SALINAS VALLEY FLY FISHERS ! MAY 2018

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2018 Board Member:

Greg Smith!: 595-4406 President

Dave Gambetta: 970-5065Vice President

Richard Higgins: 750-9132Secretary

Roger Caton: 633-4659Treasure

Lou DeSilva: 262-9068 Member !Bill Pshide: 424-3063 Richard Wilson: 758-5313 Chairmen:Rick McCombs:

! (209)267-8088Newsletter Editor

Bill PshideFly Tying

Dave GambettaWebmaster

Fly TimesPresident’s Message By: Greg Smith

Upcoming EVENTS:

Fly Tying: May 16th. Monthly Meeting Wednesday

May 9th.

Board Meeting May 23rd.

outing to get a close look at the new park.

Many thanks go to Sam Davidson, Alex and Sherry Aliganga, for rejoining the SVFF for 2018.

Once again Bill Pshide is finding those bargain raffles items. During the April raffle it was noted that the winner of the white ticket drawing was Loren Kitamura who went home with a new 3-4 wt. Talon reel. Not only did Loren win the new reel, but he won the ticket for six new flies for the fly box. Yes Loren, old striper flies will still work.

Fly Tying: At this monthʼs fly tying session Bill Pshide patiently helped all of us tie John Barrʼs Copper John. This is one of my favorite trout and bluegill flies. Lou DaSilva came to fly tying for the first time, and did good work with this difficult fly. Congratulations Lou. Dave Gambetta told the Group that Girl Scout cookies have no calories. The winner of fly tying nightʼs raffle was Jay Jefferson, who went home with (Cont. on pg 3)

For the general meeting in April, Sam Davidson stepped up at the last minute to give a presentation. Representing the Carmel Valley Steelhead Association, Sam spoke to our club members about the Association and its role in the conservation of the steelhead fishery on the Carmel River. Sam highlighted items that the CVSA is responsible for while working with the various governing agencies to help restore and rebuild the Carmel River. One of the major restoration projects that was recently completed was the placing of large boulders in the Carmel Lagoon. This project is a big step in restoring the “safe zones” for the steelhead smolts. Continuing on a positive note, CVSA, Trout Unlimited, the Monterey Regional Park District and others recently acquired funding to purchase a portion of the Rancho Canada golf course. In many eyes this is a major addition to the public lands in Carmel Valley. This new acquisition is called the Palo Corona. Hopefully in August, SVFF will be able to have a club

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Fly Tyer’s Corner with Bill Pshide

This month’s fly:Biot Body Midge Pupa

Biots are the tough, interlocking barbs on the leading edge of a bird's first flight feather. Many tiers are familiar with using biots as split tails (many stonefly nymph imitations) or as downwings (Prince Nymph), but fewer people take advantage of the wonderful properties of biots for body material. Biot bodies are tough, slender, and have a wonderful, natural-looking segmentation. Because biots change in width and thickness from tip to butt, biot bodies tend to be naturally tapered. Also, the little ridges in a biot body tend to trap air bubbles as the fly enters the water, causing it to take on a natural sparkle. Figure to the right shows three different types of flies tied with biot bodies: clockwise from the top, a biot BWO, a biot "pheasant tail," and a biot midge pupa. (SVFF Website)

What’s a Biot?

The Biot Midge is a simple and effective Midge Emerger fly pattern.  The Biot Emerger is made to imitate a midge larva morphing into a midge pupa.  The hen hackle imitates the midge breaking free of the larva casing.  The Biot Midge can be tied in many different colors and sizes to imitate specific midge species.

Biot Midge Fly Tying Recipe:Hook: #16-24 Tiemco 100Thread: Black UTC 70Body: Black Goose BiotsThorax: Black Superfine

Salinas Vally Fly FishersFly Tying

Every 2nd Wednesday evening @ 6:00

SALINAS VALLEY FLY FISHERS ! MAY 2018

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May ActivitiesMay Club Meeting

Wednesday, the 9th.

@ the Flying Artichoke

Fly Tying, Wednesday, May 16th.

Airport Board Room

SVFF Board MeetingWednesday, 23th.

6:00 pm @ The Flying Artichoke (all members welcome)

Club Outing

“Free play”

(Prez Message Cont. From Page 1) a new fly box

Dave Gambetta, Roger Caton and Loren Kitamura headed to Naci earlier in the month to fish for White Bass and Small Mouth Bass. It sounds like the boys hit it perfect, with Dave using his special fly. It should be noted that pictures donʼt lie. Was that Loren taking a nap in the boat? Tim Frahm sent word that the perch and stripers are running along the beaches from Monterey to Santa Cruz, Thank you Tim.Pete Arnaudo went to Kennedy Meadows on his annual family outing, and found a few fish. Loren and Roger recently tested their skills at “Big Louie”, finding a couple of fish and hiding from the Park Ranger keeping the fisherman away from the Trash Racks, (time to wear Camo).

Healing the Habitat: Where are the Fish?

For the last two summers, Nikki and I have traveled from Northern California to Washington, camping, visiting friends, sightseeing, and fishing. Along the way I talked to many fisherman, and it seems the old timers, (veterans of the water), all say, “Fishing is not like it used to be”. I visited a couple of fish hatcheries, river restoration projects, and in Washington the remains of the tallest dam to be taken down in the United States located (in The Olympic National Forest, on the Eway River). Indians there claim that 100 lb. salmon used to travel up the Eway River to spawn. Good news, steelhead are now again making their way up the river. I visited the Cowlitz fish hatchery, funded by Tacoma Energy, where they plant thousands of trout into the Cowlitz and other rivers. A father and son spend a month each year camping below the Cowlitz hatchery, and in a normal year they catch 60-100 fish. This past year it was only 20 fish for the month. When I stopped at the fly shop in Poulsbo Washington, I spoke to the owner, a California native. I told him about my tours to the various hatcheries and the amount of Fish put back into various river and lakes. He was very sincere when he firmly said “stocking the lakes and rivers with trout doesnʼt work unless you have the habitat to “support the fish”. Ouch, a reality check for me. In California, when the dams were built, the thought was that if the Fish and Game plants high (Cont. Pg on 5 )

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The Photo Page

Hey Paul, Who caught that nice fish you’re holding?

“If I would have known how relaxing this fly fishing is, I would have taken

it up years ago”.... Chuck

Quote of the Day

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April 14th, Hunter Liggett Kidʼs Derby: This was my first time to attend The Kidʼs Fishing Derby. Weather was great and there was a good turnout for the event. Some said the attendance was down, but couldnʼt tell it by me. Families lined the shoreline elbow to elbow, almost like combat fishing. With that said, between the booths, food and fishing, I know everyone had a good time. Did someone say food? Seeing the two large BBQ Pits, I had to volunteer to help with the cooking. But wait, there might have been a Muddy Duck award sighting. Jay, do two wet knees count as deserving an award? Stay tuned. Many thanks go to Chris Slough for hosting the pot luck dinner Saturday night for the SVFF campers.

Club Outing / Jay Jefferson / Fish Master

(Prez message From pg 3) of fish in the river below the Dams, all would be good in the rivers and the fishermen would be happy. The Sierra Club has stated “that the hatchery and fish plantings have failed”. S a m e s t o r y , f i s h i n g i s n o t l i k e i t u s e d t o b e . Take the Carmel River as an example. At one time it was the 3rd best steelhead river in the state, behind the Eel and the Mad River. It should be note noted that a few steelhead are still making it up the C a r m e l R i v e r . Recently I attended a tree planting day at the newly acquired Palo Corona, located next to the Carmel River, sponsored by Trout Unlimited . I was told that there is a mile of Carmel River bed that needs to be planted with willows, redwoods and a few other native species. Restoration starts in our backyard, and maybe with the combined efforts of Conservation groups like Trout Unlimited and others restoring the Carmel River one tree at a Time we can make a difference. One boulder at a time, a life time of work. Many thanks go out to Kristy Fischer and Tim Frahm for their tireless efforts in land acquisition and restoration .

Greg

Editor’s note: “Something different”As of the time that the newsletter went to print, I hadn’t recieved any reports of any outings for this month,

but I suspect if nothing else is happening there’ll be a few of you headed out to Nacimiento or Hunter-Liggett. With the weather warming up, so are the fishing opportunities. Up here in Sutter Creek Tim, Frank and I have disignated Wednesday as “fishing day” so for in the past few weeks we’ve been getting out to search out some fishing spots in the foothills. Frank and I spent the last two Wednesdays at a place called Salt Springs Valley

Reservoir. It’s near Copperopolis. How many people know where that is? Hmmm,didn’t see many hands go up. Anyway, it turns out that it’s a good size (maybe a couple hundred acres) private reservoir with lots of Large

Mouth Bass, Bluegil and Crappie. There’s a nice guy named Rod that leases it from the local irrigation district and charges $10 for each vehicle and $5 for each floatie thing. They have a small rustic campground that I think they get $10/ night for. So far we’ve been able to catch some nice Bass and monster Bluegill, but no Crappie yet.

I mention all this because I think that it could be one to consider for a future club outing. Also in the mix, if you’re thinking about places to go fishing, while many of the streams are still running high, reports from Tim

Murphy suggest that the West Carson near where Hwy 89 meets Hwy 50 is in nice shape. This is an area that is mostly planter fishing, but where the department plants a lot of big fish every year about now. Coming over the top of Carson Pass you might stop and try your luck at Red Lake. Then down near Markleeville, Indian Creek

Reservoir should likewise be a player. If you’re planning to head up this way, give me a jingle. -Rick(ed.)