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Typically, New Year's Eve is spent in celebration with family and friends, in an atmosphere of high spirits (emotional and often liquid), followed on New Year's Day by hangovers, good food, and a full slate of football games. Right? Well, not by me this year! I spent New Year's Eve in a tent, (something I swore I would never do again after my stint in Desert Storm) and when the new year rang in, I had already been asleep for about two hours. Further, instead of spending New Year's Day glued to the tube watching football, I spent it in a canoe in the Collier-Seminole State Park in southern Florida, where I hooked, landed, and released my first ever tarpon on a fly. What a great way to start the new year! I also hasten to add, so that you don't get the impression that this is some really outstanding feat, that the tarpon was not one that Billy Pate would brag about but was actually rather small. Well, in fact it was very small (about 10 pounds), but it was a tarpon and it was my first ever tarpon (and, as it turned out, only tarpon). So what, you may ask, is the big deal? Allow me to try to explain:

One of the really neat aspects of our sport is the number of different directions one can take to enhance their enjoyment. Like many others, I started my fishing career as a bait fisher. At some point, I think during my high school days, I switched to artificial lures; first for trout, and later, when I moved to Missouri, for bass. It really wasn't until about 14 years ago that I even tried fly fishing. With the discovery of how exciting fly fishing can be, I was bitten hard by the fly fishing bug. I ultimately learned to build my own fly rods from commercially available components, to tie my own flies, and to design and tie my own leaders. I fished for trout because trout were what fly fishers were supposed to fish for. I became a regular at the Missouri State trout parks, and later at such places as Lake Taneycomo and the North Fork of the White River in Missouri, and the White and Norfork Rivers in Arkansas. In 1984, I even started an annual ritualistic return to fly fishing Mecca: the great trout streams of Montana. In my eyes, I had become a fly fisher through and through.

Ultimately, I "discovered" that you could also catch bass and sunfish on a fly and a whole new vista was opened. Dave Whitlock, Jack Ellis, Duane Hada, and other great warm water fly fishers have done much to promote warm water fly fishing and I soon became one of their followers. I found that there is a world of difference between the subtle sip of a trout taking a dry fly and the explosion of a bass on a deer hair bug and that both are exciting in different ways. And then this year I experienced salt water fly fishing for the first time and found that it too was very exciting. The fish are so strong and there is such a great variety to be caught. And thus I have reached another plateau in my personal fly fishing experiences.

This takes us back to the original premise: that there is a number of different directions you can take with this sport. What I have found is that not only is my level of enjoyment enhanced by fly fishing for "all fish in all waters," but that, I believe, I have also increased my fishing abilities. The skills necessary for stalking a snook in shallow, gin-clear salt water can certainly be applied to trout fishing, and the techniques used to cast big wind-resistant bass bugs can certainly help when it comes to windy saltwater flats. In other words, by expanding my horizons, I would like to think that I have increased my abilities, and I know for certain that I am having more fun.

May I offer a suggestion? Use 1996 as a year in which you too expand your horizons. If you fish only for trout, try bass and bluegill, snook and tarpon. If you haven't already, experience the pleasure of catching fish on a rod that you built and on a fly that you tied. Don't limit your experience and thus the pleasure you can realize from that experience. Make 1996 your best year yet.

Happy New Year!

Steve Jensen

Editorial comments and material should be sent to the Editor, STEVE FRITZ, 435 East 63rd Terrace, Kansas City, Mo. 64110.

Changes of address should be mailed to the Southern Council's VP for Membership, LARRY NOTLEY, 7235 Syracuse Drive, Dallas, Tx. 75214.

Advertising inquiries and correspondence should be directed to the Southern Council's VP for Development, BILL STALL, PO Box 728, Gibsland, La. 71208.

Longcasts is printed and mailed by ED REED, Reed Printing and Supply Company, Inc., PO Box 605, 619 South Brindlee Mountain Parkway, Arab, Al. 35016.

by Duane Kelly, V.P. for Conservation

The principles of ecology are not difficult to understand. The pyramid of life shows dependencies of and requirements for all life. At any one level, life forms need all the elements below their level on the pyramid, but none of those above (draw a pyramid). From the bottom of the pyramid, the first level will consist of water, air, soil and sun light. The next level above, will be bacteria, followed by consecutive steps to the top of your pyramid, by plants, herbivores, primary carnivores, secondary carnivores, and ?man (all steps after the first step, are referred to as decomposers).

Some put humans at the top of the pyramid. This makes our ego feel good, but of more importance, shows our vulnerability, rather than omnipotence. If we are as intelligent as species as we like to think we are, how can we rationalize polluting air, water, and soil? Some would try to rationalize in terms of money. Compare the values you set for those in your pictures to the money, and think.

Two very simple principles of ecology would clarify and help us resolve many problems. The first is reproductive potential. To illustrate, start this spring with one male and one female house fly. If every egg laid hatched, and if every hatchling matured, mated and laid eggs, etc., etc., through the whole season, before freeze-up, the earth would be covered solid three feet deep with house flies.

This doesn't happen because of the second principle, carrying capacity. A given area will support life of any kind only to a limit. It may be possible to temporarliy exceed that limit, but the price is degradation of the environment or habitat of the area. There is still no free lunch. Among the limiting factors are weather, lack of food, water, and cover, disease, and predation. In my opinion, the human population is now beyond the sustainable carrying capacity that will allow sport fishing, except possibly for a very few very rich. Look at your pictures and try to articulate how this came to be.

I find it impossible to explain how a species as intelligent as we claim to be, didn't officially agree before the 1994 U.N. Conference on Population, in Cairo, that resource degradation, pollution, and population are related.

Another bit of hubris is the concept of waste--it's an entirely human concept. There is no waste in nature. Consider: If there were waste, we would be buried in it since the beginning of life, 3-4 billion years ago. Waste usually means "I can't make money on it, so I'll throw it away." But "away" is often in somebody's backyard who wishes you would keep your waste in your own yard, and when the natural recycling starts, it sometimes ends up in the environment/food chain, poisoning us in one way or another. Being at the top of the pyramid of life is not without its risks. How shall we explain these ideas to those who depend on us?

One of the most difficult things we do is make decisions. Many people struggle with something as simple as ordering a meal in a restaurant, and then they often change their mind. It is extremely important to realize that the results of the decisions based on ignorance, stupidity, and evil are the same. Ignorance is simply not knowing. We are all born ignorant. Stupidity is when we make mistakes in spite of knowing better. Evil is the result of stupidity that hurts others. Decisions range in severity of consequence from mild, to life threatening, to habitat threatening. The potential for good or bad is tremendous. The decisions made in Washington, D.C. these days are considerably heavier than whether to start a day on the creek with a dry or a wet. These decisions will determine, in some instances, whether there are any fish left in the creek to fish for.

If you believe in prayer, pray for wisdom for the decision makers. They are in positions of power and they can cause quick damage that may not be undone in our lifetime. Look again at the pictures and formulate as intelligent rationale for trashing the environment, as some propose. Then study the money and see if you can make it more valuable than the environment. I can't.

The art of setting policy we call politics. We need policy--what's allowed and what's not, --who is responsible for doing what, and in what sequence. Social animals need to cooperate or they become something strangely other than what they were meant to be. When the ego takes precedence over reason, and money (profit) becomes more important than the environmental basis for life, the situation becomes weirdly unrealistic, --and dangerous.

We all understand politicians want their way, even if it's not for the general welfare. They want you to agree with them, but will go around, over, or through you if you can't agree. As a last resort, they try to compromise. Compromise works for many situations, but politicians have yet to learn (at our expense) that the natural world cannot be compromised without paying a price. There is no free lunch,--even for those who think they are important.

The importance of this point cannot be over emphasized. We are dealing with the human habitat. Check the pictures once again, and see if you think any reasoning can support dollar/profit over clean air, clean water, clean soil, rich, diverse grasslands, forests, and stocks of wildlife. When dollars become more important than life itself, I fail to comprehend. How do we compromise, for instance, drinking water standards? How much sewage are we to compromise into our drinking water? None for me, and none for anyone I've talked to. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow that. Could they sell it to those whose pictures you're looking at?

A vote is a grass roots decision. We have a little over six months to educate our friends and families to the potential danger the people in our legislative halls--local, state, and national--pose to the environment, and the way we live--on into the future. Understand, and make those in your pictures understand, we can vote however we want to, but there is no compromise--we will live with the results.

by Tracie Maler, Mid-South Fly Fishers

We are very pleased to have both of these speakers, and hope you will all learn a thing or two from them.

Conclave 1996 will have a heavy concentration on Outreach for Women and Children, so when completing your registration form, in August, please be sure to include the entire family.

Donald Dunn, of the Mid-South Fly Fishers has agreed to chair this year's auction. We have received a few donation items so far and are ready for your! Send us fly fishing items that you received for Christmas that you already had, or that you really don't need or want. While you're snowed in and bored, how about tying some flies for the raffle and silent auction??? Now is the time to start. You may send your donation items to: Donald Dunn, at 3891 Lost Shadows Cove, Memphis, Tn. 38128.

If you have any leads or contact information on donation items, you may contact:

Donald Dunn (901) 386-5274

Tracie Maler (901) 757-2383

Mark Lipsius (901) 386-8215

from Tight-Lines, the newsletter of the Northeast Arkansas Flyfishers...

We accomplished much last year and 1996 offers us challenges and opportunities yet to be told. All of us face similar situations. Together, we can do more, learn more, teach more and become better fishers, become more wise concerning conservation and other subjects.

Upon these pages, we have seen how some would encroach upon what we take for granted. We should look for ways to keep this from happening, to take up for our and everyone's rights as sportmen and sportswomen.

It will not be easy, identify and solving problems,setting and attaining goals, but a saying that's passed around so often as to have become author-less and a cliche', but is nonetheless true runs this way: "May your reach exceed your grasp." We hope all of us , individually and as a club, will reach much, much farther than we can actually grasp. And, in doing so, will be inspired to try even harder.

According to Patterson, seventy-five percent of the 25 participants had never seen a trout, and 90 percent had never fished for them. Club information has it that the day's activities, which were filmed and will be aired on ESPN, will also appear of Jerry Mckinnis' Fishin' Hole.

by Fred Bunch, Texas Flyfishers

After I tied my first soft-hackled flies, I daydreamed often of being on the waters in and around Yellowstone National Park where Sylvester often fishes the sparse green, orange, and yellow creatures.

Recently, I tied some nymphs using a woven-body pattern andvarious micro-dubbing materials. I like being able to blend the fifferent colors, creatinig buggy-looking nymphs with properly colored bodies and thoraxes. I am excited about the technique, and look forward to testing the patterns in Yellowstone. But, since I won't be able to go for several months, I can only hold the flies in my hand and daydream.

I dropped some of the flies into a clear-plastic film canister one day, plunked it into my pocket and went to work. During a boring midday meeting, I remembered them, sneaked my hand into my pocket and pulled out the canister. I was mentally transported to the cold, thigh-deep waters of Yellowstone's Firehole River, watching the fly swing into a riffle and sensing the sudden, jarring take by a trout!

As the meeting dragged on, I didn't care because I was in Montana, Nymph fishing with my little creations. From that day, I have continued to carry around some kind of fly--maybe one I tied that day--or just something to give me that vicarious feeling of fishing when I'm really at work.

Soon, I began to think of the flies in that small container as little works of art. Not that my tying is anything close to art, but it is from my hand and mind, gives me pleaslure, and fools the fish.

The soft-hackled ones are reminiscent of Japanese brush paintings--sparse, thin strokes, just the bare necessities needed for art. Some patterns are bright and bold like a Vincent Van Gogh. My saltwater creations are reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, who would just fling the paints upon the canvas, letting art create itself.

I make this comparison because I first started tying saltwater stuff at Dave Hayward's bachelor pad on Wednesday nights. He always yells at me, "Dammit, BUNCH--just grab a handful of material and tie it on. You're not tying one of those sissy trout flies!"

Mind you, I have discovered I'm not alone in this little portable-fly quirk. Recently, some of us were standing around after a club meeting. I pulled out my travelling dream box to show off a creation, and darned if two of the group didn't have some sort of secret fly box, too.

I wonder how many others share my art-in-the-pocket quirk?

by Dan Sexton, Southwest Missouri Fly Fishers

During the heat of summer on my favorite reservoir, big bluegills patrol flooded willows along the shoreline. The reason is the large mumbers of small shad seeking refuge in the flooded vegetation. The big bluegills are clearly visible as they rush into small schools of shad.

I've used small Clouser Minnows and really nailed these fish. Time after time, a quick cast with my four-weight is rewarded with a savage attack on the briskly moving streamer. It's a lot of fun, yet so few fly fishers ever try it here in my Ozark homewaters.

My favorite all 'round streamer for bream is a Clouser in sizes 8-12. the bucktail on these flies should be fine and soft. Most bucktails have thick, stiff hair, and looking through several tails to find the soft hair needed on smaller streamers is important.

Another particularly deadly pattern is a white marabou streamer with a silver tinsel body. Fish it with short, erratic twitches just under the surface for a real thrill. I love to watch the line and leader quickly straighten as a big bream intercepts the fly. Often, I don't even have to set the hook because these little devils attack so aggressively that they hook themsleves.

My third favorite pattern is a tiny white zonker. The rabbit-fur wing really pulsates, and even finicky bluegills hit it with gusto. You should never be without a good supply of these.

Tie up a few of these small streamers for this summer's bream action on the big lakes. You might find the same enjoyment I do at playing these scrappy little battlers on light tackle.

Actually, it doesn't matter whether you're fishing ponds, streams, or large impoundments. Big bluegills eat streamers with plenty of enthusiasm everywhere. Fished fast, slow, shallow or deep, streamers catch fish when other flies won't. They're the most versatile patterns around for all kinds of gamefish.

by Fred Bunch, Texas Flyfishers

Since she had never fished before, and the wind was getting stronger and the clouds blacker, I felt there wasn't time enough to teach her how to flycast. So, being a resourceful fellow, I rummaged through my fishing truck, a 1989 Bronco, and found some worms and a spincasting rod. Actually, I had planned ahead for this trip for some time. That's why the bait stuff was in the truck. Really.

I also found a rain jacket that was much too large for her small frame, and the sleeves hung well past her hands. The thing looked like a collapsed circus tent. But it would have to do, because a light rain was beginning to fall.

She had no idea how to hang the worm on the hook, and gave it a bit of an "I don't really want to touch that thing" look, so I rigged it for her. I showed her how to hang the line on her index finger and flick the bail of the open-faced spincasting reel, and demonstrated the proper way to cast. Then I handed it over to her.

She forgot to cock the reel the first time, and the worm went flying into the lake, where a big sunfish promptly ate it loudly, for an unexpected brunch. The next time, her hand was shaking and her fingers were a bit stiff, so I helped her cast and told her how to watch the bobber for a strike. A fish took the worm and started to drag it iinto a moss bed. By the time she struck, the fish had taken the worm home to the family.

Now it was beginning to rain--not hard, but steadily. In the distance, there was was low, grumbling thunder. I asked if she wanted to quit. She shook her head and replied with a firm "no."

I laced on a third worm, and she made another cast to the hole in the hydrilla. The contraption hit the water with a loud splash, and I remembered why I like to fly fish. The soft, quiet, lifelike presentations that are hopefully pleasant not only for the fish but also for the angler sure beat that awful two-ounces-of-lead sound as it pounds a hole into the water. If I were a fish, and saw and heard a commotion such as that, I'd run like the dickens for the nearest deep hole!

Well, the yellow-and-red bobber disappeared and the lady, who looks like a good breeze would blow her into the lake, set the hook and had a bass on. Cranking the reel as fast as wet, slippery, nervous hands could, she dragged the fish and a pound or so of vegetation to the edge of the lake. I slid down the wet, geassy bank and removed the hydrilla so it wouldn't break the light-filament line. She hoisted up a pound-and-a-half bass.

Her eyes beamed, and the rainwater trickled down the furrows that age had left on her beautiful face. "It's beautiful. I've always wanted to catch a fish," she said quietly, but no one had ever "had the time."

I'll never forget the look in her eyes and the smile on her face as she touched that fish. She looked like a kid again. My 70-year-old mother had just caught her first fish.

May 3-5, 1996

The show is billed as being for the whole family. There is plenty of fishable river frontage, and classes are to be scheduled with the beginner in mind, though advanced classes will be offered as well.

Bob Miller is an active member of the Alamo Fly Fishers. For further information, he can be reached at 210-895-4348.

by John Berry

Germantown High School, located two miles from our meeting site, began a study of the Wolf River, which flows through Memphis. The study of the Wolf from its pristine headwaters to its polluted confluence with the Mississippi, will include two other local high shcools, East and Moscow. Club conservation director Bill Pickens has put together an overseeing commission composed of representatives from the University of Memphis, Shelby County Board of Education, Memphis Board of Education, Tenn. Valley Authority, Tenn. Wildlife Resources Agency, Tenn. Depts. of Agriculture and Education.

Future developments will be reported as they occur. Everyone here is excited by this opportunity to show the scope of our conservation efforts.

Update Your Club Information!

by Hod McIntosh, V.P. for Communication

Alas! If only the aforementioned statements were true! One way to make them closer to reality, is to fill out this club profile. Since club officers change from time to time, usually around the first of the year, and since communication is facilitated by having the correct contact person to begin with, it follows that the filling out of a new club profile each year, and attaching a current club roster to it before mailing it to the Council will make at least some of the things mentioned in the preceding paragraph more of a reality.

To get a Council newsletter to each of your club members, please send your club roster (please update the addresses) to: V.P of Membership Larry Notley, 7235 Syracuse Dr., Dallas Tx.75214 To get correspondence from the council to the correct person in your club, please send your roster and club profile to: V.P. of Communication Hod McIntosh, 6666 Woodson Dr., Mission, Ks.66202

To get a mention in the Council newsletter of your club's project, please send information (it does not have to be a finished story) to: Longcasts Editor Steve Fritz, 435 E. 63rd. Terrace, Kansas City, Mo.64110

In the best of all possible worlds, no communication problem exists. Things run better. Everyone is happy. Fish bite better!

May there be a fish on your line, and may your new roster be safely in the hands of your Council. Tight lines.

by Bill Brant, Heart of America Fly Fishers

For those of you who have been fishing out in the wilderness for several years, let me briefly explain the Internet. Several computers in an office or factory could all be tied together electronically into a network. This would allow them to communicate and share data files or programs. If you electronically interconnect several thousand of these networks along with several thousand (million?) of other individual computers you get the Internet. This network has been configured in a way that permits individuals or companies to create a collection of information consisting of text and pictures, called a homepage. An organization's homepage (also called page) is stored on the organization's own computer. From this location it can be viewed by others while sitting at their own computers. The really great thing is that it is incredibly easy for someone to find homepages that are published by others. Several organizations maintain lists of homepages that can be searched, based on the subject. Lets say you log onto the Internet and want to investigate flyfishing, no problem. The first time (well maybe the second time) I logged onto the Internet I tried to find out more about flyfishing. Within 5 minutes I found a listing of all of the FFF clubs in Missouri, including the one in Kansas City that I joined a few years ago. Another wonderful feature is that many of the homepages have what are called links. Links are easily used instructions that can take you to a different homepage. For example, if you view the Southern Council page, you will see a link to the FFF homepage. Click on it, and now you are viewing the FFF homepage. As you look through it, you will see perhaps a link to the Northeastern Council of the FFF. Click on it and now you are viewing their homepage. It's like having a TV remote control with an unlimited number of channels! Thats what people mean when they refer to surfing the net.

Lets talk about who our homepage will address. One possible audience is someone who has heard little or nothing about the FFF. A person sitting at their computer in, lets say Dallas, TX has an interest in flyfishing. After surfing for a few minutes they come to our homepage and they learn about us. Then they go to the section that has a description of all of our clubs. They read about the Dallas Flyfishers, and maybe decide to join. Another audience is existing members. Maybe someone is traveling to another city and wants to join some of the local club's activities. Maybe someone wants a current update on the details of the conclave. Maybe someone wants to find out about the flyrods that the council has available for teaching. There are lots of possibilities.

The content of our homepage will evolve over time. One thing that it will not have in the beginning is fancy graphics and gizmos like many other pages. I wanted to get something published quickly, graphics and gizmos take time so they will come later. What topics will it contain? It will have a description of the Southern Council, a list of the officers, and a calendar of events. It will have information on conservation, education, communication, development, and membership. It will have updates on th e conclave. It will contain a description of each club in the council. Much of this information in our page will come from you. Send me information on your club and I will publish it. Include the things that you want others to know about such as when and where your meetings are held, what you do for fun, who to contact. Try to limit the quantity to maybe half of a page or so. Are you planning any major events? It would take too much time to keep track of every meeting that every club has throughout the year. We will probably just include events of a caliber that would attract persons from out of the immediate area of the event. If you send documents that are very large, keep in mind that I don't type particularly fast. Information that is sent via EMAIL or mailed on a disk in a format that can be read by Wordperfect or MS Word will receive priority.

Now let me share the particulars. The Internet address for our homepage is: http://www.sky.net/ ~flyfish/ The Internet EMAIL address is: flyfish@sky.net. The address for the FFF homepage is http://www.wsa.com/ool/fff/clubs.html My mailing address is: Bill Brant, 2120 Red Bridge Terr, Kansas City, MO 64131. Feel free to send any questions or comments in addition to any information for posting on the homepage.

by Chuck Tryon, Ozark Fly Fishers

Think about it, everybody. The Southern Council doesn't exist by magic. New clubs don't form and join by magic. Conclaves and newsletters don't happen by magic. The money to finance conservation scholarships and projects doesn't appear by magic. And, heaven knows, the bills don't get paid by magic. Nope--it takes at least a few dedicated people to make the Southern Council run.

Chuck Tryon From Missouri (phone 573-364-5509) is heading up the search for folks willing to serve. George Harmeling from Memphis (phone 901-789-3967) and Brian Camp from Fort Worth (phone 817-246-0553) are helping. George and Brian are less bashful about asking for your help than Chuck is.

If you're willing to help without being asked first, please give Chuck, George, or Brian a call. Or, if you'd rather we seek you out somehow, please respond favorably when at last we find you. We're especially desperate for a Treasurer and Membership VP, and there are other positions, too.

Thanks, folks. We'll keep you posted.

(Desperately!)

Donations for the 1996 Southern Council Conclave

Please Help Make This Year's October Gathering the Best Ever!

Why Leave Any New Equipment You Don't Need Laying Around?

Put It to Use! Don't Let It Attract Dust!

Send Your Contributions to:

Donald Dunn

3891 Lost Shadows Cove

Memphis, Tn. 38128

Donate! Donate!