www.natgreeneflyfishers.org Email: info@natgreeneflyfishers.org

Nat Greene Flyfishers June 2006

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NAT GREENE CALENDAR

MEETINGS & EVENTS

May 25-29, 2006 - Fun Fishing Trip to the Nantahala River. Lorraine Rothrock, 288-9976 for details.

June 13, 2006 - We will be having a "Bamboo Rod" night. Everyone is invited to bring in their cane rods to show off, discuss building & casting techniques, and a documentary entitled "Trout Grass" which follows Tonkin Cane from China all the way through to a completed rod. All are welcome. Leonard Recreation Center, 6324 Ballinger Road, Greensboro, NC 27410, 7:00 p.m. map and directions

July 11, 2006 - Annual Summer Picnic with hot dogs, beverages, and pond fishing. All are welcome. Bur-Mil Park, 7:00 p.m.

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June Monthly Meeting: Split Bamboo Rod Night

On Tuesday, June 13 everyone is invited to bring in their cane rods to show off, discuss building & casting techniques, and to watch a documentary entitled "Trout Grass," which follows Tonkin Cane from China all the way through to a completed rod. Leonard Recreation Center, 6324 Ballinger Road, Greensboro, NC 27410, 7:00 p.m. map and directions.

Note Our New Meeting Location: Starting on May 9, 2006, Nat Greene Flyfishers began holding its monthly meetings at the Leonard Recreation Center, 6324 Ballinger Road, Greensboro, NC 27410. If you have any questions or comments, please drop us a note at at mailto:info@natgreeneflyfishers.org. Click here for a map and directions

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NCBA Youth Outdoor Day

The North Carolina Bowhunters Association held its annual "Youth Outdoor Day" on May 20th at the Reidsville City Lake Park. Although the event was sponsored by the NCBA, many outdoor activities were represented by booths and displays. The morning started out cool and rain but the skies cleared up by noon to a beautiful, sunny spring day. Jim Brady, Mark Grunenwald, and Charlene Grunenwald were there to demonstrate casting and to catch up on some fly tying for the months ahead. The event was fun and informative for all attendees. Special thanks go to Ramon Bell for inviting NGFF to participate.

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Ed Engle to Speak at 2007 Spring Banquet and Seminar

Renowned flyfishing writer Ed Engle will speak at the Nat Greene Fly Fishers 2007 Annual Spring Banquet and Seminar. Ed is a really nice guy and we've had great reports from people who have seen his presentations.

The 2007 Banquet will be held on March 10th, 2007; more details will be released as the plans come together, but go ahead and reserve the date because you won't want to miss this great event. Ed will present "A Fly Fisher’s Life,' a lighthearted and non-technical program ideally suited for general audiences -- a travelogue of Ed’s fly fishing adventures on Montana’s spring creeks, the warm water spring creeks of Texas, Mexican bonefish and permit, Chilean fiords, and Alaskan silver salmon.

Ed has been an avid fly fisherman for the past 30 years for a variety of game fish species. Ed is especially interested in small fly tactics and techniques -- his small fly research has taken him to a many of the West's famous tailwaters and to spring creeks across the country. He is also dedicated to fly fishing small streams and high country lakes for wild trout. Ed balances out his interest in the “small side of fly fishing” with the avid pursuit of king salmon on the fly. Ed lives near the South Platte River, one of Colorado’s premier tailwaters, where he guides and instructs fly fishers.

Ed currently holds the positions of Southwest Field Editor for FLY FISHERMAN MAGAZINE, columnist for FLY FISHING & FLY TYING JOURNAL, outdoor writer for the BOULDER DAILY CAMERA, and a regular contributor to AMERICAN ANGLER. His freelance articles and photographs have appeared in: Fly Fisherman Magazine, Fly Rod & Reel, American Angler, Trout, Warmwater Fly Fishing, Fly Tyer, Saltwater Fly Fishing, Angler’s Journal, Sports Afield, Fly Fishing Magazine, and Gray's Journal. He hs authored books including FLY FISHING THE TAILWATERS, SEASONAL: A LIFE OUTSIDE, SPLITTING CANE: CONVERSATIONS WITH BAMBOO ROD MAKERS, TYING SMALL FLIES, and FISHING SMALL FLIES.

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2006 NCTU Rivercourse Seeks Volunteers

The 2006 NCTU Rivercourse, cold water conservation and fly-fishing youth camp, is looking for volunteers to assist as ghillies. NCTU Rivercourse 2006 will run from Sunday, June 18th, to Friday, June 23rd at the Lake Logan Center near Canton in western North Carolina.

Ghillies will work with campers both on and off the water. The West Fork of the Pigeon River downstream from the northern boundary of the delayed harvest section to Lake Logan is owned by the center. This is over ½ mile of private water that will be stocked by the campers on Sunday afternoon. On the stream, ghillies will act as guides to the campers. This includes working with them on casting, presentation, tactics, techniques, and etiquette. Off the water, ghillies will be responsible for maintaining tackle (repairing leaders, etc.) and working with campers in small groups on assorted fly-fishing related subjects such as knots and casting.

Fly tiers are also needed to work as ghillies specifically working with the campers on fly tying (in lieu of being on the stream). The morning session will be split into two groups: one will tie flies while the other group fishes and then they will switch. This will give each group an hour and a half on the stream in the morning.

For ghillies having to drive more than an hour and a half one way, there are a limited number overnight lodging slots available. Overnight stays will be a three-day/two-night arrangement. Come join us for an evening session, two sessions the next day, and a morning session the last day. Please make arrangements when you volunteer.

Rivercourse will pickup all meals while you are on the premises.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be a positive influence on the next generation of river stewards. It is a most rewarding experience. To volunteer as a ghillie, drop me an email at maeda@us.ibm.com or leave me a voice mail at 1-919-254-0805. For more information on NCTU Rivercourse 2006, take a look at the Rivercourse link off the NCTU home page at: www.nctu.org

Dave Maeda

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Old Fishermen

I’m an old guy. I’m not sure when I first accepted that fact but it was probably a short while before I actually took a measure of pride in it. Yes I’m proud of being an old fisherman. Even withstanding the alternative of being a dead fisherman, there are a great many advantages to being an old fisherman. There is hard won knowledge to be found in us old farts. We carry our gray hair, at least what’s left of it, like badge that says: “I’ve paid my dues, I’ve been to the mountain (or river in this case)”. Decades of fishing has honed our fishing skills to the point where we don’t even need to think about it, we just do it smoothly and at times even gracefully. And after decades of refining lies about fish to a fine art, we’ve pretty much abandoned lying as we have this wealth of true stuff that’s happened that’s often better. Besides we’ve become a little tired of “talking” about fish and would rather sit on the bank and “think” about fish. Which all is good and well because it gives us time to think about other things; like making sure we have all our medications and a spare pair of glasses.

I think you first realize you’re an old fisherman when you start to notice that there are young fishermen. I don’t mean that you notice they have a full head of hair, or that they quickly outdistance you when hiking in to remote waters, but instead you notice they do a lot of stupid things; things that you used to do. The most obvious thing you notice is that young fishermen are in too big of a hurry. They hike as fast as they can to get to their fishing spot. Full bore. No stops for a rest or even a short breather. Hills are made to get over as quickly as possible, as though putting it quickly behind you somehow erases the effort it took to climb over it. When they arrive they are overheated and exhausted. Granted they will be less exhausted than I would be had I tried to keep pace with them, but exhausted and overheated nonetheless. Meanwhile, we old guys take our time, maybe even stopped for a rest or two or three. We arrive at the river a short time later only to receive looks from the younger guys that suggest maybe we’re too old for this sport. Yet we’re not the ones sweating and dunking our hats in the water in an effort to cool down.

Young fishermen carry too much stuff. They bring vests bulging with fly boxes, tippets, spare reels, leaders, jackets, sacks of food, and plethora of accoutrements; all this to fish the evening hatch! We old guys on the other hand learned long ago that we don’t need all this stuff, and it’s heavy to carry. Just because you can do something doesn’t’ mean you should. It’s not a sign of weakness to pack light when that’s all you need. A couple spools of tippet, a small box of flies, and a soft candy bar that’s easy on old teeth will see you through any evening hatch. The number of years a man has spent fishing is inversely proportional to the number of pockets on his fly vest.

One of the best parts of being an old fisherman is that you learn to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast. Gone are the days of getting up hours before daylight, hiking or floating miles downstream to be at just the right spot well before daylight. Sure, we used to do that before we learned that there were a lot of good spots that we walked right by in our hurried youth and the fish bite better at mid-morning. It’s warmer then too. The young fisherman would seem to observe that we are old and just can’t cut it anymore; we’re soft with a need to be warm. But I like to think that we just understand that fish, equipment and attitudes work better at mid morning and there is something to be said for full night’s rest. No, we’re not soft; we’re efficient. We also know when it’s time to leave. The phrase “just one more cast” shows up less and less in our vocabulary. By the time the sun has set we are usually back at the car with our waders off and most of the way through a nice cold beer when the “kids” show up tired and exhausted, changing clothes and putting their gear away in the dark. There’s a definite pattern here.

Young fishermen spend too much time casting. It does make you a better caster, but its probably way more practice than you need. Old fishermen tend to set down on the bank when they approach the water and think about things. Sometimes we think about things other than fishing, but we’re still watching the river. We can multitask. Young fishermen tend to wade in and start casting, under the assumption that the more casts you make in an evening, the more fish you will catch. Old fishermen realize that only means you will make more casts. While it’s true that energy is never lost and always conserved, old fishermen like to conserve that energy in their own bodies rather than covert it to heat with excess rod waving. Young fishermen mistakenly believe that we are too feeble to make that many casts when the truth is; we don’t need to make that many casts. Old fishermen spend time watching the water, locating good fish and figuring them out. Young fishermen tend to beat the water to a froth and in the end probably catch more incidental small fish then their elders. But their elders know that catching small fish just wastes your time, ruins your fly, and runs additional risks in getting hung up or tangling your leader. We are more selective and deliberate in our actions.

Old fishermen develop an appreciation for old equipment too. Bamboo rods start to look more attractive than boron enhanced ultra graphite laser rods. Young fishermen are always on a quest for new equipment. Looking cool means having the latest rods and color coordinated reels. Old fishermen know that a cool reel is one you’ve had for the past twenty-five years and still works because you’ve kept it oiled. It’s cool because the finish is worn where your hand has palmed a great many fish. The cork on your rod is black and worn from fighting and handling more fish than you can remember. Old fishermen appreciate old things, like old whisky and old friends. Now at a time in life when we can afford the equipment we always wanted, we long to make the stuff we’ve had for years last until the end. Old fishermen are faithful. Although in one respect I cling to my youthful obsessions. I still like new waders a lot more than old waders. Unlike other fishing accoutrements, waders do not improve with age.

I’ve always hated the phrase “work smarter, not harder”. That’s usually bandied about in the corporate world as way for higher-ups to spoon-feed more work to underlings. But in fishing I believe it’s true. I catch more fish than I did when I was younger. Maybe not anymore in total, but certainly more for each hour actually fished. When I was young and headed down the river before daybreak and back after dark I may have caught a few more fish. But now, I start later in the morning, fish closer to the car, and get back before the sun sets and I catch nearly as many fish. The result per effort ratio has skyrocketed, proving once again the superiority of old age wisdom.

From my elderly vantage point, I see things differently and I appreciate the finer details of my sport. I realize that fly-fishing is not as terribly important as I once thought it was, and that in other respects it was the most important thing I could have done. I’m also pretty confident that years from now when I’ve taken that final trip to the great river beyond or have at least hung up my waders for the last time, these young fishermen of today will also be old and one of them is bound to remark to his old friends, over a leisurely breakfast, “Remember those old guys we used to fish with? They were pretty clever for old guys.” Yea, we were; Welcome to the club.

Daryl Crowley – member of the West Michigan Hacklers
reprinted from May 2006 FFF ClubWire

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NAT GREENE FLYFISHERS CLUB OFFICERS

President

Cindy Spicer

855-1325

703-5632

cell 406-6171

cspicer@BBandT.com

Vice-President

Cornell Bowden

Treasurer