Walla² Fly Fishers: November 2019

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Fly Fishing Northern Idaho with Heather Hodson

This evening President Diane called our meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

Diane wished welcome greetings to all, we had 25 members and 4 guests present.

Treasurer Harold reported that the club had over $1200 in the checking account. He told us that at the last meeting we had received $36 on the fly boxes raffle and $75 in cap sales.

Secretary Dale made a brief recap of our October 16^th meeting and again asked everyone to refer to the club blog – http://wallawallaflyfishers.blogspot.com/ – for more details. He reminded everyone that this evening was the last meeting of 2019 and our next would be in mid-January (weather permitting).

This month President Judy was "Summer Vacationing" in the Commonwealth of Australia.

Heidi announced that the ladies group of Walla² Fly Fisherwomen would be holding a meeting at Barbara’s house on December 2^nd.

This evening our guest speaker Heather drew the raffle ticket for the first choice fly box – Roz won that box.

This evening we were pleased to have Heather Hodson from Spokane as our program speaker.

Heather Hodson is the founder of United Women On The Fly. Heather is an expert at making anglers (especially women) feel comfortable and becoming part of the fly fishing community. Sometimes referred to as the "Middle Woman", Heather volunteers her energy and time to connect women, help start a Woman's Program or enable anglers to become more confident on the water. Fly fishing for 13 years, Heather has dedicated her time to educate and inspire others. She is currently studying for her Casting Instructor Certification with FlyFishers International and has been teaching fly fishing since 2014. Heather currently holds the position of Western US Women's /Diversity Ambassador for Trout Unlimited.

This evening Heather had a very educational and entertaining program on fishing the most popular trout and steelhead river of northern Idaho to include: Kelly Creek, St. Joe River, Clearwater River, No. Fork Clearwater River, Snake River and the No. Fork Coeur D'Alene River.

With each of these rivers Heather’s presentation showed us the layout of the river, maps of some of the best fishing areas, maps of her favorite campgrounds, listings of the insect hatches and their season of emergence, and in some cases the best way to rig your fly rod to best access and offer presentations to holding fish…

In the meantime, Heather kept pulling out some of her fly boxes and passed them around which made an attractive "here's what I use" presentation...

To wrap up her presentation Heather spoke about steelhead fishing, She mentioned that she and a group of fly fishing women had started their steelhead season on the Deschutes River, and caught a few steelies there.

Then she followed the run up the Snake and Clearwater rivers...

Please do not remove Wild Steelhead from the water - revive and keep them alive - they are precious
and fewer than ever.

After Heather's presentation we asked her to make the second drawing of the evening for the Door Prize fly box - Tim won the second box.

In Heather's off-fly-fishing-time; she is a hospital critical care nurse. This writer will ask for her by name, the next time I have to go to the hospital, feeling that she would be the best.

We wish to Thank YOU Heather, so much for making the trip from Spokane this evening, to make a presentation that made many of us want to pack our fishing gear and follow her back to fish Northern Idaho rivers. And a Thank You to our club's women members that asked Heather to be with us this evening.

Our next meeting will be held the 15th of January 2020 - Happy Holidays.

Respectfully submitted,
Dale McKain
Club Secretary

Tight lines and good fishing

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Diane Briggs – Co-President
Judy McDole – Co-President

Tyson Kopfer – Vice President

Harold Saxby – Treasurer

Dale McKain – Secretary - Blogmaster

Streamside thoughts...

Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once.
- Lee Wulff
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The true fisherman approaches the first day of fishing with all the sense of wonder and awe of a child approaching Christmas.
- John D. Voelker
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I doubt if I shall ever outgrow the excitement bordering on panic which I feel the instant I know I have a strong, unmanageable fish, be it brook trout, brown trout, cutthroat, steelhead, or salmon on my line.
- Edward Weeks
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“I fish because I love to. Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful... Because in the woods I can find solitude without loneliness. ... And finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important, but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant and not nearly so much fun.”
- Robert Traver

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... tis not all of fishing to fish.
- Izaak Walton

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Walla² Fly Fishers' meetings

Our next monthly meeting will be February 20, 2024 Our meeting location is: Chiquillas Mexican House 428 Ash St, Walla Walla, WA 99362 (509) 525-2598 - next door to Walker’s Furniture Store Our regularly scheduled meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month,
September - May.7:00

Come one, come all, come as you are. Our meetings are open to the interested fly fishing public.
Meeting dress code accepts waders anytime (we want to hear your most recent fish tale), but please leave studded wading boots at the doors. Thank you

NOTE: We do give and raffle away boxes of trout/steelhead flies at most monthly meeting. Hope to see you winning one soon.
Questions? Please contact us at: WallaWalla.Flyfishing@gmail.com

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About Us

The purpose and goals of the Walla² Fly Fishers are:

1) Promoting the art and science of fly fishing as prescribed by our club's by-laws.
2) To bring together our local fly fishing community; to share the camaraderie of fishing experiences, and to help each other develop our fly fishing skills and knowledge.
3) To be a family oriented group of fishers, welcoming spouse, children, family unit members into sharing our activities.
4) To help those who have physical, emotional, any handicap needs; where learning to fly fish may aid in their therapy and well being.
5) To adopt and maintain local waters, to share, to fish and be caretakers of that eco-system
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To be a member in good standing with the Walla² Fly Fishers one shall be vested in the Walla² Fly Fishers (annual dues are $15 for individuals -and- $20 for your entire family); be willing to learn, and share with others the arts and science of fly fishing.

Contact Us: WallaWalla.Flyfishing@gmail.com