The Newscaster from April 2023
I don’t think I could get down with a T-18 sink-tip to fish this. Oh, well—guess I’ll have to wait to pull the two-hander out of retirement.
Our next general meeting on 4/11 will feature a presentation on boating safety and regulations from the officers of the Washington Co. Sheriff’s Department. Consult the website calendar for specifics; and if you have tied some favorite flies, the foam fish is waiting for your contribution. We need item donations for our Winter’s End raffle in May, so you can bring them (or at least inform Mike Stanton of their existence). This would be a great time to make some group outing plans for spring fishing, so bring your ideas. If you don’t have any, maybe a book from the club library will help you hatch one or two. (And I have heard the pizza and salad bar are mighty tasty.)
Friends of the Owyhee is partnering with other organizations in some environmental mitigation efforts, including a garbage pickup along the Owyhee on April 21st. Here is a Link to the website that contains the plan details.
Plan for our cooperative clean up activities on the Weiser Community Pond on June 6th. It’s a good time to work with other like-interested groups for community benefit, and a great way to get younger folks involved.
The board has agreed to change the way in which club dues are administered, to synchronize due dates. Those who have dues due can expect a letter from our over-worked secretary explaining the pro-rating details, with a request for updated contact information. The later is with a view to a directory that should help us contact each other ( eg. to plan fishing trips).
Have you ever heard of, seen or used a Sparkle Dun? It’s a great generalized mayfly adult (or spinner) imitation that has pulled up a good number of trout for me, and if you show up at the library on the 18th, Ray will be on tap to show you how to make ‘em.
Rather than a two month summer hiatus, we are planning informal meetings at the pizza place on the 2nd Tuesdays of June and July. I expect every description of every fish caught will be accurate in every detail.
As mentioned last month, we are sponsoring the tuition of one Idaho Conservation Officers Association youth camp attendee, under the Al Sillonis Memorial Scholarship. Mark Sands has agreed to coordinate this effort. There is information about the camp on the attached website, and I have printed some application forms. If you know a youngster who would benefit from the experience, but to whom the $500 tuition would be a barrier, encourage the parent/guardian to complete a form, and forward the information to Mark. Link Here
Hope to see you next week—and then you can commiserate with the grandfather of a teenager who loves to “rub it in”.
Bruce Parsons
By Mike Thomas
The Expo was held at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho March 24, 25. A new center that has a hockey floor and a lot of room for almost 100 volunteer fly tiers at the same time and all the booths that come with the Expo.
My wife Diana and I, Jim Gulu and Mark and Mary Thompson made our way over on Thursday March 23. The trip was about 6 hours of sun, rain, sleet, snow, wind with wet, dry and slushy roads. We made this trip primarily to visit Perry Kelley who tied in the Expo for the first time. Jim stayed with Perry in his new home which has a fly tying room almost identical to the room he had in his home in Weiser.
The rest of us stayed in a motel close to where Perry lives so we could gather and visit. We had a couple of meals together, but could not get everyone together to get a picture in the Expo watching Perry tie!
We all did take time to watch Perry tie and Jim helped him set up and take down his "Stuff".
We were reminded of the "Weather" in Eastern Idaho often. Friday's trip out to the Expo greeted us with "Wolf Like" wind - you know - I'll huff and puff and blow your house down! No outside casting lessons. Saturday we woke up to three inches of snow on our cars
and had to borrow snow removal equipment. Jim shoveled a path to Perry's house so we didn't have to wade through the snow to pick him up for the trip home.
For those new to the Indianhead Fly Fishers, Perry Kelley is one of our founders and has taught a lot of IHFF'ers how to tie flies.
And we have a nomination for the new IHFF insignia submitted by Jim
