April Meeting:
Fly Fishing The West
Retired orthopedic surgeon Howard R. Beemer, MD will come to the April 18th meeting of Trout Unlimited to share his fishing adventures to western US trout waters. Beemer enjoys spending summers in the West, using a trailer for accommodations, and fishes a variety of streams and lakes and he is eager to share his stories. Monday night, 7.30pm, April 18th at the Canandaigua VA Auditorium, Building 5.
Please feel free to bring a friend (always welcome).
We will have our usual raffle.
So . . . Remember to bring dollars or flies!
Need directions the to VA Medical Center? Click directions
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Canandaigua Lake TU Chapter ...
Has 137 members
Has a mailing list with 226 subscribers
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The Canandaigua Lake Chapter of Trout Unlimited helped DEC fisheries personnel stock regional
streams for the 2011 season. Here TU member Tom Knapp releases a 2 year old brown trout to the
chilly Cohocton Creek on March 29th.
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TU Great Lakes Committee
At the November Council Meeting, it was approved that Council form a Great Lakes Committee, with the purpose to consolidate and share information regarding the Great Lakes, including threats and legislation that effect Erie and Ontario and most definitely their tributaries.
The Chpater needs a person who would be interested in the gathering and sharing of information via emails, with the the Council Chair, Gary Coons, President of the Western New York Chapter, who reports to the Council.
Interested? Please send an email to Jean Chaintreuil.
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Spring Tune Up for Spring Opener
Trout season opened here in NY State on Friday and opens I think the following week in Pa. With snow still standing out in my yard and most of us still having some cold weather, it hardly seems like another season is ready to begin.
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Myself, it sure feels like it has been a long winter. Really long this year, cold with alot of snow. I am really ready to do some fishing. Like every year, it takes a bit of time to tune up your gear and get ready for fishing.
First off let's squelch some rumors. Worst one I heard (amongst all of them) is that NO there isn't a shortage of monofilament. Yeap, that stuff is made in Japan (most of it), but as I understand it, the factories are nowhere near the places that were effected by the Tsnumi and Earthquake. Other one was that Daiichi hook factory was flattened, it is in another part of Japan, hence it also wasn't effected. How this starts, not a clue.
Anyway, no shortage of mono, tippets, leaders and the like this season. This leads into my next section. Replacing leaders and tippets. Check your spools, usually there is a pretty long life and if the spools are worn, can't read the labels or they are in bad shape, pull out the spools and change them.
I like to stack the spools and I use a clip with a length of nylon mountain climbing cord to make a roll that I tie on my pack. Put a small 1/4" 20 nut on the end of about 18" of cord, tie a knot above the nut and slide spools down. I put large ones on the bottom. If the holes are quite large, get a washer and put that on the stack first. When you have a stack of tippets, make an overhand loop, slide it down to snug up the stack and put a clip on the loop. I can hang this on a pack, bags or even a vest. Keeps all the tippets in one handy section. Some people use surgical tubing and knot it up as well. Since my "real" job is in a mega box hardware store, I can make these up with stuff from work. Most of these stuff you can find at home, using old cords from bags, camping and the like. Well, you get the idea.
Next stop clean and inspect the fly line. Dirty lines don't cast well. I like to pull the line through a soft towel using a line cleaner. If you are in a pinch, use clear liquid hand soap with no scent. I squirt some solution in a soft t-shirt type cloth and pull all of the line through. This will also help straighten the line. As you are doing this check the loops and also the junction knots. If a knot is bad, cut it off. Don't get terribly attached to the 3" of line you cut. I had one customer in an absolute fit because I cut his line. Now if you whack off 6' of the tip, you might have an issue. The back of all WF lines is running line anyway and cutting off many feet won't hurt a thing. Usually, when you make knots etc. it won't matter if you clip off a few inches.
Some of the new lines have welded loops in the ends and I noticed on one line after letting some beginners try it and CRACKING the whip and the loops were cracked and split near the loop junction. For that line I am cutting off the loop and installing a new one. Myself, I don't like the pre-made loops, they sink, split and pull off. I make my own loops using a Duncan Loop Knot. I cut about 18" off, make a Duncan Loop Knot and then make a Perfection Loop in the end. I use colored Amnesia Line, usually 25 or 30 lb, chartreuse. If you see any reels rigged this way around Ithaca, it is a sure bit I did those and I've done a crapload of those by now. If you want, bring your reel in I will cut the loops off and put a new one on. As far as I know, nobody has ever lost a fish off one of my junctions. Now if you "cracked the whip" casting and split the line, it is NOT my fault.
Cracking the whip BTW is using the fly rod like a buggy whip and snapping it as you cast. By doing this you are over powering your forward cast and causing the line to snap. This will fray the junction knots near the loops and it can crack a line's jacket as well. Usually, old lines that aren't maintained can get cracked jackets. If the jacket is too far gone, chunks will fall off the core. Ironically, most old lines are quite stiff and shoot like a bandit. I have some 10 years old + lines that shoot very well. If you look at the jackets, they look like marble from all the cracks and dirt. These are the ones that you should replace.
Another place to check is boxes. Pull out your boxes and go through some of the flies. If you are a fly tyer, you will no doubt discover the flies that were duds and the ones you were successful with. I like to thin out some of those nasty ones. Put them in a cup and give them to a friend or save for a new fishing class. Here is a tip to all non-tyers. You can mend flies and bring back life to old flies. Heat up a tea kettle and when the steam starts, grab all the mashed flies with a hemostat and hold them over the steam. The flies will come back to life.
If the heads have loose threads, you mend them with some finger nail polish and a tooth pick. I use a bodkin and head cement, same idea. Sometimes I will rewrap the thread and slip a half hitch in. Sounds like a hassle, but if you have a bunch of them, you get some more life out of them. I have done this on trips before when I couldn't or didn't have the stuff to tie flies with.
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My next thing I want to talk about is releasing fish. I have seen alot of JERKS, squeeze fish by grabbing them like they are grabbing a big sub sandwich and stuffing their faces. Next time I see that, I going to just smack that person over the head with a log. Knock it off! Doing this can injure the fish and can kill them. When you handle a fish , be kind to it. Don't yank, squeeze or hold the fish out of water for long periods of time. If you want a photo, leave the fish in the water, get ready, grab by belly and tail, lift and shoot. Put it back and repeat. Craddle the fish by the belly or hold by the tail. For bass, use the lower lip to hold them. Sometimes if you flip a trout on its back it becomes immobilized and it is easier to handle.
To revive a fish, hold it by the tail and force the head upstream and move the fish back and forth in the water. Doing this pushes water over the gills, reviving it. I've had some fish that I thought were too far gone, recover.
Well that's about it for the spring tips.
~~ Mike Hogue
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June TU NYS Council Meeting
The NYS Council of TU will hold a General Meeting on June 4th at the American Legion, Scottsville.
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Fly Tying Bead Chart
(Hook To Bead Conversion)
The 1/16″ beads fits hook Sizes-22 thru 26
The 5/64″ beads fits hook Sizes-18 thru 22
The 3/32″ beads fits hook Sizes-16 & 18
The 7/64″ beads fits hook Sizes-14 & 16
The 1/8″ beads fits hook Sizes-12 and 14
The 5/32″ beads fits hook Sizes-10 and 12
The 3/16″ beads fits hook Sizes-6 and 8
The 7/32″ beads fits hook Sizes-2 and 4
The principle caveat here is the bend of the hook and varieties of different hook brands. De-barb or crimp the barb down to allow the bead to be slid onto the hook. The next potential obstacle is the bend. A Sproat hook has a uniform bend to the hook, which best facilitates the bead sliding all the way up to the eye of the hook. A Limerick hook is not suitable for a beads. Some Scud-Pupa hooks require a little assist to squeeze the bead up along the shank. Also, notice beads you buy in fly shops have two sized holes. The smaller hole goes over the hook point first. If you put the large hole first, once the bead reaches the eye of the hook it will extend too far and partially cover the eye, so reverse it. Bead shop beads are quite pretty, but the holes are not a uniform size. If you are exploring a bead shop, first they are not weighted as a rule (plastic/glass). Also, take your hooks along and ask if you can experiment in sliding beads over the point and, the hard part, around the bend of the hook. Better to ask than to buy hundreds of useless beads. When tying patterns, you will need to secure the bead forward with thread wraps and materials to stop the bead from sliding back over the fly even a little bit. You may notice your thread mysteriously breaks at the rear of the bead; some cheap beads are abrasive at the edges of the larger hole and as you wrap the thread at that point, the thread is cut by the irregular edged bead. Doesn't happen often, but should it? …that is why.
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For Sale --
10 weight outfit: Sage Xi2 9 foot, 10 weight. 4 pieces. Ross BG6 reel with extra spool. Retail is $630 rod, $415 reel, and $195 spool. Call Bob Mulcahy at 585/889-8591. Best offer.
Items For Sale: ???
E-mail jpc@travela.com with the details and we will list
your item(s) for sale.
How else can we say it?
It's a free Want Ad.
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April 18, Chapter Meeting. Howard Beemer, fly fishing the West from a trailer.
April 30, Fly Fishing School.
May 16, Chapter Meeting. Jay Peck, Atlantic salmon fishing in Central NY.
June 4 and 5, Canandaigua Lake Trout Derby.
June 20, Chapter Picnic. Canandaigua American Legion.