Desert Fly Casters SupportsBARBLESS HOOKSCATCH & RELEASE

LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS BEHIND WHEN WALKING THE PATHWAYS OF OUR ARIZONA ENVIRONMENT

DFC AUGUST PROGRAM....

Fishing the flats of Christmas Island with Charlie Rosser and Jerry Myers.Come see the pictures behind the story that ran in the newsletter.

AUGUST MEETING:Wednesday,

August 12, 2009Dinner and Chit-Chat: 5:30-6:30 PM

Meeting- 7:00 PM- SharpAmerican Legion Post #22125 S. Industrial Park Ave.

in Tempe

O F F I C I A L D E S E R T F L Y C A S T E R S N E W S L E T T E R

We have a lot of new activities on the calendar for the second half of the year. TheAugust program will be a presentation on Christmas Island by two of our members.It will be followed by the August outing hosted by Mark Lucht and Dave Weaver to

Carnero Lake in the White Mountains. We have the annual equipment swap combined withpresentations on gearing up for fly fishing for the September program and a stream cleanup on Tonto Creek for the September outing hosted by Bill Batchelor and Mark Donohoo.There is also a bonus outing in September for those that want to check out floating movingwater in your pontoon on the Salt River. Fishing the San Juan River is planned as the pre-sentation for October followed by the San Juan outing. Rocky Point, Mexico will be thetopic and location for November program and outing. Closing out the year will be theChristmas banquet. In addition to the monthly meetings and out outings, Tom Horvath hasa beginning tying class planned and is holding intermediate tying sessions each month.While not on the calendar yet, there may be a streamside class on the Salt River to preparefor the San Juan river outing. There are also number of side trips by members that you couldjoin in on.

Look for additional information later in the newsletter and check the website for datesand details for all of the above. Also remember, payment for the San Juan trip is due at theAugust meeting and if you are even thinking of going to Rocky Point, you need to make sureyour passport is in order.

AUGUST 2009

PRESIDENT’S DRIFT Bob Harrison- August 2009

August outing is to Carnero Lake on August 21, 22, and 23 we will be camping atthe lake. Carnero grows fish fast. When we fished it during the extravaganza several

fish over 17 inches were caught. There should be very big fish to be caught.More details to be discussed at August DFC meeting.

Mark Lucht/Host- 480-807-9060

Fly TyingWhat: Beginner's Fly Tying Class

Where: 4131 E Wood St. Phoenix, AZ 85040When: August 15th - October 1st • Tuesday and Thursday Evenings

Note: Contact Tom Horvath if you are interested (602) 768-7280

Desert Fly Casters

Bob Harrison, DFC Head Wrangler &President, suggested this article for allof us Trout Bums…It’ll be a 2 part serieson exactly what the title implies- WhatFlies Do You Carry – Note this is an inter-active article and we all hope that youTrout Bums get involved and pass onyour knowledge of those special fliesyou guard and keep hidden in the dark-ened fly box. For those of you who arefirst starting out gathering some flies forthat first fly box, let me make a few sug-gestions…Touch base with some of ourfly shops. Check out The Orvis Companyin Scottsdale, along with ArizonaFlyfishing in Tempe, Sportsman’sWarehouse, and Bass Pro Shops (eachadvertise in our DFC newsletter). Whenyou’re at the meeting don’t hesitate toseek out one of our board members forsome guided advise. And, keep in touchwith our web site if you want to learn totie your own flies- there’s always some-thing going on with a fly tying class. Wehope you enjoy what we’ve laid out foryou. R.McKeon, Editor.

The fly fishing magazines are full ofme-and-Joe went fishing storieswhere the author saves the day by

having just the right fly for an unexpectedhatch. Because these experiences are notuncommon, many---if not most---fly fishersare obsessive about carrying every possiblefly known to humankind.

This obsession is not limited to fly fish-ers. Have you ever looked into the tackle boxof a well-equipped (and well-heeled) bassangler? The difference is that we must carryour entire inventory on our backs.

So how many flies does the successful flyfisher carry? I counted the flies in my trout-fishing vest and came up with just over 1,100.This count reflects every distinct pattern Icarry, including duplicates. So for the Adams,I have 3 duplicates each of the upright, spent-wing and parachute styles in sizes 12-18,yielding a total of 36 flies. Is 1,100 a highnumber?

Dave Whitlock, in his famous book, Guideto Aquatic Trout Foods, provides a list of hisfly boxes. He carries 4 or 5 boxes, organizedas follows: (1) General Utility Box (generalflies/attractors), (2) Match the Hatch Box(mayflies, caddis, damselflies, dragonflies andmidges), (3) Streamers, (4) Terrestrials andSummer Midges, (5) Large Dry Flies(Hoppers, stoneflies) and (6) Skaters, Spidersand Variants. His total count is over 780 dis-tinct flies, which includes several differentsizes of the same pattern. He says he carriesbetween 2 and 3 duplicates, yielding a total ofover 1,900 flies!

Somehow, I am not surprised that I carryfewer flies than Dave Whitlock does. All theseflies create certain problems. First, whateverhappened to the idea that fly-fishing was aminimalist sport? Second, carrying five flyboxes is about tops, depending upon vestcapacity and how strong your back is. Finally,all these flies begin to tax your organizationalskills. If you are like me, there comes a timewhen you have trouble remembering whereeach of the 300-400 patterns is located.

Unlike Dave Whitlock, I started out with afly box for each basic aquatic insect: threefairly full boxes, one each for caddis flies,stoneflies and mayflies. Very soon, I needed a

What flies do you carry?THE CHALLENGE OF FLY ORGANIZATION adapted from Jim Abbs, FFF Board Member

fourth box for terrestrials and yet a fifth boxfor streamers. Soon after that, I added anoth-er box of the so-called attractor flies, theWulffs, Trudes and Stimulators

With this organization, I had six flyboxes. Of course, I do not carry all of them atonce and I have added new ones. Some boxesI carry only at certain times. For example, Icarry attractors or stoneflies out west, butonly rarely in my home state, Wisconsin.Likewise, I have separated mayflies intosummer and winter, with the smaller patternsfor winter fishing and also added a separatebox for midges. Because this is a universalchallenge, there are undoubtedly some bril-liant solutions out there.

Here’s the challenge to you…getinvolved so other DFC Trout Bums cansee what’s in your fly box!

How about sharing your fly boxsolutions on our Desert Fly CastersWebPages? How many flies do youcarry? Let us know what kind of flybox system works for you, or alterna-tively what kinds of problems youhave. Contact Bill Batcheler at:wlbatch@cox.net We’ll create a webpage just to show you off.

Now that we’ve got you excited, keepour September club meeting circled onyour calendar, it’s our annual Swap Meetfor members and guests. Members ofour DFC Trout Bum board will be tyingup a few boxes of flies- some of theirfavorites. They’ll be on display at themeeting and will be offered during theSwap Meet for a big finale of theevening. In the mean time during thenext few weeks we’ll get busy with somespecial correspondence with our TroutBums and follow this newsletter articleup with: “What flies do you carry?” Part 2.

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Desert Fly Casters

Conservation Event September 19th, 2009 • Tonto Creek Cleanup

The Desert Fly Casters Conservation Board is inviting everyone to escape the heat and join us at Tonto Creek onSeptember 19th at 8 am. We will be picking up trash and possibly removing graffiti from this Arizona favorite.Bring a shovel, rake, and gloves.

We are working with other groups to get more volunteers and resources like Arizona Flycasters, Payson RangerDistrict, Payson Flycasters, and Zane Grey TU. This will be a great opportunity to give back to the sport we alllove. The targeted area for clean up is the creek area north of highway 260 up to the Horton Creek fork. If we havea large attendance we may just head further north or south.

More details to follow

Desert Fly Casters

This is the final of a 3 part write-up on a tripwe took to Christmas Island. If you missedPart 1 or Part 2 they were in the May and JulyDFC Newsletter. Part 1 covered information onChristmas Island & getting ready for the tripincluding equipment and travel. Part 2 coveredthe fishing, the use of the guides and flies we used.Part 2 also had some really nice fish pictures fromthe trip. In case you did not know all newslettersare archived on the DFC website. You can accessthem at www.desertflycasters.com underNewsletter Archives.

After 6 days of awesome fishing our planeback to Honolulu was scheduled to leavethe island at 8:00 PM so we had a whole

day to spend on the island. Jerry Myers, BobDeRosier and Chris Carlson decide to hire a guideand do a 7th day of bone fishing. Dave Forwardand I decided to spend the day with GeorgeMaybee. We met George ashe was staying in one of thecabins at the lodge. Georgeand his wife went toChristmas Island on a fishingtrip 7 years ago and fell inlove with the island and peo-ple of the island. When hewent back home to Denver heapproached the local RotaryClub he belongs to and thatwas the start of his retirement project. Today hehas a big warehouse on the island stocked withbuilding supplies, medical supplies, school sup-plies and hygiene items that were donated by hisRotary Organization in Denver. Our morning withGeorge was spent at Banana Elementary Schooldistributing hygiene items to first grade, book bagsto 3rd grade and Rotary dictionary to 5th grade.During our visit the kids put on an hour presenta-tion singing local songs and several short plays thatdepicted life on the island. After their presentationand distribution of the items we unloaded a truckload of school supplies (books, flip charts and otheritems) for the kids to use in their classrooms. In theafternoon we visited Spivey High School and dis-tributed Rotary dictionaries to the whole school.Here 2 of the classmates, one girl and one boy, dida local dance routine with the boy dancing likeMichael Jackson (yes he did grab his crotch sever-al times). It was something to hear the girls

screaming as he did his moves. We also unloadeda truck load of school supplies for the high school.If you want to read more about the Rotary projecton Christmas Island you can Google Friends ofChristmas Island – Fish Tales. It is quite an ongoing story.

The last night on the Island the lodge puts on aLuau, complete with roasted whole pig and dishesof local cuisine. They also had native dancers andsingers perform. It was a fitting end to a place Iwould never dream to have visited. To see the peo-ple and their culture was truly a moving experiencefor me.

The trip was planned and booked by BobDeRosier who owns Paradise Creek Anglers inPinetop. The travel agency used was Fly WaterTravel and the lodge we stayed at was ChristmasIsland Outfitters or better known as Sharks Place.On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being tops, I would rate

the planning and Travel Agency as a 4 and thelodge a 3.5. My theory is there is always room forimprovement, even for the best. Although I ratedthe lodge a 3.5 it meets all requirements for a placeto stay on a 6 day fishing trip in the middle of thePacific Ocean.

Cabins are 2 man rooms that have plenty ofspace to store all your clothes and fishing gear.Each room has its own shower, sink, toilet and arefrigerator that is stocked with bottled water, sodaand beer daily.

I was really surprised by the food served at thelodge. For being located out in middle of thePacific Ocean I would rate it a 4. Hats off to Kata,the cook, for the excellent meals he prepared.

For breakfast there was orange juice (tang), eggs,French toast or pancakes with bacon & sausage.Several mornings we had a cheese, veggie & baconomelet.

Lunch was kind of skimpy but not bad consider-ing you were on the water and wanted to fish allday. You had your choice of a lunch meat orpeanut butter and jelly sandwich plus an orange orapple. We did take cliff bars and other snacks tosupplement lunch during the day. They had cool-ers of drinking water on the boat but we alwaysthrew in a few beers or soda to have with lunch andfor the ride back to the lodge.

After having a few drinks before dinner Katawould set out 2 platters of horderves. They wouldbe fried bread fruit, a locally grown fruit, andsashimi or fried Wahoo. While enjoying thehorderves and another drink your appetite wouldget worked up from the aroma of the meal Katawas preparing. Every night we had a salad, pota-toes and rice with a fish dish and a meat. Fishincluded: Lobster, Tuna, Wahoo and Sweet Lips (alocal bottom fish that looks and tastes a lot like hal-ibut), all made in a variety of ways. The meat dish-es included: steak, spaghetti w/meat sauce, chick-en wrapped in bacon and curried chicken. I neverheard a single complaint after getting up from thedinner table. If you are looking for vegetables, bet-ter bring your own.If you are wondering about the cost, here is a breakdown of what I spent. Sharks Place (Room, food, guides) ....$2200Roundtrip to Honolulu..............................600* Roundtrip from Honolulu to CI...............1100* 2 nights in Honolulu...................................200Sharks Place Tips (guides & room)...........350Miscellaneous............................................550Total...................................................... $5000*Depends on cost at time of travel

If you get individual guides each day add $50 perperson per day.

It is an expensive trip but well worth the moneyspent. The fishing and food far exceeded myexpectations. Start saving your money as I hear atrip is being planned for 2011. If you have anyquestions about this trip see me.

Charlie Rosser

Jerry Myers & Charlie Rosser go to Christmas Island (Part 3)

When: Now that we are deep into summer, andyou have a few 110 degree days under yourchafed belt, you could use a change in the rou-tine. Some place cool, and where you couldcatch a few fish would be nice. Your dreams ofbeing on the cover of a major fly fishing maga-zine, showing off your latest catch, are not like-ly to happen this summer. So, let's work withwhat we've got.Where: You have been in the desert of the sunall summer, on that home-work-home treadmill,and have not taken a day off all summer. Or youhave been off all summer, but you still have nothad a day of fun. My suggestion, for a day offun that costs less than a tank of gas, would be tofly fish the Salt River. The Lower Salt River iseasily accessed from Bush Highway, (go northon Power Road until it turns into BushHighway). The Salt has eleven miles of fishablewater from Granite Reef Dam to the StewartMountain Dam, with several access pointsbetween the dams. Some folks set up a daycamp on the river and picnic, fish, play in thewater all day, in one spot. Others will select asection of river to cover, and others will want tosee it all in one day.Appropriate gear: Because summer flows ofwater are usually high, I suggest a U-tube, orpontoon boat. Your fins will allow you steeraway from limbs and pile ups in the river. Theboat allows you to carry snacks, plenty of colddrinks, and all of your fishing gear. Anothergood idea, have a spare cooler loaded with colddrinks in your truck at the pick up point. Manytimes I have spent more time on the water than Iexpected and ran short on water, or if you lose ordump your cooler along the way, the extra cool-er is a life saver. A 5-6 weight fly rod is a goodall around choice. If you target Carp you willwant your 8 weight rod and a large net. I havebeen using my 200 grain sinking line most of thetime, but I usually carry a floating, and an inter-mediate sinking line in my gear bag. Becausethe flows are usually quick in the summer I usea 10 foot rope and a 2 foot length of 3/8 chain asan anchor to slow down my boat.

Useful fly patterns: Clousers, size 4, somewith small bead eyes, some with more weight.Color seems to matter, my favorites are white onwhite with lots of silver flash, red over yellow,and chartreuse over white. Other good patterns:Bead head wooly buggers, size 10, brown,black, and olive work best for me. I usually usea tandem rig of two flies, one light and one darkto help determine what the fish want today.Techniques: Cast your Clouser in towards thebank, under trees, close to cat tails, strip backlike a minnow in a hurry, or pause and twitchlike an injured minnow. Look for deeper holeswhere the river is filling the hole, fish thoseareas slowly and thoroughly. If surface activityis going on match the hatch or try a popper.Necessary items: Polarized sunglasses, hat,sunscreen, camera, AZ fishing license, TontoPass.Recent results: Large Mouth Bass, WhiteBass, Crappie, Bluegill, Trout, Sucker, Carp,and Catfish. The most common catch, LargeMouth Bass, but you could land anything that isfound in Saguaro, Canyon, Apache, orRoosevelt Lakes. Often I will spot an eagle,wild horses, or other wild life along the riverbank. A friend recently spotted a bobcat, closeto the Stewart Mountain Lodge, so one can havea real adventure, not far from home, and withoutspending a great deal of money. That shouldcure those summer time blues and have youwhistling a happy tune.

FOR THE SUMMER TIME BLUES by Vince Deadmond

Desert Fly Casters

There is a certain formula that always makesa good fishing trip. There always needs to bea blend of good people, good conversation,good food and of course good fishing. Any twoof these would make a good trip. Having allfour just makes it perfect. Although DaveWeaver and I only made it up there for aSaturday day trip, we heard that around 20 ofour DFC members met up at the camp siteFriday night and enjoyed the great conversa-tion at a wonderful spot. According to GaryCohen, Bob Howard was an excellent host anddid a great job arranging the camp area andeven scrounging up additional camp siteswhen more members showed up than antici-pated.

Dave Weaver and I arrived at the lake andwere on the water by 8:00 and soon discoveredthat the lake was the busiest we'd ever seen it.I'd never seen so many people on the lakebefore and to make matters a little worse, thefishing was really slow. I don't recall having tochange flies as many times before or taking solong to dial into a pattern that would work. Weworked our way around the lake in pontoonsand Dave caught everything from Crappie, totrout, to bass, to sunfish. I ended the day with2 small mouth bass and a lot of missed strikes.Other members we met pretty much told simi-lar stories. Still, the weather couldn't be better,considering the 110 F plus temperatures in thevalley and whenever I fish with Dave, I learnsomething new.

We made our way slowly off the lake at thefirst sight of the first lightening strike comingtoward the lake and were on our way back toPhoenix by 3:30.

Gary Cohen later told me that the Saturdaynight potluck was a great success with Bobsupplying burgers and brats and the conversa-tions couldn't have been better. I really wish Icould have made it to the camp. Hopefully wecan talk Bob into hosting another outing. Itsounds like he did an excellent job.

WILLOW SPRINGS...Follow-Up Notes & Photos

from David Hwang

Vince Deadmond the Fly FishingHardware Guy can be reached at:Best Hardware 237 N Apache Trail,Apache Junction, AZ, orvince@ajbest.com or 480-982-7461for more fish stories.

Desert Fly CastersPO Box 42252Mesa, AZ 85274-2252

MAIL TO: ☛

OUTINGS- 2009Bob Harrison- President

Tyler Stone-Vice PresidentMark Lucht- TreasurerRichard Hall- Secretary

Outings- Darin Taverna

Programs- Mark LuchtProgram Committee

Cinda Howard, Tyler Stone

Retail - Larry Kivela

Membership- Dave Weaver

Education- David Hwang

Education CommitteeTom Horvath

Conservation- Mark Donahoo

Conservation CommitteeBill Batchelor, Richard Hall

TU/FFF Liaison- Yet to be appointed

Videos & Books- Gary Cohen

Raffles- Don Cramer

Newsletter Editor/Graphics Guru Robert McKeon

Website AdministratorBill Batchelor

Member at Large- Doc Nickel

Web Address Sitehttp://www.desertflycasters.com

2009 DESERT FLY CASTERSBOARD OF DIRECTORS

KEEPINTOUCH

...See you at the AUGUST 12, 2009

DFC meeting!

August 21, 22, & 23, 2009Carnero Lake

We will be camping at the lake.Mark Lucht/Host

September 19, 2009 Tonto Creek Clean-up

...More details in next DFC newsletter.

September 26, 2009 TripPontoon float/Salt River

...More details at August DFC meeting.

October 22-25 2009 San Juan Trip

Cinda Howard/Host

November 13, 14, 15, 2009 Rock Point TripDoc Nickel/Host

December 9, 2009DFC Banquet and Raffle

When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail. If you’re going after Moby Dick,

take along the tarter sauce.