February is here, and thank

goodness were getting a bit of rain.

Whether it’s a day or two here and

there, every fisherman’s gotta be

smiling just a little.

I’ve heard that the rain has

been getting the steelhead activity up

on the Trinity this last week or so I’ll

be heading up that way myself some-

time towards the end of the month.

After seeing photos of some of the

hogs coming out of the river last

week (ask Scott Naylor) some of you

may get the itch to chase the elusive

metal heads yourself. Being a tailwa-

ter fishery the Trinity has a more sta-

ble flowing, making it a fabulous

fishery. Folks may want to keep that

in mind this year, if we don’t get

more rain. You may need to look to

tailwaters to ensure you can find

places to fish come summer, and

fall.

Speaking of low water condi-

tions, it’s going to be tricky deciding

“Resident’s Message” Tracy Decoy da Silva

2013 Board

Members

Tracy da Silva 229-9568

President

Rod Sanchez 809-7499

Vice President

Richard Wilson 758-5313

Treasure

Scott Naylor 214-3870

Secretary

Roger Caton 633-4659

Board Member

Mike Gilroy-(425)418-8164

Board Member

Chuck Humphreys

951-3454

Board Member & Poet

———————————————

Rick McCombs 385-4778

Newsletter Editor

Jay Jefferson– 809-0290

Mascot

FFLYLY TTIMESIMES

SALINAS VALLEY FLY FISHERS February 2014

President’s message 1

Fly of the Month 2

Monthly Program 3

Sponsors 3

Outing Schedule 3

Articles 4

Maps 5

Events 6

Inside this issue:

on venues for our outings this year, with

regular favorites like the Merced River

and Rooster Comb Ranch very likely to

be too dry for our regular outings. None

-the less we’ve got some great ideas

bouncing around at the board meetings,

and with your help and ideas, we are

sure to have a fun year.

This month’s outing will be

Stripers at the Forebay. A signup sheet

will be going around at our next meet-

ing, Be sure and talk to the fishmaster

our some of the guys who are going if

you need advice on gear,or techniques,

etc. The plan is to meet up as usual and

camp over on the Medieros side.

Talk about perfect timing for our

outing, the speaker this month, Lee Has-

kin, has decades of experience fishing

the forebay, and San Luis Reservoir.

You wont want to miss his program-

Come in early to watch Lee tie some

flies you might find useful. Demonstra-

tions start at 6pm. Tracy

February features Tracy and Lee Tracy DeSilva will be leading his first meeting as the 2014 club president and

Lee Haskin will be in attendance as our guest speaker. Lee will be talking about Striper fishing and wetting our appetites to spend some quality time at San Luis and the O’Neill Forebay. In addition to his presentation Lee will be doing a fly tying demonstration between 6:00 and 7:00, when the regular meeting starts. If you’d like to get more information about Lee, you can Google Lee Haskin or go to gurglersonline.com. In addition, to Tracy and Lee’s shenanigans, you can expect a few good fish reports, a great raffle and lots of discussion of where to go fishing this year. Remember to come at 6:00 for dinner and / or to see Lee

tie some of the flies that he’s designed

Page 2 Fly Times

What’s going on in the world of fly fishing and tying?

Fly of the Month Parachute Adams

Parachute Adams

Hook: TMC 100 #12-18

Thread: Uni-thread Gray 6/0

Hackle:Ginger

Wing / post: Calf tail or Poli yarn

Body: Gray Superfine dubbing

Tail: Hackle fibers or moose hair

Chuckie Poetry Corner

A Rain Poem

The clouds is a coming and the rain is a fall’n and the fish is finning in the near by streams

I been a hoping and I been a praying but the only rain falling is in my dreams……

So I’ll do a rain dance and play my kazoo I’ll keep it up till the rain comes through

What can you do?

Parachute Adams

The Parachute Adams is a legendary fish catcher that no serious fly angler should be without.

There are a great many attributes to the Parachute Adams but most of its popular status is due to its unique

ability to imitate the numerous members of the mayfly and caddis families. If no hatches are present on the

water the Parachute Adams can be equally successful as a searching pattern.

The Parachute Adams can be productive wherever you decide to drift it. Slow or slack water pres-

entation is one of the Adams’specialties. The unique parachute post design allows the fly to ride lower in

the surface film creating a realistic silhouette to on-looking trout. In these slow water conditions trout have

an extended time to examine flies drifted overhead so using flies that more closely resemble the natural

insects, like the Parachute Adams, gives you the best chance to consistently catch fish. For the faster runs

or riffles the horizontal hackle will allow the fly to not only ride lower but have better floatability keeping

it high and dry longer than most other standard dries

Page 3

Salinas Valley Flyfishers**2014 Outing Schedule and Programs

Special thanks to Geoff Malloway for his ongoing support of the Salinas Valley Fly Fishers and for his many efforts on behalf of stream habitat and the preservation of the fish that we all seek to catch.

Next time you’re out his way, stop by and say hi . And If you need to do some shopping for Christmas, this great place to start ..And don’t forget to pick up a bag of “Carmel Valley Crack”

Geoff Malloway

Central Coast Fly Fishing

7172 Carmel Valley Rd.

Carmel, CA (626-6586)

February 12th General meeting Landing Zone

@ the sirport

Featuring

Lee Harkin

Tracy DeSilva 229-9568

February 15-16 Outing San Luis

Forebay

Striper outing

February 19th. Fly Tying Airport Board

room

Featuring

Parachute Adams

Bill Pshide/Rick

McCombs

424-3063

385-4778

February 21-

23rd.

FLY FISHING

SHOW

Pleasanton Fair

Grounds

Friday 10:00-5:30

Sat.&Sun.9:00-

5:30

Carpool? Call

Jay

809-0290

February 26th. Board meeting Airport Board

Room

Tracy DeSilva 229-9568

February /

March

Outing Pyramid Lake To be announced

For all the latest info. in what’s happening in the wide world of fishing and for club activities, Go to:

salinasvalleyflyfishers.org

Upcoming Events

Who’s Been Messing With the Website’s Well, that would be Dave Gambetta. I guess he got tired of laying around the house in his pajamas all day..

Whatever the reason, since Tracy has taken the reins as club President, Dave jumped in to work on the web-

site. So check it out, give him some feedback and for sure send him any fishing pictures that you happen to

conjure up. With the new administration in place and Dave at the helm of the website, you can also expect

some new ideas, I’m hoping that we get enough photos coming in that we can have a photo of the year contest.

What we really need is a professional photographer who could be the judge, you know, some one who is

qualified to judge photos based on composition and subject matter and stuff like that. If you think of some-

body ,let me know, because, for the life of me, I can’t think of anybody who could do that. It’s just too bad

that we don’t have a real professional horse riding, 4 wheel driving, opinion spout’n photographer in our club.

Page 4 Fly Times

Drought Year Fishing

So what are the prospects for fishing during the drought. That’s the most common question that Geoff at

Central Coast Fly Fishing has been getting lately. He tell me that the surf is of coarse a good option. And it’s

been pretty good lately, both for perch and striper specifically Geoff mentioned Carmel Beach and Monterey

State Beach, but all along the coast in all the usual places should be worth a try. While your thinking about

the ocean keep the kelp beds in mind and has anybody thought about Shelter Cove?

Moving in land, you might be thinking about the tail water fisheries. How much and how long they’ll be

releasing water is the big question Shasta and the Trinity along with Lewiston lake should play for a while.

Folsom is damn near dry so prospects for the America are pretty bleak. Now the after bay below Beardsley

might be a player as well as the lower Merced and Mokelumne below Comanche . Speaking of the Merced,

The prospects of returning for our annual trip there look way bad, but that said, a trip up there this winter

or in the early spring might be just the thing that your cabin fever is craving. Remember the Merced is open

year round.

Moving higher up the mountains, the Truckee area is looked pretty pitiful when we went by last week,

The North Fork of the Yuba look like the Carmel in July. The Truckee is in better shape and may fish. Right

now Pyramid Lake stands about 5 feet below last year’s level and should fish just fine through the season.

The further north you go the better your chances. Geoff mentioned South Eastern Oregon and reservoirs

like the Owyhee There is also a whole list of small lake is North Eastern California that very likely will get

enough water to be productive. I have a list the J. Fairs gave me in a conversation I had with him a couple

years ago. In addition talk to Dave Gambetta. He did a great program for us last year and I bet some of those

lakes will fish just fine.

I’m not counting on the Eastern Side of the Sierras for much this year, although a trip over Carson Pass

might be in order early in the year to check out Red Lake and Indian Creek Reservoir. Also Heenan could

still fish when it opens this fall with a little well placed rain. Closer to home the local lakes and Hunter-Ligget are poor prospects, though Coleman may hold up with

a little more rain. I don’t know about Cachuma, but it’s probably worth going on there web site. Low and

ugly might be just the ticket for some early spring bass fishing in you pontoon. Lastly the Forebay and San

Luis should also provide continued opportunities. One ting for sure. The fish should be concentrated in the

“big” lake and even as low as it is...It’s still a big lake. These are just a few of the thoughts I’ve had for the up coming season and there’s bound to be more dis-

cussion of places to fish when we meet next week. Keep your ears open and share your ideas for fishing in the

drought.

ed.

Fisherman’s note book Due to the drought the Department of Fish and Wildlife (now-CDFW) has closed many California

coastal streams. Hardest hit are the streams of the Central Coast including all Santa Cruz County streams nor-

mally open in this time of year. Also on the list are: the Big Sur, Carmel River, and the Salinas River. This list

is the tip of the iceberg. Many if not most of the tributary streams are also on the list. There are several good

articles and detail on the internet. Just Google Coastal River Closures and you can get the particulars.

. Don’t be shy. The board is looking for members who are willing and able to do programs for a pro-

gram. Currently the club budgets for 3-4 paid speakers (don’t get excited, we’re not going to pay you!) each

year. But we’ve found that some of our best programs are done by our own members. It can be as simple as

sharing tips from a good fishing book that or a bunch of pictures and a description a your favorite fishing des-

tination. Short or long, we’d be interested. If you’ve got an idea, E-mail: ed. @ rickmcfly@sbcglobal.net

San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay

Salinas Valley Fly Fishers

Feb 12th. General meeting

Dinner @ 6:00 Meeting @ 7:00

P.O Box 1793

Salinas, CA 93912

Editor: Rick McCombs

Email: rickmcfly@sbcglobal.net

"All You Need to Know"

Mailing Address Line 1 Mailing Address Line 2

Mailing Address Line 3

Mailing Address Line 4 Mailing Address Line 5

San Luis Forebay

Outing

Saturday / Sunday

Feb 22nd-23rd.

Board of Directors Meeting@ the

Airport Board Room Feb 26th. 6:00pm

Fly Tying

Wedn. Feb 19th.

A/P board room 6:00 p.m.