The BUFFER

The Newsletter of Buckeye United Fly Fishers, Inc., Cincinnati, OH

Volume 23, Issue 6     Web site: http://www.buckeyeflyfishers.com     June 2000

President's Corner

 Jim LeBlond

BUFF would like to extend a thank you to Bob Gray for conducting this Spring's mentoring classes. He conducted four Wednesday evening sessions at his home and the final session on the Little Miami. The class learned about different types of equipment, and the importance of matching the equipment and flies to various fishing opportunities. They learned to tie knots and to rig their rods from backing to tippet.

Participants in the class were: Michael Andrews, Keith and his daughter Kelly Shupe, Bill Schoebel, Jeff McElravy, Andy Gentry, and Chuck Locy. Bob did such a good job, I think if we twist Bob's arm real hard we might be able to get him to do it again next year!

If you let the threat of a little rain scare you away from our casting class last May, you missed an awfully good time. Steve Groome conducted the class and was assisted by Bob Gray. Fellow Buffer's learned a summary of the five points of Lefty Kreh's method of casting. Steve and Bob were very patient and worked with each and every caster.

I firmly believe that everyone left with a better handle on their technique and several useful pointers that will make them better casters. I myself learned that I've got a slight bump and an arch in my casting stroke, which translates into a tailing loop. This is an issue that I've been trying to get rid of for years. I know I walked away with some home work!

And finally, we have an outstanding line-up in store for you if you're interested in our intermediate fly tying classes. We've lined up five of our best tiers, once we finalize the dates and location we'll be sure to let you know. But for now, be sure to let Bob Goldsberry, myself or any of the other board members know you want to be included, and we'll be sure you get a call.

Good fishing, tight lines and gentle releases! And, PS -- don't forget to call with your dinner reservations!

Hiwassee River Trip 2000 Report

Ed Jones

Twelve BUFF members made the trip to Reliance, Tennessee, for Hiwassee River trout fishing May 18-21. Browns and Rainbows were the quarry. Most of us went down in a small caravan, but Goldsberry's and Kalbli's were already out-and-about doing that "retired thing," so they met us there.

We were all disappointed, because we were not able to fish the river from drift boats for one or two days as we had planned. Normally, the TVA is using the dam's generators before mid-May providing power for the immediate area and plenty of water to float fly fishers through the touted "trophy section." After two years of draught, however, TVA made the decision to delay letting water through the system because lake levels were about 19" lower than usual.

We missed the preferred big-water flow by about 2 weeks. Luckily, BUFFers are a resilient lot, and everyone adjusted to make the best of the situation. Instead of floating down the river, we divided into groups of 3-4 and wade-fished. It was all truly a quality experience when measured by camaraderie and great BUFF company.

We fished hard in clear low water and endured wading conditions that were made difficult by exposed rocks that always seemed to tilt up at a 30-degree angle! The river fished similar to a clear spring creek with "educated trout counting the legs and body segments" on each fly presented. Each evening found us together in one of the cabins where Louise provided a light dinner for the group. We discussed the day's successes and frustrations, previous outings, and future trips. Each of us surely feels we would have caught many more and larger fish if we had been drifting.

The tight schedule for getting this report prepared immediately after the trip did not allow the opportunity to assess everyone's catch, but success varied a lot. More experienced fishers landed more and larger fish, and those newer to trout fishing worked hard and learned some valuable lessons. As far as I know, Tony Kalbli landed the largest trout of about 15" (16-17" according to the guide - take your pick!). Intense fishing netted most of us fewer than a dozen fish over two days, and nearly all of them were under 12".

Much of our fishing was with nymphs working the runs between, around, and down from rocks and jagged boulders, but the greatest success seemed to be with dry flies and wooly buggers. I landed one 12-inch Rainbow with a 40 ft cast in waist-deep water that seemed to be going five directions at once. I used a local pattern #16 high-vis blue-winged-olive parachute.

A larger fish of about 14 inches took the same fly but wrapped the tippet around his body. He was within eight feet of my rod tip when the tippet unwrapped and, with a mighty headshake, the big beautiful Rainbow pulled free. I needed to have given him some slack at that exact moment, but it happened too fast for me to react. The remaining fish in my catch were mostly about 10 inches long and came from long flats of moving water, lengthy casts, and tricky mends.

Hiwassee Outfitters was an excellent host. Facilities were more than adequate, the fly shop was well supplied, and the people there treated us extremely well. As we left, Chef Carolyn treated us with one of her original buttermilk pies. Fantastic! We will probably schedule a Hiwassee trip for 2001 but delay our departure until the second week in June. That will assure us of higher water and float trips, since TVA will then be well into the summer generating season.

By early June of this year, anyone seeking a good trout hunt would likely find excellent fishing there from a guided drift boat. I would personally be reluctant to participate in another Hiwassee experience under low-water conditions. For most of us the technical level of the fishing and the difficult wading might make other options more attractive. If you are a highly accomplished fisher longing for a challenge equal to that of some famous spring creeks, this might be just what you are looking for. Most of the rest of us would be better served by floating this river.

If you would like more information, ask any of the BUFF members who participated including Mike Suo, Bob Curry, Bob Simmons, Joe Panfalone, Sue & Ed Jones, Louise & Bob Goldsberry, Jayne & Dave Uckotter, and Lora & Tony Kalbli. After such a trip, some inspired poetry was written by Sue Jones. Be sure to look for it in the July Buffer issue.

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STALKING SLEEPERS

Tony Kalbli

THE PLAN: The plan was the "get out of Dodge" for Florida shortly after the New Year in our newly acquired 24' travel trailer (tin closet) /Toyota Tundra rig for our maiden adventure. Unfortunately my sister-in-law, Linda Feldman, hatched a diabolical plot to keep us in town. She deliberately slipped on some black ice on December 30, breaking her ankle in five + places and needed surgery. Thus, Lora felt she would hang around awhile to help out. Then, other events (like getting tax stuff together) conspired to delay our departure until the 2nd week in March.

SIDE TRIPS: First stop was to visit our daughter in Atlanta for a few days. Then we were on to Estero, Florida for a reunion with Jim and Clara Sue Barnes. As you may recall, Jim invited any Buffer to go fishing with him if they were in his neighborhood. I took Jim up on his invitation and enjoyed a memorable day fishing from Jim's newly acquired custom-built skiff. Although Jim did all the hard work poling me around the backcountry waters, I managed to hook, but not land, one Jack type of fish. It didn't matter. Jim caught several sea trout and he gave me the best one to sample. The rest he released., It was a great day.

Later in the week, Jim, Clara Sue, Lora and I enjoyed a fine dinner at an excellent Bonita Springs restaurant. Jim and Clara Sue have a fine home in Estero and they look completely at home and acclimated to the Florida lifestyle. Golf, dancing, cards, fishing--they enjoy it all. Jim is as good as his word, if you are in his area, give him a call, he will show you a great time if he is available.

THE QUEST: The next stop was Silver Lakes, a rather pricey RV park just east of Marco Island. While there I discovered the Mangrove Outfitters fly shop south of Naples. I told Tom, owner of the shop, that my goal was to catch a tarpon on a fly and I was willing to start with a "baby tarpon" as I had no experience in this particular quest. He informed me that all his guides were booked, but he would make some calls for me.

A little later, he gave me the phone and told me to talk to Cpt. Ned Small who was in Everglades City. I told Ned that I wanted to catch a baby tarpon and his reply was "do they have to be baby tarpon?" "Would I want to fish for "BIG" tarpon?" Is the pope Catholic? "Sure," I sputtered, "but I have no experience at tarpon fishing." I did manage to get the details of where and when we were going to meet.

As I left the shop Bill Corrigan, a retired guide who works at the shop said "let us know how it works out." I promised I would. THE JITTERS" The momentous day finally arrived after a totally sleepless night. A night spent imagining what it would be like to actually hook, fight and land a "BIG" tarpon. In my mind ran all the things I had heard and read about tarpon fishing. I even got up at 1:00 a.m. and reviewed Billy Pate's video Catching Tarpon. It seemed like there were a hundred different things to remember and do.

At 6:00 a.m. I arose, fixed sandwiches and jumped in the truck since all my gear was ready and waiting since the night before. I met Ned at his house and we launched out of his backyard dock. A half hour later we were in a maze of mangroves, lagoons, bays and channels called the 10,000 Islands. I secretly prayed that Ned would not have a heart attack here because if he did, they would find "two" skeletons weeks later.

THE STALK: We arrived in a lagoon of about 10 acres surrounded on all sides by mangrove thickets. Ned started poling from his perch, looking for dark objects in the water. He intoned that he was also searching for any surface water disturbances such as bubbles, wakes and even rolling fish. Ned explained that tarpon in these back bay waters tended to be lethargic, almost static at this time of the day. He called them "sleepers". The schools of mullets that rippled the surface constantly put me on edge. Soon I noticed boils of muddy water just ahead and also behind the boat. "Those are tarpon that we just spooked," Ned claimed.

Then, just thirty feet ahead of the skiff I saw a large dark shape looming vaguely in the murky brown water. "Tarpon 11:00 o'clock!" Ned exclaimed. Having been "at the ready" for an hour on my casting platform, I made a reasonably good cast, let the fly sink and stripped slowly, just as Ned coached me. But, my fly was not desired by the big fish. Several more casts to this and a couple of other tarpon met with the same results. I was disappointed to say the least. We left this lagoon in search of more fish in another place.

THE HOOKUP: The skiff was gliding silently forward with both Ned and I constantly scanning the water for signs of the big prize. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he came quietly cruising right at us, 15' off the port beam. I was so flustered seeing this big fish, the fish of my hopes, my dreams, passing by so close yet so far, far away. I knew I had to act now or in two more seconds it would be too late. The fish was opposite me now. I turned my upper body to the left and made a cast over my left shoulder that was at a 45 degree angle to the boat. The fly landed about 10 ft. past he fish and about 8 ft. in front of him. I started stripping, hoping the fly would not spook the tarpon because it was coming right at him. Hoping against hope that Billy Pate was wrong in his video when he said that a fly coming at a tarpon will normally put the fish off, I kept stripping. The fly was positioned 12" in front of the fish. Billy was WRONG!!!!

THE FIGHT: The big fish turned 90 degrees on the fly and disappeared into the gloomy, murky brown soup of the 10,000 Islands. Then it happened! I had about 30 ft. of fly line coiled on the deck and it started to rush through my stripping hand. In a flash the fish was on the reel and I started to feel the line thrumming. I knew from watching Billy Pate's video "Catching Tarpon" that this could mean only one thing. The great fish was about to come out the water.

Having memorized Billy Pate's technique and heeding Ned's verbal admonishment, I dutifully bowed my rod and body to that awesome creature. I have to say, seeing that silvery torpedo leap towards the sky was the singular most memorable moment in my twenty one years of fly fishing. The fish was now racing full speed towards the Gulf of Mexico. Ned asked "How much backing do you have left?" A quick glance at my backing brought a slightly panic induced reply of "about 50 yards." "I think I'd better start the motor and follow him," Ned coolly replied.

Several more spectacular jumps ensued and each time I gave him the proper respect. In between jumps, however, I laid my 10 wt. Sage RPL X rod hard into him. When he wanted to go I let him go only to hammer him hard when he stopped running. After 25 minutes I had him close enough to the boat that I could lay the "down and dirty" rod trick to him. Grudgingly, the BIG fish gave up the fight. After about 30 minutes I had the leader in the tip top and Ned was snapping pictures.

As Ned prepared to gaffe him, the BIG fish made a final lunge and earned his freedom in the effort. The 16 lb. class tippet had parted from the 80 lb. shock tippet. But, it was a legally landed fish because the leader was in the rod tip top.

THE HIGH: I do not have the writing talent to express to you the visceral emotions that that 80 lb. first tarpon evoked in me, but be assured that I will do whatever it takes to experience that thrill again. The next goal is a triple digit tarpon! Care to join me? Read the accompanying story concerning bonefish, permit and tarpon fishing in July/August in the Florida Keys.

BUFFers in Service to Education

Ed Jones

Service to Education is a regular feature of Buckeye United Fly Fishers, Inc.,  A few recent examples include the following activities:

WaterFest 2000.
Eric Scarpa and Bob Curry represented BUFF at the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District's WaterFest March 22. Thousands of youngsters attended the annual event held on the UC campus.

Those at the BUFF booth were interested and well behaved. Eric and Bob gave lessons in casting and fly tying. There were so many kids that casting room was a bit too tight, so they concentrated more on fly tying.

The kids seemed to like simple flies that could be tied in a short time that they could take with them. Bob and Eric tied ant, sponge spiders and chenille wrapped flies with rubber legs. Paper clips cut to size substituted for hooks.

Students liked the way they looked and really wanted souvenirs to take home. Some were invited to tie the flies and liked doing it a lot. They promised to put the flies in their mother's bathtub!

Indian Hill High School.
BUFFers met with the outdoor education class April 17 and 18 to introduce Ellen Bedinghaus' students to fly fishing. BUFF equipment and materials were provided, and each student was able to receive instruction in casting and fly tying. They went to Lake Isabella the following day to try fishing on their own, something several of them had never done! BUFF members participating included Bob Jones, Mike Suo, Eric Scarpa, Bob Goldsberry, Linda Roederer, Bob Curry, Ed Jones, and Frank Guenther.

Clermont County Park District.
Several BUFF members helped with the conservation day activities at Sycamore Park near Batavia May 6. Roy Matthews, Jonathan Kinnard, Bob & Linda Ireton, Don Prince, Bob Fountain, Hank Gilliam, and Bob Goldsberry demonstrated stream monitoring and taught casting and fly tying to 19 interested and enthusiastic participants.

East Fork Stream Monitoring.
Tom Jones, Dave Uckotter, and Jon Kinnard conducted official stream monitoring services on the East Fork of the Little Miami River May 11. They had excellent quality results to give to ODNR.

Hopewell Jr. School.
Some of Greg Johnson's science students have been treated to some special after-school fishing activities this semester. Greg taught them to tie and cast a fly, and then they went to catch fish on a near-by pond using the fly they had just tied. Great activity, Greg!

Earth Day.
Hank Gilliam and Bob Goldsberry manned the BUFF booth for Earth Day at EastGate Mall for casting, tying, and conservation activities.

 Many thanks to all of those who pitched in to help BUFF with educational activities! Apologies if any BUFF members were left out. Please let me or a Board member know of education activities in which you are involved, and we will include them in the next report.

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Local Boy Scouts Need BUFF Assistance

Ed Jones

We need 10-20 BUFFers to help out with this one, so please see if you can participate. Dan Beard Council has requested BUFF assistance with fly fishing activities again this summer. For one week in late June and three weeks in July, they will have day-camps for boys who are not now in Boy Scouts in hopes of getting them interested in scouting.

BUFF participated last summer with two days of casting and fly tying instruction. We hope to do that much for them again this year. Please consider volunteering for this cause so BUFF can help the Boy Scouts get some of Cincinnati's youth interested in meaningful constructive activities.

The day-camp will be at Camp Freelander in Milford where there are two lakes for casting instruction. We will need to be there and set up from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM each day. We will work with up to 10 boys at one time. Volunteers could be for an entire day or half-a-day. We need 10 full-day volunteers, 20 half-day volunteers, or some combination that will have each day covered.

Tentative dates for our participation are Thursday, July 13 and Wednesday, July 26. Call or Email now if you can help for all or half of either or both of those days at 513/523-6523, FlyfisherEd@bigfoot.com or sign up at the June BUFF meeting.

Nymphing the Net

http://www.topozone.com from Jerry Snider

If you are looking for some topo maps. This site enables you to search and print all USGS topo maps.

http://www.gorp.com  from Wayne Fischer

This site is called Great Outdoors Recreational Pages. It has tons of information on fishing, hiking, and other outdoors activities. Check out their "in fishing" section on the best hatches.

 http://www.thefishfinder.com from Andy Gentry

Here is search engine dedicated just to fishing sites.

EAST FORK CLEAN UP

Thanks to Joe Gunther, Jon Kinnard and Bob Goldsberry, over 150 volunteers were treated to hot dogs, chips and soft drinks and an East Fork River T-shirt. One of our adopted streams now looks a lot better because of their efforts.

BONEFISH SPECIAL SUMMERTIME FISHING PACKAGE

Tony Kalbli

While kicking around in the Florida Keys recently, I met Sandy Moret at his Florida Keys Outfitters shop. Sandy is Flip Pallot's fishing buddy and has put together a three day fishing package that sounds pretty good to me. According to Sandy, "Islamorada's summer bonefishing can be spectacular! For the past three years waves of bonefish covered the flats from first light past mid-morning and again from late afternoon until dark. I mean literally thousands of fish on most days.

The fish averaged 5 to 8 pounds and 12 pounders were common." The plan is to arrive at Islamorada by 3:00 p.m. and check in at Cheeca Lodge on day one. Cheeca Lodge is probably the premier resort in all of the Keys. Meet your guide at 4:30 and fish until almost dark at 8:30. On day two you are on the water at daylight around 6:00 a.m. and back for a dip in the pool or a nap at Cheeca. Then, meet your guide for the afternoon bonefish show and fish until dark again. Day three will have you on the water again from sunrise until 10:00am. at which time you can check out of Cheeca Lodge and fly back home for evening dinner.

The cost of this exciting package which includes two nights lodging, tax and guide fees is $1475 single occupancy and $740 double occupancy. Airfare, car rental, food and tips would be added expenses. My guestimate is that $1100 should cover the entire package. Sandy is making this available beginning July 17th and running through August. I am looking for perhaps 4 to 6 persons to give this trip a shot. However, if you would like to do this trip on your own time schedule, I can provide you with all the information you need.

 If this sounds as inviting to any of you Buffers as it does to me call me ASAP at 451-1367 or e-mail kalblial@one.net so that we can pick dates, line up airline tickets and car rentals. The max participation on this as a group is 8 persons. P. S. There may also be opportunities for tarpon and permit.

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Fly Tying Classes

Greg Johnson is working with the directors of the Germanic Society on possible fly tying and casting classes next winter. If you are interest in helping Greg, call him at 923-4519 (home) or 777-2258 (work).

Mad River Outfitters is Moving!

Mad River Outfitters will be celebrating it's "Grand Re-Opening" at their new location on Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18. The new store is located next store to the current location. The special guest will be Dave Whitlock.

MAD RIVER REPORT

 Steve Groome

TU held its first Mad River stream monitoring session for the year on Saturday, April 22. Jeff Johnson, Rob Messick, Mark Blauvelt, Jorge Villares, Greg Johnson, Doffie Howard, and David Swaddling picked bugs on the Mad. The 3 regular spots were sampled, SR 36, Pimtown, and Macochee Creek.

As expected all indications are of a healthy river. Lots of big mayfly nymphs as usual in the April samples - those that become Hendricksons, March Browns, Brown Drakes, Cahills, Olives, and Isonychias. Most of these will be gone by the July sampling so plan on attending the next spring sampling to see what the fish are really eating.

SR 36 graded out as Good, with tons of mayflies (all kinds) and caddis. Pimtown got it's best reading ever, also in the Good range, with a few different kinds of bugs than had been sampled before (Riffle Beetles and Clams). The overall population of mayflies and caddis are always lower than SR 36 sampling.

Also of note at Pimtown, the majority of the mayflies were smaller Olives, with only three small March Browns and a Hendrickson. Macochee always seems to be hit or miss, with this being the ONLY stretch to have ever graded with an Excellent reading, today it was in the Good range. Sometimes we hit some stoneflies and maybe a dobson fly, but neither were found this time.

The populations of mayflies and caddis were also much lower than SR 36 area, with some big March Browns the predominant mayfly here. The TU Mad Men schedule sampling days around the 3rd weekend every April, July, and October so plan on attending some time! You will really learn a lot about the stream insects.

GLC FLY FISHING CONFERENCE JUNE 16-18

Tony Kalbli - FFF/GLC Representative

The GLC Fly Fishing Conference will be held June 16-18 at the R. A. MacMullen Conference Center at the north end of Higgins Lake located near Roscommon and Grayling, Michigan. Adjacent to the Center is one of Michigan's most popular parks, N. Higgins Lake State Park.

Educational programs will be offered for aspiring fly anglers as well as those experienced in the sport, intermediate and advanced. Simultaneous programs and workshops will be offered Friday starting at 1:00 p.m. and all-day Saturday. Fishing opportunities in the area include not only the famous AuSable and Manistee Rivers and their tributaries, but also float tubing on nearby Wakely Lake, a catch and release lake with outstanding fishing for Bass, Bluegill, and Northern Pike.

A special program will be held Friday afternoon on where to fish and to match you up with a fishing partner if you desire. The Great Lakes Council and the Michigan Chapter of the Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock will again jointly host a Youth Program at the Conference. This will include group and individual instruction in fly tying, casting, knots and rigging, and entomology. Every participant will have the opportunity to fly fish during the day.

Registration is open to anyone. For more information regarding the Fly Fishing conference contact Terry Greiner (517) 694-5358 home or Don Sawyer (chair) at DSESI@aol.com

Some of the classes offered are:Assembling an Outfit, Deer Hair for Trout Flies, Fly Casting Instructors Workshop, Introduction to Flycasting, Selecting Deer Hair for Specific Flies, Fly Casting Workshops, Basics of Flytying*, Fishing Brown Drakes and Hexes, The Fishing Hole, Big Streamers for Big Trout, Rod Building Workshop*, Beginning Knots*, Nipigon Country Brook Trout, Fish Food for Fly Fishers, Advanced Fly Casting, Nuances in Tying Thread/Options, The Right Fly Line, Meet with the Experts, various youth programs. (* classes have restrictions)

I will be attending this forum and if any Buffer would like to come up and join me we can perhaps fish together. Call me at 451-1367 or e-mail kalblial@one.net.

BUFF Rod Building Class

 Ted Keegan

On behave of all the Buffers who participated, I'd like to offer a word of thanks to John Doscher and Mike Suo who did an excellent job leading this year's graphite rod building class. Special thanks to John who opened his home to us and provided some great tips on home shop organization as well as graphite rod building! I would highly recommend this class to anyone who is interested in building their own rod, whether you have a stack of custom rods or are considering your first.

The participants in this class had a range of experience in rod building. I had no previous experience, but with John and Mike's guidance I produced a 9-1/2 foot, 8 weight that has steelhead written all over it! I learn some new skills, saved a substantial amount of money versus the equivalent manufactured rod, and had a great time. Now if they just offered a class in building anodized aluminum large arbor reels...!

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