Walla² Fly Fishing women are at it again

The Walla² Fly Fisherwomen were at it again…

With beautiful blue sky and "perfect" temperatures to greet us, a small cheery group of women gathered at Tietan Park for our second mini-workshop on fly casting and knots last Saturday, May 4^th.

Club President Diane started by leading the group through basics of putting rod/reel together and stringing up the line.  Hula hoops were placed in the lush lawn to serve as "targets", and as Diane started the demonstrations and students started to cast, the breeze came up, making casting more difficult.  Diane had the students move to the other side of the hula hoops, and casting became much easier, with students enjoying themselves as they learned.

With the smaller class size this time, Diane was able to provide a bit more personalized help to individual students.  After a nice amount of time casting, students were advised to set rods aside for awhile, and move to the picnic table to work on knots.  Diane again provided materials and demonstrations so that each participant had the opportunity to "tie a fly on" a few times, as well as get hands-on experience working with knot-tying tools to practice the knots to add tippet onto leader.  

The temperature remained ideal, and the gentle breezes felt great, plus the breeze provided a bit of "realism" to the knot-tying practice! Diane used that situation to explain why it's often best to tie SOME knots on shore or other protected area! (such as adding tippet to leader!)

After the knot-tying session, the group resumed casting practice.  Diane again provided personalized instruction as students practiced casting.

Smiling faces and cheerful conversations wrapped up the morning's activities.  Walla² Fly Fisherwomen circle leader Heidi provided some resource handouts to those interested, as students chatted and put gear away.   A fine morning indeed!
Our next casting practice will be held at the College Place Lion's Park next Wednesday May 8th.
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Casting practice at Lions' Park - May 8 

The Walla² Fly Fisherwomen were at it again…
Happily, the predicted gusty winds didn't materialize, and there were only moderate breezes to "play games" with fly lines and yarn on Wednesday afternoon, May 8

Several ladies gathered at Lions Park in College Place for the afternoon casting practice lead by Dale, the Walla² Fly Fishers club secretary.  

Putting rods together and stringing them up with line was the first order of business.  That was followed with students standing along the edge of the pond as Dale talked about the "10 o'clock ~~  2 o'clock" casting stroke and other aspects of casting.  The occasional loud splash of ducks jumping into the pond added a bit of "outdoor adventure feel" as the students practiced casting.

In short order, a leader with yarn found it's way to a tree branch during a back cast, and Dale stopped and got everyone's attention, then explained and demonstrated the best way to retrieve the line/leader without risking damage to the fly rod.  That is an extremely useful bit of information, since I suspect every fly fisher has been in that situation at least once, and some of us have on multiple occasions!   

A good amount of time was provided for casting practice, and as activities were winding down, participants were reminded of the Walla Walla Fly Fishers club meeting next Wednesday evening, and invited to attend.  

A quick reminder: The next women's fly fishing activity will be Wed. May 22 at 6 pm, at Clarettes restaurant in Walla Walla.  Along with the social meet and greet time (plus ordering any food and/or beverage if desired) there will be hands-on and information re: fly fishing tools and accessories, and if time allows, maybe some knot tying.  We're looking forward to seeing you there! 

Tight lines and good fly fishing,

Walla² Fly Fishers

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

Tyson Kopfer – Vice President

Harold Saxby – Treasurer

Dale McKain – Secretary - Blogmaster

Dave Stemmer – PROJECT HEALING WATERS Coordinator

Ladies Fly Fishers "Meet and Greet" gathering

A cheery group of women met at Clarette's Restaurant in Walla Walla at 7 pm Wed. April 10,  for a fun social "meet and greet", and to start planning for workshops, classes and fly fishing outings.

Nine women were in attendance.  There would have been more, but one was unable to get over the Blue Mts. due to the severe weather, and another was out of town for work.  There are several others that are interested, but were also unable to attend for various reasons.

Contact information was obtained for each attendee, and each person had the opportunity to list skills or aspects to fly fishing that they would like to learn about or practice, types of fishing they'd like to try/do, and places they were interested in fishing.  

Discussions re: potential spring fishing opportunities spurred conversations about fishing licenses for WA and OR, and options for single day license for non-resident OR etc.  

The "mission statement"/goals and objectives of the women's group was discussed, along with various safety plans and other items of interest to women fly fishers.

It sounds like there will be several women attending the introduction to rigging of fly rods, basic knots and fly casting mini-workshop at 10 a.m.,  Saturday April 20, at Tietan park.  At this point, it sounds like Diane will be able to manage and teach the workshop on her own, but if she needs assistance she will ask.

Diane brought enough flies (and a corks to take them home on) for everyone in attendance to get one.

Heidi H. donated a small lanyard/keychain made from recycled fly line that was made by a women-owned company in Montana called Fly Vines, for a door prize raffle.  Judy McDole won the raffle.

There is much enthusiasm and interest in planning more activities, from intro/beginner classes, fly tying, and some more advanced casting and fishing skills, as well as definite excitement at the prospect of planning some fishing outings!

More social meet-and-greet activities may be planned in the future as well.

It was a very enjoyable evening indeed!  

Heidi Hoffer
Email contact: kc7ccl@gmail.com

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Ladies - are you thinking about trying the sport of Fly Fishing?
If so the women of Walla² Fly Fishers are here to help you.

Follow this video presentation link to meet Joan Wulff -

"Queen of Fly Casting" 

- to help you get started with fly casting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyThAv-WPSg

Joan Wulff

Available from Amazon - $1.99

Tight lines and good fishing

Walla² Fly Fishers

Looking at a Broader Picture and Audience

With the absence of Pres. Dave, VP Tom, it was Secretary Dale that called the meeting to order tonight at 7:10.

Before leaving town, Pres. Dave had told Dale that he was working on a program for this evening with an individual from the Walla Walla’s division of the Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). When it appeared this did not develop we moved on without.

Treasurer Doug was not present this evening, therefore we have no Treasurer’s report.

Tonight we had 9 members and 3 guests present.

Dale started the meeting by saying that he had hoped there would be more members present, including those club members that helped with June's Fly Fishing Workshop at Whitman College. He is still holding $200 dollars in his name for the time and effort that club members put into that project and he want to make contributions to some non-profits before the end of the year. 

There has been mentioned several 501-c organizations to consider, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Walla Walla Christian Aid Center, Casting for Recover, and we would like to have a club vote, participation by all, to make this decision agreeable for all. Dale needs to get these fund donated before December 31, so we will need to finalize this business at November's meeting.

Dale as the sole founding club member, having signed the by-laws of our organization, and still attending all meetings, brought to this group's attention, that twice in the past couple of weeks it has been brought to his attention that clubs/organizations fade away, when they become stale without a flow of new perspectives, and leadership. Having thought much about these discussions, Dale brought to the group tonight... that maybe the time has come to fall back on the club’s by-laws dealing with club officer’s 2-year term limits.  Dale said that he did not in anyway, wish to diminish the time, effort, the FIVE (5) years of services that Dave and Tom have contributed to the leadership of our club, but maybe the time has come for change. So that our club does not go by the way of other organizations...we need consider a change from the routine of having our monthly club activity being comprised of a meeting for dinner, light discussions, and the occasional fishing guide's input of their business for our programs; from one year to the next. The club has come to a time that we need leadership to build membership, and community interaction. With our fly fishing knowledge, and fly tying projects, we should make ourselves more visible outside the Smith's Family Restaurant walls.  We have lost this vision and purpose that we once had in establishing the Walla² Fly Fishers. Dale suggested that we consider the nominations of interested individual to create a new slate of club officers at November’s meeting. Anyone that is interested in helping the group grow with direction and community outreach in mind, we ask that you let it be known - please email <wallawallaflyfishing@gmail.com>. This discussion should continue in November with a vote taking place in January 2019, to bring in the new year, with new direction and vitality.
This evening Dale also brought forward the idea, and asked "Ladies, please consider stepping up, grab the reins and help with directing our club." Without a doubt, women make excellent fly fishers, fly tiers, group~network organizers. Dale pointed out that if women were leading the community awareness charge; it would demonstrate to all fishers of the Walla² area that Walla² Fly Fishers is not a group of “good ole boys” with fly rods in hand, but that we are a gender neutral recreational group for all the interested public to participate, enjoy in the art and science of fly fishing, and our club activities. We have a lot of potential for growth and fly fishing fun, in our Walla² area.

After that discussion, our meeting this evening became a round table discussion of the current status of steelhead and salmon returns to the water of the Pacific Northwest. Without a program member of the USACE being present, we were fortunate by having John Oberhelman (club member and employee of USACE) present this evening. He gave us a lot of insight in what the Corp / BPA is doing at the dams for fisheries, the condition of our PNW fishery, and the expense of it all. 

2018 Steelhead run -very low- is less than a THIRD of the 10-year average

Thank you John for sharing with us your wealth of knowledge, and your enlightening us this evening concerning the USACE~BPA network, and our PNW fisheries.

This evening we had a visit with Angela Williams. Angela is currently the President and in the process of organizing the Walla Walla Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter. She mentioned that in many areas across the USA, many TU and local fly fishing clubs worked hand-n-hand on projects to improve fishery habitat and fishing opportunities. It is also true that in many communities TU and the local fly fishing club are one and the same. TU National is a funding source for many stream - fishery improvement projects. Angela said she would like to see if our organizations could co-mingle to improve the coldwater fisheries of SE Washington ~ NE Oregon. She also mentioned her hopes that our club would help the membership of this newly formed TU organization learn to become fly fishers. 
October was this new TU chapter sixth meeting. Their next will be held:

Thursday, November 1, 6:30-8:00 pm.

Location: Aerie Room, Eagles Club, Walla Walla

FYI -- Founded in Michigan in 1959, Trout Unlimited today is a national non-profit organization with about 300,000 members and supporters dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.

Brian Wolcott of the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council was also sharing with us this evening, and he spoke of the work that the Council has been doing to help improve the streamside habitat of the Walla Walla River, particularly in the Milton-Freewater area, and the river's tributaries.

After Angela addressing our group, we entered a Round Table discussion of current fishing trip across WA and OR, that different individual had made lately. Some good info for those in attendance was shared.
Dale mentioned that Tis the Season for an abundance of October Caddis to be hatching~hovering over lower elevation streams and rivers of our area, and that the mid-Walla Walla River was at a perfect flow to be fishing Orange Stimulators~October Caddis dry flies imitation for wild trout hookups.

Tight lines and Good fishing

We did not present a fly box for door prize or auction this evening.

Dale called the meeting adjourned at 8:45.

Our next meeting will be held at Smith's Family Restaurant on W. 9th Street in Walla Walla on Wednesday

14 November 2018
6:00 pm Dinner and Social
7:00 Call-to-Order Club Business

Respectfully submitted,
Dale McKain
Club Secretary

Contact Us

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Dave Stemmer – President

Tom Craig – Vice President

Doug Coe – Treasurer

Dale McKain – Secretary - Blogmaster

Dave Stemmer – PROJECT HEALING WATERS Coordinator

A fall fishing report from Jubilee Lake

Prior to have surgery on her shoulder in October, Heidi had to make one more trip to Jubilee Lake to R&R with some trout. She gave us this report...

After having to turn around on my way to the lake, to go help take care of my dad for several hours, I was SO relieved to finally made it to the lake mid-late afternoon!   My truck thermometer showed 65 to 67 degrees the last couple miles before the lake, and it was a real treat to not have to  bundle up for late September mountain lake fishing!   

I don't know how Tyson did re: strikes/catches, but he said he did pretty well and had a good time!  

I was slower getting on the water than Tyson, who arrived a bit before I did, but once on the water, I had "fish on" within a few dozen yards of the boat ramp!  My error re: letting slack into the line resulted in losing THAT fish, but I soon caught and netted another.  Over the next hour or so, I netted a total of 5 trout averaging 9 to 12 inches.  (I kept 4)  In addition to those netted, and the aforementioned "lost fish", I lost several others, for the same reason.. daydreaming and not setting hook well enough, and/or allowing a bit of slack in the line for "just a second".. nuff said!   I also had several soft/repeated nibbles, and several good strikes that I didn't manage to hook.  Yup, I need lots more fishing practice next year!  

A beautiful day with mild/warmish weather, and the lake was stunning, with a few scattered yellow-gold bushes scattered among the deep green evergreen trees along the shore.   I got to see a heron chase away an osprey from where it was perched high in a tree on the northeast edge of the lake, screeching loudly as it flew after the osprey.  A fair amount of osprey action, with a few leaving with fish in talons.  The ducks came in eventually too, gliding low over the water before landing.  

I used one fly the entire time I fished, and I'll attach a photo of it after being in the mouths of numerous fish!   

I didn't take any scenery shots this time.. had to make use of my very limited time to FISH!   

Wanting to get off the gravel road before dusk, plus needing to stop by to check on/help my dad on the way home, I only fished about 1.25 to 1.5 hours.  But I sure enjoyed the fishing action during that time!  

And another big thank-you to Tyson, who by being out on the water in his pontoon boat, made me feel much safer than if I'd had to be the only boat on the water!   

And being a nice guy and a great advocate for our fly fishing  club, Tyson stayed a few minutes later before heading home, in order to help me carry my boat to my pickup, then help me load it (now partly deflated and floppy) into my truck so I didn't over-strain my "bum" shoulder!   VERY much appreciated!  

A most wonderful fishing adventure on a beautiful fall day!  
A fishing report from Heidi

Tight lines and good fly fishing

2018 Summer Fishing Reports

This evening President Dave called our meeting to order at 7:30 pm. V Pres. Tom was fishing on the Grand Ronde, Treasurer Doug was out-of-town fishing elsewhere.

We had 9 members and 1 guest in attendance.

Tonight we had a round-table discussion of summer happenings. There were fishing reports from Bennington Lake, Jubilee Lake, Indian Lake, and Anthony Lake.

Heidi reported that some of the women of the club made a very enjoying fishing outing to Jubilee Lake in early July.

With hot temperatures in the forecast in early July several men of the club made a "let's cool off" trip to Anthony Lake to chase the triploid rainbow which had been well stocked for the balance of summer fishing.

A number of individuals reported spending evenings near Walla Walla on Bennington Lake chasing trout, bass, catfish, crappies.

Judy, Tom, Heidi, Herb and Dale conducted a fly fishing seminar at Whitman College on June 27th. This project was coordinated with the Walla Walla Public School District and Washington Dept. of Education. There were participants from across the state of Washington.

It was brought to Dale’s attention that the Walla Walla Public School District would pay $250 for our club’s participation in the project. Because the Walla Walla Fly Fishers is no longer a 501c non-profit organization Dale filled out all the paperwork, including a W-9 Income form, to acquire these funds. He presented a copy of the deposited check for these funds, and ask for suggestion to donate our effort... to some non-profit causes. 

It was suggested – Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (our club supports the Walla Walla chapter), 

the Walla Walla Christian Aid Center (local Walla Walla humanitarian aid center for the needy and homeless), 

and Casting for Recover (a woman’s breast cancer recovery organization, based on recreational fly fishing therapy). 

The funds disbursement will be decided upon by a vote of the attendees at our October’s meeting.

Dave gave an account of the veteran's outing weekend at Indian Lake on the CTUIR. There were about 80 vets associated with Project Healing Waters and Hero on the Water that show up for the weekend fishing outing in late June.

Mid-August Diane, Heidi and Dale made a mid-week fun trip to Jubilee Lake. All three reported success in "working" their flies up and down the water column.

It was also discussed having one more fishing outing in September, and it was decided to go to Jubilee Lake on the 29^th.  Heidi, Tyson, Dale said they would be interested in this trip, and Dale said he would email an APB to the membership to organize such an outing. 

Also discussed was the possibility of making another run to Anthony Lake in October before the lake started freezing over for the winter - reports of snowfall has already started coming in from 7100', even before Fall arrives.

Our guest this evening - Jim, won the door prize fly box.

Dave called the meeting adjourned at 8:30.

Our next meeting will be held at Smith's Family Restaurant on W. 9th Street in Walla Walla on Wednesday

17 October 2018. 

Respectfully submitted,
Dale McKain
Club Secretary

Contact Us

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Dave Stemmer – President

Tom Craig – Vice President

Doug Coe – Treasurer

Dale McKain – Secretary - Blogmaster

 
Dave Stemmer – PROJECT HEALING WATERS Coordinator