WFC 3/11

www.wyflycasters.org

ronically, the last species of troutI’ve chosen to research during mytenure as president is also the only

species native to Wyoming. In fact, onFeb. 18, 1987 it was chosen as the statefish. The cutthroat trout has several sub-species but perhaps the best known andmost widely recognized is the one nativeto Yellowstone Lake and theYellowstone River in YellowstoneNational Park.

The common name cutthroat trout,which applies to the species as a whole,was first used for a population ofYellowstone cutthroat trout. In an 1884issue of American Angler magazine,Charles Hallock, longtime editor of Fieldand Stream, wrote of a memorable fish-ing experience he had the previous yearon Rosebud Creek, which drains fromthe Beartooth Mountains to theYellowstone River in southern Montana,northeast of Yellowstone National Park.

According to Robert Behnke’sexcellent book Trout and Salmon ofNorth America, Hallock caught troutwith "…a slash of intense carmineacross each gill cover, as large as my lit-tle finger. It was most striking. For lackof a better description we call them ‘cut-throat’ trout." Before 1884, cuts weremost commonly referred to as "black-spotted trout," "speckled trout," or"Rocky Mountain trout." Fish culturistscontinued to use the term speckled troutinto the early 1900s.

Yellowstone Lake has a surface areaof 88,000 acres, an elevation of 7,731feet and is the home of the world’sgreatest population of pure cutthroattrout. The typical maximum is 21–24 "and between 4–6 lbs. In the 1950s and60s before angling regulations greatlyreduced the number of trout killed byanglers, fishermen took more than300,000 trout in some years. Bears andbirds such as eagles, which have a pro-clivity to eating fish, consumed a rough-ly equal amount.

Fish culturists have been interestedin Yellowstone Lake for several decades.From 1899 to 1955, some 818 million

Yellowstone Lakecutthroat eggs weretaken, fertilized andshipped to most U.S.states, Canada andseveral foreign coun-tries. Some years,more than 40 million eggs were redis-tributed! Lake Trout tend to be a men-ace as well as there are programs inplace to dissipate their numbers. MattStanton, treasurer of WFC, gave a veryinsightful presentation on this issue inJanuary and Dave Sweet of TroutUnlimited will be elaborating on thetopic in April.

Wyoming boasts five subspecies, orvarieties, of cutthroat trout, reportedlymore than any other state. They includethe Snake River cutthroat, which isheavily spotted, and the YellowstoneRiver cutthroat, whose spots are fewerbut larger. The Colorado River cut-throat is found in the headwaters of theGreen and Little Snake rivers. Thewest-slope cutthroat inhabits the north-west corner of Yellowstone NationalPark. Wyoming's rarest cutthroat is theBonneville cutthroat trout, also knownas the Utah or Bear River cutthroat. InWyoming, it's found in the upper BearRiver watershed.

A program designed to encourageanglers to learn more about Wyoming'scutthroat sub-species and develop moreappreciation and support of theWyoming Game and Fish Department'scutthroat management program hasbeen developed. It is called the Cutt-Slam. To participate an angler needs tocatch a Colorado River cutthroat, aBonneville cutthroat, a Snake Rivercutthroat and a Yellowstone cutthroat.

Wyoming Game and Fish will needa completed application (that can bedownloaded from their website) submit-ted to them along with pictures if eachsubspecies. Once documentation hasbeen received, then Game & Fish willsend a color certificate featuring the foursubspecies recognizing this accomplish-ment.

The state record for a cutthroat is15 lbs., 32 inches caught on NativeLake in Sublette County by Alan Dowsin 1959. Tim Bayles caught the world

Page 2 Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter

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 lastweek of the month. Make contribu-tions to the next issue by e-mailingmaterial to the Backcast editor [email protected], or call (307)436-8774.

OFFICERSMelody Weinhandl, PresidentWill Waterbury, President-electAndrew Sauter, Vice President

Casey Leary, SecretaryMatt Stanton, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORSTerms expire in 2011

Bob FischerScott NovotnyAlex RoseBill Wichers

Terms expire in 2012Spencer AmendNeil Ruebush

Brent “Smokey” Weinhandl, DDSVacant

Terms expire in 2013Greg GrovesJoe Meyer

Herb WatermanVacant

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 program available free ofcharge) documents. Usually, each issueis roughly 1 MB in size, some are larger.Your e-mail provider may have limitson the size of attachments. In order tobe added to the e-mail list, send arequest to [email protected]. Inaddition to receiving each issue of thenewsletter earlier than your hard copypeers, e-mail subscribers are able toprint each copy in vibrant color -- anadded plus if the issue is rich in colorphotographs. By subscribing electron-ically, you also save the club roughly$17.40 a year in printing and postageexpenses.

Cover shot: Alex Rose wades deep at Grey Reef.

Drag-free DriftsDrag-free Drifts

by Melody Weinhandl, President, WFC

[email protected]

I

(continued on next page)

Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter Page 3

Brag Boardrecord on Pyramid Lake in Nevada in2005. It weighed 24 lbs., 12 oz. and was33 inches long.

Although I’m not a Wyomingnative like the cutthroat, it has been mypleasure to call this state home for thelast several years. My husband, Smokey,and I moved here and started BrookTrout Dental, PC from scratch and wehave been made to feel welcome bythose who did have the privilege ofbeing native to the state. It has alsobeen a pleasure to become betteracquainted with those anglers who aremembers of the Wyoming Fly Castersand in particular to the group of mem-bers that served with me on the board.

It's an honor to have been trustedwith leading the organization as presi-dent. I also am pleased to have helpedorganize presentations and outings forthe past two years while in the positionas president-elect and while that posi-tion was vacant this past year.

Thank you all for your suggestions,comments, ideas and active participa-tion in all the events held during mytenure from the club BBQ, to Expo, toCabin Fever, to the Christmas banquetand currently to the spring banquet.Thanks to all the streamkeepers spear-heading the various outings over the lasttwo years. Your willingness to organizeand plan these event have resulted inmany successful trips.

My regards go to the new officersbeing elected and most especially to thenew executive. With this article, I’llsign off for one last time as president.

Best wishes to you all and asalways, happy angling ...

Melody

(continued from previous page)

In addition to your fly

rod, vest, waders and

net, bring a camera

on your next fishing

trip. The only way

your photo gets

featured on this page

is if YOU submit it.


June of 2004, and at that time he wasBLM’s district fire management offi-cer. His work as a public servant leftlittle time for fishing. As a kid he flyfished a little and when he retired heknew he wanted to get really good atthe sport. When he wrapped up withBLM, the guys at work gave him an 8weight Sage rod.

He joined the Wyoming FlyCasters so he could meet other fly fish-ers and learn more about the sport.When Jim was asked how many dayshe fishes a year, he said, “not enough.”When he fishes he prefers his 5 weightScott and he also has a 5-weight trav-el rod that carries a Cabela’s label. ARoss is his favorite reel.

The fish that got Jim the mostexcited was caught during the fall of2010. Somewhere on the NorthPlatte, while fishing a dry, he hookedup with a huge brown. He was alone atthe time but managed to land the fishand used his cell phone to snap a picof the fish. He had no measuringdevice but the outstretched brownreached from his fingertips to the mid-dle of his bicep. He made an eyeball

WFC MeMber ProFile

by Greg B. [email protected]

n Friday Feb. 18, I spoke toJim Johnson about his past,what he’s doing now, and

where he hopes to fish in the future.Jim grew up about 95 miles from

Cheyenne in Bridgeport, Nebraska.Though the North Platte River flowsthrough his hometown, fishing took aback seat to duck and goose hunting.

When Jim was young, his dadworked for the state as an auditoruntil building various businessesincluding an abstraction company, aninsurance agency and a premier duckand goose decoy business. Until heleft home to attend Colorado StateUniversity, his primary interests werehunting waterfowl, playing footballand basketball.

When asked what he wanted tobe when he grew up, Jim told a won-derful story about years of watchingLassie, the long running Emmy win-ning television series. During theearly years Lassie, a beautiful colliedog, lived on a farm with a young manas her master. Over time, the settingof the series changed to portray Lassiehelping forestry workers with theirrescues and other outdoor adventures.Jim recalled regularly watching Lassiework with the forest rangers whilethinking and saying “That’s what Iwant to be.”

During college he pursued hischildhood dreams by working season-al summer jobs with the ForestService in Centennial, Colorado.After getting his degree in forestryand recreation he started out as a sea-sonal fire fighter at Mesa VerdeNational Park. Eventually Jim washired as a permanent Park Rangerwith the National Park Service(NPS). Back then, Park Rangers weredesignated as either “interpretive” or“law enforcement” rangers and Jimwas a law enforcement ranger, whichgenerally meant he protected theresources of park and the people whovisited the park. A typical day could

require him to fight fires, manage traffic,answer question from visitors, performrescues and investigate crimes. Duringten years with the NPS he worked inMesa Verde National Park, PicturedRocks National Lakeshore, and Mt.Rainier National Park.

After a decade with the NPS, Jimtransferred to the Bureau of LandManagement (BLM), moved to Casperand worked 26 years, mostly managingfires.

As the air operations director withBLM’s Incident Management Team, Jimtraveled all over the country helping man-age big fires. During the 21 years he servedon the team, he took great satisfaction inknowing that no one who worked for himever had a crash or was killed. Though hehas been retired for several years, Jim con-tinues part-time work directing fire fight-ing flight operations from the air. PictureJim flying over a raging fire while calmlyorchestrating the flight paths of helicop-ters full of fire fighters and air tankers fullof fire retardant slurry. The situations Jimworked with would have driven an airtraffic controller crazy.

After 36 years of service to the U.S.Department of the Interior, Jim retired in

O

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Jim Johnson


aquatic wildlife -- fishand fowl.

More water trans-lates into more com-fortable floats on theriver. This means that I can go forwardwith a planned spring outing on theNorth Platte west of Glenrock. This isto be a float tube outing -- no drift boatsallowed! Stay tuned for details, and asalways, its pending on the reports of theweatherman.

•The club owes a debt of gratitude to

Melody Weinhandl for sitting at thehelm of the club for the last year, andanchoring it in a peaceful harbor.Melody, maybe you and Smokey couldfinally take me up on that long-standingoffer of fishing Boxelder Creek this sum-mer.

But the club will remain in goodhands. Melody is passing the gavel toWill Waterbury, who promises to be asdedicated to the club as his predecessor.Thanks for taking the vacant reins ofpresident-elect and stepping up to theleadership position, Will. And remem-ber, I need a column for you longenough to fill two columns, everymonth. And a picture to accompany it.

•As you know, or should know, the

annual club’s fund-raising banquet isscheduled for Saturday, April 2. Since itis doubful if next month’s newsletter willbe delivered by the postman in time forthe banquet, I’ll plug it this month.

It is always a most enjoyableevening to socialize, bid on items, andshare in the awards members receive.

Long-term WFC members mayremember the banquet in 2007, whenbowls of goldfish decorated each table.Well, Sarah and I took a bowl home,and one of the fish survived. In fact, itstill flourishes. My then nine-year oldnamed him Samus after a hero in avideo game. She is dark orange, long-tailed and happy; but she also has anattitude when we don’t feed her earlyenough in the morning.

And I don’t think she wants to everattend another WFC banquet.

Tight lines,

Scoop

he calendar pages have beenseemingly turning rapidly, somuch so that I’ve been slow to

realize that the first day of spring is justover three weeks from now (dependingwhen you read this column, of course.)This has been a harsh winter, cold andmiserable, and I welcome the approachof a promised warmer, and less blusteryseason. The days closed so fast I realizedthe club’s membership dues are twomonths in arrears. Whoops! I’d betterget a check written (maybe two, sinceI’ve got to get tickets for the banquet,too) to Matt, and drop it at The Bug.Otherwise I risk not receiving the elec-tronic version of the April issue of thenewsletter. I’m sure there are others likeme who let their dues lapse; to correctthe deficiency, mail a check to theWFC, P.O. Box 2881, Casper 82602. Orif you want to save 44 cents, bring it tothe club meeting on Mar. 9.

If you just emerged from hiberna-tion, or returned from an extendedvacation in the tropics, you may nothave heard the news:

The BuRec is now releasing waterfrom the series of storage reservoirs, inanticipation of a heavy spring runoff.Usually, the releases coincide the begin-ning of the irrigation season on May 1.

The reservoirs are already swollen,and the BuRec hopes to avoid a repeatof last year’s downstream flooding prob-lems precipitated by late spring gusherstorms.

It was a pretty sight last year, whenrising water breached the Pathfinderdam, creating beautiful waterfalls andmisty rainbows.

The river flow is expected to beraised from 500 cfs to perhaps 2000 cfs.And stay at least that much flow for thespring and summer. That’s good news forthe habitat, the fish and the fishermen.Remember the husky trout landed lastyear on the Platte? Well higher waterflows contribute to the well-being of

Tailing LoopsTailing Loops

by Randy Stalker,Backcast editor

[email protected]

“I've never been lost, but I will admitto being confused for several weeks.”

Daniel Boone

Author Greg Groves intends to alternateWFC monthly profiles between veteranmembers and newcomers. -- Ed.

T

(continued from previous page)

Jim Johnson

estimate that the fish was 24 ormore inches long.

After releasing the fish andreturning to his truck, Jim leanedboth his fly rods against a fence.He was so excited that he forgot tocollect the fly rods and after gettingalmost back to Casper, he realizedhe forgot to put the rods in thetruck. He drove back to his formerparking spot and both rods werewhere he had left them.

His dream trip would be to theBristol Bay area of Alaska where hewould like to fly fish for trophyrainbows.

Jim enjoys woodworking andhe plans to donate to the club awooden fly box he made. It’s hisintention that the fly box will beused as an auction or raffle itemduring the upcoming spring ban-quet and fundraiser.

So, that’s a quick summary ofJim’s life. But there’s one more littletidbit that sets Jim apart from allthose other kids who spent Sundayevenings watching Lassie on TV.

During his early years as a parkranger in Mesa Verde NationalPark, Lassie and the producers ofthe series came to the park to film ashow. The story line involved apark ranger who came to the parkto meet a friend and for some rea-son he brought along a NativeAmerican boy. As the story pro-gressed the young boy fell off a cliffand of course Lassie and her parkranger companion came to the res-cue, aided by ropes. As it turnedout, the actor who played the parkranger needed a stunt man to actu-ally do the rope work over the sideof the cliff. Guess who that was? Forhis trouble, the TV folks took a pic-ture of Jim with Lassie, and Jim stillhas the picture.

I encourage everyone to get toknow Jim Johnson. He’s the onlyperson I know who ever petted amovie star and has a picture toprove it.


The ‘Library Corner’ is reopened

Cabin Fever Clinic is Mar. 5by Alex Rose

This year, the club's Cabin FeverClinic will take place Mar. 5, 1:00 to 4:00p.m, at the Casper Recreation Center,located on 1801 E. Fourth Street.

The clinic is free and open to thepublic, and a great opportunity to intro-duce folks to fly fishing. The club providesthe rods and all materials. Experiencedcasters and tiers provide one-on-oneinstruction on fly tying and casting.

Last year, turn out for the clinic wasoutstanding: Approximately 70 partici-pants took part in the clinic. We hadabout 10 Fly Casters teaching casting andtying, but we could have used a few moreinstructors. If you are a good caster ortier, and like to teach, please considervolunteering for this event. We canalways use an extra hand.

This year's format will be similar tolast year: Casting instructors and students

will form a line, taking up most of thegym. The tiers will sit at a row up tables.The only significant difference is thatthis year, we will be providing an infor-mation booth, promoting the club, andactively recruiting new members.

The club's resident fly fishing pro-fessor, Bill Mixer, said he would partici-pate, and would bring along his "castinganalyzer," a high-tech gadget that ana-lyzes every aspect of your cast: Your for-ward cast, back cast, force used, etc.

If you know someone who wouldlike an introduction to casting or tying,this is great opportunity to learn. Rods,reels, hooks and feathers provided.Women and familes are encouraged toattend. If you are handy with a rod orvice, and want to teach, we could useyour help! For more information, contactme at 828-467-3789, or [email protected].

Some members, especially those joining WFC recently, may not be aware ofthe WFC DVD/video library. And I haven’t been too helpful in reminding every-one for several months. Through the efforts of board members Bill Wichers andBob Fischer, with a bit of help from yours truly, members have available a host ofDVD titles sure to expand your knowledge and skills. The library is maintainedand videos can be checked out at the Ugly Bug. Please check out only one videoat a time, and return them promptly.

OK: these videos might not immediately make you able to fish a dry fly likeBill Mixer, catch fish anywhere like Joe Meyer, cast into the wind like MartyRobinson, or sniff out the big ones like Alex Rose, but I’m betting they will addenjoyment to your fishing and put more fish on your lines. Partly as a reminder,and partly to try and stimulate your use of the library, I’ll try and do a better jobof reviewing some of the more interesting titles for the next several months thanI have in the recent past. I hope it will encourage you to take up systematic pur-suit of additional knowledge; I know it will be beneficial for me. Tight lines!

By Spencer Amend

The Underwater World of Trout –Feeding Lies. By Wendell “Ozzie”Ozefovich. (Don’t worry, I can’t pro-nounce his last name either.) 63 min-utes; undated. This is the second videoin the “Underwater World of Trout”series. I don’t think we have the entireseries. It deals exclusively with trout inflowing waters. It contains some greatfootage of trout underwater –Duh! Eventhough the subject matter wasn’t alwayswhat I expected/wanted, it was highlyeducational and interesting. I wasexpecting more detail on feeding liesthan his simply listing of them: riffles,foam lines, in front of and behind rocks,tail ends of pools, eddies, and fast waterin the middle of the water column. Ihadn’t previously paid too much atten-tion to the way the water does all thework holding a trout stationary in fairlyswift water; similar to the way the windholds a soaring hawk. In addition tofeeding lies, he talked briefly about shel-tering lies: deadfalls and undercut banks,as well as white water riffles that protectfrom avian predators. And he mentionedprime lies as those areas providing bothfunctions. Hatchery trout and juvenileseat all the time and everywhere. Most

that trout can go from zero to 22 mph in1 second (so don’t be afraid to strip yourfly rapidly). And the lateral line enableseven blind trout to locate food and sur-vive for years. His observations and state-ments about pecking order (which troutgets the best spots in streams) varied withthe size and species and sex of trout.Some of his information on streamhydrology will probably make me fish dif-ferently in some circumstances. Theworst thing, for me, was the notion thattrout feed most typically in quite narrowlanes (maybe from a couple of inches to afoot or so wide), requiring something Imay not be quite good enough at:extremely accurate casts. He character-ized trout as feeding by sight, but swal-lowing based on taste, and had someexcellent video of trout taking, tasting,and expelling items quickly. Greatfootage; interesting, varied information;I’m glad I took the time to watch it. I’llfish some waters differently, and evenperhaps more patiently.

common food items are crayfish, leeches,various nymphs, sculpin, and scuds.Trout sometimes bite in reflex action to afood (or non-food) item coming at them.He deals at some length with trout bio-mechanics – how trout fins keep them inplace, minimizing drag. He says that troutare able to hold in swift water with actu-ally less energy expended than it takesthem in slower water. As hinted at above,this video contains a lot of interestinginformation that I didn’t see connectedto feeding lies. For instance, he comes upwith the statistic on trout acceleration

2011 annual dues areOVERDUE!

In order to continuereceiving club benefits,send in your annual

dues to WFC

P.O. Box 2881Casper, WY 82602


The Lyin' and Tyin' clinics willagain be held at the Wyoming Oil andGas Conservation Commission build-ing on Three Crowns golf course.

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

The sessions are also a great oppor-tunity for beginning fly tiers to learnfrom the experienced tiers, and to getone-on-one tips and instructionregarding the art of tying. New mem-bers or beginning tiers simply show upwith a vice and materials, and the proswill show, step-by-step, how to tie bugs.

Lyin’ and Tyin’clinics slated

The next one is

Mar. 12 at 9 a.m.

Jamie Gibson and Jim Degroot were among those attending the February edition of Lyin’and Tyin’ at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation building. The monthly tying sessionscontinue through the remainder of the winter on the Saturday following the regularWednesday club meeting.

Our members are very special to us and we want to remem-ber them in times of adversity. If you know of a member or theirspouse who is ill or is recently deceased, please contact DonnaDiesburg at (307) 234-4278 or e-mail her at [email protected].

The spring fund-raising banquet isscheduled for Saturday, April 2 at theRamada Plaza Riverside (formerly theHoliday Inn). A no-host cocktail hourand display of auction items will begin at6:00 p.m. and dinner will be served at7:00 p.m.

Tickets are $25.00 each and only130 tickets will be sold on a first comefirst served basis. Ticket sales will beginat the club meeting on Wednesday Mar.9. On Mar. 10, tickets will be sold at thePlatte River Fly Shop, the Ugly Bug FlyShop, and Brook Trout Dental. FromMar. 9 through Mar. 16 tickets will onlybe sold to members. After Mar. 16, tick-ets will be sold to both members and thepublic. Remember that only 130 totaltickets will be sold. When the last ticketis sold, ticket sales will be closed.

This year's banquet will feature shortpresentations outlining the past accom-plishments of the club and what we hopeto do in the future.

The raffles, silent and live actionsare the highlight of the banquet. Themembers of the spring banquet planningcommittee have been working hard toget donations from friends of the WFCand our favorite suppliers of equipment,clothing and outings.

Any club member who wishes todonate quality items for auction isencouraged to contact Greg Groves orBob Fisher, the co-chairmen of the springbanquet planning commitee. Outdoor artitems, limited edition fly fishing booksand high quality or antique fly rods andreels are always hot auction items. If youhave any high quality gear that you arenot using, why not put it back into serv-ice by donating it for auction or raffle.All funds are spent on conservation, pub-lic fishing access and educational proj-ects.

Contributions of flies for the club flyplate that will be up for action are need-ed. Members are also asked to contributea dozen flies for the bucket raffle. JoeMeyer reports he still needs flies frommembers of the MacTavish club. Thoseflies will be included in the MacTavishplate that always gets top dollar at auc-tion. Joe needs those MacTavish flies bythe first week of March. All the flies canbe dropped off at the Ugly Bug for JoeMeyer.

Planning underway

for spring banquet


PRESIDENT-ELECT (Vote for one)

__________________________________________ ❐

__________________________________________ ❐__________________________________________ ❐

VICE PRESIDENT (Vote for one)

__________________________________________ ❐

__________________________________________ ❐__________________________________________ ❐

TREASURER (Vote for one)

__________________________________________ ❐

__________________________________________ ❐__________________________________________ ❐

SECRETARY (Vote for one)

__________________________________________ ❐

__________________________________________ ❐__________________________________________ ❐

BOARD -- 3 year term (Vote for four)

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

ELECTION BALLOT

INSTRUCTIONSMake a mark through one of the

boxes across from the candidate(s)

of your choice. Vote for one candi-

date for officer positions, and as

many as four for for the board

vacancies. As president-elect, Will

Waterbury ascends automatically to

the president’s office.

In order to be entitled to vote, you

must be a WFC member in good

standing (dues current).

Absentee ballots can be mailed to

the club (P.O. Box 2881, Casper,

82602). All other ballots will be

marked and collected during the

membership meeting on Mar. 10.

Nominations from the floor will be

accepted before ballots are cast,

especially for the position without

any announced candidates.

•

Officers elected in March take office

in April.

The obligation of an officer or a

board member is to attend a general

membership meeting and a board

meeting, on the second and third

Wednesdays of each month, respec-

tively, at 7:00 p.m.

Chris McAtee

BOARD -- 2 year term (Vote for one)

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

BOARD -- 1 year term (Vote for one)

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

__________________________________ ❐

Matt Stanton

Casey Leary

John Dolan

Bob Fischer

Jim Johnson

projects that have received, or willreceive significant matching fundsfrom other fund sources and leveragepartnerships with for-profit and not-for-profit companies or organizations.

Organizations that have ques-tions or wish to receive materials tosubmit a project for consideration cancontact Melodee Marienthal [email protected] or byphone at: (307) 777-4529.

Proposals for conservation projects sought




BE INFORMED

Receive each issue of theBackcast in a timely man-ner, without relying onthe Post Awful to deliverit. Sign up for electronicdelivery! Not only do youreceive each issue near theend of each month, but itwill feature color photo-graphs and graphics. Andyou can save the club pre-cious money and resourcesbecause printing andpostage costs and thechore of stapling, stamp-ing and stickering themonochrome hard copyare eliminated. Just dropthe editor a line, request-ing electronic delivery [email protected].


www.wyflycasters.orgLandowners invited to sign up for

private lands/public wildlife programThe open enrollment and renewal

period for landowners wishing to partici-pate in the 2011 Wyoming Game andFish Department's Private Lands/PublicWildlife (PLPW) program began Jan. 1.All contracts must be approved by 5 p.m.April 29, 2011.

The PLPW program provides amonetary incentive to landowners whoenroll acreage in any of WGFD's threeaccess programs: Walk-in Hunting,Walk-in Fishing and HunterManagement Areas.

The goal of the access program is toenhance and/or maintain public huntingand fishing access on private and land-locked public lands throughout the state.The Game and Fish also provides addi-tional law enforcement in the areas, butmore importantly, the management ofhunters and anglers.

A Hunter Management Area com-prises one or more ranches, and huntersare required to obtain a permission slip,map and ranch rules to hunt.

"The main benefit to landowners is

The Wildlife Heritage Foundationof Wyoming (WHFW) is seeking pro-posals from not-for-profit organizationsfor projects that directly benefitWyoming's Wildlife resource.Specifically, WHFW is looking for proj-ects that benefit wildlife through speciesconservation and/or habitat improve-ment for game and non-game speciesand fisheries.

The foundation will give priority to

the Game and Fish liaison betweenthemselves and the hunters and anglers.Landowners do not have to deal withrequests for access," said Matt Buhler,statewide access coordinator. "Since thedepartment issues hunter managementpermission slips and supplies walk-inhunting atlases, we coordinate the accessto the private property enrolled in theprogram."

Walk-in hunting and fishing areasare typically smaller parcels of propertythat unless otherwise stated, are onlyaccessible by foot. No permission slip isrequired to access these areas and eacharea is open during a specific time andonly for species agreed upon by thelandowner and the department. Gameand Fish installs signs that identify thewalk-in area boundary, safety zones andparking areas.

Landowners who wish to renew,enroll or who would like more informa-tion on any of the access programs cancontact Matt Buhler at (800) 233-8544or (307) 473-3400.

If you do not pay your annual dues, this may be your last Backcast. You will not beable to vote in the upcoming election and you will be removed from the mailing list.

Once you have renewed your membership your privileges will be restored. Mail your renewal to P.O. Box 2881, drop it off at one of the fly shops, or, better

yet, come to the March meeting.For those of you who receive the newsletter electronically, you, too, may be culled

from the subscription list of the monthly newsletter.

To continue receiving thenewsletter, pay your club dues


MARCH Club CalendarMONDAY 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

27 28

Regular

meeting, 7 p.m.

WFC Board

Meeting, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY

29 30

SUNDAY

Deadline for

Backcast info

Full moonDaylight

Savings Time

begins

31

Lyin’ and

Tyin’, 9 a.m.

Treasurer’s reportending January 31, 2011

Income:01/06/11 Deposit - Dues ............................................................................................................................................ $125.0001/24/11 Deposit - January raffle................................................................................................................................... 88.0001/24/11 Deposit - Dues .............................................................................................................................................. 250.0001/31/11 Interest............................................................................................................................................................... .21

Total............................................................................................................................................. 463.21

Expenses:01/05/11 Online payment - FedEx Office (Dec Backcast) ....................................................................................... $102.5901/06/11 #4079 Joe DeGraw (overpayment of dues)..................................................................................................... 5.0001/12/11 #4080 Void (Will Waterbury, wrong amount)..................................................................................................... 001/12/11 #4081 Ugly Bug (January raffle) .................................................................................................................. 84.3301/12/11 #4082 Will Waterbury - Christmas party supplies......................................................................................... 9.5801/12/11 Ugly Bug (third place Christmas fly gift certificate) ..................................................................................... 10.0001/19/11 #4084 Joe Meyer - Lyin’ and Tyin’ club kit supplies......................................................................................15.0001/21/11 #4085 City of Casper - Cabin Fever deposit .............................................................................................. 200.0001/21/11 #4086 City of Casper - Cabin Fever rent ................................................................................................... 165.0001/31/11 IWLA January/February rent ...................................................................................................................... 150.00

Total........................................................................................................................................ $1,830.49

Cabin Fever

clinic

St. Patrick’s

Day

First day of

spring

9Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter Page 11

CLASSIFIEDS

GOOD STUFF

FOR SALE

(CHEAP!)

Patagonia SST jacket, XL, Brand new.

$175 (list $315).Scott Novotny

266-3072

•

Dan Bailey SL felt sole wadingboots , men’s size 5, speed laces,EVA insoles, padded ankle, light

weight. $65 new, sale $35.Kaenon UPD sunglasses

$169 new, slightly used price $95. Marty Robinson

235-1730

Classifieds are a free service to WFCmembers. To advertise your item for sale,drop a line to the marketing departmentat [email protected].

Protect our environment

Inspect - Clean - Dry

Take the Clean Angling Pledge

www.cleanangling.org

WYOMING FLY CASTERS BOARD MINUTESFebruary 16, 2011

Call to order: 7:04 p.m.Bob Fischer, excused absence.Last month’s secretary’s report cor-

rected to indicate Matt Stanton has notpaid the WGFD for the Bolton Creekproject. He will pay once all the receiptsare received. Last month’s secretary’sreport was approved with the correction.Matt Stanton presented the treasurer’sreport. He did comment the renewal ratefor annual dues was about 50%. Thereport was filed for audit. Matt presenteda letter to the board asking for monetarysupport from the Wyoming Fly CastersFoundation for the Bolton Creek project.The letter was reviewed by the board andwill be sent to the foundation. Matt sug-gested a group audit the financial recordsafter elections and he has a group of vol-unteers for the project, the board con-curred. Matt related an incident of a TUChapter having its funds stolen by itstreasurer. He recommended that theWFC implement some form of back-ground check on the incoming treasurer.A motion was made and discussion washeld. The matter was shelved until fur-ther information was gathered.

Matt received the renewal on ourliability insurance, and is looking into alloptions. Andrew discussed the WFCFoundation’s role in the liability insur-ance issue. Smokey Weinhandl reviewedsome of the benefits of being affiliatedwith the Nature Conservancy, such asbeing eligible for discounted products,and can become involved in local meet-ings. He reported the FFF affiliate statusis no longer offered, but the WFC hasbeen grandfathered in this status. Theynow offer a “chartered” status. Benefits ofthe affiliate status include borrowingequipment, apply for grants, offer groupinsurance and can access possible freelegal support.

The banquet committee reportedthe banquet is 45 days away, April 2,2011. The cost of banquet tickets is $25,with 130 total tickets available. Ticketscan be purchased at Platte River FlyShop, Ugly Bug Fly Shop and BrookTrout Dental, on a first come first servedbasis. Tickets will be available in Marchand members will have the first opportu-nity to purchase the banquet tickets.Auction items are being received andvarious companies are supportive. Items

include a full day float trip, and men’sand women’s Columbia clothing. MarkBoname donated various items for thebanquet auction. The committee dis-cussed having a guest list at the banquet.

The Cabin Fever Clinic will be heldMarch 5 at the Casper Recreation Centerfrom 1 to 4 p.m. Alex Rose reported pressreleases have be issued. He is scheduled tobe on television March 3 and 4 fly tyingto promote the clinic. SmokeyWeinhandl reported approximately 20people have come into his business prais-ing the quality of the posters that wereprinted advertising the clinic. We havegood volunteer support for this clinic.

The Natrona County Weed and Pestrequested to meet with WFC member (s)to discuss the Weed Management Areaand goals for the future. They are seekinginterest, support, questions, oppositionsand opinions on the importance ofRussian olive and salt cedar controlalong the North Platte River. Their goalis NOT to eradicate these plants on theNorth Platte River.

Elections are March 9 and boardmembers are to contact people theyknow who might have an interest in run-ning for positions. Joe Meyer reportedthat at the last Lying N’ Tying we did nothave a key to get in the building. WillWaterbury reported the Audubon roomis available for use at $25 as an option foruse.

Smokey Weinhandl reported on thepartnership with the Hook and HackleClub, in Calgary, Canada. He reportedthey have two meetings a month andengage in similar activities the WFC pro-motes. A motion was carried the WFCwill write a letter of inquiry to seek inter-est in a partnership with the Hook andHackle Club. Will is working on a ques-tionnaire seeking information frommembers about what they would like theWFC to do, such as programs, flies of themonth etc. Scott Novotny reported theWyoming State Legislature is discussing abill guaranteeing hunting and fishing.Other conservation groups are in supportof this bill. Bill Wichers encouraged indi-vidual members to show support of thisbill by contacting all house members. Joereminded the board that he needs flies forthe club and MacTavish plates. Themeeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.

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

Wyoming Fly Casters

P.O. Box 2881

Casper, WY 82602


WFC 3/11

Documents

lake trout

thebonneville cutthroat

cutthroat trout

number of trout

colorado river cutthroat

bear river cutthroat

yellowstoneriver cutthroat

blackspotted trout