SLFF July 2015A 2015.pdf · We will resume our fly tying sessions again on Thursday, ... Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 6:30pm Margie’s Diner, 1575 Calle Joaquin, SLO Author of “A

(1 SLFF NEWSLETTER – July 2015

PRESIDENT’S LETTER – July 2015 Lew Leichter

John Gierach: It was to be a long, fast walk out, so we broke down our rods, shouldered our packs and had that brief consultation that becomes standard with middle aged plus fly fishers who have to know each other's old injuries: “ How's your back?” “ Fine - how's your foot?” “ O.K. - how's your knee?” “ Sore - but it's all downhill from here.” Here's another short one as I'm heading to Almanor. MEMBER ENGAGEMENT: Your board would like to hear back from you. Please email us your response/thoughts on the following questions: Have not had any responses to date. Can't believe everything is perfect. Let us hear from you.

1. What are we doing right or wrong and HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED? 2.What do you think should be done differently or in addition? 3. How do you envision the future of our club and of fly fishing? DONATION SUGGESTIONS: As a result of our successful fund raising efforts the board has approved a $3,000 donation budget for 2015 and would like your suggestions for recipients. WE'VE RECEIVED ONE NEW RECOMMENDATION. As a reminder, recipients should be connected to our sport &/or the local environment. We also like to keep the money local but that's not required. If you have a recommendation please submit it in writing to the board including info about the organization; why you suggest a donation to them and a suggested amount. We will review and let you know our decision. JULY MEETING: Our July meeting will feature U.S. Navy Commander Joel Stewart (see below for Joel's info). Joel is a huge supporter of the Project Healing Waters fly fishing program. TO THANK JOEL FOR HIS APPEARANCE, OUR CLUB WILL MAKE A DONATION TO PHW AND WILL DO A CLUB MATCH FOR UP TO $250 IN MEMBER DONATIONS! BRING OR MAIL YOUR CHECK FOR YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRBUTION MADE OUT TO PROJECT HEALING WATERS. This should be a unique program; hope to see you there.

http://www.santaluciaflyfishers.com San Luis Obispo, CA Greg & Mary Lugo, Editors

Tight Lines July - 2015


SAVE THE DATES July 9 - Board meeting 5 to 6. General meeting 6:30 to 8:30 Joel Stewart. July 11 - Club garage sale at David Holmes (see below). July 18 - Halibut fishing outing Port San Luis Harbor (contact Bernard Pieters). Aug 15 - Club picnic & halibut fish out at Avila Beach (see info below).

Santa Lucia Fly Fishers Annual Picnic and Halibut Outing

PLAN TO JOIN US ON SATURDAY AUGUST 15TH. WE'RE HAVING A CATERED TRI-TIP BBQ SO PLEASE RSVP TO SHERI BRYANT (474-8950 or [email protected]) BY AUGUST 9TH SO WE CAN ADVISE THE CATERER. Time: Arrive early, lunch will be served around noon. Location: Between Avila Beach and Port San Luis in the area of Fisherman's Beach. Look for the bright red SLFF banner. Food: Catered Tri-tip, Beans, Bread, and Salsa. Beverages etc. will be provided by SLFF. Members and Guests should bring a pot luck dish: A-G: Appetizer or Hors D’oeuvres H-O: Desserts P-Z: Salads Fee: $10 each, $20 for family (except your adult children) KIDS EAT FREE. Raffle: We'll have an EXTRA SPECIAL RAFFLE after lunch around 1PM. Beach Gear: Bring your own chairs, umbrella, sun screen, etc. More on the halibut fishing from Bernard in next month's newsletter.

There will be no fly tying session on July 2nd. The fly tyers can get ready for a 4th of July celebration, get the BBQ out, or they can even go fishing. We will resume our fly tying sessions again on Thursday, August 6th at 6:30, at the Odd Fellows Hall in San Luis Obispo.


Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 6:30pm Margie’s Diner, 1575 Calle Joaquin, SLO

Author of “A Fly Rod in My Sea Bag” Baghdad Angler’s Club Founder

Joel Stewart

Joel Stewart grew up in Great Falls Montana. Growing up in Montana, he was immersed in an outdoors culture. He learned to fish about the time he learned to walk. He began to tie flies at age 6, and was tying commercially at 8. As a teenager, he worked summers in a tackle store and winters in a taxidermy studio. He spent one summer as a custom fly rod builder’s apprentice. After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Navy in 1985, to earn money for college. At that time, it was join the service or become a trout bum. Though he took the high ground and remains on active duty, he often wonders how the trout bum plan would have worked out.

His career in the Navy has allowed him to fish on six continents and catch dozens of species of fish, mostly on a fly rod. He served in Iraq in 2005 and founded the Baghdad Angler’s Club and School of Fly Fishing. He wrote the book, A Fly Rod in My Sea Bag, about his time in Iraq and the club he started up to support service men and women far from home. In service to our country, he has spent 29 year in uniform, 18 of those years at sea, including command of the amphibious dock landing ship, USS ANCHORAGE (LPD 23).

He remains on active duty and is currently stationed ashore in San Diego. He supports the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing at every opportunity. https://www.projecthealingwaters.org/


2015 Outings & Event Schedule – Rich Chubon Listed below is our Club’s 2015 calendar for Outings and Events. We have some new events and outing opportunities scheduled for next year in addition to our favorites. Where we could, dates have also been provided. Some dates are yet to be determined. Remember also that dates can change depending on water, weather, and fishing conditions. All date changes will be announced in our newsletter and/or by an e-blast when necessary. SANTA LUCIA FLY FISHER 2015 OUTINGS & EVENTS JULY 11 ANNUAL SLFF Garage Sale/Swap Meet JULY 18 HALIBUT OUTING - AVILA BAY – Bernard Pieters AUGUST 15 ANNUAL BBQ & HALIBUT OUTING – Bernard Pieters SEPTEMBER 22 SEA JAY SALT WATER TRIP – Andy Malovos October 16-18 FFF FLY FISHING FAIRE – BISHOP, CA - Rich Chubon OCTOBER SWC INTERCLUB TOURNAMENT – KERN RIVER NOVEMBER 7-8 ONEIL FOREBAY STRIPERS – Mark Shelton NOVEMBER 13 – 15 SCOTT RIVER LODGE STEELHEAD – Steve Soenke

SLFF Website A new series of short articles written by Ted Pope and Art Chapman, designed to help you get the most benefit from our new club website. July 2015 – New Website Features-Forums Section

The next few articles will review the features of the Member’s Only Section. To gain access to Member’s Only, you have to register and sign in. Once you have signed in, all Member’s Only tabs are open to you. One key feature is the Forums tab. Forums is like exchanging email, only on specific topics. Current topics headings include Fly Tying, Member Classifieds, Outings and Website Feedback/Discussions. As a member you can post your own opinions, questions, etc. under any existing category. Say you would like to plan a trip to a location new to you and want to learn about it before you go. You can post a question under the Outings-Fishing Trips category and invite others who have experience fishing that water to share their suggestions and ideas. To start a discussion, click on the +Start Discussion tab. This will take you to the Create New Topic screen. Open the Category box, choose a category, and enter a topic title. Then post your entry. Complete your entry and hit the submit button, your topic and entry will appear in the Forums section. If your discussion doesn’t fit an existing category and want a new one added, email either Ted Pope or Art Chapman and they will add a new heading or category. Don’t have Ted’s or Art’s email address? Go to the Roster tab, open the roster and find them listed.


Annual SLFF Garage Sale/Swap Meet

Saturday, July 11th 9:00 am to Noon

This year the SLFF Annual "Garage Sale"

will again be at David Holmes' house

63 Benton Way San Luis Obispo

(805)-550-9323

July 11th, 9:00 AM to noon

On offer will be a selection of gently used and still serviceable fly fishing gear and related items, all at far lower prices than you might pay at retail. Often, even those members selling gear find items for sale by other members, which they can't live without! Buyers should bring small bills, if at all possible, or checkbooks - credit cards will not be available. Sellers should:

• Identify their gear clearly with a tag or label showing the name of the seller and the asking price.

• If you have more than a few things, it will be helpful to bring a card table or

similar item to use to display them. • Bring change and/or be prepared to accept checks. • Sellers should remain present as long as they have items for sale.

Call David Holmes if you have any questions.


SATURDAY JULY 18th July and August are the major months of the year when we see big schools of bait fish coming in and out of the bay followed by bigger fish as part of the food chain. We fly fisher’s focus more on halibut, which come close to the shore during this period. Just a few members of the club have experience in fishing on a regular basis (summer) for halibut. Considering the fishing location, almost in our backyard, it is surprising we don’t see more members tap into this great fishing opportunity. For the novice and less experienced to halibut fishing "halibut is not a numbers game" it is more like a cat and mouse game. It is all or nothing. Be patient, stay concentrated and be persistent! Fish as many days as you can to build up your confidence in what you are doing. The reward can be great, and very satisfying! Besides halibut, the smelt (like a trout) is also present in the bay, and can be productive to fish. However, it is hard to be successful for halibut if you want to catch smelt at the same time. It has proved to me you reduce your chance of a halibut strike by 50 to 75 % if you start to fish more focused on smelt! We fish in Port San Luis, it is protected from the big swells and waves that we often see at other beaches. The fishing can be done from shore for a few hours with this 4.3 ft. tide. It is advisable to bring your pontoon boat or ...... with you to fish the bay more productively! There are two pre-scheduled halibut outings this summer, July 18th and the club BBQ on August 15th, Both of which will offer a good opportunity to fish for halibut. In between these two dates, if the fishing is good and stable, I will let you know with an e-mail blast. When: Saturday July 18th Location: Port San Luis Where to meet: Parking lot north of the pier Tides low: 6:30 am - 0.2 ft. Tides High: 1:09 pm + 4.3 ft. Gear up time: 7:30 am - 8 am Best fishing time: 9 am - 1:30 pm Rods: 6 to 8 wt. Lines: floating or intermediate line (no full sink lines)! Leaders: 9 to 10 ft. tapered (3 - 4 ft. 8 to 10 lbs. tippet included) Flies: Clousers size 4 - 6, 2 ½ to 3 " long, white and chartreuse (for halibut) Flies: Clousers size 6 - 8, 1 to 1 ½ '' long, white and chartreuse (for smelt) Waders / jacket /safety belt / sunglasses / sun block / Booties or sandals Don't wear fresh water wading boots, the salt will ruin them! For more info call me at 489-3085 (before June 5 and after June 29)


OUTING REPORT The week of April 20th saw 10 of us attending the 1st Annual SLFF Club outing to the Soaring Eagle Lodge on the San Juan River for 5 nights and 4 days of:

• really good fishing, including drifting and/or walking & wading the Juan, and for those with a spirit of adventure fishing Navajo Lake for smallies and pike

• excellent accomodations and meals

• some of the best guides we've fished with.

We had such a good time we've scheduled our 2nd outing the week of May 9th 2016. We have 5 cabins reserved and 10 sign ups so far. Talk to those that attended and let me know if you want to go on the early sign up list. Final pricing and deposits will be due around year end. Lew


Channel Islands Fishout – Sept 22nd Time flies when you are having a great Summer fly fishing and enjoying the great outdoors, and Labor Day shows up real quick. This year SLFF members will get the chance to fish the Channel Islands and sample the wide variety of fish available on an overnite trip. Calico bass, bonita, barracuda, white sea bass and yellow tail have been caught from the 46 foot SEA JAY skippered by John Fuqua. We arrive the night before at the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, select our bunks, and get our gear ready. John shows up at 4:30 am and we motor out to the Islands (about an 1 đ hour trip). Some days we get into hot furious bites of barracuda and bonita or slow steady activity with assorted bottom fish, we never know, but always have a good time. Pictures are from past club fly fishing trips. We usually fish from 6am to 3pm, “catch and release” or “fillet and take home”.

Cost for the trip is $184.00 plus $10 for fillets and tip. There are spots available for 6 fly casters. Join the FUN! Email Andy Malovos or phone 805-528-3483. In order to reserve your spot, we need a check payable to “Santa Lucia Fly Fishers” by September 1st. More info to follow… Oh yeah - Doug Daniels already wants to go so we are down to 5 available spots. Andy Malovos


SLFF Volunteer Stealhead Spawning Surveys

By Tom Nickelson Monitoring of population abundance is key to restoring threatened Central Coast Steelhead. Toward this end, the Santa Lucia Fly Fishers partnered with Freddy Otte, fishery biologist for the City of San Luis Obispo to collect data on the abundance of steelhead redds (spawning nests) in the San Luis Obispo Creek watershed. I worked with Freddy to design a sampling plan of seven survey reaches with the goal of learning more about potential barriers to passage. Reaches 1-6 were on the mainstem San Luis Obispo Creek from about river-mile 3.6 to about river-mile 15. Reach 7 was in lower Stenner Creek, a major tributary. Surveys were conducted approximately every two weeks from February 5, 2015 until the end of April. In addition to myself, seven SLFF Volunteers were involved in 13 separate surveys. Volunteers were: Rich Chubon (5 surveys), Wayne Peterson (5 surveys), Larry Dellard (3 surveys), Jim Crescenzi (2 surveys), Charlie Cohn (1 survey), Bob Bayer (1 survey), and KC Lim (1 survey).

Survey reaches in San Luis Obispo Creek.

Unfortunately lack of rain made it impossible for us to test our hypotheses about potential passage barriers. The greatest barrier was dry streambed throughout most of the period above the sewage treatment plant about RM 8 between Reach 2 and the mouth of Stenner Creek. The only consistent water was below the Sewage Treatment Plant.


Steelhead redd in San Luis Obispo Creek: Clean gravel with a pit upstream of a mound of gravel. A total of 14 steelhead redds were identified during the survey season. Nine redds were observed in Reach 1, three in Reach 2 and two in Reach 7. This number is not intended to be a complete count of steelhead redds but rather an index of abundance that can be used with data from future years to provide a trend in steelhead abundance in San Luis Obispo Creek.

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Reach 1 Reach 2 Reach 3 Reach 4 Reach 5 Reach 6 Reach 7

Distribution of Steelhead Redds


In addition to redd we also made observations of fish. We observed five adult steelhead. - all in Reach 1. Juvenile steelhead were noted in Reach 1, where they were quite numerous and also in Reach 3, where fry were found from a redd located upstream of the reach. In addition numerous large carp were observed in Reaches 1 and 2. Despite the lack of rainfall, we had a successful first year conducting the surveys. It couldn’t have happened without the volunteers. There was always someone there when I needed them and I greatly appreciate their help on this project. Next year we will start surveying earlier in the year because some of the first redds we observed this year had been there awhile. We will need more volunteers. If you like being on streams and communing with nature come on out. This is a great opportunity to have some fun and to do some good for our local steelhead.

Rich Chubon and Wayne Peterson collecting and recording data.

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Bef Feb 5 Feb 6-19 Feb 20-Mar 5 Mar 6-19 Mar 20-Apr 2 Apr 3-16 Apr 17-30

Timing of Steelhead Redds



THE SOUTHWEST COUNCIL FEDERATION OF FLY FISHERS

The 23 Independent Clubs of Southern California and Southern Nevada

SOUTHWEST COUNCIL FLY FISHING FAIRE 2015 October 16 - 18, 2015 / Bishop, CA The 2015 Southwest Council Fly Fishing Faire will take place October 16-18 at the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop, CA. The new venue offers a tremendous increase in space for vendor displays, classes, entertainment, and food. While the schedule remains fluid, an exciting array of seminars, events, and classes for beginner and experienced anglers alike will run throughout the weekend. Take in a high-country trout adventure, learn the basics of European Style Nymphing and Tenkara, or become acquainted with the IFFF’s new fly tying award program, among many other activities. As always, certified instructors will offer casting classes, and world-renowned tiers will once again hold a series of fly tying programs. For those family members in attendance who do not fish, a variety of classes will be offered on quilting, pastel painting, and gardening for drought-tolerant plants. Programs---ADDITIONS TO BE MADE, SUBJECT TO CHANGE: Fly Tying with:

• Steven Fernandez • Phil Therrien • Naomi Okamoto • Earl Arnold • Bud Heintz

Fly Casting with:

• Dok Arvanites • Mike McClay • Tim Lawson • John VanDerhoof • Mark Allen


Seminars/Speakers/Classes:

• Ed Berg – Fishing Slovania • Peter Pumphrey – Hidden Fly Fishing Opportunities in the Eastern Sierra • Dok Arvanites and Tim Lawson – Introduction to the IFFF Certification Program • Ed Swanson’s Petroglyphs Class and Tour • Bill Hammon’s and the California Heritage Trout Challenge • Jason Koop’s class on IFFF Fly Tying Skills Bronze Award Program • Chiaki Harami’s all day rod building for beginners • Freddie Ramirez on Fishing Tenkara • Gary Gunsolley teaching European Style Nymphing • Alex Cady’s Warm Water Fishing in the Lower Owens • Chris Leonard’s high country adventure • Maria Rivas’ class and outing on Reading Trout Water for Beginners • Leigh Ann Swanson’s Knots and Rigs for Women as well as a Casting Class • Aquabonita’s free demonstrations of ‘Kasting for Kids’ • Jill Field-Duerr – Angling Fine Art • Damian Ross – Angling Ceramic Artist • Ed Pounds – Boy Scout Program • Santa Lucia and Deep Creek Fly Fishers Beginning Fly Fishing classes

Non-Fly Fishing Events:

• Quilting Class • Art/Pastel Painting class • Gardening Class on drought tolerant plants

Online registration opens August 16th. Cost of admission is $15. For more information and class registration, visit http://southwestcouncilfff.org/ or call 818-200-1499.

For more information, contact Jack Marshall at [email protected] or 805-‐966-‐7773.

# # #

SLFF MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION An individual regular membership is $35.00 per year

For 12 months (January through December). Enrollment after 1 July is $20.00 for the remainder of the

year. To join, please download the Membership Form from our

Website: http://santaluciaflyfishers.com/PDF/SLFF/App.pdf



OFFICERS President Lew Leichter Vice President Art Chapman Secretary Sheri Bryant Treasurer Judy Chubon Directors Bernard Pieters Ron Bryant Rich Chubon Mark Shelton Jim Crescenzi Tom Nickelson Committees Conservation Tom Nickelson Website Art Chapman Ron Bryant Ted Pope Doug Daniels (TIC) Newsletter Greg and Mary Lugo Education David Holmes Programs Rich Chubon Casting Bernard Pieters Mark Shelton Eric Sherar Membership Mark Shelton Fly Tying Jim Snodgrass SECFFF Coordinator Lew Leichter Rod Building Mike Powers Rich Chubon Fresh Water Outings Art Chapman Rich Chubon Salt Water Outings Andy Malovos Library Steve Soenke Lew Leichter Fundraising Bob Bayer Banquet & BBQ Sheri and Ron Bryant Lew Leichter Rich Chubon George Protsman


P.O. Box 166

San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

Come wet a line with us! Thank you for supporting those who help support our chapter.

Documents

SLFF July 2015A 2015.pdf · We will resume our fly tying sessions again on Thursday, ... Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 6:30pm Margie’s Diner, 1575 Calle Joaquin, SLO Author of “A