Website: www.wffc.com Member of

MMXXI No. 2 February, 2021 2021 WFFC Budget. President’s What to go ? Dave Schorsch will begin pub- Riffle lishing a monthly “Do-it-Yourself” Outing recommen- Have you got your dation until we can start holding Club Outings once vaccination shot yet? again. His first DIY fishing opportunities overview is Being in the B1 age included in this Creel Notes edition [pages 4 & 5] and group, I have had my it is terrific! first shot and will get I hope to see you all at the February 16th Zoom my second shot later Monthly Meeting. At that meeting I will give a short this month. Hopefully all of you will be able to receive report on what the outlook for the club to resume your shot(s) by the end of this summer so we may be in person Dinner Meetings, Outings and Education able to get together once again to go “fishing” in the Classes this year. Following the business part of our Fall and hold the Christmas Holiday Fundraiser in meeting, David Williams will be the zoom meeting’s December. speaker and will talk to us about the where and how to At the February 2nd Board Meeting, the proposed catch bass in Eastern Washington. 2021 WFFC Revenue and Expenses Budget was pre- Don’t forget to pay your 2021 WFFC Dues, they are sented and approved by the Board. It will be presented only $40 this year! to the membership for approval or rejection by an Stay Safe, get your vaccine shot and Tight Lines - emailed ballot at the end of this month, per the WFFC Jim Goedhart WFFC President Bylaws requirements. To view the proposed 2020 WFFC Revenue and Expenses Budget, log into the Members Only wffc. com website, click on the BOARD & COMMITTEE Inside this Issue MEMBERS pictured tile, then scroll down the page to the MOST RECENT WFFC FINANCIAL section Page 3 Boyd Aigner and then click on “February” within the 2021 WFFC FINANCIALS ARCHIVE. Competition Rules Please read over the 2021 Budget Assumptions that the Board agreed upon for establishing this Page 4-5 DYI Outings year’s Budget. The budget is greatly impacted by the COVID-19 WA group gathering restriction. Our hope is that we will be able to hold in person events during Page 6-7 Klosterman Cleans Out the latter part of this year. the Attic, Finding Club All Active and Senior WFFC Members will receive e-ballot, in the last week of February, to vote on the History very cold upper surface water will Fishing Report sink and upwell the warmer bottom Creel Notes water. When this occures you may Getting Ready for Spring start to see rising fish more often is the official publication of the and you need to revert to upper Washington Club. Now that everyone is over the water levels but not necessarily the Subscription is free with membership. election and are tired of Covid surface. President news ,lets focus on the spring fish- As far as equipment goes you Jim Goedhart ing season. will need a full sink line for deep What should one do to get and a dry line with a long 1st Vice President (Membership) ready? I usually start by under- leader to fish chronomidges. Dexter Brown standing that fishing will start Check our your supply of pat- off slowly because of cold water terns and consider some new ones 2nd Vice President (Programs) Neal Hoffberg temperatures. Therefore the method like the “boobie” or even a “ mop to have any early success is finding fly” these are described in youtube 3rd Vice President (Christmas the warmer water. There are many videos . Party) search methods but a thermome- One additional thing you need Lily Cutler ter is a good start . Now look for to do always is sharpen your hook water in the warmest areas. The points. Often the “take “in cold Treasurer next approach would be to fish water is very subtle so a sharp hook David Spratt very deep and slowly as the fish are can make a big difference in catch- usually on the bottom for much of ing rate. Secretary early spring. The selection of flies One last bit of advice is “ always Deborah Katz is simple as chronomidge flies in “ wear a life jacket ! Cold water Ghillie 1 either the bloodworm or pupa form is a killer and the shock of going Marsha Kindinger are a good choice. Next is a wooly- overboard will cause you to gasp, bugger or leech pattern again fished ingesting water. Ghillie 2 deep and “ slow” . Remember This is a quick overview but a Ben Porter insects aren’t fast movers either. little research into other sources As spring time progresses a lake will enhance your knowledge. Creel Notes Editors will turn over . This is where the Chuck Ballard David Ehrich [email protected] Conservation Angler Shares Agenda Trustees John Gravendyk, Past President; January 2021 was hectic! The • Evaluated emerging natural John Narver ‘21; James Young ‘21; Conservation Angler hit the ground resource proposals and agency Greg Crumbaker ‘22; Dick Brening ready to go. budgets, sharing our findings with ‘22; Tom Neu ‘23; Gary Bergquist ‘23 Oregon legislative committees and • Testimony helped send poorly other advocates. formed Oregon regulations for non- mal sanctuaries to protect native management back • Urged the OR Fish & Wildlife wild steelhead and salmon using to the drawing board. Commission to consider a broader cold water refugia along the Co- evaluation of hatchery facilities and lumbia at select Washington rivers. • Joined with allies before the operations in watersheds affect- Washington Legislature in support ed by September wildfires on the Thank you for your support! of critical conservation angling Santiam, McKenzie and North Pete Soverel, David Moskowitz and regulations protecting Olympic Umpqua Rivers. Sarah Lonigro Peninsula wild steelhead, pushing back against unsupported allega- • Asked the Washington Fish and tions against WDFW staff. Wildlife Commission to adopt ther- Page 2 “At last month’s meeting we rec- listen except for dogs barking in On the Fly ognized Jim Goedhart, Neal Hoff- the background. Greg helped us get berg, David Ehrich, Lily Cutler, once again to that place where sci- Going Virtual Dick Brening, and Chuck Ballard ence, and experience, history come for outstanding service in guiding into confluence, in other words, the by David Ehrich the Club and keeping the Mem- WFFC. Global thinkers asked what bers engaged during the covid-19 can we do to help? January 19, 2021 pandemic.” Donnations. More pragmatic Our speakers tonight included anglers wanted to know, where can Lo and behold, Sarah Cloud, ExO of the Deschutes we fish now? Fish the pockets after I attended my first River Alliance and President, Greg riffles, mid-day with emergers. virtual WFFC meeting. Perhaps McMillan. Greg titled his presen- you too have been reticent, over tation “Cooler, Cleaner H2O” or WFFC Fly Tiers zoomed, or just plain shy. But, take their goal for the Deschutes River my word; it ain’t bad. system. Hopefully the covid-19 thing is The meeting started with warm Greg started with the science winding down, but we still have greetings, shared humor, and a few after a brief introduction from Sar- idle hands. To keep them occupied, faces I haven’t seen in some time. ah. What used to be on the Lower I can think of nothing better than Taking us to task, President Goed- Deschutes: a vigorous salmon fly tying flies. hart, reviewed a very successful hatch, clear water, a variety of So, the 2021 Boyd Aigner Fly and optimistic budget. One advan- year-round hatches, clean rocks Tying Competition is underway. tage of sitting at home tying flies holding larvae. What is now: algae Here are the patterns: instead of going to meetings and growth on rocks, murky waters, UV resin gammarus shrimp, size 8 outtings is we save money. We also and golden-brown slime from Flying carpenter ant, size 12 shared in making this Christmas nuisance algae choking nymphs. In Royal humpy, size 12 fundraiser a great success behind other words, near total collapse. the great efforts of Lily Cutler, The culprit? The usual; the damn Flies will be due at the time of who took home a small present Round Butte dam. Closing off the the April 20th Members’ Zoom from the club for her efforts. All wild water of the warm Crooked Continued on Page 5 told, the budget is solid, dues have and cold Metolius rivers, engineers been reduced for now, and the club built a tower to take fish down Club Aims and Purposes is looking for ways to support the the dam, inadvertently taking the fly-fishing community warm, dam heated water off the The purpose of this club shall be: Bill O’Neal chaired an un- top, while the healthy cold water of 1. To improve and increase the sport usual Awards Night. As far as I the mountain born Metolius river of Fly Fishing in the State of Washington. could tell, I was the only one who sits at the bottom of the lake. showed up in the mandatory formal All of us know the dangers of 2. To promote and work for the attire. I won’t tell you what I had betterment of trout streams and rising water temperatures to our lakes. on below the screen, but I did don favorite game fish, but few imag- the “mandatory” formal wear. ined the total collapse brought on 3. To encourage and advocate the con- servation and increase of trout, In a season with constraints by algae choked waters. steelhead, and salmon in state galore, the club recognized a few Unlike similar crisis around the waters. people who had made things hap- salmon rivers of the NW, there is 4. To promote a campaign of education pen in 2020. a simple solution; bottom draw against pollution in streams, lakes Bill Neal notes, “The only “stan- or Sound waters of the State of to meet their goal of cold, cleaner Washington. dard” award for the year 2020 was water. the Boyd Aigner Flytying Com- Lively and intelligent questions, 5. To encourage and assist others — particularly young persons of high petition, the winner being Chuck as per usual, ensued, but with the school age—to become fly fishers Ballard. Zoom advantage that everyone and true conservationists. has to listen, or at least pretend to Page 3 growth rates of fish that are already and adjacent to Crab creek, spring DYI Outings there. Some have browns are to be had. regs, like Munn, Gibb, and Cady, others have general regulations, but For the stream fisher who isn’t An installment on the requested produce really well. Nahwatzel, afraid of some exploration, the monthly “do it yourself” fly fishing for instance produces some really wasteways of the Columbia basin here in the northwest. I will try to big fish. An easy way to find these provide open, fairly warm water! do time appropriate suggestions, lakes and more, is the wdfw web- There are literally miles of spring while not too specifically “hot spot- site. Go to fishing, then stocking creek type streambank to hike ting” specific, sometimes sensitive, reports, then run through the list. along, with trout hiding in some . Cross check with the regs, to avoid of the more fishy looking spots. the inevitable madhouse at the put Again, google earth is your friend. Yep. Here it is. February. Cold, and take spots. Frenchman hills wasteway looks wet,windy. You have been trapped like a montana creek in places, indoors, both by covid and the sea- You will need a floating vessel and harbors some ridiculously son. What to do with that fly rod or device, , boat, pon- huge trout, although they can be in the closet, and the beside toon, to fish a lake. Period. This far between. I don’t think I’ve it? Simple answer, go fishing. time of year, a full sink line and met any of the big browns yet (up fairly buggy, “swimmy” flies like close) but three pound rainbows are The late winter and early spring woolley buggers, lake damsels, and a daily occurrence. Some are much have evolved into one of my fa- mohair leeches work great. Once bigger! This is ground water from vorite times on the water. Options in a while, on a sunny day, you seasonal irrigation, so the early include desert streams, tidal estu- might get a chironomid “buzzer” spring is when the wasteways are aries, and lakes successfully man- hatch, usually over deep water, low, and the shorelines passable. aged as winter quality waters. Big so bring a dry line rigged rod for Later, after April, they turn into rivers may be an option for those standby. This is the time of year huge trout growing swamps, and diehards that want to swing a spey that I get the biggest fish, with the the fish are safe until next winter. fly for late running native steel- least competition. Bring your big trout streamers! head, but some of us would rather We’ve had luck with Dali Lamas, catch something. For those of you who just don’t gold bead buggers, and clousers. like fishing in the rain, ( me some- Occasionally I see a fish sipping The first thing to take into ac- times) you can head east. Just tiny bugs under a bush. Spooky count is the reality of the weather. remember the statement above is the word for these guys, so dry For winter fishing in our local qual- about weather! Sunny and cold fly guys bring your “A game”. PS ity waters lakes, that means having is the rule! For the lakes that are good hiking wading shoes a plus. some comparatively stable weather open year round and the Columbia for a few days so the lake can settle Wildlife refuge lakes that open For the salt; a lot of the fish we down into layers, and the fish can March 1, remember that open does normally chase are overwintering go back to acting normal instead of not mean unfrozen! That’s a long in the streams. Immature (non riding out windblown mixing and way to drive (and hike) to find a spawning) cutthroat are around inches of cold rainwater running in. sage brush ice rink. That being the rocky shorelines, and feeder said, many of those little lakes are coho can be fun when you get into Lakes managed for winter fishable from shore with waders, them. A dry line and long leader fishing around here include Lost and right after the ice breaks up can ending in a bright attractor fly is (mason county), Nahwatzel near be gangbusters fishing! Check out my choice. My favorite is a bright Shelton, Gibb and Leland (Jeffer- Quail lake, and the dozens of ponds orange (almost yellow) body, hack- son county) and many more. All in that area. Google is a great tool. le, and tail, with an arctic fox white the lakes managed in this way get Another sleeper for after the ice wing topped with a few strands of late season and early season plants, is out is Homestead Lake north of chrome flashabou. As for where as well as having outstanding Moses Lake. About a mile walk in, to go, I have some actual good Page 4 advice... Skip where the fly shop Marlon Rampy will Headline Northwest Fly Fishing, the Drake and CATCH Magazine. tells you to go (along with the other Next Month’s Meeting twelve dozen guys fishing Olalla Marlon is the head guide at the Some of the largest trout in the beach) and check out a resource Lonesome Duck Lodge on the banks mainland 48 states are quietly swim- I’ve found for beach exploration. of the Williamson River. To see more ming, finning and eating in the spring- of his images visit his website: www. Don’t tell the “guide community” fed rivers and lakes of southern flyfishoregon.com but on the wdfw website, under Oregon’s Klamath Basin. Our April shellfishing is a list of maps of pub- presenter, Marlon Rampy, will show On The Fly continued lic oyster and clam digging beach- us all about this fantastic fly fishing meeting. If reasonably possible, es. All excellent cuttroat spots, as playground. we will have judging done by they are undeveloped, and lack the Marlon’s presentation will be a the members. Or if not, we will super destructive “” multi-media composition with plenty adjust accordingly, similar to crap management seen all over the of photos, sound, scenery, music and what was done for 2020 with sound now. The maps show where yes, even some lovely fish. He will take us on a detailed journey thru the the judging done by a group of the access is, and the boundaries of Southern Oregon’s premier fly angling WFFC members. public land. You might find your opportunities. I encourage you all to partic- new favorite spot! Dont forget to Since its inception in 1995, Mar- ipate. Please contact me, and I look for beaches with small streams lon’s guide business, Wildwest Fly will assign a participation num- nearby. Fishing, has steadily gained a dedi- ber to you. We will have to work cated following as a quality fly fish- out the distribution of display Well, there’s my early spring list ing experience Marlon Rampy is a boxes and the submittal of flies of places to hide out, and maybe full time Guide in Oregon’s Klamath as things evolve. catch a fish. Good luck and tight Basin. lines! His passion for photography and guiding the Basin since 1995, has lead Thanks, Bill Neal him to many wonderful photo ops. (c) 206.245.3614; Dave Schorsch His photography has been published in [email protected] Oregon Senator Wyden Seeks River Protection

We want to share some exciting news: today, but will beat Alaska as the state with the most Wild Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced legisla- and Scenic River miles. tion that is the biggest Wild and Scenic River bill in Celebrate Senator Wyden’s commitment and history. thank him for going big for rivers! Click to tweet Senator Wyden’s River Democracy Act of 2021 your support. would protect 4,702 miles of rivers and streams in Here at American Rivers, we’re working hard to Oregon – to safeguard sources of clean drinking wa- safeguard our last healthy, free-flowing rivers na- ter, boost the state’s outdoor economy, and improve tionwide -- and thanks to supporters like you, we’re recreation opportunities. making great progress. In recent months, Senator A federal Wild and Scenic River designation pro- Tester introduced the Montana Headwaters Legacy tects a river from dams and other harmful devel- Act that would protect more than 300 miles of Wild opment, safeguarding the river’s values today, and and Scenic Rivers. And Senators Heinrich and Udall for future generations. Senator Wyden crafted the introduced legislation to protect over 400 miles of legislation after an extensive public process result- the Gila, New Mexico’s last free-flowing river. ing in 15,000 nominations from Oregonians. Senator Your support is vital to protecting our nation’s Wyden received a tremendous amount of feedback last, wild rivers. Thank you for standing with us! from tribes, community members, businesses, an- For the rivers, glers, boaters and members of the public. David Moryc If the bill becomes law, Oregon will not only have Senior Director, Wild and Scenic Rivers and Public the most Wild and Scenic designations in the U.S., Lands Policy Page 5 has been gone for many years now Club History but if there was a nicer fellow than Ken I haven’t run into him. I first [Editor’s Note] Jim Kloster- started attending this outing in the man fulfilled a pledge to his wife mid 1960’s and I believe it may to clean out some old files. Here have started 15-20 years before he offers up some of the gems of that. Attached are four scanned memory and lens from days gone photos with the first from the 1983 by. Pass Lake outing and the next three from the 1986 outing. Chapter One: The Old Days Photo Left: Enos Bradner and un- known companions. Photo Top: Elliot Klosterman makes the best of a bad situation in this 1954 photo.

less one with a big grin. The photo of the 1954 Willys Wagon is from the late 1950’s. However, I do not know if this was on a club outing or who the other gentleman is. Knowing my father he was proba- In the first photo the three chow- bly trying to be the first individual hounds are Bruce Clingan, Lynn to drive a vehicle to some lake Gross and Ron Dion. The name of This photo of Enos Brader, the tucked back in the woods with no the chef escapes me. The following first president of the WFFC, stand- real road to it. three attached photos are from the ing on top of the picnic table ap- 1986 outing and many of the long pears to be from the 1950’s. Enos, Chapter Two: Elliot Kloster- time members will recognize faces like Dawn Holbook in a previous man belonging to Gordy Young, Andy photo I sent to you earlier, is one Hall, Boyd Aigner, Elliot Kloster- of the original 8 founding members I am an associate member over man, Chuck Ballard, Ron Pera and of the WFFC. Do not know who in the Spokane area but had the Jim Poor. Oh yes, several editions the other gentleman is but perhaps good fortune as a youth and even- of “Old What’s His Name?” a very senior member of our club tually an adult fly fishing with my might recognize him. father Elliot. My father was one Enos was the outdoor editor of the earlier members of the club for the Seattle Times for over 25 joining I believe in 1941 until years and created several classic his passing in 2002. I joined in fly patterns still in usage today. the later 1980’s and had the good Enos passed away in 1984 at the fortune of having Andy Hall and age of 91. Besides being an avid fly Gil Nyerges as my sponsors. That , particularly in the Stilly, would mean a Klosterman has been was also an avid hunter. I had the a member coming up on 80 years. privilege of bird hunting as a young I came across these few of the adult. annual WFFC outing at Pass Lake The second photo, titled “Stuck in the mid 1980’s. I loved the Another aspect of WFFC club Jeep”, is my father Elliot Klos- camaraderie of this outing and a lore are the fires in the next two terman who joined the WFFC in special treat was the outstanding photos. These are undoubtedly the 1941. In this photo he is the shirt- tempura created by Ken Jarvis. Ken handiwork of past member Fred Page 6 The cover art of this publication club’s Goofus Award which when is without question the artwork presented to some unsuspecting of Al Pratt. Older members will victim at a club meeting had us recognize this at once. Al passed rolling in the aisle. His contraptions away just over 25 years ago but his representing the Goofus Award zany cartoons appeared in the Se- were indeed of genius creation. attle Times for 40 years prior to his Attached is a scanned PDF of 14 passing in 1994. Again, “seasoned” pages and a second one of just one members of the club will remember page. Let’s just say I had technical his publication entitled “Wretched difficulties and did not want to start Mess” which can only be described over again after scanning the first DeWitt as he was club curator as the work of a genius in a seri- 14 pages. of what was known as a “Grate ously offbeat fashion. Mr. Pratt was Respectfully, Bender”. Building a fire under also the creative force behind the Jim Klosterman the normal fire grate was much too limiting in size so you started heaping additional firewood on top of the grate. The goal was to build it hot enough to soften the metal after several hours and with the weight of the logs on top of the grate it would eventually be bent downward. The trick was getting close enough to the fire to strategi- cally place additional logs without getting singed.

Chapter Three: Ancient Leaves

In going through boxes of old photos I came across this 1973 publication assembled by the WFFC. I undoubtedly absconded with it from my late father Elliot. This is a real gem and includes both recommendations and analysis of lakes and rivers of Washington State. There is also a page recom- mending staple fly patterns to be used in these waters.sThe authors of these writeups include WFFC stalwarts such as Steve Raymond, Gil Nyerges, Andy Hall, Ralph Wahl, John Callahan, Al Pratt, Don Minden and Ed Foss. These are certainly storied names in the clubs history and longer term members will have no problem remembering them. Page 7 Good evening, tyers Featured Fly Our next Forum will be February 17th. We will tie Rene Harrop’s Callibaetis Biot Partridge Spinner. The ZOOM link is below. The receipe is as follows: February 17 Hook: TMC 100BL size 14-18 or equal. I will use a #16. Featured Fly: Callibaetis Biot Thread: Tan 70 Denier Partridge Spinner Tail: Coq de Leon, ginger color or similar. Abdomen: Callibaetis goose biot (you may sub with turkey biots). Thorax: Callibaetis dry fly dubbing. Wings: Paired gray partridge feathers. As always, write me if you have any questions. Neal Hoffberg is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting on Feb 17, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/98916998003?pwd=OVZnbit2Mld- TamNsS2F6ZVJkUk1TUT09 Meeting ID: 989 1699 8003 Passcode: 417072

Washington Fly Fishing Club P.O. Box 639 Mercer Island, WA 98040 www.wffc.com

February, 2021 Meetings have been temporarily cancelled in person at the Seattle Tennis Club, but club life goes on with new members joinging, zoom meetings, fly-tying webinars, board meetings, and regualr updates to the the club web pages.

Our Next Virtual Meeting Will Feature Marlon Rampy

• Keep in touch at https://wffc.com/ • Send you thoughts and fishing reports to [email protected] for the next issue of Creel Notes. Please include a photo (.jpeg preferred) with your article.