July , 2020 Volume 26, Issue 7 Wichita, Kansas www.flatlandflyfishers.org INSIDE THIS ISSUE Blue Gill Fest - p. 1 Member Insights - p. 2 Time to Go Fishing - pp. 3-4 Education — Fall Classes p. 5 Bucket List Series, The Challenge pp. 6-9 Fish Identification and Photog- raphy - pp. 10-12 Tyer’s Corner - p. 13 Blue Gill Fest 2020 Officers, Anecdote & Face- book update - p. 14 Upcoming Events - p. 15 Great Morning Lends Itself to JULY mtg.—look for an up- date as the July mtg. date draws near a Beautiful Outing Following a day of rain showers, the Blue Gill Fest served up a very nice morning of fishing. Club members used a variety of mo- torless water craft to catch good numbers of Blue Gill and Bass. A Channel Cat even showed up for the morning. Although the club had to bypass the traditional luncheon, a good number of club members still had ac- tion out on the water. Hotline bling: My Beginnings in Fly Fishing ( First off, let's start here: I am a long-haired, tattooed/pierced guy who one day decided it was a great idea to become a fly fisher. I work as a body piercer by trade, pierced nose, pierced ear, pierced BLEEP....you get it, that’s what I do. The expert style of stabbing holes in people who pay me for it (non-barbed of course). So fast forward, (Yvon Chouinard Meat Eater interview and all).... I’m standing in Cabela's looking for the oldest store attendant I could find (you know, getting that knowledge/wisdom, etc..) trying to secure my first fly rod outfit. I succeeded, so there I am, 9ft monstrosity, wooly bugger, and hemostats pinned to my shirt on the banks of a nearby river casting on YouTube advice. Stopping at 1 and letting go at 10, I flung my line over and over again. Surpris- ingly! I actually got it out there a few times. I spent days, upon day watching other anglers with spin casters near me rip fish from the water. I am relentless and stubborn in my pursuits, I refused to ask for advice. I damn near tossed that pole small end first into the stratosphere a few times, hell I could have made a whole show called “How to extract a hook from your own head,” So, there I was boys, at the local public pond in a fluorocarbon spin casting of fury. A fella pulls up with a fly rod and immediately pulls a beautiful bluegill out in front of me. That fish glistened like the holy grail in front of me. I collapsed my spin caster and assembled my fly rod and started imitating the other an- gler's technique, sure as shit, I caught one! I kept it cool, wanted to look cool, ya know. I fished for a little longer, and then even- tually retreat- ed for a beer break and some conversation. I ended up with a social dis- tance delivered fly and some advice, also an invitation to the local fly club. Now here I am, strung out on a fly vise with maribou, hackles, and thread. Yours Truly, Jordan Post Earlier this Spring I Guess You CAN Have a Really Good Day I have been fishing 4 or 5 times a week lately. Last Thursday (the day the cold rain came in), I fished Chisholm Point pond in Park City. The crappie bite was on. I used a white maribou jig and caught 20 some fish. I was not dressed for the weather, just a windbreaker and no gloves. After a while, I noticed that the crappie felt so nice and warm when I took them off the hook next to my wet wind-chilled hand . I hung in there and fished until the rain came. Saturday I fished Colwich City Lake and had the whole place to myself. Again the crappie bite was on. I caught over 30 fish in a couple of hours. My jig colors were black and chartruse, white, and then purple and chartreuse. All jigs were tied on #6 jig head hooks. I am usually the guy who catches 3 or 4 or nothing when my buddies are all killing it. Great 2 days of fishing. Now I was alone, so nobody witnessed my good luck, but that's OK. You can trust me to tell the truth most of the time. Mike Blubaugh Time To Go Fishing is When the Truck is Loaded Glen Personey Spring was to be an exciting time for Bear River Tackle. We were testing new big fish patterns in Pyramid Lake Nevada, prairie lakes of Idaho, and the mountains of Arizona. But that was before Covid-19 exploded on the scene and forced all three trips to be canceled. In addition, our local spring weather was cold and wet, which delayed the start of good fishing. Last week it rained four inches, Unbelievable! On the plus side, it was fi- nally starting to warm up and there were new flies to try! This is fishing, the conditions are never per- fect. The best time to go is when you load your truck, so off I went. Arrived at the creek with first light and was shocked to see there were flood debris ten feet above the normal water line! When there is this much current, larger fish can be washed downstream and those that are left in the pools are in no mood to eat. Almost turned around, but the day was beautiful and there were flies to test. The best of the new pat- terns will become the Big Bad Bass family, specifically de- signed for trophy-size bass. They are tied 4.5 inches long on a #2 streamer hook. I had eight different color and feather combinations to test. In the first couple of pools, a few jumbo sunfish hit the flies, but no bass and I was starting to get worried that the flood had cleaned them out. It wasn’t until late in the morning that I landed a 3.0 pound bass, but there were no others. Just for kicks , I decided to try a nearby pond that is notoriously hard to fish. As expected, the water in the pond was off-color from the rain and it was now 11:00 AM in the morning which is not exactly prime time for flies. However, my best fish of the day did not come until 9:30 AM, so perhaps there was a chance. More importantly, cloud cover had moved in shading the water, the wind picked up adding a nice surface chop and a storm was arriving the next day; all very positive developments. Amazingly, the bass hammered the test flies. First cast connected with a 2 pound bass. Second cast caught a 2.5 pound bass, followed by 3 pound and 3.5 pound fish, all on just one of the test patterns. (Continued on p. 4) (Continued from p. 3) At that point, I reeled in the fly and took pictures to ensure I could remember exactly how it was tied. Also, it was time to try some of the other patterns. Three of these also caught large fish, but you could not buy a hit with four of the other designs. This is why all Bear River flies are tested in actual fishing conditions; you never know what fly will prove to be exceptional. I switched back to the first fly for one final pass along the shore- line before heading out and promptly broke it off on an under- water snag. Darn, that fly was the only one like it; good thing I took pictures. By now it was 12 noon and the other side of the pond had not yet been fished, so a few throws were in order. Third cast connected with a heavy strike. Thought it was a cat- fish because of the power of the run, but once it got closer to shore you could see it was a very large bass. Quickly got it on the bank, took a few photos and eased it back in the water. The bass was 20 inches long (with a cloth tape measure) and easily weighed 5-6 pounds! No way to top that. I thanked the Lord for a fabulous time and called it a day. You never know how a trip is going to turn out when you start the adventure, but it is always a great time if you love the outdoors. Time to go fishing! The Art of Fly Fishing Instructor: Rick Brown, Education Chairman, Flatland Fly Fishers These courses are held at the Wichita State Hughes Metropolitan Complex Campus at 5015 E. 29th St. N. The classes are 6 weeks long. For registration for these classes, call Linda Ambler at (316) 978-3731. Fly Fishing 101: Fly Fishing Basics September 14th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM Fly Fishing 101 is a course for the beginner, as well as the intermediate, interested in learning more about the art of fly fishing. This course will cover all aspects of the sport, from the history of fly fishing to the equipment needed to get started in the sport. Topics covered during this course will include: fish, entomology, water, conservation and etiquette. Participants have the opportunity to learn about both wet and dry flies. Students will receive information about how to buy their first fly rod and reel and how to maintain fly fishing equipment that they already own.