over the wing butts toward the hook completing the whip finish in step 8, clip the yarn short and tease it bend. Allow the wing hair to spin slightly around the hook shank. (At out into a nice full round shape. this point, the tail butts and the wing butts should form a fairly even 10. Trim the legs so that the two rear legs stretch back to the end of body.) the tail. The front legs should be slightly shorter in length.

A Chain of Species Destruction at Yellowstone

(An interesting article by Richard Conniff that was published in The New York Times on May 13th - Tightlines Editor)

The havoc caused by stocking the park’s lake for sport fishing ravaged ospreys, pelicans, bald eagles, grizzly bears and the lake’s own native cutthroat trout. is a pastime in which people have come to expect the fish they want in the places they happen to want them. That is, they want their fish stocked and ready to catch, even in places those fish never originally lived. This practice can seem harmless, or even beneficial. But the introduction of one “beneficial” species in Yellowstone National Park suggests how rejiggering the natural world for human convenience can cause ecological disaster for almost everything else.

All it took at Yellowstone Lake, the 136-square-mile centerpiece of the park, was the introduction of lake trout, a fish originally found mainly in the Northeast and Canada and beloved by anglers everywhere. The federal government had transplanted them to smaller lakes within the park in the 1890s, a time when planting fish in remote fishless lakes seemed like a smart way to spread around America’s amazing abundance. But a century later, in 1994, the introduced species turned up in Yellowstone Lake, which was already celebrated for its own native Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Park managers theorized that an angler illegally introduced the fish, either by accident or in the misguided belief that it would improve a big lake with plenty of potential for further sportfishing. One result is that anglers now catch 20,000 lake trout a year there.

But the lake trout went on to gorge on the young of the cutthroat trout, and the population of the native subspecies plummeted. . . read more (the full link is https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/opinion/fishing-species-extinction-yellowstone.html)

www.mvff.us Page 3 Casting Competition News! The outdoor meetings are well under way, which means it’s time to test those casting skills. Come on over and cast a bit…regardless of your skill level. The only thing required to participate in the casting events is for you to show up. You don’t even have to own a fly rod (although, if you do, you can cheat by practicing at home – just don’t tell the judges; they might, no – they will – give you a hard time). There is no age requirement or limit, no height requirement, and no previous casting experience is needed. Everyone is welcome! CASTING COMPETITION CUT-OFF TIME Casting will be held ONLY from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM. No casting will be allowed after 7:00 PM. The cut-off time will help ensure we are not holding up the meeting with scoring, etc., so come on over and cast early. It should hopefully allow us enough time to eat dinner too.

Judges Comment: If NO Participants are at the casting location, at our discretion, we may close up BEFORE the 7:00 PM deadline.

The May competition was eventful, to say the least. The results were as follows :

In the First Flight, the winner was Kelly Kingery.

In the Seniors Division, there was a three-way tie for first, which is to say that three of us competed and none of us hit a single ring. We spoofed to decide who would get the box and the decision went to Sam Hudak.

The Masters Division had a clear winner even though two competitors scored 96. Dan Matousch took the division by hitting two gold rings.

Casting Competition – this month is the Nymph

Here are the rules for casting the nymph:

You will start with the fly in target #2.

You will pick up the fly and have unlimited false casts to target #1. You will then only be allowed 1 (one) false cast to each remaining target.

Casting Competition Guidelines:

The monthly competitions, Divisions, and scoring guidelines can be found on the club website at the following link: http://mvff.us/Reference/MVFF_Casting_Competition_Guidelines.pdf

Remember - although we do keep score and everyone would like to win, the real point of doing this (other than to just have a good time) is to improve our casting abilities.

Good Luck!

Bob Zitney Ken Davy

Here's a photo of a just out of her The other thing I would like to say is that I will be stepping down shuck. Taken in to allow someone else to have an opportunity to run the Beavercreek on competitions with Bob Zitney. While I do enjoy running the 5/17/2019. You can casting, it does conflict with other things I do for the club. I also see a clearer image at find myself having trouble doing some of the things that are http://mvff.us/Album/ necessary to run the games, since I don’t move like I used to you Mayfly.jpg some years ago. I remember putting out a call for a replacement ~ Bill Bennett in the October 2018 issue of Tightlines, but now my call really needs an answer.

Please let me know ([email protected]) or get with Sam.

Thanks.

~ Ken Davy

www.mvff.us Page 4 Project Healing We had a great outing at Tom's Pond on May Waters Fly 18th. Fishing was particularly good in the morning. A very pleasant day and a good Fishing Update turnout. Additional fishing outings are being planned and we hope to have a schedule out very soon. With outings to be held throughout the spring, summer and fall we will need help from MVFF members to provide guidance and oversight. As always, these fishing outings are for the vets to fish and for us to teach and assist in MVFF & Dayton VAMC any way we can to make the vets’ experience

a positive one. MVFF members who are volunteering are not to fish. May 18th outing at Tom's Pond If you would like to get involved in MVFF's Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing program, contact Nathan Via - his contact information is on the Contacts page of our website.

Note: At our May meeting, we reminded members that if you will be volunteering in any way for Project Healing Waters you need to be registered with the National PHW volunteer database. We will bring our club computer to the next meeting, and as long as we can get internet access or borrow a hotspot, we will be registering folks. If we can get a new link to the registration site, we will provide that to members so they can also register after the meeting. We sincerely thank everyone for cooperating with this new PHW requirement, and look forward to working with everyone in support of our disabled vets! Thanks, Nathan Via, PHW Project Lead and Karen Via

CALENDAR Thank you so much to everyone who responded to our call for help by making and donating flies to use for our new member May 31 - June 2 Ohio Power Trip packets! We got some great flies and should be ready to June 1-8 Canada Fishing Trip welcome new members through the end of the year!

June 5 Mid-Week Fly Fishing Thanks everyone, Argonne Lake ~ Karen Via, Club Secretary 4:30 p.m.

June 8 Little Miami River Kleeners Clean Sweep 8:30 a.m. - Noon Little Miami Events A link to some Little Miami River June 8 Little Miami River Festival Bellbrock Park events. Noon - 3:00 p.m. http://lmriverkleeners.org/news- and-events.html June 10 MVFF Outdoor Meeting Dayton FOP Shelter/Casting Pond A clean-up and river festival are up next . . . 4275 Powell Road Little Miami River Kleeners Clean Sweep, Saturday, June 8, 5:30 p.m. 2019, 8:30 a.m. to Noon. Registration required. Rain date is June 19 Mid-Week Fly Fishing June 22. If the river is too high to paddle both June 8 and June Delco Park 22, we will still clean along the river by foot. We have several 4:30 p.m. locations that require bank cleaning.

June 22 Madmen Chapter of TU - In-stream water monitoring River Festival, Saturday, June 8 at Bellbrock Park. 12:00 p.m. 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. FREE. This event will take place rain or shine. Meeting at the Rte. 36 bridge Hosted by LMRK and Bellbrook Sugarcreek Parks.

June 24 Deadline for July Tightlines articles Help! Check the MVFF Calendar page or our I need material for this newsletter. So if you have been on a fishing Facebook Events page for updates & details trip and want to write an article and share pictures, please send info https://www.facebook.com/MiamiValleyFlyFishers/ my way. Maybe you have tactics, equipment tips or some other knowledge you would like to share. We would welcome the Remember, you can find many photos of MVFF contributions. If you have ideas on what you would like to see in happenings on our Facebook page. Tightlines let me know. My contact information is on page 1. https://www.facebook.com/pg/MiamiValleyFlyFishers/photos/ Thanks. ~ Tom Arnold, Editor

www.mvff.us Page 5 ! Cross Pointe Shopping Center 101 E Alex Bell Rd #140 Centerville, OH 45459 (937) 938-5009

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MVFF P.O. Box 151 Wright Brothers Station Dayton, Ohio 45409

MVFF is an Affiliate Club of Fly Fishers International