It was just a few minutes after 6 o'clock p.m. that about sixteen Walla² Fly Fishers sit down to have their evening meal together and share their latest and greatest fly fishing experiences. These monthly meals (for the folks that can make it) are really a great time of camaraderie and just getting to know each other. It would be nearly an hour before we would get into club business, and during this time we discussed fishing trips (current and pass), discussed flies, and the different waters of the area with some directions on how to find particular fishing spots. A most pleasant way to pass/share an evening with fellow fly fishers. Also during this time the fly boxes (see above) began to be loaded with the 2 flies (per member) that most people remembered to bring for this evening's raffles.About 7 o'clock President Scott call the meeting to order. At that point in time we had 21 members and 2 "guest" present. The first order of business was to pass out "free" raffle tickets that would reward a box of flies (a door prize) to one of the fly fishers present this evening. Thereafter Scott began selling a number of raffle tickets (club fund raiser) for the second box of flies available this evening.
With the first drawing, Jan Atwater won the door prize - and made her choice of a box of trout and steelhead flies.
Scott then introduced our guest speaker for the evening- John McKern, retired fishery biologist
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). John's presentation was a history of the salmon and steelhead population of the Columbia and Snake rivers, and the innovations to protect and increase their populations. John's discussion was a synopsis of these fisheries as recorded by the first European and Asian traders to visit the Pacific Northwest coastal fishery areas, through the period of commercial fishing and canneries, up through today's dam fish passage innovations.A note here, 2009 has been a phenomenal year for salmon and steelhead returns -- recorded passage through Bonneville Dam 10/14/09:
Chinook Salmon - 693,000+
Steelhead - 596,000+
Sockeye Salmon - 177,000+
John's presentation mentioned some of the USACE errors made that had harmed the fish migrations in years pass, and the research and developments that have been made to correct and greatly improve fish passage through the Columbia and Snake rivers dams. At this point in time we will have to say... let the numbers speak for themselves (see above), concerning the success of the work John as dedicated his life to.
Thank you John for a job well done and your presentation to our club this evening.
After John's presentation, Scott made one more round of fly box raffle ticket sales, and then we had the drawing for the flies. Matt McKern (John's son) won the second box of flies for this evening. The raffle for the fly box this evening made the club about $50.
Thank you everyone that made a donation of 2 flies to the club. A nice little fund raiser to help us get the Walla² Fly Fishers' show on the road.
After this final raffle, Scott discussed the function of Walla² Fly Fishers club membership, and the need for every member to join the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) and also the need for each member to pay their 2010 annual Walla² Fly Fishers' membership dues ($15 individual/$20 family) between now and January 1, 2010.
Because we realized we needed a second color raffle ticket (not to be confused with the fly raffle tickets) it was decided to begin the raffle for the Orvis rod/reel combo -- Clearwater II 8 1/2' 5wt. (Mid-flex) rod, and the reel is a Battenkill Barstock III spooled with 5wt line + backing -- at our November 11th meeting and continue that raffle through our December 9th meeting. This will make a nice X-mas prize/present for the lucky winner. This club raffle for the Orvis combo will be limited to 100 tickets to be sold at $5 per.
Tell your wife, children, family and friends that they could win this outfit for you as a X-mas present for just $5... a ticket, that is.
Shortly after 8:30 our meeting was adjourned for this evening/ this month.
Again this month a number of us stuck around until the restaurant's closing to share club interest, and fly fishing stories to be continued...
Respectfully submitted,
Dale McKain
Tight lines and good fishing.
Walla² Fly Fishers
Scott Peters - President
Skip Pritchard - Co-President
Dale McKain - Secretary /Blog Master
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