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Vol. 39 No. 4

The Monthly Newsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters

April 2012

WFC Upcoming Event Gear SwapFest Wednesday, April 11th

Articles Hopper Fishing in Chili Fish Senses

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April 2012

Yep, it’s melting.

A three week warming period in March definitely was the push behind the thaw.

Warm, sunny and just enough wind to move the ice along. The perfect recipe to remind all of us that yes Virginia... there is a spring!

An entire family can enjoy the weather by taking a few local fishing trips. Just take a look at the picture to the right. That’s Frank the dog, checking out what his grandpa caught. No doubt he’d like to get his mouth around that but alas, the trout was thrown back into the water. Safe and sound.

I’ve seen plenty of fly casters fishing during the March weeks.

Even though most seasoned WFC members are aware that this warmup is temporary, it’s hard to not entertain the thought that it might stay like this. No? Sure would be nice.

I went fishing on March 25th and hooked a rainbow on my line. As I was reeling it in, I thought it might indeed break my previous record.

Can it be? But I had to have proof.

So while the fish was still on the line and coming closer to shoreline, I looked for my cell phone to take a picture and just as I was about to take it... the fish got unhooked. Oh, but it was BIG! .

“Hope springs eternal...” Peg

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

MEMBERS NOTES

LITTLE NIPPER

Will Waterburyʼs letter.

Board Meeting Minutes, Member Notes, SwapFest, Treasurerʼs report

Who the heck is that?

Page 3

HOPPER FISHING IN CHILI Be sure to read about Bill and Deb Wicherʼs fishing trip to Chili. " " " Page 4 !

Pages 5-6

FISH SMELL & TASTE! Continuation of last monthʼs Fish Biology

FORUM & FUN Page 7

REWIND ON EVENTS

Recipe, Classified & Want ads, Remembrance, Joeʼs Fishing Tips, Brag Time, Calendar

Cabin Fever and Fly Film Festival images

Page 7 Wyoming Fly Casters!

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Page 9-12 !2

Ap$l ’s Le%er from Will

OFFICERS

will pick up some new members from the event. For the third year in a row, the rod and reel combo raffle was won by a youth.

Will Waterbury, President Vacant, President-elect Lee Tschettert, Vice President Casey Leary, Secretary Matt Stanton, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Thanks go out to the more than 10 club members who helped to make this year’s clinic a success.

The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing. ~Babylonian Proverb I figure that if the Babylonian proverb of this month’s quote has any truth to it then Joe Meyer still has a good twentyfive to thirty years left to torment the trout of the area. At my first WFC meeting, almost two and a half years ago, Joe and Spencer were two of the first to introduce themselves and welcome me to the club and later invite me along fishing.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago at the last Lyin’ and Tyin’ and there Joe and Spencer were, yet again, making arrangements to take a newer member fishing the following day. We, as a club, are fortunate to have these two as goodwill ambassadors for the club, and for the sport of fly-fishing. Joe is also the one and only member of the membership committee. Should we be fortunate enough to attract a few new members let’s make sure we welcome them warmly and perhaps invite them fishing. But let us not place the load of welcoming and encouraging new members to Joe alone. So, let’s take somebody fishing!!

The Cabin Fever clinic was a great success again this year. We had a good turnout and the crowd was slow and steady so everyone received plenty of quality time learning casting and tying flies. We gave out quite a few membership brochures so hopefully we 3!

The clinic was followed just a couple of hours later by the Fly Fishing Film tour at the Iris Theater. They exceeded last year attendance and thanks to Scott Novotny, we had a good 50/50 raffle and raised another $200 for the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout program. The money will buy another half of a radio tag for the monitoring of lake trout as they attempt to reduce the spawning success of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake. We also passed out quite a few membership applications before the films started.

Elections were held at the March general meeting and I would like to welcome George Axlund, Brian Bayer, Philip Smith to the Board and welcome back Spencer Amend. The Executive committee stayed the same. Our next board meeting will be April 18th at 7:00 at the clubhouse.

Just putting a thought out here; Wouldn’t it would be great to have an outing this summer that brings together the many long time members and the rest of the club for some fishing and a lot of story telling. I’ve mentioned this idea to a few club members and they liked the concept.

I hope this strikes a chord with someone in the club and the outing becomes a reality. Due to my work schedule this summer I will most likely be unable to attend but will do what I can to support anyone who steps up to organize an outing of this sort. Should someone take this on I have every confidence that if you ask for, or need, help putting it together help will be there The ice is off the lakes and the guides on the rod. Has spring sprung?

Here’s to gentle winds and hungry fish.

Will

Wyoming Fly Casters

Terms expire in 2012 Spencer Amend Scott Novotny Neil Ruebush Brent “Smokey” Weinhandl, DDS Terms expire in 2013 Greg Groves Joe Meyer Alex Rose Herb Waterman Terms expire in 2014 John Dolan, Jim Johnson, Chris McAtee, Andrew Sauter The Backcast is the monthly newsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters, an affiliate club of the Wyoming Council of Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy and the Federation of Fly Fishers. 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 lifetime 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 emailing material to the Backcast editor at marketingmavenaha@ gmail.com or call (708) 997-2071.

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 marketingmavenaha@ gmail.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.

Hopper Fishing in Chili! written by Bill Wicher

In mid-February, my wife, Donna, and I took our first trip to South America, to El Saltamontes (Spanish for "The Grasshopper") lodge in Chile.

Donna and another guide (Gabo) with a slightly smaller than average brown

As you might expect from the name of the lodge, it is noted for the excellent hopper fishing in the

Nireguao River, which flows past the lodge.

We fished 5 days, used nothing but dry flies and had a great time, landing brown trout up to 23". We thought the fishing was pretty good, catching 19-20" browns each day, even though it was subpar by their standards due to cool (highs in the upper 50's), cloudy weather, which dampened 'hopper activity and trout feeding.’

The food, accommodations and scenery were outstanding, the guides and ‘pisco sours’ even better.

It was a real pleasure to be in a country where people genuinely Wyoming Fly Casters!

Donna with one of the guides (Troy Cowles) and a 21" brown

seemed to like Americans. I'd go back at the drop of a hat, despite the 36-hour travel marathon to get there (I don't fit coach seats very well).

This trip fits my idea of winter fishing much better than standing in the Cable Hole chipping ice out of my guides!

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Minutes of the Wyoming Fly Casters March 21, 2012

Call to Order: A board Meeting of the Wyoming Fly Casters was held on March 21, 2012. The meeting was convened at 6:33PM, President Will Waterbury presiding, and Casey Leary Secretary.

Members in Attendance: Will Waterbury, Matt Stanton, Lee Tschetter, Casey Leary, Greg Groves, Joe Meyer, Andrew Sauter and Herb Waterman.

Members Absent: Spencer Amend, Jim Johnson, Alex Rose, Scott Novotny and Chris McAtee all excused.

Approval of the Minutes: Motion was made by Lee Tschetter to approve the Secretary’s Report. Motion Carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Matt Stanton presented his treasurer’s report. Matt mentioned he renewed the WFC insurance and paid the FFF. Conservation Report: The free fishing day derby will be held on June 2, 2012 at Yesness Pond. Later in the afternoon, from 3 -4 pm, a BBQ will be held in celebration of the Miles Land purchase, also known as the Government Bridge purchase which the WFC provided $20,000 to assist in this acquisition. Matt will be attending the State Trout Unlimited meeting on April 27 in Saratoga and another member can attend with him for free as our club can send two representatives.

Old Business: Andrew Sauter said the WFC Foundation is in need of a new member. Please contact him if interested. The Banquet committee will have two more meetings. They have acquired various items for auction and well organized. They will need assistance setting up and taking down the auction items.

New Business: Matt Stanton has a digital copy of the By Laws which will be provided to all board members.

Scott Novotny sold 50/50 raffle tickets at the Fly Fishing Film Festival and the proceeds of approximately $215 will be given to the Yellowstone Foundation. Joe Meyer will ensure that membership forms are available at local fly shops.

Meeting adjourned: 6:57 pm.

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Wyoming Fly Casters

Member Notes:

2012 Annual dues

OVERDUE!

Fellow Fly Casters and Friends:

Take inventory of your fly fishing gear and get ready for the First Annual WFC Gear Swapfest.

April 11th.

Figure out what you can live without or what you have been dying to pick up at a reasonable cost and get ready to deal. !All club members and friends are invited to join us at the clubhouse to sell, swap, buy or give away fly fishing gear to get ready for the upcoming season.

! You set the price and be ready to deal. !Rods, reels, boots, flies, fly tying gear, nets, waders, jackets, fanny packs, backpacks, sunglasses, vises, creels, etc. !You get the idea.

Doors will be open at 6:15 to set up and the swap will be begin at 7:00 pm. A classified ad will be taken out in the Star Tribune to notify the public of the event. No change will be provided by the club so please plan accordingly.

This is a great time to pick up what you may have been looking for, getting rid of what you don't need be a great recruitment tool for the club.

send in your annual dues to: WFC P.O. Box 2881 Casper, WY 82602

Voting Results: !

All the candidates running for WFC office were duly elected during the March 14th meeting.

Congratulations!

Reminder: WFC Spring Banquet is Saturday, March 31st! Ticket available at Ugly Bug Fly Shop until Tuesday, March 27.

WFC Treasurers Report Ending February 29, 2012 (#+%*" :%);<

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Fish Biology 1 - Smell and Taste

by Peg Novotny It is amazing, but trout have a highly developed sense of smell. Its sense of smell is 400 times more sensitive than that of the fly fisherman trying to catch it.

The fish sense of smell also surpasses that of other animals.

They use this strongly adapted sense to help identify prey, structure and spawning locations. For this reason it is important that you don’t introduce any foreign smells into the water.

So I guess I shouldn’t dab on a bit of CK One, before going fishing. If I do and don’t wash my hands before putting that fly on my line, I guess I’ll be catching only the aquatic fans of Calvin Klein perfume.

So, it’s best not to wear any cologne or perfume before you go out to fish. Besides if it’s not the fish’s brand, he’ll know it and you’ll never get so much as a nibble.

Other suggestions: take care to purchase the

newer fly floatants and line cleaners that “mask” the chemical Type to smell. enterAlso text be careful with the insect repellents. These smells are not masked and are quite foreign to trout.

In regards to taste, fish have sensors on their bodies that can ‘taste’ and feel their food. "#$%&'()('!%(*#$'+),!%($%(%-!./(%(!+)(!0%('!+1.()! ./(!2#.($.&+3!1##'!&%!3#*+.('!#)!*+2.0)('4!5+6(!,#0!

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Who’s the little Nipper?

The fisherman pictured in the photo at left began his fishing career in Northern Illinois. While fishing the Chain O’Lakes he caught his first Bluegill and was instantly hooked. Today he is an avid member of the Wyoming Fly Casters.

As a long time member, he’s known as a gambler of sorts. He’s the man behind those 50/50 chances to make a contribution and win some cash!

Be the first person to accurately identify this WFC member by emailing your guess to: marketingmavenaha@gmail.com Please send in your “Little Nipper” picture (a jpg or pdf will do) and some hints to accompany the photo so we can continue this column in future monthly issues. Thanks!

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Wyoming Fly Casters

Backca! Rewinds

CABIN FEVER

Fly Film Festival Wyoming Fly Casters!

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WFC’s

Recipe Box

Trout Pasta Salad 1 Lb. chilled flaked trout 1 Pkg. mini pasta 2 Carrots (thinly sliced) 1 Tbsp olive oil 2 Ribs celery (thinly sliced) 1/2 Cup sliced green onion 1/2 Cup chopped green pepper

1/4 Cup toasted pine nuts 1/2 Cup mayonnaise 1/2 Cup Ranch dressing 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 1 Med. tomato (seeded & chopped) 1/2 Cup sliced black olives

Prepare pasta as directed adding carrots to boiling water for the last 2 minutes.

Rinse pasta and carrots in cold water. Place in a large bowl.

Add oil and toss to coat. Add celery, onion, green pepper, trout, and pine nuts.

Mix well. submitted by Lee Tschetter

Want Ads

Remembrance ...

Short S&M Bobbins Russ Newton is willing to pay any reasonable price for Short S&M Bobbins. For reference please see photo. If you have some you’d like to sell please give Russ a call 307.315.2240

Classifieds

Drift Boat - ’97 Hyde (Pre Dove Tail) With all the stuff you would expect AND an extra front seat with storage. $3200.00 reduced Andrew Sauter 307-265-3932

Our members are very special to us and we want to remember them in times of adversity.

If you know of a member or their spouse who is ill or is recently deceased, please contact Donna Diesburg at (307) 234-4278 or e-mail her at faith10@bresnan.net.

One Regal vise with pedestal mounts $50.00

Art Van Rensselaer 307-262-7655

Large selection of framed, signed and numbered Vivi Crandall and Terry Redlin prints (contact me for names/prices) Men’s Chaco Z/1 Sandal.

Size 13. Matrix color.

New in box, $45, OBO Matt Stanton 307-258-9915

Classifieds are free to WFC members for sale, drop a line. To advertise your item to marketingmavenaha@gmail.com

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Wyoming Fly Casters

Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fishing Tip New fly casters should start out casting sideways.

Move the end of the rod about 10 feet maximum.

Accelerate and stop, letting the fly line lay on the ground behind you and in front of you.

If you throw a straight line behind you then you can throw a straight line in front of you. Practice this casting with about 30 feet of line. When you master this cast you can increase the amount of line .

When you cast behind you, pull the line toward your body with your left hand. When you cast for ward move your left hand for ward as you cast or release the line and let it go. - told to joe by Charlie Shedd

Brag Russ Newton

Joe Meyer

Time!

Alex Rose

Matt Stanton

Wyoming Fly Casters!

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"It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way we use it."

- Theodore Roosevelt

11!

Wyoming Fly Casters

Gear Swapfest General Meet

(e Backca! Newsle%er www.wyflycasters.org

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

The Mission of the Wyoming Fly Casterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is to promote and enhance the sport of fly fishing and the conservation of fish and their habitat.

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