Hatches & Rises January/February 2016 Volume V Number I Inside This Issue: Cabin Fever Upcoming Speakers 3 4, 5 President’s Beat 6 Allegheny Sports Show 7 Trout in the Classroom 8, 9 Meet the Leaders 10 Tri County Trout Club Sport Show 11 Membership Mend 12 Bar Flies 13 Fly of the Month 14 Raffle Information 15 Travel Back in Time... 16, 17 Member Photos 18 “Fishing the Slot—Winter on Elk Creek” Photo by Christian Shane Pho- Page 2 Hatches & Rises Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches and Rises Penn’s Woods West Trout Unlimited Pittsburgh, PA 15224 Whats Officers & Board of Directors Emerging: PO Box 90137 President: Dale Fogg (724) 759-1002 Vice President: Open Treasurer: Walter Reinemann (412) 963-2824 Secretary: Earl Morgan (412) 486-8558 Hatches & Rises Editor: Ken Crawford kwc1537@aol.com Program Director: Christian Shane christianshane72@hotmail.com Conservation Coordinator: Tom Walsh (412) 486-5356 Women’s Outreach: Leah Eggers flygirl_fish@yahoo.com Web Site Editor: Joe Birch (724) 816-1201 Membership: Chuck Buffington buffingtoncw@gmail.com (412) 388-1666 Additional Board Members: Chuck Meyers Rich Yurko Bridget Shields Rob Reeder Honorary Directors: Mac Seaholm Rich Bujak January 11, 2016—Membership Meeting Great Joe Kline Fly Sale—Grazies! January 16, 2016—Tri County Trout Club Show January 25, 2016—Bar Flies—Josh Miller February 8, 2016—Membership Meeting Ashley Wilmont—Wilderness Voyagers February 17-21, 2016—Allegheny Sports Show February 22, 2016—Bar Flies—Derek Hathazay March 6, 2016—Cabin Fever March 14, 2016—Membership Meeting Tom Doman Penns Creek Guide Service March 28, 2016—Bar Flies April 11, 2016—Membership Meeting Leo Vensel—PA Fly Fishing April 25, 2016—Bar Flies Hatches & Rises Online is published online 5 times yearly: Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, Sep/Oct, & Nov/Dec by Penn’s Woods West Trout Unlimited to enhance communication among members & share information with the public. H&R is supported by tax deductible underwriting and the group’s general fund. Views, opinions and advice contained herein do not necessarily reflect the position of PWWTU or its Board of Directors. Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Cabin Fever Page 3 by: Dale Fogg We have finally found a location for Cabin Fever 2016. After a search of several locations, we have landed at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry Township. The date is Sunday March 6th 2016, from 9:00am until 4:00pm. The usual venue, the Doubletree, is undergoing renovations this winter and is unavailable. The Marriott is a first class hotel with a nice restaurant as well. The Marriott will allow us to maintain our level of service, however, some things may change due to the different layout. We are excited to host Cabin Fever here this year. As always, we can always use some volunteers to help the day go smoothly. If you would like to volunteer, please email me dalefogg@comcast.net. We look forward to seeing you there. Over 60 Exhibitors including fly tiers, guide services, rod builders, fly shops, and rod & reel manufacturers. Informative seminars on fly fishing techniques. Fly casting demonstrations Fly tying demonstrations Raffles for great fly fishing equipment Flea market area for great deals on vintage tackle. Keynote Speaker: Greg Senyo— author, guide, fly innovator, steelhead expert Adults—$10, Children 12 and under—FREE For more information, or to buy tickets, check us out online at: www.pwwtu.org Page 4 Hatches & Rises Jan/Feb 2016 Meetings & Events January 11, 2016 – The 2016 Joe Kline Great Fly Sale Are you a fly tyer? by Christian Shane We need your skills, time, and donations for one of our biggest fund raising events of the year: The Joe Kline Great Fly Sale at our January 11th, 2016 Membership Meeting. Just tie up any fly patterns...we accept dries, wets, streamers and flies of all hooks and sizes. Bring your flies to any regular membership meeting in December or January to turn them in for the upcoming sale. Contact Christian Shane (412) 916-2979 for shipping instructions if you cannot attend the meetings. If you do not tie, but have some flies to donate to the sale, we can package them at the meetings as well. Thanks for making this fundraiser one of the best of the year for Penn’s Woods West. Are you stocking up your fly box? Wh Emer Support your chapter by purchasing flies from the Great Fly Sale on the evening of January 11th, 2016. For only $5.00, you can choose any half dozen flies from the sale. That’s less than a dollar per fly! At the January 11th meeting, flies will be available from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm during the regular meeting. The nifty plastic containers are even in- Of New cluded! So stop by Grazie’s Event Center in Wexford, have a drink at the bar, enjoy some The slate great tyers from our chapter, and check out the fly selection in January. Fly Tying Demos We have a several chapter members who have volunteered to demonstrate three totally different fly tying techniques at the January membership meeting: Bobby Heil—Bass Patterns Steve Slavonic—Woven Nymph Patterns Bill Nagle—CDC Patterns If you haven’t seen they guys tie before, they are three of the best tyers in our chapter. Come join us at Grazie! Event Center in Wexford. The meeting will start at 7 pm. Penn’s Woods West Trout Unlimited meets on the second Monday of every month from September through May, at Grazie Restaurant in Wexford. Grazie is located off Rte 19 North in the Oxford Athletic Club, 100 Village Club Drive. Meetings begin at 7 pm, Admission is free, All are welcome to attend! Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Page 5 Meetings & Events February 8, 2016— Ashley Wilmont—Wilderness Voyagers Guide Angling from a Female’s Perspective Ashley grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania where she fished for bass and pan fish with top water lures in farm ponds and, occasionally, pounded the surf for blue fish along the Atlantic Coast. She discovered fly fishing in her early teens and enjoyed casting as much as catching fish. In high school, she started the Frequent Flyers Fly Fishing Club and attended the Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp in Carlisle, PA. Now a graduate of Penn State University-Altoona with a B.A. in Environmental Studies, Ashley is employed at the Washington County Conservation District as an erosion control inspector and oversees the Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Road Program, which is a Trout Unlimited initiated program. For the past four years, Ashley has been a fly fishing guide and instructor for Wilderness Voyageurs (WV) in Ohiopyle, Pa. She enjoys introducing people to the sport through the WV Fly Fishing Intro Class / Fly Fishing Women’s Class and teaching the Joan Wulff fly casting method. She loves to share the mighty Youghiogheny (Yough) River with her clients on both float, bike, and wade trips. former WV fishing manager, Dale Kotowski, found out that she could fly fish, she worked as a a Before t ’ s whitewater guide on the Middle and Lower Yough. Her whitewater experience comes in handy when she navigates a 13ft raft with a fishing oar rig or wades through the technical river water to reach rging? hold-over rainbows. fficers e of Ashley also teaches the Fly Fishing 101 and 201 sessions for International Angler in Robinson, PA and is a fly fishing instructor for Casting for Recovery Western PA. A member of the Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited Chapter, she attributes her success as an angler to many days on the stream, many hours reading fishing books, and the guidance of her fly fishing mentors. Page 6 Hatches & Rises President’s Beat Jan/Feb 2016 By Dale Fogg Happy New Year!! The New Year is upon us, and Old Man Winter was slow to arrive, which was fine with me. The steelhead fishing was not as good as usual with low water this season, but there is a lot to look forward to. Cabin Fever is booked, and we are working diligently to make this year’s show a great success. PWWTU is a great organization that is making some real difference in the conservation arena. As we make our personal New Year’s Resolutions, I challenge you to include PWWTU in your plans for the year. Ask yourself how you can get involved or become more involved in our mission. There are many opportunities to become engaged in the chapter—being the guest tyer atBar Flies, participating in the Mentor Program or the Women’s Initiative, contributing to Hatches and Rises, supporting Trout in the Classroom or 5 Rivers Program and and working on Stream Conservation and clean up days—just to name a few. You don’t have to commit to a substantial leadership role to be involved, a two hour effort can make a difference. Our monthly meetings have had some exceptional speakers and been very well attended this year. Grazie’s has proven to be a great host and many members have been taking advantage of the fantastic food and beverage that they offer. The combination of the nice venue and great food has elevated our meetings to a new level. If you have not made it to a meeting I strongly encourage you to make it to one of them, you won’t be disappointed. As winter days get shorter, most of us will be tying more, trying to restock our fly boxes for the upcoming spring. Please join us at Bar Flies for a great evening out tying flies and connecting with other TU members. Looking forward to seeing you on the stream. Dale Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Allegheny Sport, Travel and Outdoor Show Page 7 by: Ken Crawford Penn’s Woods West will be showcasing our chapter at the Allegheny Sports Show in the Monroeville Convention Center from February 17th through February 21th, 2016. PWWTU will be at Booth 1209 on the following days/times: Wednesday, February 17th (3:00 pm – 9:00 pm) Thursday, February 18th (3:00 pm – 9:00 pm) Friday, February 19th (Noon – 9:00 pm) Saturday, February 20th (10:00 am – 9:00 pm) Sunday, February 21st (10:00 am—6:00 pm) If you are interested in working at the booth at any of these times, please contact Ken Crawford (724) 799-6604. We will be promoting the chapter and selling raffle tickets and the leftover flies from the January meeting. As a special feature, and to promote our Women’s Outreach initiative, we will be raffling off an Orvis Starter Fly Rod Outfit and one of the angler spots at the spring women’s outing, to females in attendance. The outfit is donated by the Allegheny Sports Show and Orvis. If you are attending the show, stop by the TU booth and greet some of your fellow PWWTU members! Also, two PWWTU members will be speaking throughout the show. Come support Dale Fogg, who will be speaking on Lake Erie Steelhead techniques. Please stay tuned for dates and times of the speakers. For more information visit: http://www.sportandtravel.com Many famous people are fly anglers… Did you know? Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, Bing Crosby, George HW Bush, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Neville Chamberlain, Grover Cleveland, Brad Pitt, Liam Neeson, and Henry Winkler (The “Fonz”) all are, or were, avid fly anglers. Page 8 Hatches & Rises Trout In the Classroom Jan/Feb 2016 By Christian Shane This year marks our tenth year of participating in the Trout in the Classroom project by raising trout within the classroom. Back in 2006, we were one of the original TIC participants who began with raising Rainbow Trout. A few years later, the PA Fish and Boat Commission and PA Trout moved to raising Brook Trout in the TIC program, a fitting species for our students to recognize as the official state fish. At McKnight Elementary in North Allegheny School District alone, I’ve done some math estimates on the impacts which some simple trout eggs in a hatching basket have made upon my students. Forgive that I’m a math-nerd and love running the numbers, but these estimated statistics should be something that our Penn’s Woods West Trout Unlimited is proud of accomplishing by supporting the TIC. Each year at the beginning of November, we receive between 200-300 brook trout eggs from the PA Fish & Boat Commission hatcheries to raise within our classroom aquariums, with about half of them surviving each year. Let’s say on average, 150 trout fry survive and are released in the spring by students. Doing the math, that’s over 150 kiddos learning about the trout life cycle and releasing a trout each year. Over a ten year period, this number grows to 1,500 students and families participating in cold water conservation. Now multiply that number by 300. This is the number of schools and clubs participating in the PA Trout in the Classroom project this school year. If your math skills are fuzzy, take 300 and multiply that by 1,500 to equal 450,000 participants in the TIC program statewide over the last ten years. Needless to say, that’s an astounding number of children and families participating in one of the things we hold dear as a Trout Unlimited chapter. Nature isn't always perfect as this two headed trout demonstrates. Another good lesson for the children to observe. Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Page 9 As we continue our TIC experiment this school year, our trout have made it through the tougher survival stages of the Brook Trout life cycle. We’ve had some amazing years of releases with over 300+ trout, and the tank bursting with life. In other years, the water quality has been poor or the food has created some problems with bacteria, lowering our survival rates. However, all the TIC seasons share one thing in common: we’ve always labeled this as an ecosystem experiment while learning more about cold water conservation. This December in 2015, our miniscule trout fry are now feeding at the surface, navigating the trout tank, and growing by the day. My students and I will observe their parr marks changing, their fins brightening, and their interesting behaviors. Of course, when the spring rolls around in 2016, we will hopefully have our annual Trout Release at North Park! In the meantime, when the students have gone home and classroom is quiet, I listen to the water cascading into the tank and the equipment running. While observing these little trout swimming, I wonder about the possibilities which ten more years of trout and learning from our TIC project could bring… Unless a man makes a fly to counterfeit that very fly in that place, he is like to lose his labour… Three or four flies neat and rightly made and not too big, Serve for a trout in most rivers, all the summer - Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler Page 10 Hatches & Rises Thank You Walter Reineman!! Jan/Feb 2016 By Ken Crawford Walter was recognized at the November Membership meeting for serving for the past ten years as chapter president. How long have you been fishing? How did you get started? By mid summer 1981, I was still an unemployed, recent college graduate. With nothing better to do, I bummed out West with two friends, and spent a few days in Yellowstone. With no experience, and using my uncle’s borrowed gear, I landed my first rainbow on Lewis Lake - on a dry no less. From there, I settled in Steamboat Springs CO for eight years, camping and fishing much of Northwest Colorado. Thankfully, I had many mentors and friends that showed me how and where to fish. How long have you been involved in TU? I joined TU in 1989 when I returned to the Pittsburgh area. My first conservation project was an acid mine remediation project on Slippery Rock Creek. At some point, with help from Carlos Escalante and Bill Hayes, I organized Cabin Fever at the Palace Inn in Monroeville. Tell us a little about yourself outside of Trout Fishing? Outside of family, I enjoy volunteering for the Boy Scouts, and Pace School in Churchill. Anytime I can get out in the woods is a priority. It is amazing how many opportunities we have in Pennsylvania to get outside and enjoy ourselves. At a recent stream-side board meeting, Walter was tasked with bringing lunch supplies. He did ok with the food, but neglected to pack any silverware. A Craftsman screwdriver was improvised to complete the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Walter accepts the chapter’s gift of a personalized Abel reel from Dale Fogg at the November meeting. Walter served diligently as the chapter president for the past ten years. Thanks again Walter!! Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Tri County Trout Club Sport Show Page 11 by: Ken Crawford The Annual Tri-County Trout Club Sport Show / Flea Market will be heldon Saturday, January 16th, 2016 at the Arnold #2 Volunteer Fire Department Training and Social Center - 1702 Fifth Avenue, Arnold, PA 15068, commonly known as their Bingo Hall. The show hours are the same as last year, from 9am to 2pm. There is a municipal parking lot at the end of the block and lots of on street parking in the area. If you are not familiar with this show, members will present their new, slightly used, and second hand gear in a flea market style venue. You can purchase anything related to hunting, fishing, camping, trapping or other outdoor sports (NO FIREARMS). At past shows there have been free bamboo fly rod appraisals, turkey call makers, collectible books and magazines, custom fishing lures, vintage and new bamboo fly rods, graphite and fiberglass spinning and fly rods, vintage lures and tackle, fly tying materials, old hunting and fishing licenses, hand tied flies from local makers, and even turtle soup for sale. The lineup of sellers varies from year to year, so you never know what you will find. However, anyone who participates in outdoor sports will find some bargains and unique items. Hot food and refreshments are available, too. Contact Steve Hegedus, President, Tri-County Trout Club for details, or if you are interested in having a table at the event. Email: pabrookie@gmail.com Page 12 Hatches & Rises Membership Mend Jan/Feb 2016 by Charles Buffington A recent training session by Jeff Yates, Directory of Volunteer Services for the home office of TU, pointed out the good and the bad of using email as the primary tool for Chapter communication. It’s fast, easy, and inexpensive...who could ask for more from the sending end. We routinely send Constant Contact messages and meeting announcements to about 1200 PWW TU members and other interested people. Our "open rate" averages around 45% which is very good by national standards (average around 25%). So far, so good...about half of our chapter members are at least opening the message and hopefully find it interesting and informative. BUT, what about the other half of our members and what about those for whom we have no valid email addresses? If you are reading this and wondering why you don't get email meeting announcements, please consider these issues: Our primary email address list comes from the national TU. They may not have your email address or it may be entered incorrectly. Get online, go to TU.ORG and check your email address. Correct it if necessary. Messages sometimes end up in a "promotions" or spam or “auto delete” folder. Check for PWW TU messages in these folders and drag one to your inbox. Future messages should show up in your inbox. Another way to get into the mailing list is to contact me directly: Buffingtoncw@gmail.com Remember that the Web Page (PWWTU.org) has up to date information about chapter activities. A few print newsletters are available at the monthly chapter meetings also. Become a Contributor to Hatches and Rises If you would like to write an article on fishing, fly tying, trout, or share a picture, fishing tip, or write a short story, we welcome your contribution. Contact Ken Crawford to discuss at kwc1537@aol.com Jan/Feb 2016 Barflies Hatches & Rises Page 13 By: Ron Milavec Barflies is the chapter’s fly tying night. Barflies is held at Grazie’s in Wexford (same place that we hold our meetings), starting at 7 pm (earlier if you want to grab a bite to eat) on the fourth Monday of the month, from September through April. This is an informal session. If you are just starting out, or an intermediate tier, this is a great, low pressure way to learn new skills, improve your craft, and hopefully catch more fish! And it’s FREE! Bring your tying vise, tools, a lamp (lighting in the room is not very bright) and extension. If you do not have a vise and tools, you can share mine. Each month, a featured tyer demonstrates a fly. The club supplies hooks and materials so that you can tie several of the flies. We use a video camera so that you can follow the tying steps on the big screen. At the November tie, Christian Shane tied the Furled Alevin and Ultra Egg plus talked about other flies that represent different stages of a brook trout’s life cycle (see pages 14-15 in Nov/Dec 2015 Hatches & Rises). We had 13 tyers and several onlookers in attendance. The December tie was not held due to the holidays. On January 25, competitive angler Josh Miller will be demonstrating how to tie Competition Style Flies. These flies are heavily weighted, typically with tungsten beads, and have very slim profiles to penetrate the water and really get down and dirty. They are used with Euro style nymphing techniques. On February 22, Derek Hathazy will be demonstrating how to spin deer hair flies. This technique can be difficult to do effectively. Spun deer hair is used on popular flies such as the Muddler Minnow, the Rat Faced McDougall, and of course, deer hair bass poppers. A special thanks to Derek for donating his flies for our annual raffle. Page 14 Hatches & Rises Jan/Feb 2016 January Fly of the Month Wal*Mart Wooly Bugger This pattern uses non-traditional materials for an old stand-by pattern. Other colors can be used as desired. February Fly of the Month Hook: Long shank, sizes 6-10. Thread: Black Kevlar, 3/0. Weight: .20 or .25 Lead or No-Lead Round Wire Tail: Black Craft Fur, 1-1/2 times the hook shank length. Body: Black Chenille, medium. Hackle: Purple Craft Fur, with sparse Pearl Flashabou mixed in, in a dubbing loop. Collar – Purple Guinea Feather Zebra Midge—2 Variations Try this pattern using olive thread and copper wire and bead. Hook: Scud #14-20 Thread: Gray, Black, Olive Tail: Grizzly hackle or Squirrel tail Body: Black thread. Ribbing: Fine Silver wire. Wing: Krystal flash. Head: Black thread. Win this 12 foot Tenkara Rod in the PWWTU Annual Raffle! Hook: Scud #14-20 Thread: Gray, Black, Olive Tail: None Body: Black thread Ribbing: Fine Silver wire Wing: Ostrich Herl Head: Silver bead (Tenkara Rods are Telescoping Rods) Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Page 15 Penn’s Woods West Annual Raffle by Charles Cantella In a departure from years past when we would raffle off one gift per raffle, we’ve decided to shake things up a bit this year. This year, for one ticket, you will have a chance at one of five gifts. (Once a ticket wins a prize, it is removed from the drawing). The five gifts are: 1. A print from Montana artist, Teshia Purchase Raffle Tickets Online at: www.PWWTU.Org 2. Gift Certificates to Dick’s Sporting Goods Payments via: 3. Streamer package, including flies by On The Fly 4. Gift cards to Wholey’s Wild Alaskan Grille 5. Tenkara rod by Uintah Fly Shop Another twist is that there will be no “first prize, second prize, etc”. Instead the drawing will be “double blind,” meaning we will draw a prize, and then draw the winner of that prize. Each $10 ticket you buy gives you a chance at one of five prizes! But in order to make this our most successful raffle ever, we need everyone to help us sell tickets. Since everyone loves to win, we also will have prizes for the person selling the winning tickets, so be sure to fill out the “seller info” on the ticket stubs. Each ticket you sell, gives you a chance at winning a seller prize. Tickets have been stapled into packets of 10 for ease of handling. Packets will be available at our meetings, or by contacting myself or one of the officers. Please remember that we couldn’t have put this together without the generosity of our donators, I urge you to consider supporting the businesses and people that support us. Page 16 Hatches & Rises Travel back in time to Manchester Jan/Feb 2016 By: Dale Fogg This summer I spent a week in Manchester, VT. It was a family vacation that included a good amount of fishing as well. Manchester is an old town with a great fly fishing history. Charles F. Orvis founded the Orvis Company there in 1856. The flagship retail store, as well as their rod factory are still in Manchester. I was able to take a tour of the rod factory and see how they make their higher end fly rods by hand. They also still make bamboo rods there. Unfortunately, photography inside the factory was not allowed. It was really great to see some American made fly fishing products. I also learned that Orvis donated 5% of their pre-tax profits back to environmental organizations, and TU has been a large benefactor of this program. Just across the parking lot from the Orvis retail store is the American Museum of Fly Fishing. The museum hosts a large amount of fly fishing history in its collection. There are numerous famous fly rods and reels, and a huge display of plates of flies. The salmon flies were quite impressive. Some of the famous anglers’s gear on display included John Quincy Adams, Babe Ruth and Bing Crosby’s fly rod, reel, fly box, hat and pipe. Included in the museum was a very large library of old and unusual fly fishing books for sale, I was able to pick up a few new titles for my collection. Jan/Feb 2016 Hatches & Rises Page 17 The local river is the Battenkill, it runs right through town and is a fantastic small to mid-sized stream. It flows from just north of Manchester through some rural areas and into New York. I would get on the water at daybreak, as it was summer and the water was lower and slightly warmer than normal. Dry dropper techniques worked the best. The stream was beautiful, with covered bridges and very few other anglers. I saw small tan caddis and stoneflies all around. Other than the Orvis store, the local General Stores were the best bet for good information and a cup of coffee. Another point of interest in Manchester was Hildene. Hildene is the former home of Robert Todd Lincoln, President Lincoln’s only child to live into adulthood. He was an attorney and became the president of Pullman Rail Car Company. He had visited VT once and fell in love with it, so he purchased 500 acres. He had his home, Hildene, built on the property and made that his summer home. The home is now a museum and is quite impressive to say the least. Manchester VT is a great town with many great places to stay. The fishing is great and there is also so much to do outside of fishing that the whole family will have a great time. If you’re looking for a nice getaway that is less touristy, try Manchester, it’s like a step back in time. Page 18 Hatches & Rises Jan/Feb 2016 Member Photos Scenes from the October Bar Flies Event Red Headed Step Children Christian Shane and Peter TenEyck with a Cattaraugus Double Header Trophy Pike by Walter Reinemann ‘Til Next Time…. …..Tight Lines!