Random Casts

We started March with the Annual Awards Banquet and what a way to start a month! A special thanks to all of those that helped with the setup and the cleanup. Along with that thanks to all who made it there. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

It was a great chance to recognize some special people for all that they do for the Club while not expecting recognition. Along with the usual awards it gave me the chance to say thanks to some that deserved it, and have fun in the process.

The "special thanks" were to Doyle Goolsby for his past and continued efforts to make this an ever better Club. In recognition of his travels, and conservation efforts, Doyle received a copy of the "Road kill cookbook". Mark Reisinger, for his past as the Treasurer, and his continued efforts as Fund Raising Chairman, received an electronic fly fishing game. This in hopes that we can keep him so busy raising funds that he has no time to fish. Bob Griffin, for all of his efforts, and the great picnics he has done, received a "plaque" with a huge rubber hot dog and burger on it. Thought this would be a good recognition of his "stuff on a shingle". Also recognized for all he has done in the donations of flies, his maintaining the schedule at the KK events, and too many other things to list was Andy Sandwick. One other, and some of us know who it is, that spends lots of time working on lots of different factors is entered in the records as "Name Withheld". A real good example of lots of the members when it comes to recognition: doing it for the fun and experience, not the recognition. Thanks to all for these efforts.

The March meeting gave a different look at the current discussions of the "mitigation" efforts for increasing the amount of usable water while maintaining the flows in the middle Deschutes and the Crooked River. The really interesting part was the fact, supplied by Rex Barber, that the majority of the agricultural community is in favor of piping the canals. Several reasons for doing this: It would increase the amount of usable water, it would increase the flow in the middle Deschutes and it could decrease the costs of further conservation thru better irrigation tactics. That would come from the gravitational flow pressure there would be in the piping system that would make it possible to use sprinklers without purchasing the costly pumps, etc. You missed a good one there.

In another area of interest, expressed by most of the members, the April meeting will be well worth attending. Lots of the members have voiced a request for more local knowledge and this is being worked on for the coming meeting. There will be information available regarding 142 local lakes, the types of fish in them, where they are and how to get there, reading and using maps and a listing of a book the Club can get for members at a discount that will tell you what to expect in getting to the waters. This will all follow a special "History of Fly fishing" presentation by our own Clyde "the Guide" Keller.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Phil @ COF

Upstream Events

APRIL

4/4 Thursday 7 PM

COF Board Meeting at the Environmental Center.

4/13 Saturday 10 AM to 4 PM

COF Central Oregon Expo fundraiser at Pilot Butte Middle School

4/17 Wednesday 6:30 - 7 PM

COF General Meeting at the Board of Realtors building. Clyde Keller will speak on the "History of Flyfishing" and others on "Local Knowledge"

4/24 and 6/5 Wednesday

Metolius Redd counts. Contact Scott Cotter, Sisters Ranger District USFS 541- 549-7700 and Gene McMullen 541-312-8939

Kokanee Karnival Receives Award

Central Oregon's Kokanee Karnival program was the recent recipient of an Award of Merit from the Oregon Chapter, American Fisheries Society (AFS). The award was presented at the AFS annual meeting held at Sunriver, February 27 - March 1. Accepting the award on behalf of the Kokanee Karnival were Don Johnston, of COF and Diana Norem of Sunriver Anglers. Recognized specifically were the three volunteer organizations who form the core of Kokanee Karnival' s producing partner team. This includes the Central Oregon Flyfishers, the Sunriver Anglers, and the Central Oregon Llama Association. Each organization received a certificate designating the award and a plaque naming all three groups was granted to the program. The award will become part of the Kokanee Karnival display.

Portions of the following text were shared with Oregon Chapter American Fisheries Society members at the award presentation:

The Oregon Chapter American Fisheries Society would like to present this Award of Merit to Central Oregon's Kokanee Karnival Youth Education program. This innovative program - an effort to teach school children about the importance of clean water, healthy watersheds, conservation of fish habitat, and community involvement - has made huge strides in bringing natural resources education to Central Oregon schools.

Strengthened by a unique partnership of local conservation organizations, Central Oregon schools, and natural resource agencies, its success has created a more environmentally aware student population as well as adult parents, chaperones, teachers, and volunteers who work with the students and the Kokanee Karnival program.

Kokanee Karnival is completely self-supporting, relying on direct donations, grants, and in-kind services provided by volunteers and natural resource agencies for its operations.

Volunteers with no previous teaching experience have become amazing teachers. And, they didn't realize they would have so much fun doing it! Kokanee Karnival has helped students who were headed down a wrong path to begin contributing as part of society because of their positive interactions with adult role models. Teachers have found a creative way of helping their students achieve Oregon's education benchmarks through Kokanee Karnival. The bottom line is that the program works and that it has made a difference.

It is time that we, as fisheries professionals, recognize the creative contribution and hard work of the many volunteers who make Kokanee Karnival happen. Congratulations!

April Program

Additionally we will have: Art McEldowney --a short course on map reading; Phil Hager--142 fishable lakes in Deschutes National Forest and a very valuable list of the best flies to use on our most popular Central Oregon waters; Dick Stentz with an information handout of places, times, access, insects for the Middle Deschutes.

COF Meeting Date and Location

The Central Oregon Flyfishers meet on the third Wednesday of the month at The Central Oregon Association of Realtors, 2112 N.E. 4th Street, Bend,Oregon.

The Monthly gatherings start at 6:30 PM and the program begins at 7:00PM.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Invite a neighbor or friend to join us at the next meeting.

April Tips & Tricks

1. Everyone that ties flies knows how much fun it is putting the glass beads on the hooks, but there is an easier way. Rather than trying to hold the bead between the finger and thumb, find that tiny hole in the bead and slide it onto the hook try this. Simply put a bunch of the beads in an empty hook box, grab the hook with forceps or other holder and run the hook thru the beads. It may take a few passes to load the hook, but you're not dropping them all over the floor.

2. To tie a salmon fly, or any other extended foam body, first tie it on a long needle. Stick the needle thru the middle of the foam body. Start the thread around the shank of the needle, then start wrapping the furthest back abdominal ring. After a couple of wraps around the foam fold the foam back and wrap up the needle to the next abdominal ring and tie off the thread. Do each abdominal ring separately. This keeps the rings clean and protects the thread from easy breakage. When completed cover the foam with head cement as it helps keep it floatable. Leave enough foam to form the upper body. When tying to the hook put the hook thru the lower layer of foam near the top abdominal ring. Pull forward on the upper layer and it "lifts" the tail, push back and it "lowers" the tail. Lay in the deer hair towards the tail then add some facing forward, bend it back towards the tail and tie it off. Gives a great shaped head. (Be early at the April meeting and we'll show you how it's done.)
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Flyfisher Of The Year

Both of the members have spent a great deal of time fitting into each of the decisive categories above and no one wanted to stretch the recognition out over time. Rex's decision was both appreciated by the Board and fully agreed to by the Board when the Award was presented.

Congratulations, and a heartfelt thank you, to Art McEldowney for his wide range of efforts towards the Kokanee Karnival and other programs and the same congratulations and heartfelt thank you to Tommie Speik for her work on the Conservation, the Newsletter and too many more to list.

Kokanee Karnival

Spring Angling Clinic

• Fish Biology
• Knot Tying
• Tackle/Equipment
• Fly Tying
• Safety
• Fishing
• Casting (Spin)
• Spin Casting Game
• Kitchen/Lunch
• Registration
• Fishing Coach
• Photography
• Rods & Reels

• Set-up
• Clean-up
• Spin Casting Game
• Kitchen/Lunch
• Registration
• Fishing Coach
• Photography
• Rods & Reels
• Fish Cleaning

Central Oregon Flyfishers have always been eager to assist with this data collection. This year is no exception. A typical survey day begins with birds singing and mist rising from the Metolius River in the cold morning air. Making our way carefully downstream from the headwaters we diligently search for new redds taking care to avoid stepping on those previously marked. We look for telltale bright spots in the gravel where the female redband has recently dug out a depression. Redd construction may take up to two days and its size is proportional to the size of the redband trout constructing it. Gene McMullen points out a redd in the photo on the left.

Comments/questions regarding this project should be addressed to: Sisters Ranger District, Attn: Scott Cotter, P.O. Box 249, Sisters, OR 97759 or e-mail: sacotter@fs.fed.us

2002 BANQUET MARRED BY OUTRIGHT THIEVERY!

As always, it was a lot of work, but as always, COFer's turned out en masse to make it all happen. The overall theme was recognition for unsung heroes, titled "Gold Medallist Awards." So many of you helped with setup and teardown that it made a big job a breeze. My co-chair, Tom Philiben, that silver-tongued devil, made some great solicitations from merchants and stored all the goodies until the banquet. His better half, Nancy helped with registration. Thanks also to my wife, Patty for her help on the centerpieces and registration. As usual, our president, Phil Hager, did way more than his share to make it a success, designing and producing the program covers, helping and guiding at every step. He found us a great location, caterer and entertainment. Ken Stringer took care of ordering merchandise and did some solicitations and also both obtained and donated some super gift baskets.

This year we tried to make it more affordable and placed less emphasis on fundraising and were hoping to break even financially. We did that and cleared over $1,000, plus we obtained a sizeable stack of great donations for our Central Oregon Fishing expo. In large measure, we owe this success to the massive efforts of Mark Reisinger, who contacted over 175 businesses and pulled in over 100 items himself! Also of note, Doyle Goolsby used his innate persuasive skills in obtaining some outstanding guided fishing trips plus the famous Grindstone trip, which will be awarded at the Fishing Expo. In fact, Doyle has sold over $400 in Grindstone tickets, above the $1,000 realized from the banquet.

Our Awards chairman, Rex Harrison, did his usual fine job in recognizing 13 new volunteers with the customary COF Fly Box. The pinnacle of our awards, the Flyfisher of the Year, was given to two people this year. Both of these people have given so much more than we will ever know, for years on end, far above and beyond the call of duty. We can all take pride in knowing we have the pleasure of serving alongside our dual winners, Tommie Speik and Art McEldowney. Tommie and Art, we salute you and sincerely respect both of you for all you have done over all these years. Finally, Phil Hager gave some special recognition on behalf of the board, covered elsewhere in this issue of the newsletter.

Thanks to all of you who attended and those of you who helped out. The rest of you who couldn't make it--don't miss out next year.

Central Oregon Flyfishers Volunteer Contributions

During the 11 year period, 198 individual volunteers from the Central Oregon Flyfishers (COF) participated in ODFW - STEP projects throughout Eastern Oregon. The 198 individuals contributed 21,878 volunteer hours - an average of 110.5 hours/person. This number is somewhat conservative as a number of individuals did not fully report the number of hours they contributed.

21,878 volunteer hours divided by 40 hours/work week = 547 work weeks 547 work weeks divided by 52 weeks/year = 10.5 years. This translates to the equivalent of work time for one full time biologist for 10.5 of the 11 years we have been tracking the COF contributions. And that is just for one small Eastern Oregon conservation organization Think of the impact when the contributions of several organizations are added together.

The 21,878 hourly total does not include any of the other valuable work these volunteers do, such as angling and casting classes, clean-ups, etc., and mileage donated while traveling to/from projects - all in support and protection of Oregon's natural resources.

Calculated in today's dollars at $15.30/hour* the COF contribution translates to $334,733. (* Year 2000 national standard for volunteer hourly contributions as published by Independent Sector.)

The average of 110.5 hours donated per person noted above does not indicate the entire story for the Central Oregon Flyfishers. Individual contributions ranged from 1 to more than 1800 hours. A more accurate reflection of the contributions is shown below:

1 to 100 hours	151 volunteers
100 to 499 hours	35 volunteers
500 to 999 hours	8 volunteers
1000 to 1499 hours	3 volunteers
1500+ hours	1 volunteer

A total of 47 volunteers, nearly 25% of the 198 participants, contributed 100 or more hours. Volunteer donations make possible the success of numerous fish resource projects by providing the manpower needed to get the job done. ODFW simply does not have the dollars to hire this manpower, yet the work results are vital to management concerns. While some projects could not be completed without volunteers, other projects are completed in a more timely fashion with the aid of volunteers. Not only do volunteers save the department money, they free up staff to perform other duties. More importantly, volunteer contributions allow Department employees to complete work that would not otherwise get done!

The time, mileage, and dollars contributed by the Central Oregon Flyfishers, as in this example, and the hundreds of other STEP volunteers throughout the state helps insure that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (who contributes dollars to the STEP program through the Sport Fish Restoration Act) continues to look favorably at the STEP program as one of their best investments. All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've helped make my life richer and more meaningful and just think about all we've accomplished - for the kids, for fish management data needs, for the habitat, and for the fish!

Patty Bowers
March 6, 2002

For March a bit of recognition to the members that took part in the Sportsmen's show for their time and the $770.70 that was raised for the Kokanee Karnival. The members taking part were: Len Swanzy, Andy Sandwick, Doyle Goolsby, Earl Rettig, Dennis McMahon , Dick Mayer, Ron Anderson , Jerry Honl, Larry Haas, Gene McMullen, Harry Harbin, Tom Shuman, Bob Griffin, Frank McKim, Mark Reisinger, Craig Achatz, Tom Philiben, and Phil Hager for a TOTAL of 169.5 hours and 1064 miles

If you have never flyfished before or are an old pro you will be welcomed. Denny Roberts, guide for Oregon Outdoor Flyshop will give the "tricks and secrets" of the Crooked.

Central Oregon Flyfishers will add at no cost (that's free) the four best flies, strike indicator and leader set up as their special gift for those who sign up and attend. So dust of the old fly rod, fix those leaky waders, pack a lunch and come to the Poison Butte Campsite (map) at 9:30 AM.

Central Oregon Flyfishers members will be available if you need help getting that cast under-control or that knot tied.

Dr. John R. Anderson, Professor of Entomology, will run a stream sampling demonstration and explanation which is guaranteed to not only give you a fishing edge but will give you the tools that are invaluable where ever you might go fishing. John has recently fished the Crooked and had good luck catching 12" to 16" rainbows. That report is a great improvement from the past few years where the fish were running about 8" to 12" on the river.

If you are planning to attend, please call Dan Driskill at (541) 388-1572, or e-mail cdriskill@bendcable.com, so that we can have sufficient flies and set-ups available.

COF Outing Committee
Dick Stientz - Outings Chairperson
Dan Driskill - VP - Board Member

Note: COF members please wear your name badges.

• Selecting equipment for Central Oregon fishing
• Fly tackle terminology
• Knots
• Basic Entomology (insects)
• The basic casts (roll cast, false casting, double haul)
• Basic fly types and fly selection.
• Basic fishing techniques (dry fly, dead-drift nymph, wet-fly swing, etc)
• Ethics and Etiquette

To sign-up call Bend Metro Parks and Rec. at: 389-7275

"I would appreciate hearing from any member that fished on the Columbia River and/or for Coho in Oregon"
- Steve Sheldon, 541-593-1546

BULLETIN BOARD is:
http://members2.boardhost.com/coflyfishers

E-MAIL is:
coflyfishers@hotmail.com

BEND:

• Deschutes River Outfitters, 61115 S. Hwy 97, 388-8191
• The Fly Box, 1293 NE 3rd St., 388-3330
• The Patient Angler, 55 NW Wall St., 389-6208
• Fly & Field Outfitters, 143 SW Century Dr, Suite A, 318-1616
• G.I. Joe’s, 63455 N. Hwy 97, 388-3773

CAMP SHERMAN:

• Camp Sherman Store, Camp Sherman, 595-6711

REDMOND:

• Cent Wise Sporting Goods, 498 SW 6th Street, 548-4422
• Central Oregon Outdoors, 1502 SW Odem, 504-0372

SISTERS:

• The Fly Fisher’s Place, 151 W. Main, 549-3474

SUNRIVER:

• The Hook Fly Shop, Sunriver Village Mall, Bldg. 21, 593-2358
• Sunriver Fly Shop, 56805 Venture Lane, 593-8814

MADRAS:

• Numb-Butt Fly Co., 380 N. Hwy 26, Madras, OR 97741, 325-5515

2002 COF Officers & Board Members

Officers

PRESIDENT - Phil Hager
VICE PRESIDENT - Dan Driskill
TREASURER - Viki Ramming
SECRETARY - Harry Harbin

Board Members

Art McEldowney
Ron Anderson
Bill Lundy
Gene McMullen
Tom Philiben
Harry Harbin
Dan Driskill
Vicki Ramming
Earl Rettig
Phil Hager
Hank Sailor
Mark Reisinger

COF Committees

AMBASSADORS - Doyle Goolsby
ANNUAL PICNIC - Bob Griffin
AWARDS - Rex Harrison, Don Johnston
BANQUET - Tom Philiben, Dennis McMahon
CONSERVATION - Tommie Speik
ENTOMOLOGY - John Anderson
FLY TYING EXPO - Bill Lundy, Dan Driskill
HISTORIAN - Rex Harrison
INSTRUCTION - Gordon Chandler
KOKANEE KARNIVAL YOUTH ED - Art McEldowney
LEGISLATIVE ACTIION - John Anderson
LIBRARIAN - Gordon Chandler
MEMBERSHIP - Phil Hager
NATIONAL FISHING DAY - T. Philiben, P. Hager
NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Tommie Speik
NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER - Tommie Speik
OREGON COUNCIL FFF - Dick Mayer
OUTINGS - Hank Sailor
PROGRAMS - Dave McNall, Gene McMullen
PUBLIC RELATIONS - Phil Hager, Harry Harbin
RAFFLES - Ken Stringer
WEBSITE - Gordon Chandler
WELCOME - Hank Sailor