Mar - Apr 2005 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

8/9/2019 Mar - Apr 2005 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

1/9

To Conserve, Protect, And Restore North Americas Cold Water Fisheries And Their Watersheds

THE TROUT LINETualati n Valley Chapter News

March/ Apr i l 2005 Editor: David Illig

NEW Chapter Meetings are held atthe LUCKY LABRADOR on the second

Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm wit h asocial get-t ogeth er and t he form al meeti ng at 7:30 unlessotherwise noted in the newsletter or website. LuckyLabrador, Mult nomah Village, 7675 SW Capit ol Hw y .Portland, (503) 244-2537

Board of Dir ector s Meeti ngs held just pr ior to ourmonthly Chapter meeting at 5:30pm at the Lucky Lab.

Wednesday, March 9th , WildernessFly Fishin g w ith Michael T. Will iams.Michael describes himself as a wilderness fly fishingaficionado. Hes been hiki ng and fi shing with camera intow f or lon ger t han most of us have been here. He willpresent a slide illustrated talk featuring selectedwil derness areas in Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. Thi s isa very popular program from a sought-after speaker.Michael T. Williams is a photojournalist who has been flyfi shing and tying f lies for nearly 50 years.

Wednesday , Ap r il 13 Fishing th eWil lamette Valley Str eam s w it h RichYoungers

Rich is a licensed fly fishing guide with 30 years ofexperience on Nor thw est waters since movin g to Oregonf rom Kansas in 1974. Rich and Kathy Youngers are th eowners of Creeksid e Flyf ishi ng in Salem. Rich isrecognized as one of the area's best steelhead guides andwas one of t he fi rst t o bring salmon fi shing with a flyto Oregon's cent ral coast area. Hes also a noted fly t yer.Rich holds a BLM permi t f or t he Deschutes River and is a

member of the Oregon Guides and Packers Associati on, aswell as the Oregon Council of th e Federati on of FlyFish ers. He is also a Ross Reel pro -guide and a WinstonPro Staf f member. Rich will t alk about t he great f lyfishing available close to home in our Willamette Valleystreams. Rich guides on th e McKenzie, Nort h Santi am,Nestu cca, Kil chis, and t he Salmon River.

Presidents ColumnKev in Connolly

Banq uet banquet banquet banquetbanqu et Banq uet banquet banquetbanqu et banqu et banquet BANQUET

March 12 th The Chapter has been preparingfor our annual auction and banquet to be held on March12th in th e Pearl Dist ri ct. We have received m anyexcellent donations whi ch include fl y rods, fl ies, fi shingtri ps, digital cameras, instructi onal DVD's, fly t ying toolsLeatherman t ools, balloon r ides and cash donations. Theevent should be a great ti me and we have sold all t hetickets. If you dont have one check with people that mayhave ext ras. They wil l get you in if th ey can.

WE STILL NEED M ORE STUFF TO A UCTION OFF. IT SABOUT RAISING MONEY. SO IF YOU KNOW ANYBODYWITH A PRODUCT OR A SERVICE TH A T WOULD FIT AAUCTION SUCH A S TH IS, PLEA SE CONTA CT THEM A NASK ABOUT A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONTATION. WELLGET THEM GOOD PUBLICITY ALSO. THINK ABOUTTH INGS EVEN OUT SIDE THE FISHING WORLD.CONTA CT M E OR A BOARD M EMBER TO GET T HEPAPERWORK GOING.

Fishing. What' s t hat? Everybody I know has been too bus

to get out and wet a line.The warm weather is making itvery attractive to sneak out and hit the Deschutes orCrooked River soon. One of th e thin gs I need t o get doneis t o i nventory my gear, see what needs t o be replaced,maintained or tossed out. Doing t his wil l ensure a morepleasurable experience on the water wh en I do get out .

See you at the banquet ! Kevin Connol ly


2/9


Fly of t he Month Baeti s Emer gerBy Dick Rohrbaugh

One of m y favorite tim es of th e year to fi sh theDeschutes, the Madison, or any of a dozen other ri vers inthe West is during the baetis hatches that occur springand fall . Oft en th e ri vers are not as crowded as they willbe during the salm onfl y or caddis hatches, but the tr out

wil l be every bit as acti ve on the surf ace. With t he spri ngbaeti s hatches j ust a f ew weeks away, now is t he time toget going at t he vise.

Baetis hatches usually have a well-defined beginning andending. They are usuall y in t he m iddl e of t he day and arebest on cool, cloud y, rainy days. Given that weath er, theemerging insects will rid e the current d rying t heir wingsprior t o taking off . That presents the opportuni ty thispattern is d esigned t o im it ate.

Another im portant f actor i s that because baetis are mult i-brooded (they hatch both spring and fall), the flies you tiemust be tailored to match the size of the insect in each ofthe two tim e periods. Having had all wi nter to grow,

spring baeti s are usually size 16-18 wit h 18 m uch morepredomi nant th an 16. Fall baeti s are usually mu chsmaller. Most wil l be size 20-22. Wings on the natur alsare a dark gray whil e bodies can vary f rom a pure olivegreen t o a dark , brownish ol ive.

What we need, th erefor e, is a patt ern th at is easy t o ti e invery small siz es. Thi s patt ern quali f ies. It i s very easy toti e and reasonably durable. It shoul d be much mor e li kelyto m ake it int o your fl y boxes than patt erns wit h a dozentying steps and fragile materials. Wit h thi s simple patt ernyou can fi ll a fl y box in no tim e and be ready to hit thestream.

As with many mayflies, trout take baetis emergers ingreater numbers than high-ridi ng duns. However thatdoes not mean you have to f ish below t he surf ace. Troutwil l take baeti s emergers ri ght off th e surf ace. What isneeded, therefore, is an emerger p attern one can f loat lowin surface the fil m. This pattern below also fil ls that bill.

Baetis Emerger

Hook : Ti emco 2487 or Daiichi 135Sizes 16-22

Thread : Olive 8/ 0Shuck : Crink led Zelon, brownBody : Olive dubbingWing: Gray CDC

1. Tie in the Zelon to form the shuck. I t should beabout t he length of the hook shank (or just a bitshorter) and should be tied slightly down aroundthe bend so that it w ill sit l ow in t he water.

2. Dub a tapered body with the olive dubbing. Whatyou need here is very f ine dubbin g material suchas Superf in e or an equi valent . Bring t he bodyfor ward to a point two eye-widt hs behind the eyeof t he hook.

3. Tie in the CDC wing. CDC sold as CDC Puff swork very well . The wing should extend back toabout the end of the body.

4. Dub a small head in front of the wing and t ie off

That is about as sim ple as it gets. The patt ern i s veryeasy t o ti e even down to si ze 22.

Baeti s tend to hatch best in slower-movi ng pools. Thebiggest f ish wil l l ine up at t he back of the pool waiting f oemergers to come dri f ti ng down. In th e clear water ofshallow tailouts large fish can be rather spooky, so it isbest to fi sh to a parti cular riser rather t han scattergunnin g th e pool. Work the fish at the back of t he poolfi rst, casting upstr eam so you show the fi sh only theleader, not the line, and then gradually work toward thehead of the pool. Baetis rises can be either deliberate oraggressive, though i n sl ower water deliberate ri ses wil lpredominate.

There is no need to grease the emerger pattern; the CDCwill provide all t he floatation you need. If you are inclineto f ish a tandem rig, tr ail a pheasant t ail nymph behind

th e baeti s emerger. It is a deadly combi nati on.

Hatches will be brief on sunny days, if th ey occur at all,but can last several hou rs in cool, cloud y weath er. Sincebaeti s cripples (or k nock-down duns if it is raining) arefairl y common, look f or t hem t o collect in back eddies.

That is an especially common phenomenon on theDeschutes. You will of ten find fi sh feeding there longaft er th e hatch has ended.


3/9


Fly Ty er s Corner Dick Rohrbaugh

Over the years t yers have accumulated a lot of creati veideas. In ty in g, li ke everyt hing else, experience is alwaysth e best t eacher. Here is a new set of t ips t o tr y th e nexttim e you tie.

Materials

Do you fish nym ph patterns a lot? There is no questionabout t heir eff ectiveness in either stil l or m oving water.One thi ng you might t ry t he next t ime you tie mayflynym phs is using a shiny m aterial for t he win g case. Ihave found t hat silver diamond braid wor ks very well.The flash seems to imitate the gas bubbles that formunder the incipient wing of t he natural insect. This worksespeciall y well on t he callibaetis nym ph patt erns I use inlakes.

Techniques

One of t he problems with f lies purchased in f ly shops isthat all the fl ies of a given pattern t end t o be tied alik e.

There is no other way they can really do it. But if you tieyour own, you can modi fy t he tie to suit t he water.

If you fi sh fast pocket water you may want t o tie yourfl ies a bit on the full side. That way you will get betterfl otation. Fish in such water have lit tle tim e to inspect afl y and tend to f eed opportu nistically. A heavier hackleon the fly can thus be a very workable option.

On slow water, however, a heavily hackled fly will sit toohigh. As t he stu dies of Gary La Fontain e have clearl ydemonstr ated, the f ly body is an import ant tr igger f orinducing r ises and should sit on t he surf ace where it isvisible. Thus for slow water you night want to tie thesame pattern with much more sparse hackle so it does not

fl oat too high. Floatation is usually not a problem in suchwater and thus a fl y ti ed in low water styl e works well.

Tools and Equi pm ent

One of the enduring needs of all fly tyers is a good way tostore materials. Not onl y do you need to keep materialsorganized, th ey also n eed to be accessible f rom where yousit at your t ying bench.

An i nexpensive soluti on I h ave f ound t o be exceedinglyuseful is t he stackable plasti c drawers available at placesli ke Staples, Of f ice Depot o r Stor ables. The drawers areroughly 10 x 7 x 2 and are just about t he right size for

stor ing necks, saddl es, wing feathers, etc. With l abels onthe fr ont of each drawer i t is easy to f ind w hat you needand keep it organized. I pu t red labels on the drawerswit h t rout materials and blue labels on t he drawers f ill edwit h stuf f for steelhead f li es. I have a double-high row ofdrawers that goes across th e back of my t ying desk and astack that sits j ust beside the desk on the floor . Both arein easy reach.

These tips wil l m ake your t ying more f un and effective.Dick

Scheduled Out ings 2005

Lets Go FishingListed below are the Trout Unlimited outings scheduledfor 2005. If you have any questions concerning the tr ipplease feel free to contact Andy Andrews for moreinf orm ation. And ys phone is 503 969 2246 (cell ) orhis email addr ess is [email protected] .

Apr i l 16 th and 17 th South T w in Lake(Deschu tes Count y

May 21st and 22nd Metoli us Riv erJune 3 r d, 4 th and 5 th Bull Trout Rendezvou

(conservati on pr ojecton Lake Creek ).

June 25 th and 26 th Timothy Lak eJuly 23r d and 24 th TBAAugust 13 th and14th East Lak eSeptember 21st thru 28 th Fall Riv er

October 8 th, 9 th and 10 th CrookedRiver

Pri or t o each t ri p t here wil l be a posti ng on t he web pagewit h the details of the scheduled outi ng. Please joi n usfor a weekend or a day. We wil l be look ing f orward t oseeing you. Andy

Remember t o Sign up New Members toTrout Unl imit ed . Its a great bargain for what theyget. Especially at the half-off int roductory m embership a$17.50 Lots of people arent members who would enjoy We sti ll get som eth ing f or new member signups. Newmembers can sign u p at www.tu.org/ intro and entering

code 633 for Tualati n Valley chapter. If they prefer apaper membership application, contact Erle to send it tothem.
mailto:[email protected]://www.tu.org/introhttp://www.tu.org/intromailto:[email protected]


4/9


Fly Fishing Mur der My stery :The Nail Knot by John Gall igan

Review by Hank Hosfi eld

Ned Dog Ogilvie is on a quest toward oblivion. Drivenby tragedy to turn his back on society, hes decided to fishhim self to death, but instead, the act of fi shing keeps himalive. Alt hough, as the author, John Gall igan, explains,

because it i s a murder m ystery, some other poor saps aregoing to have to die.

Intrigued? I am.

John Galligan recent ly sent m e a copy of hi s new m ysterynovel, The Nail Knot , the fir st installm ent of a series ofthi s new genre of fl y-fi shing m urder m ysteries by Galliganfeatu ri ng Dog Ogil vie. (He also gave us an autographedcopy for the auction.) John is currentl y fi nishing thesecond book in th e series, The Blood Knot.

John Galligan wil l soon be coming to Port land. He hasinvit ed fans of mur der m ystery and fly f ishing to hear himread from The Nail Knot at Murder By the Book (3210 SEHawthor ne Blvd, Portl and, 503-232-9995) at 6:30pm onMay 4th . Hell be signing books and talki ng fly fi shingwit h anyone who shows up. He also told m e hell buy agood Port land beer f or anyone who shows up able to ti ethe actual nail knot. When I warned him he mi ght gobroke on thi s deal, he asked if perhaps hed given us t oomuch t im e to prepare.

I dont k now about t he rest of you, but Im going topractice up.

Im also looking for ward to t aking John (a native ofWisconsin who is currently l iving i n Japan) out f ishingwhile hes here, and further explore his thoughts about

fi shing and wri ti ng novels.

As John wrote to me: I never saw myself t aki ng thisgenre/ fi shing direction in my writ ing, but it 's been fun. Itallows me to blend craft with passion, and reach anaudience too. I'm very happy, and lucky , to be where Iam. Hank

Angler releases the steelh ead of al i fet ime. Hank Hosfi eldIve heard a lot of big f ish stori esenough to nurt ure a

healt hy skepti cism, anyway. But I havent heard one th isgood since that guy landed th e 70-somethi ng-poundChinook whil e fl y fi shing for coho with 8-pound tippet.Fil e this on e under steelhead of a lif etim e; on February 8th ,Ron Ginn o landed a 43 wil d Umpq ua River st eelhead thatweighed over 28 pounds! He caught t his f ish bouncingeggs on th e last cast of th e day. How big is t his catch ?To give you some perspective, its the biggest steelheadcaught in Oregon since a 28-pounder was taken on t heChetco in 1973. The freakishl y huge state record is 35pounds f rom the Columbi a River in 1970. And if t hiswerent alr eady great enough, Ginn o wil l be imm ort alizedin some circles f or what h e did after he landed t his

tr ophy. He released it . He did nt have t o, but he said hedoesnt kill wild f ish. Theres mor e to thi s story, and itswonderf ull y writ ten up by Mark Freeman of the MailTri bune. I encourage you to read his sti rri ng account atthe following link:http:/ / www.mailtribune.com/ archive/ 2005/ 0217/ sport/ sories/ 03sport .htm

UPCOMING Newsletter Materi alWe need m aterial f or u pcoming issues. We would enjoyhaving some other guest FLY-of-the-Month t ying and usinart icles of your favorite fl ies. How about a review of agreat guided tr ip showing wh at a great guid e does anddoesnt do? Or j ust send som e nice pictur es you h ave. Wneed your inp ut , please. Dil li [email protected] 296 9050
http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/0217/sport/stmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/0217/sport/st


5/9


Boatin g Fev er: A True Storyby Andy Andrews

It is a fact that one of the best and cheapest forms ofentertainment is watching the excitement at the boat rampon a warm , Sunday evenin g. A good num ber of boatowners are retur ning aft er consuming m ore than theirshare of an adul t beverage, which in it self has beenknown to lead to poor j udgment . Those who havent been

dri nki ng are sti ll in t roubl e because of boating fever. Iveseen collisions, sinkings, boats launched from theirtr ailers 20 f eet short of the water and of course some fistshaking and name - call ing. I once saw a wooden dri f tboat launched down a steep, 30 - foot r ocky bank by useof gravity and th e Let Her Go method because theowner di dnt want t o wait f or an opening at th e ramp.

My f avorit e memory of one such event occurred dur ingth e fall salm on season on the Colum bia River. Whilestaying in the town of Chinook we normally used the localharbor boat ramp. The day before the incident, we hadincurred some problems at the ramp and wed made thedecision that on the fol lowing day we would use a litt le

known boat ramp at Portland Street.

Port land Str eet was sim ply a street that ended at t he edgeof a small bay th at led into t he Columbia River. Howeverwhen th e tide was ebbing (outgoin g), you woul d have ahund red feet, or m ore, of hard beach - sand beforereaching t he water. The slope of t he beach was so gent lethat you had to back the boat, trailer and vehicle out ahund red feet i nto t he water before you had any chance oflaunchin g a boat. The process of launchin g a boat was toslide the boat t oward t he back of the trailer unti l gravitypul led the stern down and it became lodged in t he sand.This positi on left the bow sticking up i n th e air, t he boatbeing support ed by the back of t he tr ailer. Then someonehad to gentl y pull the vehicle forward unt il t he boat sli dcompletely f ree of the tr ailer and settled int o th e water.Having successfully completed the launching of our boatin t his manner, we waited for our driver t o return from theparking lot, 500 feet away.

It was about t his ti me that a second boat arr ived on t hescene. The owner and person in charge of th e launchin gwas someone Il l call Bill . Bill appeared to be abusinessman who had two cl ients already seated in t heboat and an assistant wh o Ill call Joe. Bil l backed th eboat, tr ailer and vehicle out i nt o the water. He thanshoved his boat t o the rear of the tr ailer unt il the sternti lt ed int o the sand and the bow was pointed skyward. Bill

then asked Joe to pull the tr ailer out fr om un der t he boatwhi le he (Bil l) stood on t he trailer and guid ed the bowalong th e tr ailer roll ers. Withi n seconds it becameapparent that Joe had only a lim ited dr iving abilit y, mostof whi ch had been learned on video games. Joe star tedth e vehicle f or t he beach at about 30 mil es per hour . Bill,hanging onto the bow of the boat, was taking giant runni ng steps towards the back of the trailer tr ying to stayup wit h the departing boat. This in i tself was an amazingfeat as t he trail er was under water by twelve inches ormore and only some minor cross bracing on t he invisibletr ailer could give Bil l any support . It appeared he had it

made as he approached t he back of th e trail er.

Unfort unately f or Bill , his f oot became tangled in t he lasset of r oll ers on the trailer. Bill was now face - down,being pulled backwards by his trapped foot, at 30 milesper hour as Joe powered the vehicle for the beach.

My boat had been sit ti ng on t he anchor as we wait ed f orour dr iver to return, so all t hree of us raced f or t he beachin hopes of aidi ng Bil l. As we watched, Bills lim p bodywas pulled out of the water by the trailer and acrossanother 100 feet of hard sand t oward t he parking lot . Aswe approached the now parked trailer, surprisingly, Billwas tr ying t o raise him self up on h is elbows and f ree hisfoot f rom t he trailer. We made him l ie still u nti l wechecked his leg, which fortunately was not broken. At thipoin t, Joe finall y exited the vehicle and t ook i n t he sceneof a soaking wet Bil l. Joe, realiz ing what h ad happened,had eyes th e size of a saucer, his m outh f ell open and hiarms reached out as if t rying to f ly. Joe in his half -squatt ing position l ooked as if he hoped to f ly away fr omBil l who was about as angry as anyone could get wit houtblowing apart.

As Bill lim ped around the beach yelling word s that w ewould probably get arrested for using in this article, he

kept glancing towards Joe. I fi nally edged myselfbetween Bil l and Joe not because Im a hero, but th erewere fish t o be caught and I couldnt spend tim e in courtas a wit ness to an alt ercati on. Fort unately, fate stepped and far in t he distance we heard cries for help. All of usturned to see Bills boat with the two men on board, beinpulled by the tide towards the Columbia River bar and thocean beyond. Two of us raced fo r m y boat, The Sacri f ic(if you have ever own ed a boat, youll kn ow why I gave itthat name) and retrieved Bills boat with its shakenoccupants. In short order, a soaki ng wet Bill and Joeentered t heir boat and d isappeared f rom th e scene in aroar of pu re horsepower. I have of t en wondered what thtwo guests in Bill s boat t hought about all of t his and hoth ey felt about t raveli ng to t he ocean wit h Bill and Joe. Ihave also wondered if Bil l gave Joe a body surf ing lessonby pulling him through the ocean behind the boat, feetf irst.

It was duly noted that dur ing t his wh ole event no one evsaid, Im sorry , or Thank you , or any other words tharepresented concern or ki ndness. I was th ankf ul th at noone had been seriously inj ured and t hat I had been awitness to this event because it reminded me how fast asimple, well - planned boat launching can fall apart due tboating f ever. Andy


6/9


Wed lik e to thank Dr . Scott H eppell for the foll owingdistur bing news:

Sur v ey Rev eals Poli ti cal In terv ent ionat USFWS Today, UCS is holding a press conferenceto announ ce th e dist urbi ng resul ts of a survey of U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service field scientists: political interventionto alter scienti fi c f indin gs has become pervasive with inth e agency. At f ield of f ices aroun d t he country , USFWSscientists tell of being asked to change scientificinf ormation, remove scientif ic f acts or come toconclusions t hat are not suppor ted by th e science.As a result, the scientists say, endangered and threatenedwildlife are not being protected as intended by theEndangered Species Act. Please monitor your local pressfor coverage of the issue and respond with a letter-to-theeditor about the imp ortance of protecting governm entscience.

Result s Sum m aryThe survey paints a vivid picture of the systemic abuse ofscience and the need for change. Results show that:Large numbers of agency scientist s reported pol it ical

interference in scientific determinations. Nearly half of allrespondents whose work is related to endangered species(44 percent) report t hat t hey have been directed for non-scientif ic reasons to refr ain fr om m aking find ings thatprot ect species. One in f ive have been i nstr ucted tocompromi se their scienti fi c integrit y, reporti ng that theyhave been dir ected to i napprop riately exclude or alt ertechnical information from a USFWS scientific document.In t he Southwest region, th at num ber was even hi ghercloser t o one in th ree.

Agency scientists reported being afraid to speak franklyabout issues and felt constrained in their role as

scientists. 42 percent said they could not publicly express concerns about th e biological needs of species andhabit ats wit hout f ear of r etaliation, while 30 percent wereafraid to do so even wit hin t he agency. A th ird f elt theyare not all owed to do th eir jobs as scientist s.There has been a significant strain on staff morale. Halfof all scientists r eported that m orale is poor t o extremelypoor; onl y 12 percent believed m orale to be good orexcell ent . And 64 p ercent did not f eel t he agency ismoving in the right direction.

Poli ti cal i nt rusion has undermi ned the USFWSs abil it y tofulfill its mission. Three out of four staff scientists feltthat the USFWS is not acting effectively to maintain or

enhance species and their habitats.In one of numerous essays submitted on the topic ofim provi ng scient if ic in tegrit y at USFWS, one biologistwrote: We are not allowed to be honest and forthrightIhave 20 years of f ederal service in th is and t his i s theworst it has ever been. Another biologist reported thatDepartment of Interior off icials have for ced upp er-levelmanagers t o say t hin gs that are incorrect. A m anagerwrote: There is a cultu re of f ear of retaliation i n mi d-management.

Encouragingl y, it is clear f rom th e survey t hat USFWSscientists are commi tt ed to and proud of their work andbeli eve in t he potenti al of the agency to conserve, protecand enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats.However, political intervention is having a chilling effecton t he abil it y of a USFWS scientist to carry out th eagencys m ission.Despit e agency dir ectives not to r eplyeven on t heir owntimenearly 30 percent of all the scientists returnedsurveys. You can f ind a summ ary of t he survey, it smethodology, and a summary of results broken down byregion here or by clicking on the links below.The Sur vey sUCS has join ed wi th Publi c Emp loyees f or Environ mentalResponsibility (PEER) to design and conduct surveys ofseveral government agencies to document the abuse ofscience and determ ine th e pervasiveness of the pr oblem.The surveys will assist t he scienti fi c comm unit y indocumenti ng th at th e abuse of science is an ongoing,seriou s concern. We are look ing in to ways that t he resultof th e USFWS survey can be used t o f urt her a m orethorough investigation of t his problem.Write an LTEThis is an excellent opport unit y f or you to raise the

profile of this issue. UCS will track the news outlets thatcover t his story and wi ll post t hose that we know about oour w ebsit e. We encourage you to wri te a letter t o thedit or t o one of t he newspapers t hat has covered thestory, expressing your concern about t he abuse of sciencand it s impact on th e eff ectiveness of our impor tantgovernm ent science agencies.

It has taken decades to build world-class scientific staff th e USFWS and oth er governm ent science agencies. Thefuture ability of the agency to fulfill its mission will beseverely hampered if this political interference is allowedto conti nue. To restore scientif ic i nt egrit y at t he USFWS, least t wo refor ms are needed: there mu st be protectio nsfor scientists who are asked to take actions that violatetheir scienti fi c integrit y and the Bush admi nistr ati on murecognize at its highest levels that manipulating orsuppressing science for political reasons is unethical.Thank you for all you do to protect government science.Sincerely,Michael H alpernOutr each Coordin ator Union of ConcernedScientists http://www.ucsusa.org/rsi

(This should not be something we have to remind ourleaders but unf ortu nately we do need t o remind them.Please write the newspapers and your Congress. The WhiHouse also n eeds t o know we care. The edit or)
http://www.ucsusa.org/rsihttp://www.ucsusa.org/rsi


7/9


8/9


Damn, thats the next best alternative to skinny-dipping inthe Arctic Ocean? I couldnt help thi nki ng that I was outof opt ions. Hank did off er me a cone-head wooly buggerto go along wit h th e sinki ng fl y line, but it was no largerth an a size 6 hook. I tr ied t o calcul ate th e odds ofsnagging a 1/ 8 thi ck rod t ip wit h a hook t hat has a gape. It made my head hur t.

I ti ed on the fl y and started pulling line off the reel. Thefl y looked awful ly small as it slowl y sank int o the murk.I conti nued pulling l ine off the reel and started a slowkick. I had the whole line out and still couldnt t ell if Iwas anywhere near the bott om. I start ed tr oll ing backand fort h, hope against hop e. Thi s area of t he lake alllooked th e same. I could nt t ell i f I was even close towhere th e rod went d one. Anyon e who has fi shed a lakebefore understands how tough it is to know exactly whereyou are. Dist ant landm arks are nearl y wort hless f orpinpoint accuracy. I troll ed around for nearly half anhour befor e I fi nally said uncle. I yelled at Hank that Iwas heading back t o the tr uck for m y spare rod. I startedreeli ng in the li ne. Half way through the retr ieve, I feltth e slight est of change in resist ance. Quickl y f orgott en, Iconti nued to reel in. Short ly, somethi ng caught my eye.

In slow motion, I saw movement in the alkaline waters.Continu ing to r eel, I saw the tip of the rod coming upth rough th e depths. I wanted to yell out, but was afraidto. I just knew that if I did, the rod would come looseand slip back down into the inky depths. Yet, there itwas, soon wit hin arm s reach. I gingerly reached over andgrabbed t he ti p and start ed t o lif t. I was acutely awarethat the tip could pull off and all m ight be lost again. Atlast, I pulled up the handle and wit h a shout of tr ium ph, Iyelled to Hank. He too, was incredulous! How could th isbe, and just at the edge of despair. That li tt le size 6 hookhad grappled the rod t ip aft er all.

My old f riend in hand, I started reeling i n my l ine when Inot iced a slight tension. Son of a .. gun, that f ish was sti llon. As soon as I ti ghtened up, he took to t he air again,peeled off line and headed f or the bottom . But this t im e, Iwasnt l ett ing go. I l anded t hat fi sh wit h such a glee, thegreat f ishing f ollowing was somewhat anti-clim atic.

And so it is sir, that m y personal best was not a fish at all,but something far more valuable, my favorite fly rod. Thefi sh was just a bonus! Thats my trophy picture below.

Alex


9/9

Tualati n Val ley Tr out Unl im i tedMarch/ Apr i l 2005

resident : Kev in Conn olly 860-6355Kev in conn oll y [email protected]

r easurer: Rod Lundberg91-5308 rp lun dberg@hot mail .com

oard of Dir ectors:

ank Hosfi eld228-6553 hank h@im agina.com

r ic Thompson 297-0718angli ngeri [email protected]

ick Rohrbaughbaugh@lclark .edu 636-3877

A lex Bar k um e - 642-7024 alexbark um [email protected]

Andy Andrews [email protected] 646-237

Erl e Nor man 293-6006 caddis2000@hot mail.com

Membership Chair

Jerry Heppellj heppell @telepor t. 639-94

Seth Isenberg 293-3290 sbisenberg@com cast.net
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Documents

Mar - Apr 2005 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited