The Backcast

www.wyflycasters.org

Vol 44 No 7

The Monthly Newsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters

August 2016

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August 2016

What’s inside Lee Tschetter, President Spencer Amend, Vice President

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John Yost, Secretary Janet Sowell, Treasurer

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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Terms expire in 2017: George Axlund, Joe Meyer, Lee Wilson, Cheryl Wilson Derrick Dietz Bob Fischer

president’s letter club award north to alaska

fishing highlights

11 CLASSIFIEDS CALENDAR

Terms expire in 2018: Wilbur Yankee, Jim Johnson Bruce Lessig, Bruce Chandler, Blake Jackson The Backcast is the monthly newsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters Editorial content does not necessarily reflect the views of the officers, board or members of the Wyoming Fly Casters.

Annual dues are $20 for an individual, $30 for a family, or $250 for a lifetime individual membership or $450 for a life- time family membership. Visit the club website at www. wyflycasters.org. To pay dues or contact the club, write to P.O. Box 2881, Casper, WY 82602.

The deadline for submission of information for each issue is a week before the end of the month.

Make contributions to the next issue by e-mailing material to the Backcast editor at cheryl_ea06@ hotmail.com or call (307) 267-1903.

The Backcast is available either in electronic format or through USPS snail mail. To receive each newsletter through a monthly e-mail, you must be able to open .pdf (Adobe Acrobat, a software program available free of charge) documents. Usually, each issue is roughly 1 MB in size, some are larger.

Your e-mail provider may have limits on the size of attachments.

In order to be added to the e-mail list, send a request to cheryl_ea06@hotmail.com. In addition to receiving each issue of the newsletter earlier than your hard copy peers, e-mail subscribers are able to print each copy in vibrant color -- an added plus if the issue is rich in color photographs.

By sub-scribing electronically, you also save the club roughly $17.40 a year in printing and postage expenses.

Front Cover Photo by: Lee Wilson

NEW MEMBERS!

If you haven’t already, call Joe Meyer at 307-235-1316. He’ll give you pointers and advice to make sure you catch The big one!

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Wyoming Fly Casters is to promote and enhance the sport of fly fishing and the conservation of fish and their habitat.

Description:

The Wyoming Fly Casters club was formed in 1974. The membership currently consists of approximately 160 members. The WFC was organized by a group of dedicated fly fishermen and since the club’s inception the Wyoming Fly Casters have strived to further the sport of fly fishing through conservation and education.

Conservation of our water resources is one of our primary goals and in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department we have and will continue to carry out worthwhile projects for the benefit of Wyoming fisheries. In addition to conserving Wyoming’s water resources we encourage conserving the fish themselves. A fish safely released today will live to give sport to others.

For easy access to digital version of newsletter go to: www.wyomingflycasters.org

Wyoming Fly Casters

President’s letter

Hello Again Flycasters,

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Aug. 2016

I want to start off this letter by saying thank you to Randy Stalker, Ed Rate, and Bob Fisher. We made our second “annual” trip to the Tri-Basin and had a great time. The fishing was tough but what country and great stories. I’m looking forward to going back many times.

On another positive note; I heard on the news this morning that the Hatchery Fire near Tensleep is 100% contained with about 2800 acres being burned.

I’ve heard that the road to the campground is open and it seems that the outing will go off as scheduled. Please keep an eye on your emails just in case. I passed around a sign-up sheet at the last general meeting but it’s still not too late. Of course you may just come without signing up but we need an approximate head count for the Friday night meal (Gene & Deb Theriault) and the Saturday night meal. If you are unable to make the meeting on the 10th please contact Matt or me so we can add you to the list. We plan on being at the Deer Park Campground again. We probably will not know what the status of having a camp fire will be until we get there.

I will be passing around a sign-up sheet for the Dick DePaemelere Memorial Outing on the North Tongue River at the general meeting on the 10th. This generally proves to be a fun outing with good fishing. There will not be a club sponsored meal but weather permitting we will have a fire in the evening.

Several members of Dick’s family are expected on Saturday evening.

I would encourage all that can come to do so. We will be camped just west of Bear Lodge again this year. For those of you that have not been there in the past; take the interstate north to Sheridan. Continue north to the hwy.

14 exit. Head west until hwy. 14 splits at Burgess Jct. Here you take Alt. 14 west. Bear Lodge will be on your right and I will try to have the WFC sign up at the turnoff to where we will be camped.

For those of you that were not able to make last month’s general meeting, we had a WG&F representative speak to us about Access Yes. I thought that it was a very good presentation and the information that he gave about new features available on the G&F web site was very useful. I have not had a chance to spend a lot of time looking at it but Lee Wilson has and he said that it has several really good features that many of us would be interested in.

Our speaker this month will be Lars from the hatchery. He will be talking to us about the stairs that will be built at the Flycasters’ Memorial Landing and also possible future additions to the site. As always, I’m sure that Lars will be more than happy to field any questions that may come up concerning the hatchery.

I’m keeping this letter short this month so that I can get it off to our editor and she can get this out. I hope that all of you are able to stay cool in this hot weather and take the opportunity to get out on the water. Please remember that with the hot weather and higher water temps that any fish that are caught are put under a lot of stress. Handle them gently and quickly and if it seems too hot for us to be out fishing it’s probably too hot for them to be handled. Take a break in the shade with a cool beverage and wait until it cools off to fish.

Until Next Month, Tight Lines & Long Drifts Lee

Photo by Randy Stalker

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August 2016

Wyoming Fly Casters Club 10 August, 2016 THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF PROJECT HEALING

fly fish and have eagerly embraced the opportunities to do

Waters Fly Fishing takes great pleasure in presenting the

so. For 2015, this included a broad variety of experiences

Club/Chapter Excellence Award to Wyoming Fly Casters

for PHWFF members: 26 day trips, 5 overnight trips, 14

Club. This award acknowledges those clubs excelling in

casting classes, 10 fly tying classes, 8 rod building classes,

outreach within their area, generation of funds, partic-

and 28 events/shows/meetings. Thirty-six WFC members

ipant services, recruitment and retention of volunteers,

contributed more than 1300 hours of service to PHWFF

innovation and increased community awareness of the

in 2015. In addition, WFC contributed one quarter of the

importance of our mission.

money raised at their Spring Fund Raising Banquet to

Formed in 1974, the Wyoming Fly Casters Club

PHWFF.

(WFC) is one of the oldest and most active fly fishing clubs

Many of the members of WFC have become friends

in Wyoming. The 150 club members are not only dedi-

and mentors to our PHWFF program participants. They

cated fly fishers, but also strive to further the sport of fly

not only help with program activities, but help to support

fishing through conservation and education.

participants in their daily lives. WFC members have pro-

In 2012, when Derrick Dietz made a proposal to the Fly Casters Board that WFC become the local sponsoring

vided food and clothing items to local veteran support organizations and activities in the name of PHWFF.

organization for a new Casper, WY Project Healing Waters

The members of Wyoming Fly Casters embody the

Fly Fishing program, the proposal was eagerly and unan-

spirit of being Patriots. We couldn’t have found a more

imously approved. The local expertise and commitment

caring and generous group for the Casters PHWFF pro-

by WFC has been extremely valuable in enabling PHWFF

gram. The club truly supports our PHWFF mission by be-

to provide an outstanding range of activities for disabled

ing dedicated to the physical and emotion rehabilitation of

veterans. WFC members have the experience and com-

injured active duty military service members and disabled

mitment to help veterans learn when, where, and how to

veterans through fly fishing.

Wyoming Fly Casters

Wyomning Fly Casters is presented the

for outstanding, sustained program support of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, in service to our disabled veterans, on this, the 10th day of August, 2016 Bob Fitch Chairman, Board of Directors

Edwin P. Nicholson Founder and President

Ellen Killough Chief Executive Officer

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North to Alaska

August 2016

Wyoming Flycasters Jim Belcher and Jim Johnson recently went fishing on Alaska’s Naknek River and Katmai National Park. They were after trophy Rainbows primarily but caught Grayling, Sockeye, Pink and Chum Salmon, Dolly Varden and Arctic Char as well.

The river was running high due to heavy runoff (sound familiar?), in fact higher than the locals could remember for a long time. Flyouts to smaller streams proved to offer better fishing along with some bear sightings. The weather cooperated for the most part and they had a great time, and brought salmon home with them. They recommend the Naknek River Camp for lodging and guides.

Photos and story submitted by Jim Johnson

Wyoming Fly Casters

Bob Homer on the Big Horn River

Spencer Amend and Blake Jackson out on a nice afternoon

Fishing Highlights

Ed Rate, Bob Fischer, Lee Tschetter, and Randy Stalker Want to be featured in the newsletter?

Just send me your photos and stories!

E-mail or Text!

Hold on Spencer!

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cheryl_ea06@hotmail.com 307-267-1903

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August 2016

WFC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 20, 2016 *All votes are unanimous unless otherwise noted.

MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Spencer, Lee W., Bruce L., George, Wilbur, Janet, John, Joe. Excused absences were Lee T. and Derrick.

CALL TO ORDER: Vice-President Spencer called the meeting to order at 1901.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Janet handed out a copies of the "Income/Expense by Payee" and the club "Balance Sheet" current as of 7/20/16. Janet reported her efforts to track down a $25 discrepancy and it defies explanation. It will be written off as an expense. Janet talked with bank personnel about the virtues of a credit versus a debit card. She found out that charges can be challenged with a debit card similar to a credit card, and the requirement of a PIN # for a debit card is considered a safety tool. She has already ordered a debit card, but that can be reversed if the BOD has any objections. It was suggested that the President, Vice-President and Treasurer have access to the card. It was suggested that the Treasurer should have possession of the card.

It was discussed that probably 2 out of the 3 officers need to OK any substantial payments with the debit card (somewhere above $100-$200, it was suggested). Janet also reported that the contracts for our funded projects have all been sent out, but that none have been returned yet.

NEW BUSINESS: John gave a report on the North Platte River Revival Volunteer Day which will be September 24th. The city officials who run this event have valued the WFC efforts in the past so we have some existing credibility within this group. Due to city budget cuts, they would like to reduce city employees hours as much as possible this year through the increased use of volunteers on their working group leadership teams. John reported that it is unlikely there will be any "in water" work this year due to projected high river flows. Therefore, John identified the "Russian Olive Regrowth Monitoring" group as perhaps well suited to our organization. John would like at least 10 of our members to represent us. Janet, Lee W., George, John and Spencer have all tentatively volunteered already.

OLD BUSINESS: There was a discussion about the Speas WFC Memorial. Joe introduced Art Van Rensselaer, to speak on behalf of Mike Houston, a long time member of the WFC, who recently passed away. Art reported that Mike was close to an original WFC member, and was very active during the 70's and 80's. He served on the BOD and the Conservation Committee, and was also very active with a club project involving "vibrant boxes" which were early efforts to supplement North Platte River fish populations by hatching trout eggs in the river itself. Mike loved the Miracle Mile and evolved into a fly fisherman while recreating on that water. He, and his wife, Peggy, have been donors to the Club of a variety of equipment. Spencer notes that there is no one taking care of the Memorial at this time.

Casey may have more information about this and will be prompted to send what details he has to Cheryl.

Spencer will recommend forming a 3-person committee to be in charge of the Memorial. That committee, it was suggested, will develop criteria for operating the Memorial, then create an action plan from which recommendations can be brought before the BOD for consideration.

ADJOURNMENT: Joe made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Janet. The motion passed at 1938.

Respectfully submitted, John Yost, Treasurer

Wyoming Fly Casters

WFC GENERAL MEETING OF JULY 13, 2016

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CALL TO ORDER: President Tschetter called the meeting to order at 1911. The Pledge of Allegiance was done followed by the introduction of 3 visitors and/or new members.

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1) FISHING REPORT: Spencer reports that 33-mile is good but starting to moss over. Petro and below Alcova dam were fishing well. Goldeneye looks good, but no success reported. 2) Lee T. reports that Lars will be the speaker in August to update us on the Jessica's Pond project. 3) The Ten Sleep Outing for August 12-14 sign-up sheet will be circulated 4) The club and Lars will be speaking at the Rotary Club on the 14th at 7:00 AM at the Senior Center. 5) The Tongue River Outing scheduled for September 3-4 was mentioned. 6) John gave a report on the upcoming Platte River Revival Day on September 24th. It would be nice to have at least 10 members participate. They will have a group responsible for Russian olive regrowth and monitoring, and this task may be well suited to our club. 7) Cheryl requests more photos to put into the Backcast.

The raffle was conducted.

SPEAKER: President Tschetter introduced Matt Withroder, a Game Warden and Regional Access Coordinator with Wyoming G&F. He will be speaking on the ACCESS YES Program which enrolls private land for use by the general public for primarily fishing and hunting. Matt thanks the WFC for their recent $3,000 donation which, given the formula of 3.5-4 acres of land access per dollar of funding, our donation can yield 12,000 acres of access. Our donation will specifically be earmarked for fishing, and efforts will be made to utilize it close to our area. Matt explains there are 3 separate programs in ACCESS YES. The first 2 are walk-in fishing and walk-in hunting. These are typically easements which will have contracts for 1-5 years. The third program is habitat management areas which are usually purchases. These areas are available for hunting and fishing also. Matt is one of 5 game wardens who share the added responsibility of managing ACCESS YES. They are always on the lookout for new access areas, so Matt encourages us to recommend any new areas for their consideration. Easement payments total $1,000,000 and yields 2.7 million acres of access, including 3,781 lake acres and 98 stream miles. Funding comes from a variety of sources other than the voluntary donation at license purchase. $2.50 of each Conservation stamp goes, as well as other wildlife and state organizations.

Lastly, Matt gave a demonstration on the revamped wgfd.wyo.gov website which will have all the information that the now discontinued walk-in atlases used to have. There is an app that will integrate with Google earth that opens up an enormous number of features that will help the user navigate around the state. Matt concludes that the re-enlistment rate for the easements is >90%, so the program is working for the landowner as well as the sportsman.

Respectfully Submitted, John Yost, Treasurer

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Letter from the Editor

August 2016

Flycasters,

Thanks for your patience as I try to get this full issue of the Backcast out! This year has been flying by! I haven’t been able to get out on the water lately, but I have seen lots of your photos coming in! Thank you!

It’s August now, and that means Ten Sleep outing! The Ten Sleep outing is by far my favorite outing that the club puts on. I am looking forward to seeing all of you there! Keep in mind too, that there is another outing over Labor Day Weekend, and we also have the club BBQ coming up next month. I know Lee covered this all in his letter, but it never hurts to double up! Thanks for reading and send me those photos! Stories with your photos will earn you extra brownie points with me (Thanks Jim!)

Cheryl Wilson

CLASSIFIED

Wyoming Fly Casters

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Calendar

Sunday

7

August 2016

AUGUST 2016

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

5

6

8

9

10

11

12

13

TEN SLEEP

TEN SLEEP

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19

20

25

26

GENERAL MEETING 7:00 P.M.

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Friday

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16

17

Aviation Day

BOARD MEETING 7:00 P.M.

TEN SLEEP

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22

23

24

28

29

30

31

July 2016 S 3 10 17 24 31

M 4 11 18 25

T W Th F 1 5 6 7 8 12 13 14 15 19 20 21 22 26 27 28 29

September 2016 Sa 2 9 16 23 30

S 4 11 18 25

M 5 12 19 26

T W Th 1 6 7 8 13 14 15 20 21 22 27 28 29

F 2 9 16 23 30

Sa 3 10 17 24

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Upcoming events Dick DePaemelere Memorial Outing Labor Day Weekend

Annual Picnic - September 14th

Wyoming Fly Casters P.O. Box 2881 Casper, WY 82602

August 2016