WFC 01/09

Biscuit Basin, or my per-sonal favorite, the junc-tion with the Nez Perce.I doubt if I’ll go to the park in July, and itremains questionable whether the clubwill mull an outing this year, due to thejoint justifications of lousy fishing andhigh admission, fuel and lodging costs.

Fish the north fork of the TongueRiver. For the last two years, a few clubmembers had a ball fishing and campinghere; almost a hundred fish were caughtby six of us in early July.

Fish the Middle Fork of PowderRiver. It has been eleven years since Idrove my ‘57 Chevy pickup to the MillerTrail. Perhaps the club could host an out-ing here in late July ...

Finally complete the cutt-slam. Ihave two to go; the Bonneville andColorado. Maybe Spencer and Lloyd willput together a cutt-slam trip to the Grey’sRiver again this year.

Fishing in Chile and New Zealandwill remain dreams, I’m afraid, again thisyear. Someday, maybe.

•Thanks to Scott Novotny for some

of the images of the Christmas party fea-tured in this issue.

ere are a few resolutions for2009, in no particular order.

Make the trip to Denveron Jan. 10 for the fly fishing show. Anumber of club members have indicateda desire to attend. Last year, fierce weath-er doomed the drive to the Greenie state.

To fish small, remote streams moreoften, leaving the river and the stillwa-ters to the hoards. (The exception, ofcourse, are hosted club outings, whichwould be attended.) And to fish BoxelderCreek every month it is fishable, usingonly dry flies.

Catch a 24 in. trout on a size 24midge pupa on 5X tippet on the BigHorn River this April.

To make opening day on theFirehole for the first time in the last fouryears. This weekend is a real treat foranyone who has been lucky enough tofish this magnificent stretch of water inon the last weekend in May from a basein the Madison campground. Plus, thepark is fairly empty and traffic jams are amonth or two away. The fish may not belarge or numerous, but there is somethingabout fishing amid the thermal featuresof Muleshoe Bend, Oje Caliente or

Page 2 Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter

know what awaits me.I hope I get to travelto new locations, likeIdaho, or other watersin Montana orColorado or even Utah. Who knows.We have had a lot of fun in 2008, and Ihope to continue to have fun in 2009.

Don't forget about the WFC ban-quet coming up -- there are lots of oppor-tunities for you to travel to other placesand fish -- but be warned, I might be bid-ding against you.

I hope your 2008 was grand, andyour 2009 will be even grander.

Wishing you all a happy and healthynew year!

The Backcast is the monthlynewsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters,an affiliate club of the WyomingCouncil of Trout Unlimited, theNature Conservancy and theFederation of Fly Fishers. Editorial con-tent does not necessarily reflect theviews of the officers, board or membersof the Wyoming Fly Casters.

Annual dues are $20 for an indi-vidual, $30 for a family, or $250 for alifetime individual membership or$450 for a lifetime family membership.

Visit the club website atwww.wyflycasters.org.

The deadline for submission ofinformation for each issue is the lastWednesday of the month. Make con-tributions to the next issue by e-mail-ing material to the Backcast editor [email protected], or call (307)436-8774.

OFFICERSJohn Robitaille, President

Joe DeGraw, President-electAlex Rose, Vice President

Tom Grogan, SecretaryEd Rate, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORSTerms expire in 2009

Spencer AmendBob Fischer

Scott NovotnyRichard Soffe

Terms expire in 2010John Fanto

Jamie GibsonJoe Meyer

Gene TheriaultTerms expire in 2011

Darin O’DellKim LevineJim Sparks

Bill Wichers

The Backcast is available either inelectronic format or through USPSsnail mail. To receive each newsletterthrough a monthly e-mail, you must beable to open .pdf (Adobe Acrobat, asoftware format available free ofcharge) documents. Generally, eachissue is roughly 1 MB in size, some arelarger. Your e-mail provider may havelimits on the size of attachments. Inorder to be added to the e-mail list,send a request message [email protected]. In addition toreceiving each issue of the newsletterearlier than your hard copy peers, e-mail subscribers are able to print eachcopy in vibrant color -- an added plus ifthe issue is rich in color photographs.By subscribing electronically, you alsosave the club roughly $17.40 a year inprinting and postage expenses.

TTailing Loopsailing Loops

Cover shot: A Boxelder Creek brown trout is cradled by Ed Rate.

H

by Randy Stalker,Backcast editor

Drag-free DrifDrag-free Driftsts

by John Robitaille, President, WFC

009 is coming fast. As I look backon 2008, I have a great deal offishing memories. I was lucky

enough to fish several different waters,some for the first time. I was able to trav-el to Montana and fish the Big Horn forthe first time. I even fished the SouthPlatte in Colorado. I was also luckyenough to try my luck in saltwater with afly rod. I visited several waters that I hadnot been to in a few years and relived oldmemories while making new ones. Mytwin boys fished from a boat for their firsttime this year, and I am very happy toreport they would like to go back and doit again.

As I look forward to 2009, I don't

2

FFIISSHHIINNGG RREEPPOORRTTSSFrom the membership

To include your fishing report,send information to the Backcasteditor, c/o [email protected].

Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter Page 3

The following reports weregleaned from information present-ed at the last meeting, as well asfrom published sources, and fil-tered from gossip, boasting, brag-ging, and other exaggerated claimsfrom reliable but biased second-hand sources.

Flows on the North PlatteRiver are to remain at 500 cfs forthe balance of the winter. Duringthe next few months, three nymphpatterns are all you need: scuds,rock worms and midges. Of course,pine squirrel and hot head leechesare always effective patterns,regardless of the time of year.

The upper North Platteremains ice free. But from govern-ment bridge downstream toGlenrock, the river is iced up.

Although the river remainsfishable in its upper stretches belowGrey Reef, the banks are sus-pectible to a thin layer of ice whentemperatures hover around zerodegrees. But then, few fly fisher-men will be sampling the opportu-nities when it’s that cold. They’llbe at the tying bench or huddledagainst the fire with a toddy.

Because of an early spat offreezing weather, Pathfinder isnow covered with a blanket of iceand Alcova may be joining itslarge upstream brother by the timethis newsletter reaches the mem-bership.

Two club members braved thefrigid temperatures and brisk windthe last weekend in December andfloated the Big Horn River outsideFt. Smith, MT. Additionally, theycould not find lodging (“Therewas no room at the inn.” Hmm...have I heard this Decemberexcuse before..?) so they wereforced to stay, not in a stable, buttheir pickup. By deadline, theyhad not provided the Backcastwith a report on their fishingexperience and success.

Entomology clinic is on tapCan you tell the difference between

a caddis nymph and a mayfly emerger?If not, help is on the way to identi-

fy types of aquatic insects.Capt. Mark Bonane, owner of the

Platte River Fly Shop and a veteranguide on the North Platte, is slated topresent a program on entomology duringthe Jan. 14 general membership of theWyoming Fly Casters.

The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. inthe Isaac Walton League clubhouse atFt. Caspar. Members are encouraged toattend and guests are always welcome.

Members are reminded that dues forthe 2009 year is now being accepted bythe club treasurer.

•There are no outings scheduled for

the immediate future (at least during

the coldest part of winter).Plans are now being made for the

annual trip to the Big Horn River out-side of Ft. Smith, MT, set for April 17-19. Lloyd Ferguson and Ed Rate areagain the streamkeepers, and Don “ChefPtomaine” Jelinek has accepted arequest that he again share some cook-ing duties.

The cost for the trip has not yetbeen determined. Last year, it was $50for each fisherman for the two nights’lodging.

The club has reserved “the condo”at Cottonwood Camp again for theweekend. Be sure to put your name onthe list to reserve your space.

The best way to fish the Big Horn isfrom a drift boat, but some opportunitiesexist for the wading fisherman.

Which one should I pick? Participants in the fly walk during the December Christmasparty select packages containing mystery fly patterns.


FLFLYYof the month

RENEGADEHOOK: TMC 100, sizes 10-18 THREAD: Black RIB: Fine gold wire TAG: Gold mylar tinsel REAR HACKLE: Brown BODY: Peacock herl FRONT HACKLE: White This dry fly can be used on smallstreams, rivers and lakes. It wasdevised in Wyoming by Taylor“Beartracks” Williams around the late1920s. Ernest Hemingway enjoyedfly fishing and is quoted in saying,"Taylor Williams came to work in SunValley (Idaho) in 1937 (as huntingand fishing guide). He was an excel-lent dry fly fisherman. He always saidthat he was responsible for the rene-gade fly." Some patterns make uswonder what trout see in them. Therenegade is one such pattern. Itworks in smaller sizes as a matingmidge cluster but also works in largersizes as an all around dry fly attractorfor those times when you feel likefishing a dry but nothing is rising. Thefly works as to the trout it looks likesomething edible. What I am not tosure but they seem to like it. I use asmall renegade during midge hatch-es as it looks like a couple of matingmidges. Midges or gnats are the sta-ple diet of most trout. These tinyinsects are found on most rivers,lakes and streams. They have smalldark bodies and whitish wings.This traditional pattern has peacockherl, a material whose trout catchingability should never be underestimat-ed. When and where should you useit? During midge hatches (use size14-18) or anytime you feel like cast-ing a dry fly and there is no hatch inprogress.

by Alex RoseThe Great Rockies Sport Show will take place at the Casper Events Center Jan. 30

- Feb 1. Our club has pledged to help out with fly tying and casting demonstrations inexchange for a free booth.

I spoke with show manager Bill Reier about the demonstrations. He said the tyerwill set his or her equipment in a theater, and a video camera will zoom in on the tyer'svice. As the tyer explains the process of creating a pattern, the video image will be pro-jected on a large screen. Each demonstration should last about 30 minutes.

During the event, we have 15 scheduled slots that need to be filled. There is no needto be an expert to demonstrate the art of tying. After all, I've signed up to demonstrateegg patterns, rock worms and pine squirrel leeches. It would be great if the club demon-strated how to tie a variety of fly patterns, from wooly buggers and nymphs to dry flies.

We also need club members to demonstrate casting in a pond, and with 16 timesslots to fill. The casting demonstrations should last approximately 30 minutes.

Here are the time slots we need to fill:Fly tying:Friday: 2:00, 3:15, 4:30, 5:15 (Alex) 6:30 (Alex)Saturday: 10:15, 11:30, 12:45, 2:00, 3:15, 4:30 (Alex)Sunday: 10:15, 11:30, 12:45, 2:00Casting: Friday: 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30Saturday: 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30Sunday: 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30The club will also need to fill slots at the booth. For the show, the club will be sell-

ing tickets for a rod and reel outfit, as well as a 50-50 daily raffle, and recruiting newmembers. Call Don Jelinek at 267-7477 to sign up.

This is the first year that the Great Rockies Sport Show is visiting Casper, so wedon't know what to expect for attendance. Reier estimates that the event could attractbetween 5,000 to 6,000 people.

The event is a good opportunity for the Wyoming Fly Casters to put our best footforward before the community. If you are interested in tying, casting, or helping out atour booth, call me, 828/467-3789, or email, [email protected].

Great Rockies Sport Show comingTyers, casters and booth help needed

HoursFriday: 1 pm to 8 pm Saturday: 10 am to 6 pm Sunday: 10 am to 3 pm

Casper Events Center Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 1

Admission Prices Adults: $6.00 Juniors: (6 - 16) $3.00 Kids: (5 & under) FREE


Suggestedoutings forthe new year

Quite a few potential outings havebeen suggested for the 2009 year.Volunteers are always needed and wel-comed to assume the responsibilities asstreamkeepers to organize the activity,publicize it, arrange for a cookout (ifdesired) and provide insight into tacticsand techniques.

Outings in 2008 were generallypoorly attended. In an effort to improvethe patronage at club-sponsored events,club members are being requested to pickan outing and host it.

Some new ideas are needed, and per-haps some different club functions couldbe scheduled this year.

Here are a few ideas:January, February and March:

Although these have a reputation forbeing miserable months, the weather canalso be markedly nice on occasion. It’shard to plan ahead, but the river can bequite productive -- just ask those whocomplete the “catch a fish a month” pro-gram every year.

April: The traditional Big HornRiver in Montana weekend, and theCardwell access.

May: Opening day on the FireholeRiver. Local streams may be blown outfrom runoff. The river is usually in primespring condition.

June: Deer Creek, Platte River float,Walker-Jenkins, Snowy Range, Toltec orWalker Jenkins float tubing. Or the BigHorn through Thermopolis.

July: Middle Fork of the PowderRiver, North Fork of the Tongue River,Yellowstone, Snowy Range, MuddyGuard.

August: Ten Sleep, Snake River,Grey’s River (for a cutt-slam), SnowyRange.

September: Platte River float(Glenrock stretch), a tradition.

October: Flycasters access at Speas.November and December: Night

fishing at Grey Reef.These are only suggestions. If you

have an idea for an outing, organize it,announce it at the club meeting, providesome publicity (including directions andfly patterns), and arrange for a meal ifdesired or appropriate.

MMMMYYYY FFFFLLYYLLYY BBBBOOXXOOXXThis month, Tom Grogan provides a glimpse of his river box, which includes

nymphs, rockworms, eggs, San Juan worms, and a variety of hot head and squirrelleeches and an assortment of streamers.

The WFC banquet committee hasbeen meeting and developing plans andideas for the upcoming banquet inApril. (April 4, for those that don'talready know). If you are interested in

Banquet planning is underwaybecoming a member of this committee,or any other committee for that matter,please let John Robitaille know as soonas possible.

Get involved and enjoy your club!

Thanks and recognition, in the true Ten Sleep tradition, belatedly go out to sever-al Fly Casters for their time and efforts at this past fall’s Sports Expo: SpencerAmend and Kim "Eagle One" Levine stepped up to offer casting lessons to manyfuture fly casters. Many thanks fellas! In addition to Spencer’s and Kim's efforts,a group of fellow fly casters headed up by the "Key Lime Kid," Ed Rate, sold $559worth of raffle tickets to Expo attendees. Those members hawking the ticketsincluded Ed, Richard Soffe, Randy "Scoop" Stalker, John "The Bonus TicketMaster" Fanto and Don "Chef Ptomaine" Jelinek. Great job guys! You all did asuper job of representing the club! We're still looking for volunteers for the GreatRockies Sport Show at the Casper Events Center. Call Don at 267-7477 or Edat 237-9667 for more information.


by Alex RoseVice President, WFC

F

on a hook.”The first step in creating my entry

involved building a roaring fire in thefireplace. The second step was to pour alarge glass of red wine before settling in atthe fly tying desk. I have discovered thatfew activities in life are more relaxingthan enjoying a drink by the vice, andlistening to a crackling fire while mind-lessly wrapping thread around a hook.

I secured a large hook in the vice, ina vertical position. I then lowered thedesk lamp until it hovered over mygleaming, shiny hook. I attempted to usemy tying materials to create a Christmastree.

For the tree limbs, I twisted strips ofolive rabbit fur around the shank untilthey reached the eye. The fur actuallyresembled limbs. However, my illusion of

a Christmas tree vanished when Iattempted to decorate it with pieces ofchenille.

The branches appeared to be lasheddown by awkward garlands. No amountof wine could have convinced me thatmy creation looked like a Christmas tree.It didn’t even resemble a Charlie BrownChristmas tree.

It looked more like owl feces.After several tries, I abandoned the

Christmas tree for a more general,abstract concept: a fly, decorated withChristmas colors, that would stride theline between gaudy and class. I went forthe Hooters restaurant theme:“Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined,”which really makes no sense, when youthink about it.

Anyhow, after about an hour, I had

Rose said he was proud of his third place finish at the Christmas banquet.

orget the stress of holiday shop-ping: Try tying a creative holi-day-themed fly for theChristmas banquet, something

AGONY at the VICE

“No great thing is created sud-denly.”

– Epictetus, Greek philosopher

Richard Soffe’s winning creation.

CChhrriissttmmaass FFllyyCChhrriissttmmaass FFllyy

that had never been tied before.The rules, as stated in the last issue

of the The Backcast, were the following:“Tie the gaudiest, most imaginative fly ona holiday theme in Christmas colors andassorted materials. All creations shouldhave an appropriate name. The onlyrequirement for an entry is that it be tied


used feathers, peacock hurl, flashabou,and other random and assorted materialsto create something I was halfway proudof. If anything, my entry showed I’mcapable of tying something more compli-cated than an egg pattern.

At the Christmas banquet, I waspleased to find that only four club mem-bers had entered flies into the competi-tion. This meant my chances of placingwere pretty good. After the votes werecounted, my streamer pattern, featuringwhat I admit is a very lame name(“Santa’s Surprise), placed third.

Following the contest, I took out myreporter’s tablet and interviewed mycompetitors. Second place finisher TomGrogan sat across from me at the dinnertable.

“So Tom,” I said, in a mocking, jour-nalistic voice, “How does it feel to havewon second place in the competition?”Tom had tied a cute, dainty, girly fly thatresembled Rudolf – and just in case thisneeds further explanation – “the red noseReindeer.”

“Well,” said Grogan, sounding muchlike a football coach being interviewedafter winning a big game, “I got to tellyou, it feels intense, after laboring hourafter hour over this fly. I can’t even beginto express the magnitude of placing sec-ond.”

Grogan’s wife, Summer, spoke up.“People thought it was clever, honey.”

“Well, clever doesn’t get you firstplace,” Grogan said, with a self-deprecat-ing laugh.

I wandered across the room andinterview first place finisher RichardSoffe, who tied a beautiful fly mountedon a plastic Goofy figurine. “It really feelsgood,” said Soffe, who placed second inlast year’s competition. “Apparently, I’ma better tier than a fisherman.”

Soffe had tied a spruce fly streamer,but said that the Platter River special washis inspiration. He left the eye open onthe fly, in case someone wants to try it.

After interviewing Soffe, I corneredDick DePaemelere, who placed last. Iasked DePaemelere, rubbing it in, “So,how does it feel to have placed last in thecompetition?”

He was a good sport and laughed itoff. DePaemelere is an outstanding tierwith years of experience. He could tiebetter flies than me using his toes.

Last year, on a cold, winter, snowyday, the club hosted a beginner’s fly tyingclass at the Platte River Fly Shop.

DePaemelere was the instructor. Ibrought a few fly tying tools along withmy new vice, a cheap knockoff of aRenzetti, manufactured by Pakistanicraftsmen.

DePaemelere patiently taught his stu-dents basic fly tying patterns. I was intro-duced to a world of feathers, thread, fur andbeads. My wife once commented that thefly tying section of Sportsman’s Warehouseis really a “craft store – for men.”

Over the past year, I have scouredWyoming searching for exotic fly tyingmaterials. My pride and joy is a strip ofbadger fur found in an antique store inThermopolis. I have dedicated myself totying mediocre to passable flies thatmiraculously catch fish, and I now placedthird in the Christmas fly competition.

A note to DePaemelere: I bet younow regret teaching me how to tie, don’tyou?

Those competing in the annual Christmas fly contest at the December meeting were,from left, Alex Rose, third place; Tom Grogan, second; Dick DePaemelere, fourth, andRichard Soffe, first. Each received a gift certificate for their creative efforts.

The Lyin' and Tyin' clinics will beheld this year at the Wyoming Oil andGas Conservation Commission. Markyour calendars for the following dates:Jan. 17, Feb. 14, and March 14. Theclinics will be held between 9:00 to11:30 a.m.

For new members not familiarwith these clinics, they provide anexcellent opportunity for tiers of allskill levels to socialize while tyingflies.

For those interested in learninghow to tie, this is your chance to learnfrom some experts. Just buy the mate-rials, show up with a vice, and learnfrom the pros.

Lyin’ and Tyin’clinics returnThe next one isJan. 17 at 9 a.m.


The following article is anexcerpt from the electronic book,Hunt - Don’t Pray - for Fish,Techniques and Strategies for FlyFishing from a Drift Boat, written byHarley W. Reno, Ph.D., a friend ofthe Wyoming Fly Casters and occa-sional program presentor. Theentire content is copyrighted by theauthor, and is used here with hispermission. The CD is available forpurchase through the Federation ofFly Fishers, and 80 percent of the$25 cost of each CD is being donat-ed by the author back to the feder-ation for its conservation and edu-cation funds.

In the coming months, otherchapters of Dr. Reno’s book are tobe featured in the Backcast.

A course in drift boat fishingChapter 5: Equipment and Flies (Part 2)

fly, I let the situation tell me what wentwrong and strive to eliminate the flaw(i.e., a root-cause analysis). And I havebeen fishing those short fly rods formore than 50 years.

If anyone is interested in building a6-foot 4/5-weight fly rod, the blank andancillary paraphernalia can be procuredas a kit from a source like Neal's CustomFishing Rods and Guide Service ofScottsdale (Arizona). Neal's present e-mail and web addresses are:[email protected] and www.neals-fishingtackle.com.

FliesAs noted in the opening commen-

tary of this chapter, clients always askabout which types and patterns of fliesthey should bring on a float trip. The bestanswer is, "Wait. Buy those flies recom-mended by the guide or professional atthe fly shop near the stream intended forfishing." The guide and/or representativeof the fly shop gladly will point out thoseflies in the patterns and sizes that havebeen attracting the attentions of localfishes. The flies recommended closelyresemble or imitate in size, shape, andcolor the insects emerging from thestream at that time.

Fly fishermen who wade have theluxury of time while fishing a uniformand monotonous habitat. Fly fishermenwho fish from a drift boat, however, soonlearn that time is at a premium, and fish-

ne marvelous advantage of flyfishing from a drift boat isthat the fisherman does notcast long distances because

the drift boat shortens the distancebetween the fly fisherman and fish. Inrecent years, I have all but abandoned mylong 5-weight fly-fishing systems and havestarted carrying 2/3- or 4/5-weight fly-fish-ing systems in which the fly rods seldomexceed 6 feet in length. Such mini-castingsystems are ideal for making short castsand are easier to stow in the boat.

The short fly-fishing system is notunique with me, although I started fish-ing with a 5-foot fly rod when I was ayoungster growing up in Oakland,California. The fly rod I used duringthose days of yore was patterned after onedescribed in an article published in anational fishing magazine sometimearound 1952. The author described a"magic wand"-a fly rod 5 feet in lengthspecifically designed for fishing brush-covered streams in the western andnorthern parts of Pennsylvania. He indi-cated that the short fly rod was ideal forcasting and fishing tiny dry flies in tightquarters, but troublesome for casting andfishing big dry flies or weighted wet fliesin similar situations.

My first magic wand was 5 feet inlength, salvaged from a broken glass roddiscarded in the municipal dump. Inthose days, fly rods were not classified bycasting weight. Instead, each was classi-fied by diameter and weight of the lineit effectively could throw. My rod wasstiff enough to throw a small rope butperfect for casting into the 5-, 6-, and 8-foot diameter culverts that movedstreams under city streets and nearbyrural highways.

Back then, many streams drainingsouthwest off the Hayward Fault, flow-ing through several municipalitiesbetween Oakland and Niles (nowFremont), and discharging into SanFrancisco Bay supported respectableannual runs of steelhead. Surprisingly,those runs were unknown to local resi-dents. But, they surely entertained andnutritionally benefited me during thoseearly, pre-teen years.

Today my fly rods are each made ofgraphite, 2/3- or 4/5-weight, between 5.5

to 6.5 feet in length, and individually lessthan 2.5 ounces in total weight.Admittedly, such short, lightweight flyrods give the fish a decided advantage.That is okay. Anymore, I am not as inter-ested in landing a fish as I am in hookinga fish. One or two fish per trip hooked,landed, and returned to the river safely ismore than enough excitement and grati-fication. Those fish that beat me are sto-ries for friends, colleagues, and futuregrandchildren.

A heavily weighted fly can be casteasily and managed effectively with ashort, lightweight rod. However, successrequires practice and patience.Admittedly, a short fly rod can be a littletesty and annoying, testy in the sensethat it exposes any flaw in casting tech-nique, and annoying in the sense thatfishing in waters deeper than 8 feetrequires mechanical adjustments to thewhole casting system described in theprevious chapter.

One nice thing about fishing a longfly rod is that the rod effectively hidesflaws in casting technique. Anyone cancast a fly-especially a dry fly-after a mod-icum of instruction or training. "Rodwavers" do that all the time. Many fisher-men can cast the same fly with a shortrod, albeit not as far, after the sameamount of instruction. What fly fisher-men generally suppose is that casting andfishing a sinking fly with a short rod isimpossible.

The only way to cast and fish asinking fly is to initiate the cast withoutany slack in the line. Learn to load thefly rod by simultaneously turning thetorso and shoulders backwards and lift-ing the arm during the back cast to getthe line and fly out of the water. Then,turn the torso and shoulders forward,pushing on the handle of the rod withthe thumb during the forward cast toaccelerate the line and fly towards thetarget. Almost anything else results in ahopeless mess, with the line wrappingaround the fly fisherman and the fly hit-ting him or her-or others in the boat-inthe back, shoulder, or head. My castingtechnique is anything but flawless. Eachtime I do something wrong and becomeentangled in my line or accidentally hitmyself or someone else with a weighted

O


ing any given habitat is a brief but repeat-ing experience.

The wade fisherman can carrydozens of patterns of flies, each in a myr-iad of sizes and combinations of colors.Somewhere amongst the mix of pat-terns, sizes, and colors there is that onefly that imitates what fish are eating.The process is simply gradual elimina-tion, made possible by the luxury oftime. The fly fisherman in a drift boatknows or soon learns that the time his orher fly is available to a fish is minimal,and that the more presentations madeper unit of time or linear distance alonga bank, the greater the chances of get-ting a strike and hooking a fish. Thenumbers, patterns, sizes, and colors offlies needed by the fly fisherman in adrift boat are minimal. The more gener-alized the pattern of the fly, the greateris its utility in varying habitats.

To a fisherman in a driftboat, the colors of flies are ofless concern than they are toa wade fisherman. Whenselecting flies for fishing froma drift boat, make sure thecoloration of each pattern issimple. Aquatic organismsgenerally have dark dorsa orbacks and light-colored ven-ters. Among aquatic insectsand crustacea, dorsa are most-ly shades of brown or green.The venters commonly arebeige to light green to yellow.Among prey species of fish,dorsa are brown, green, orblue. The sides generally aresilver, varying from greenish or yellowish,to reddish. The venters usually areunblemished silver, tannic silver, or yel-lowish silver.

Among predatory species of fish,dorsa also are blue, green, brown, or someblend thereof; however, often they areaccented with dark dots or reticulations(squiggly, dark-colored lines). The sidesusually are silver, but, in the case of pred-ators who hunt from ambush, sides aregenerally greenish or brownish and deco-rated with vertical bars or horizontal,dark bands. The venters are greenish andunmarked.

Perhaps this is the place to makesome general comments about fly tiersand flies: first some observations about flytiers, then a thought about fishing multi-ple flies, followed by a qualitative andquantitative listing of flies for the fisher-man who intends to fish from a drift boat.

The fly-tying community can be

viewed as a divided pie. A small slice ofthe pie includes the real artisans of flytying. Creations by those individualsbelong more in museums and art gal-leries rather than being used to catchfish in some stream or lake. A slightlylarger slice of the pie includes the inno-vators of fly tying. Innovators developnew and exciting patterns; find new andbetter materials for tying flies; and, bestof all, dream up simpler ways of doingthings. Another slice includes individu-

als who tie flies commercially. Thosetiers can tie a fly so fast that kibitzersoften have difficulty grasping what isbeing done. Some ladies I have talkedto can tie 100 to 150 flies each per daydepending upon the complexity of thepattern.

The largest slice includes most flytiers. Flies tied by the majority catch fish,should catch fish, or might catch fishunder the right circumstances. It reallydoes not matter because, to those indi-viduals, tying flies is fun, relaxing, andrewarding.

The last slice of the pie comprisesthe tiers whose flies catch fish instead offishermen. Flies of those tiers are nonde-script. Many are large and "withoutcharacter." Most lack that all-important"fish-appeal." Yet, when their flies areexamined carefully, they exhibit generalfeatures that are shared widely amongfood organisms. The fact that such flies

share commonalities with food organ-isms lumps them in the category of"generic flies."

Generic flies come in all sizes,shapes, and colors. Those that float usu-ally have wings made of hair, some redor other bright color mixed into thebody, and one or more large hacklesspun around the hook for additionalbuoyancy.

Generic flies that sink typically aredark on top [i.e., black, brown (anyshade), blue, or green (any shade)]. Thesides are silver, greenish, or yellowish,and sometimes are decorated with a fewstrands of ultraviolet, pearl, copper, orgold Krystal Flash or other similarmaterial. Venters are usually light col-ored, often being accentuated by asplash of red marabou because the colorred is a primary feeding color amongfreshwater and coastal fishes. That is, a

majority of freshwater preyspecies and many coastalspecies of fish use red coloras a sex attractor. As aresult, predatory fishes rou-tinely are conditioned torespond positively to any-thing with a flash of red,whether they are looking forfood or potential sex part-ners.

I am a tier, user, andadvocate of generic flies. Noone would ever buy my fliesif I were interested in mar-keting them. But, in thedrift boat where I am theonly game in town (or on

the water), so to speak, my flies are indemand. I am flattered when a clientwants to use one of my concoctions andmore than happy to provide these"generics" as complimentary gifts.

Fly fishermen regularly ask meabout the effectiveness of fishing two ormore flies at once. A bead-head nymphtrailing under a floating fly is a goodexample that is popular with fly fisher-men throughout the YellowstonePlateau. Whereas that technique is pro-ductive, and many fly fishermen usenothing else, I respond by pointing outthat the multiple-fly technique is thebest technique for losing flies twice asfast. I quantify that statement by askingthe questioner, if you as the fly fisher-man have difficulty managing a singlefly, how can managing multiple flies beeasier or more appealing? The fishermanin the drift boat is better off restrictingthe number of flies to one at a time.

The conehead MWB

Fly Name Size QuantityParachute Adams 14 or 16 6Pale Morning Dun 14 or 16 6Elk Hair Caddisfly (light brown) 12 and 14 4 of eachParachute Grasshopper 10 6Madam "X" 10 6Super Renegade 8 or 10 4Rubber-legs (black or brown) 8 or 10 6Woolly Bugger (black or green) 6 4 of eachPheasant Tail Bead-head Nymph 14 12Hare's Ear Bead-head Nymph 14 12Montana Nymph 6 6Bitch Creek Nymph 6 4Clouser Minnow 4 and 6 6 of each


Full moon

Lyin’ andTyin’ clinic

SUNDAY MONDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3

4 5 86 7 9 10

11 12 1513 14 16 17

18 19 2220 21 23 24

25 26 2927 28 30

Regular meeting, 7 p.m.

WFC BoardMeeting, 7 p.m.

Deadline forBackcast info

JANUARY 2009TUESDAY

WYOMING FLY CASTERS BOARD MEETINGDecember 17, 2008

31

Great RockiesSport Show

Polar Bear outing at Grey Reef

MSP to drop "cabin fever outing" and take free boothat Great Rockies Sport Show. Booth will include raffle forrod/reel, members will be needed for fly tying and castingdemos, will be noticed in Backcast. Authorized $75.00 forbooth giveaways.

New Business:MSP to allow additional $50 for new rod to be used at

raffle in future and additional $50 to pay for overage ofother rod/reel combos.

MSP to repair and move Robinder bench to SpeasHatchery access area.

MSP to approve $29.00 for lie & tie due to movingfrom WOGCC building to Ft. Casper.

MSP to reimburse Jim Sparks for gasoline, lunch, shut-tle services when used to host Montana Club members thatbought gift certificate for a float on the Platte.

Received $106.41 from advertisements on clubwebsite.

MSP to adjournSubmitted by John Robitaille

.The president called the meeting to order.*MSC to approve the minutes of the November board

meeting as printed in the Backcast.*MSC to approve the treasurer's report as printed in

the Backcast.President-elect report:Banquet committee continues to meet. Items are

being gathered for auction. January program will be Mark Boname discussing ento-

mology.Jan. 1 will be Polar Bear Outing, Big Horn outing is

being moved to April 18 due to Easter.Vice President Report:MSP to hold "cabin fever outing" in February. Outing

will be open to the public and the board authorized nomore than $200.00 for outing. (It was later decided to dothe Great Rockies Show instead - see below.)

MSP to remove requirement that all MacTavish mem-bers pay dues, MacTavish winners now have option to paymembership dues.

Old Business:

Great RockiesSport Show


Treasurer’s Report for November 2008Income Description AmountDate

11/13/2008 Deposit - dues - 60.00, 111/22 Raffle - 72.00, Club Merch - 2.00 134.00 11/21/2008 Transfer from savings 3,000.00

Total Income 3,134.00

Expenses

Check # Description Amount

#3922 Izaak Walton League - Nov. Rent (75.00)#3923 Kinkos - October Backcast (81.11)#3924 Cash - Xmas Party (100.00)#3925 Joe DeGraw - Trapper's Route Outing (56.11)#3926 Don Jelinek - Replacement - Club Propane Tanks (22.67)#3927 Platte River Fly Shop - 11/12 Raffle (99.32)#3928 Sears - Grill 281.97, Coffee Pot - 34.95, Griddles - 89.75 406.67)#3929 Richard Crystal - Program-Yellowstone Lake Trout Project (400.00)#3930 Don Jelinek - Night Outing 10/25 (75.00)#3931 Don Jelinek - Cardwell Outing 11/22 (130.00)-

Nov Bank Charges (3.00)Total Expenses (1,448.88)

FOR SALESpecial prices for WFC club members!

Fly lines, fly reels and fly rods.Call Don Jelinek

267-7477•

Patagonia SST jacket, XL. Brand new. $240 (list $315).

Call Scott Novotny266-3072

•USED RODS

TFO 7' 6", 6 wt. Lefty Kreh TICR $50Good boat streamer rod

TFO 9', 6 wt. Jim Teeny rod $50Call Art Van Rensselaer

262-7655

Bring your camera along on your next fishing trip,and use it to document your catch and release fish.Then send the digital image to the WFC newslettereditor for consideration of inclusion in the next issue.Contributions are always welcome. Who knows ...maybe your photo will be the next month’s cover.

If ya done it, it ain’t braggin.’-- Yogi Berra

CLASSIFIEDS -- GOODSTUFF FOR SALE (CHEAP!)

Wyoming Fly CastersP.O. Box 2881Casper, WY 82602

www.wyflycasters.org

The mission of the Wyoming Fly Casters is to promote and enhance the sport of flyfishing and the conservation of fish and their habitat.

WFC 01/09

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