President's Message
We certainly had an outstanding outing to the Lower Kings River last month. It was easily one of our top 3 outings ever. We had great weather, plenty of trout but most of all everyone had a fun awesome time. A huge THANK YOU goes out to Carole and Randy for making all the arrangements. They spent countless hours making sure everything went smoothly. I also want to give a shout out to the more experienced members that gave up their fishing time to assist the less experienced members. It was great to meet new members and welcome them to our fly fishing family. Read all about this fantastic outing in the following pages.
Our next outing will be to the Lower Owens River in the Bishop area, Feb. 23 and 24. This outing has been on our list for years and years. The fishing is easier, but the trout are a little smaller than what we had on the Kings River outing. The average trout is 8” to 12”, but there is a possibility of a much larger trout. Last year I was lucky to catch a beautiful 18” rainbow. We will be meeting for a no host breakfast at Looney Bean of Bishop at 7:00 am on Saturday. Dave Smith from San Diego will be providing an ESN class Saturday morning on the river. This class is limited to 10 people and is full. We’ll try to hold this class on another outing or have a class on the Kern, so everyone can learn this effective method of nymphing. We’ll meet at 6:30 pm at the Pizza Factory for a club provided dinner to talk trout stories of the day. If there’s enough member interest, there will be a group viewing petroglyphs in the Volcanic Tablelands just north of Bishop on Sunday.
The Rendezvous will be held April 13 th at Mountain River and Adventure (MRA). This is our biggest annual fund raiser and membership drive. The day starts at the Fly Shop with a partner catch and release tournament – trash collection. Awards are given for the largest, most fish (accumulative inches) and most trash collected and best costume. We’ll meet back at MRA for some games, awards, entertainment and BBQ dinner. We have booked the West Coast Grovies for entertainment, Freddie and the boys will be Q-ing up a storm for the BBQ and there will be lots for the kids. Of course we’ll be playing Heads or Tails and there will be a huge raffle. One of the special raffles will be for a custom Winston Pure 9 ft. 4 wt. This is Winston’s new dry fly rod, which has won awards at the trade shows. The winner of the Heads or Tails will decide their own rod which will be custom built to their specs. We will also have Club merchandise for sell: t-shirts, caps, hoodies, coffee mugs, water containers, etc. So please bring the whole family and contribute by buying raffle tickets to help our club continue its work with kids, conservation and promoting fly fishing.
Over the recent years the club has tapered down its meetings in Kernville and has put more emphases into outings and events. We are a very unique club with our membership spread out from Carson City, Nevada to the north and down to San Diego in the south. We are also a club that holds events that no other club holds: California Fly Fish Open, Carpfest and the Rendezvous. We will continue to hold classes and meetings in Kernville from fly tying, casting, rod building and mentoring. I’d like to tell people we are a destination club and we are family.
Chiaki
Marisol Moreno
Member Spotlight
1. Retired or working. If working, what do you do?
Working: I track someone else’s riches in exchange for a few pennies. JK! I work for a local table grape grower as an accountant.
2. How did you get started in fly fishing?
I had no idea what fly fishing was about a year and a half ago. When I say no idea, I mean I didn’t even realize a fly rod existed or that flies where something else other than an annoying flying bug. I recall one Saturday asking my boyfriend what he had planned that weekend and he mentioned going to a casting class. I was so clueless to what he was referring to that I assumed he was taking a class to learn how to melt and mold things. Like most girls with new boyfriends, I was interested in whatever my boyfriend was, so I started tagging along with him on his trips to the creeks. On my first camping trip (Ever) he told me to try casting into a stream, of course that was an embarrassment, but I enjoyed the peace the scenery brought me. Soon after, Derek started setting-up a rod for me and teaching me how to cast. I was thrilled with just watching him catch fish while I failed at setting the hook. Once I had my first fish on the fly I was addicted. I decided to attend the Fly Gals Weekend that summer and purchased my rod, waders and the whole set-up. I have been addicted to the water ever since.
3. Did you have a mentor?
My mentor was Derek. He was basically the only person I fished with for about a year because I didn’t know how to tie my own knots. I vicariously lived through him for a while, until I wanted to feel the thrill for myself. He is such a beautiful caster that I still sit out and watch him fish (After I’ve caught something myself of course). I still rely on him a lot, and I am truly grateful he is willing to slow down for me.
4. Describe your favorite style of fly fishing.
I love sight fishing. The excitement of stocking a fish, then seeing it come up and take your fly is a major rush to me. Dry Flies are what initially hooked me into fly fishing.
5. Why do you fly fish?
I fly fish because it brings me serenity, peace, laughter, and excitement. Before I started fly fishing, I had a hard time finding positive outlets to clear my mind and even sleeping. I had no idea what it felt like to clear the mind. I always looked for people and things to take my mind off of things that bothered me in life, but I never felt satisfied or truly at peace. I found that peace and clarity in fly fishing. There is something truly cleansing and rewarding about fly fishing that I have never experienced before. Now, every time I feel overwhelmed the first thing that comes to mind is “I need to go fishing”.
6. What was your most memorable fly-fishing experience?
Most memorable fly-fishing trip would have to be the club outing to The Tule River last year. I wouldn’t say it was because of all the fish I caught, rather because of all the times I thought I was going to die. I started the morning fishing the wrong stream and thinking I was lost because no one from the club was to be seen or heard. After lunch I was finally directed to the “Holy Waters” and first cast in, bendo! There after I mentally fought through slippery boulders and a giant bear, I had seen traces of in the area. All in all, I “Laughed and Enjoyed” the entire trip, which is why I fly fish. I could tell a better story, like I caught a giant beautiful fish (which has NEVER happened) or the time I caught countless number of fishes, but the reality is I fly fish for the enjoyment of life.
7. If you could fly fish anywhere in the world, where and why?
So many places I would love to fish like Montana, Alaska, Patagonia, New Zealand, British Columbia but the one place I really would like to fish because it’s beautiful and I hear there is amazing fly fishing is Belize. As much as I love the mountains, there is something appealing about crystal clear waters and sunny skies.
8. Music you've been listening to lately?
I love all kinds of music, that’s my other outlet when I am home. If you look at my iTunes you will find James Brown, Tu-Pac, Sam Smith, Cold Play, King of Leon, Enrique Iglesias, Ramon Ayala, but my go to music is country. I love that deep voice, old country music. Today’s tunes have been Kip Moore “Last Shot” and Dwight Yoakum’s version of “I Want You to Want Me”.
UPCOMING EVENTS
OUTING: Lower Owens
Date: February 23-24, 2019*
Details: We will be meeting for breakfast at 7:00 am at Looney Bean on Saturday and then heading over to Pleasant Valley Campground 8:30 am by the Lower Owens Bridge. We will then meet for dinner at Pizza Factory at 6:30pm. Discussions will be held at dinner to see if there's any interest in seeing the Petroglyphs on Sunday.
Contact: haramic@aol.com
LOWER OWENS Fly Recommendations
Dries:
- Griffith's Gnat/Cluster Midge #16-20
- Extended Body BWO #18-22
- Parachute Adams #18-20
- Parachute BWO #18-20
- Elk Hair Caddis #16-20
- E/C Caddis #16-18
- Brooks Sprout Baetis #18-22
- Yellow and Tan Stimulators #14-16
Nymphs:
- Pheasant Tail #16-20
- Hot Spot PT #16-20
- Frenchie #16-20
- Zebra Midge(olive, black, red) #18-20
- JujuBaetis #18-20
- Tungsten Caddis #14-18
- Birds Nest (olive, natural) #12-16
- Stonefly nymphs #14-16
- Barr's flashback BWO #18-22,
Streamers
- Olive Wooly Bugger #10-14
CLASS: European Style NYMPHING
Date: February 23, 2019*
Location: Bishop, CA
Time: 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Instructor: Dave Smith
Class Size: 10
Details: We will go over setup, flies, techniques and reading water. Students need waders, tippet (7x-5x), tungsten flies, fly rods (9'-11'), reels, fishing license, water, food, polaroid sunglasses, hats and whatever else they care to bring. We will meet at the bridge at PVR Campground. Tungsten flies will be available for purchase.
Bugs and bottles
A Fly Tying and Bottle Share Night
Date: February 22, 2019*
Location: Swall Meadows, CA
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Capacity: 16
Details: Meredith has graciously opened her home for a fly tying and bottle share night to those who will be in Bishop for the club outing on Friday, February 22nd. This is a no host event, so bring your own fly tying materials and favorite bottle of whiskey or beer to share. Come hang out! There might be tacos!
Contact: haramic@aol.com to sign up
Beginners Casting and Fly Tying Classes
Date: Saturday, March 23 rd
Time: 8:30 am to 1:00pm Chamber of Commerce, Kernville. 11447 Kernville Rd, Kernville
Class Limit: 16 –SSFFC membership required.
Beginners Casting Class
Instructors: Chiaki Harami and Celine Bayla
Learn the roll casts, pick up - laydown and false casting. Approximately 2 hours.
Fly Tying Class
Instructors: The Famous Buhler Bros - Ryan and Rob.
You’ve seen all their fabulous flies all over Social Media. They recently tyed at the SWC Flybuy and are on the Pro Staff Team at the Kern River Fly Shop. They are great teachers and you’ll learn their tips and tricks. This class is for Beginners and Intermediates. For the beginner, we’ll have all the fly tying stuff: vises, tools, hooks and materials, just show up. For the Intermediates, please bring your fly tying stuff.
If you’re having problems tying a fly or with a certain technique, bring those materials and the Buhler Bros will teach you how it’s done. Approx 2 hrs. You can take one class or make the most of this great opportunity and take both classes back to back.
Contact: Chiaki to sign up: haramic@aol.com
EVENTS RECAP
Lower Kings Outing
Wow, was that a great outing or what? If you missed our first club get together, you really missed a great beginning to a new year of outings. It started with an early morning gathering “down by the river” where 30 SSFF club members and guests, put together a burrito breakfast second to none. The #FlyVan was the center of activity as everyone pitched in and assembled breakfast together. Then it was time to wader up and head out to fishing.
The Kings River is long and has varied waters. We fished mostly nymphs, with some dry flies. Some club members shared their “secret” fly or leader recipes and almost everyone caught fish. BIG FISH!(Almost everyone, rumor has it that Carole, once again out fished Randy.) With sunset coming, we moved the party from the river to the Wakehouse.
The vibe was that of an old road house tavern. Food was excellent, drinks were flowing and a friendly round of “White Fish” gift exchange commenced. (Ask Derek and Jim if you need organization for a White Gift Fish Exchange…they are on it!) It was fun watching everyone giving and taking until they were happy with their gift. Actually, there were some who just insisted on taking and taking and taking. But, in the end she got what she was hoping for, well……almost. Congrats, Marisol. The evening ended with a big-time raffle for a “Chiaki Made” Winston Fly Rod. The winner once again proved it only takes one ticket to win… To end the evening with a song, “Happy Birthday” filled the air as a delicious golden Carp birthday cake was presented to the aged trio of Amy, Kesley, and Derek.
A big thanks to all who helped with this outing, it takes many to pull off an event like this. We couldn’t have done it without the amazing members of the SSFFC, or some constant nagging from Carole to keep some of us on track (Randy!). Thanks again to all who participated, epic day on the water.
Next up: Lower Owens, Feb 23rd and 24th. Contact Chiaki (haramic@aol.com) to sign up.
Very passionate about Fly Fishing, but never too serious,
The Two Stooges
P.S. Thank you to Jon and Sergio for, again, cleaning up the parking area by the weir. These two came armed with industrial sized trash bags and pickers and filled out about a dozen trash bags.
SWC: Fly Buy
By Ryan Buhler
The Southwest Council Fly Fishers International held the 9th annual fly buy this past weekend at the Long Beach Casting club. It's one of their main fundraisers with raffles and a garage sale. Unfortunately what isn't advertised enough is it's a gathering of the best tyers in southern California. Each year there are between 15 to 20 tyers featuring different fields of tying. From Naomi Okamoto's delicate extended body mayflies to Rob Buhler's game changers and everything in-between. This year there were three Buz Buzeck award winners. The Buzeck award is one of if not the highest award in the fly tying world. Bill Blackstone, John Vanderhoof and Steven Fernandez were present demoing their award winning skills. You could sit two feet in front of them and ask questions with detailed responses from all the skilled tyers. This year there was the heavy threat of wind and rain. There are always casting lessons and the garage sale going on outside but this year would be different. The garage sale moved inside and lessons were held with rain gear. Now the question was is anyone going to show up. To most people's surprise a good crowd showed. Tyers were busy all day, raffle and garage sale raised some funds and casting lessons went on in the rain. The Fly Buy is an annual event that all fly tyers in Southern California need to attend. Award winning tyers don't show their tricks and tips to anyone all the time. Every year on this day they do. Take advantage of this event and hope to see you there next year.
into the backing
IT’S ALL ABOUT BUGS; BUGS IN THE WATER, IT'S WHAT’S FOR DINNER!
Excerpted from www.owensriverflyfishing.com; used with permission
by Beryl Rea, The Trout Scout
To view the world from the trout’s view point, to see what’s on the trout’s menu, pick up a few rocks or take a bottom sample with an aquarium net, and see what bugs you find. Under the surface there is a whole world, a community of life surviving against all kinds of obstacles, predators, water temperatures, flows and pollution, life in prehistoric forms, all which have adapted to life in the underworld, Mayflies, Caddis flies, Stoneflies, Midges and crustaceans, all part of the food chain, food for fish.
Remember collecting caterpillars as a kid (if they stayed alive long enough), they would spin a cocoon and eventually hatch into a beautiful butterfly, one of life’s little miracles. Most of the bugs underneath the water go through this same process, a complete or incomplete metamorphous. As they go through these changes and struggle to the surface, they attract major attention from the fish, basically the dinner bell goes off. The more we learn about these creatures, their life changes, it will help in putting that right fly on at the right time equaling more fish. WANT MORE FISH? KNOW YOUR BUGS. Most of the insects that are fish food go through a life cycle of about a year. Developing form a tiny egg, they go through changes growing into the insect we see on or over the water. All these growth stages are important to fish.
Let’s start with the butterfly part; this is the final stage of an insect’s life, the adult, the visual part of fly fishing. This is also when the bugs reproduce, then laying their eggs back in the water they will die, and the cycle continues anew. Since this stage of a bug’s life lasts only, a day in some cases, it’s only a very small part of a fish’s diet (70-90% is underneath the surface). Understanding the changes from nymph to dun and larva to pupa to adult, in a bug’s development, help us with knowing what’s on the menu today.
Four Major Players
Caddis Flies: Caddis larva are fleshy, wormlike critters with 6 legs. They are unable to swim and move around like an inchworm. Some build little pebble huts, some spin nets (to collect food) some build homes form plant debris and look like sticks and others just crawl around the bottom. In their adult form they look like little moths with their wings folded tent-like.
Mayflies and Stoneflys: Both have visible sets of wing cases on the thoracic segment. Most Mayflies have 3 tails, Stoneflies only have 2. The big difference is that Mayflies have gills on their abdominal segment and only there, stoneflies, either lack or have them on the thoracic alone.
Midges: Very small thin worm like creatures (pupa). Small flies, looks like a mosquito, but they do not bite (adult).
Choosing a fly: Try to match the size, shape and color of the bugs in the water, if you find a lot of little mayfly nymphs, fish a Pheasant tail in the size that’s most abundant.
Other bugs: Dragonflies, Damselflies, Scuds (little shrimplike creatures) crawfish and forage fish (streamer time). There is lots of life beneath the surface, understanding their like cycles help us become a better fly fisher. Ralph Cutter’s book: FISH FOOD- A Fly Fisher’s Guide to Bugs and Bait is a valuable resource to learning more.
Humpy’s Note: Beryl Rea, The Trout Scout is a well known fly fishing guide and instructor in the Eastern Sierra. Born in Santa Barbara, CA Beryl has spent much of her life fishing the waters of the Eastern Sierra since she was old enough to toddle along Mammoth Creek with her Grandfather who taught her the beginnings of fly fishing. Her roots are here; Mt. Tom (el. 13,652) was named after her Grandmother’s great uncle, Thomas Clark who was guided to the top by local Indians in the 1860’s, her heart belongs here. Even though she has lived and fished all over the world in some of the premier locations in the US and Canada, South America and India, the Eastern Sierra is where she truly feels at home, Bishop, Ca. She has been guiding the Eastern Sierra since 1993 and fishes most every day. Beryl prides herself as being an instructional fly fishing guide, “It’s exciting to have someone who is just starting fishing, or who has limited knowledge and experience, and helping them improve their skills to have the confidence to “do it” on their own. Teaching is always rewarding, for me and for my clients, whose ages range from age 5 to 95. Beryl has two sons, who both share her love of the sport, Justin; the oldest is one of the top flats guides in Key West, Florida; StingRea Charters. Trout Scouts, based in Bishop, CA is a full service guide, and partnered with the Inyo National & Toiyabe-Humboldt National Forests, Beryl guides from Bishop to Bridgeport. Featured in National Geographic, California Fly Fisher, Westways and various news publications.