Long Casts

The Prez Sez

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by Mark Van Patten, President

Late in November, a couple years ago, I had just settled into my recliner and shed the shoes from my tired feet, when the phone rang. I answered with the usual "hello," to an operator babbling something about a relay call. I had no idea what she was talking about, and let her know that I didn't. I was informed that a relay call is a way for hearing impaired folks to talk on the phone.

The deaf person types a message on a screen that the operator reads, and then reads out loud to the recipient of the call. The recipient then answers directly to the operator, who types out the response, which in turn is read by the hearing impaired person on their screen. It is a fairly easy procedure, although the call usually lasts a little longer than normal. The amount of time it takes, depends on the typing speed of the caller and the relay operator. Anyway, on with the story.

The relay call was from an excited Mike Butler, a local from our town who had been fly fishing for a number of years. Mike had heard about a new fly fishing club forming in Jefferson City, and wanted to know more about it.

Well, Mike became a regular member of the Capital City Fly Fishers, and it soon became apparent that he had a natural talent for tying beautiful flies. At one of our monthly meetings, Mike asked me to teach a fly tying class at the Missouri School For The Deaf, in Fulton, Missouri. There isn't much to be said about that first fly tying class. The students were all very patient with my inability to communicate and smiled appreciatively at my attempts to do so(I can't sign).

Mike realized that if anyone was going to teach this class successfully, it would have to be him. Over the next year and a half Mike taught the fly tying class. Never once did he come to his club and ask for financial help. All equipment and materials he supplied on his own. Mike is disabled from a work related injury and receives... well, his income is obviously limited.

Chapter 2

Over the past couple of years I have discovered a great bunch of fly fishers on the internet. The people who subscribe to the list are from all corners of the world. (this must mean the world is square.) One of the members of the fly fishing club Mike and I belong to also visits the FF@ site quite often. My fellow club member and fishing partner John Stanford discussed Mike and his fly tying class on the net one day. Mike Kruse, an accomplished fly fisher and professional fisheries biologist, picked up on the story. It just so happened that the FF@ group had a little money left over from some trip raffle and wanted to spend it on a worthy cause. The dollar amount was over $600.00. Mike Kruse began to talk up the idea of those on the list providing Mike Butler with the cash to support his tying classes. This whole notion of Mikes personal sacrifices, teaching these hearing impaired children about fly fishing and the art of fly tying appealed to the big hearted, worldly crew on the list. It was decided that they would give their money to Mike to buy materials, make field trips to the stream and so forth.

It didn't stop there, People from literally all over the world began to send Mike vices, tools and materials. There are a dozen or more hearing impaired children whose lives have been enriched with the gentle art of fly fishing by the personal sacrifices of Mike Butler and the members of the Fly Fish @ list (many are FFF members). My hat is off to all of you. Thank you all for your generosity and compassion. There will be a reward for you all someday in that great fishing hole in the sky.

Changes of address should be mailed to the Southern Council's VP for Membership, Tracie Maler, 299 S. Walnut Bend, Suite 101, Cordova, Tn. 38018

Advertising inquiries and correspondence should be directed to the Southern Council's VP for Development, Michael Verduin, 2102 Montclair, Lewisville, Tx. 75067

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

The Southern Council Homepage is located at http://www.sky.net/~flyfish/ Send any home page related comments or questions to Bill Brant

by Hod McIntosh, VP Communications

Our Council has an annual scholarship of $1000, which is given to a second year or higher level college student, who is pursuing a degree program consistent with the purposes of the Federation.

These purposes involve programs which conserve, restore, and educate with the goal of improvement and maintenance of our nations fisheries.

To be eligible, a student must be a member in good standing with the Federation, and must reside within the Southern Council territory. Now is the time to check out the young people in your club, and children of your membership, who are college students.

For additional information and scholarship forms, please contact :

Chuck Easterling
VP Education
SCFFF
708 North Wilson
Harrisbury, AR 72432
or call, 501/578-5334, fax 501/932-4114

"Wanna See Your Club News Article in Long Casts?

If so, please be sure to share your newsletter with Steve Fritz, our Long Casts editor. Just add Steve to your newsletter mailing list and keep your eye on the Long Casts. Steve's address is: Long Casts editor, 435 E 63rd Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64110. (Homepage Editor's Note: current addresss is Stephen E. Fritz, Long Casts Editor, 2100 South Grant Ave., Springfield, MO 65807)

Please take a moment, to speak with the president and other officers in your club, and tell them that charitable work, just for the sake of making life more pleasant for others, deserves more than the total lack of response that is so common today. It takes almost no time to nominate some deserving person, someone who gave unselfishly, someone who deserves to get back just a little of what they give every day for the pleasure of others. Ask ...or perhaps demand, that your appointed representatives do what is actually part of their duty as officers.

by Rusty Dunn, Heart of America Fly Fishers

Yesterday, when Warren came to, he saw red, then quickly realized that there was blood all around him. Becoming dizzy, he braced himself, and concentrated on the last thing he remembered before the blackout. He remembered seeing his best friend being murdered, and then everything went red. Now, here he was, with blood all around him, and his friend no where in sight. At least he could tell that it wasn't his blood. Then he saw it - the body - male, maybe early fifties, with graying hair, dead as could be, lying there in a foot of water, slashed through his waders, just like the others. Was it any wonder that Warren had nightmares?

What had started it all, he asked himself, as he thought back to the day at the dock, less than a month ago when he found the knife? It was easily grippable, extremely sharp, and gave Warren a sense of power in a world that he felt he had less control over each day. He had intended to use the knife for protection, and actually had no other thought on his mind until the "incident". He could barely make himself think back to theday of his first blackout....

Out for his after dinner exercise, he saw what was to that point in his life the most horrible thing he had ever witnessed. Right there, in front of his eyes, a multiple murder took place. Warren gripped his knife, saw red, blacked out, and, when he came to, was resting at the edge of the shore, with the dead body less than ten feet away. An obvious victim of foul play (there were slashes all along each leg), the man in waders had been fishing at some point before his demise. Then Warren saw it - the blood still clinging to the blade of his knife, which lay at the edge of the shoreline. Surely not, he thought - not me! - no way...!

Lieutenant Philip Caster shook his head in disbelief, as he compared the wounds on this body to lab photos of wounds on the bodies recently found nearby. The lieutenant had seen his share of murders. These, of innocent fishermen, were of a particularly curious nature. Each body was found in the river. Each was near shore, in an eddy away from the current. Rods and reels were found nearby, on the bank, and, in each case, the victim was slashed through the waders, below the waist, slashed again and again. Whoever did this, Caster thought, was an animal, a deranged and dangerous individual, who was capable of no telling what else.

The lieutenant, kneeling in a sort of crouch that he went into when thinking at a crime scene, was reviewing the facts physically apparent on site, trying to put the existing clues into some sort of order. What explanation was there for these bizarre deaths. He went over what he knew, once again: All victims were attacked while in the water; all near shore, though evidently not fishing at the time; all slashed with a very sharp knife; all had strange scrape-type scratches on the lower arms and hands; and all were fatally wounded, below the waist. When looking at crimes like these, Caster often sought that single piece of physical evidence that set the event apart. The trouble here was that each clue was unique. He decided to concentrate on the curious, below the waist slashes, something he not seen before in thirty years of police work. Now, what did they mean. It was then that he saw the reflection. The Lieutenant waded through the shallow water toward the reflection, stooped, and picked up a knife just at the edge of the water. Was this the murder weapon? It still had blood on it, which could be a break. He sent it back to the lab, with instructions to test the blood, and type it for a match to the latest victim.

Still in denial, Warren could not imagine himself as a killer. True, he wasn't all that sharp, having been oxygen deprived at birth, but, he refused to accept a reality that assured his being both schizophrenic and a psychopath. Still, he did keep blacking out, and coming to, with dead bodies next to him. There was no denying that.

Just as he was about to admit to himself that the evidence was overwhelming, he saw another nightmare unfolding. One of his brethren was being disemboweled right in front of him (Charles Bronson had less provocation to go psycho in the movie Deathwish). Only this time Warren didn't black out so quickly. His mind was thrown into a fit of rag;, he saw red; grabbed his knife; and savagely attacked the perpetrator of this awful crime against his race. He saw the blood running from his startled victim, just as he blacked out....

Lt. Caster was surprised to hear that the lab tests showed the blood on the knife to be from a fish, or more precisely, several fish. It was probably a fish cleaning knife, he thought, and then the truth began to unfold, as he pieced together what he knew of the crimes. Sure..., each victim was cleaning fish at the time of attack. That explained the rods and reels being on the bank in each case. But, who would attack a peaceful fisherman, cleaning his catch at the end of a day's fishing, and why were the slash marks confined to the lower part of the men's bodies. Instinctively, Caster knew that he was missing something, but what?

The two fishermen, one cleaning fish, the other going back to the car for plastic bags in which to put fillets, had just finished a successful day on the river. Walking back with the bags, the second man saw his partner under attack by....a fish....a fish who was slashing him below the water line with a sharp instrument, probably a knife. As the second fisherman stood by in horror, the last scream of his fishing buddy sent blood curdling shivers through him. Trembling with fear, he raced to the car, picked up his cellular phone, and called the police. It would be years before he could again sleep through the night. The look on his partner's face was to be etched permanently in his memory.

The Lieutenant, who knew little about fish in general, and even less about the probable perpetrator of these crimes (most likely to be a trout), was surprised to find out from the lab technicians that the strange scrapes on the bodies were fin prints, and that no two fin prints were exactly alike. The Game and Fish Officers contacted, suggested that one of their so-called "smart fish" might be employed to find the killer. These smart fish had radio signal emitting diodes (called telemetry devices) surgically implanted in their backs, each diode loaded with a fin finder computer program. The idea the Game and Fish guys had was to send the smart fish into the area where the bodies were found, and monitor the travel of the smart fish, until its diode gave off a signal contact that showed the killer fish was nearby. The Game and Fish Officers could boat in and shock fish until the offender was captured and removed to be destroyed after a trial.

It sounded simple enough. The smart fish was brought in. The diode worked. The killer (no longer in denial) was shocked, dropped his knife right in front of the smart fish, and floated to the top for trial. The only catch in an otherwise perfect plan, was the destruction of the diode by the shocks from the boat, and the fact that the "smart fish" was not recovered. The trial was just window dressing, since Warren, who freely admitted his crimes, was immediately convicted, given a lethal injection (meat tenderizer), then filleted and eaten as victims' family members watched, cheered, and applauded....

The river is quiet again now, - or is it? The "smart fish" employed by the government to find Warren, named Mensa by the State boys, has brain damage from the malfunctioning diode, and was enraged by the shocking. He knows where the knife is, and how to use it. When planning your next trip to the river, you might want to ask yourself:

"Do I feel lucky, today?" ....Well, do you?

Author's note:

As is often the case, value in the form of a motto can come from a horrible event such as the one chronicled above. Perhaps, in this case, the motto is just simply the idea that:

"Catch-and-release, if nothing else,

is often the safest path to follow."

Steve has sent letters asking each club to donate items for the Auction/Raffle. Please don't think that clubs are the only ones who should support the Auction and Raffle. Items donated in the past have ranged from bamboo fly rods to a box of flies. No donation is too small. Whatever the contribution, it will make someone a happy winner.

Not only is the Conclave an opportunity to get together for fun, fishing and learning new techniques, this is our only fund raising event that supports Long Cast and our conservation, education and youth programs.

Since this Auction/Raffle is our main revenue producer, it is vitally important that you and your club participate not only by bidding, but by donating as well.

Any club officer or individual who wants advice on what to donate or would like to discuss other aspects of a donation, please telephone Steve Antonic, (314) 892-3792. Donations can be directly sent to Steve at his home address; 5612 Greenton Way, St. Louis, MO 63128. If you want to bring your donation to the Conclave, please send Steve a note or call so he knows what to expect and can have your items cataloged .

We're looking forward to seeing all our friends and meeting new ones once again this October in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

Borger is the author of five best-selling fly fishing books, has appeared in, and/or produced 17 fly fishing videos, and was the first to be awarded the Lew Jewett Memorial Life Membership in the Federation of Fly Fishers, in 1979.

The professor, who is a member of every group imaginable with anything to do with fly fishing, also designs rods, vests, reels, lines, etc. He will present programs during the day on Friday and Saturday, including a casting seminar, photography on the stream, entomology, and fly tying.

Also of special note....

Among other fantastic presenters, is Ladies Brunch Speaker and FFF Woman of the Year, Joan Whitlock, who always provides an entertaining program.

Missouri Trout Fishermen's' Association member, James Duncan, will offer a youth fishing outing, complete with lunch, to be held at Dry Run Creek, on Saturday.

Fly tying classes, both beginning and advanced, will be offered during the day, both days.

Editor's note: Most of what I, and most of those who learned how to fly fish when I learned, know, came from one conclave or another. Two of the shoals that I fish when I go to the White River, I found out about, from those at the conclave. I've learned where to go, how to tie difficult patterns, etc., from caring, giving people who ask no more than a chance to help others. I am absolutely positive that, if you come to the October Conclave, you will learn things that will make your fishing more pleasurable.

by Joel Kantor

Bob's enthusiasm is like a plague, it's contagious. He was excited about meeting those folks so he could tell them about all the work that once occurred on Spring Creek as The Green Country Flyfishers perfected the Whitlock Vibert Box. He got me excited too. I love hearing him tell stories about Dave and the gang and all the fun they have had together. So with very little effort he got me to agree to set up the meetings.

I took Friday afternoon, January 26th, 1996, to drive with Bob to Peggs, OK. We met with the chairperson of the Spring Creek Coalition, Mrs. Jennifer Owen. We arrived at 3pm and took time to fill her in on the past brown trout work the Green Country Flyfishers had done on Spring Creek. She thought some very professional work took place but showed signs of looking for something different. She shared with us the goal of the coalition which is to have Spring Creek be an example 'Ozark' river for others. This meant she was interested in seeing the river in its most natural state. Green trout? I still thought it was a good day to start a conservation project.

It wasn't long before our second guest arrived, Mrs. Carolyn Robbins. She is the science teacher for the Peggs' middle school. We filled her in on the Whitlock Vibert Box work as well. She was very excited about us bringing our expertise and experience to her classrooms. Plans were made and several letters were mailed in preparation for the next meeting. The eggs were reserved!

On Monday August 5, Bob and I met with Mrs. Robbins and John Cox, the science teacher and the Principal of the school. Mr. Cox was interested in how much time we planned to commit to the project. It was clear he was not interested in a hit-and-run project. We assured him we were in it for the long haul - that to do the experiment properly, a three year project was necessary to produce sufficient data. That did it, he had caught the bug too; Bob's enthusiasm had him. It did not hurt that his son was one of the kids getting to participate. By the end of the meeting they were very excited about adding the brown trout incubation project to their accelerated science classes. The eggs were ordered!!!!

Just as he did for the FFF, Ed Pennington, from the Green Country Flyfishers built an aquarium chiller and stand for our classroom aquarium. The aquarium was donated by Leslie Sanditen the daughter a TU member, Scott Sanditen. This aquarium was prepared to match what is happening in the river.

The schedule we put together for the kids was as follows: INTRODUCTION - Wednesday, August 28, 1pm to 3pm 1. Presentation and explanation of Schedule - Joel Kantor 2. "Nothing is constant but change" - examples of nature in action by Bob Cunningham 3. Set up and operation of aquarium - Ed Pennington 4. Presentation of WVB Handbooks and preliminary discussion of the trout incubation progr. FIELD TRIP - Monday, September 9, Noon to 3pm 1. Sack lunch at school 2. Introduction to stream's aquatic insect life - gather specimens to place in aquarium - Joel Kantor 3. Explanation of the life cycle of certain aquatic insects and distribution of data sheets - Ed Pennington FLYTYING AND FLYCASTING - Saturday, September 28, 10am to 1pm 1. Lunch at school (Wayne Moore Youth Day) - Joel Kantor 2. Flycasting - Joel Kantor 3. Flytying - Bob Cunningham INTRODUCTION TO THE WVB TROUT INCUBATION SYSTEM - Thursday October 10 1. Slide presentation on WVB - Bob Cunningham 2. Provide template, material and instruction on construction of WVB baskets, gravel sifters and placement handles FLYFISHING - Saturday, October 26, 1pm + A pondside introduction to flyfishing - Bob Cunningham and Joel Kantor PRACTICE SETTING WVB's IN SPRING CREEK - Wednesday, Nov. 13, 11:30am to 3pm 1. Learn to recognize proper positions for incubators in the creek 2. Gather and clean gravel; prep incubator baskets; place empty baskets into the stream 3. Recover empty baskets PLANT BROWN TROUT EGGS IN SPRING CREEK - December date scheduled by Montana brown trout season + Record keep for: 1. job allocation and responsibilities 2. egg location 3. water temperature and level RECOVER INCUBATOR BASKETS - January date determined by progress of Browns + Record keep for: 1. job allocation and responsibilities 2. water temperature and level 3. hatch success percentage

As you can see it was a very full agenda. It took no time for another plague of Bob's enthusiasm to sweep through the classroom. The two hours planned for the first meeting was not enough. They asked questions until their parents came to drag them out of school. Each of the planned meetings with the kids held the same enthusiasm. Even cold wet weather did not stop the kids from showing up. The schedule was interrupted only once due to bad weather; we postponed the flyfishing outing to May 19.

We did have a problem with the delivery of the brown trout eggs. It seems the eggs were shipped upside down. The order of 50,000 is shipped in 4 trays of 12,500 normally with ice on top to melt and drip down on the eggs to keep them cool and moist. Bob and I figure we lost all of the bottom tray [those now on top] and as much as half of the middle two trays. This created another interesting obstacle for the kids. They had to separate thousands of spoiled eggs from the good eggs. A spoiled egg in the incubator will spoil many of the eggs it touches during the time it takes to hatch. With so many dead eggs the kids had to handle them more than normal but they did the best they could. Retrieval of the boxes showed mixed results. Some boxes we estimate hatched only 20% while others had 60% or more successfully entered the creek. We have located a hatchery within driving distance for next year!

The Wayne and Catherine Moore Youth Day was another fabulous addition to our schedule. I was pleased to see some of the parents join the Saturday lunch with their children. I took that day as an opportunity to gather all the kids together and explain the Moore's contribution. I expressed the value of giving something back to the community. They sincerely lead me to believe they got the message.

Our goal was not to create a brown trout fishery. Our goal was to create life long conservationists. Building interest through the local habitat seemed the natural way for us to accomplish the goal. After the spring rains end, the kids will plan an outing to lay on the gravel banks and pier through their glass bottom buckets into the deep pools of Spring Creek. With luck they will see the fruits of their labors, many 6 to 8 inch trout swimming around. If possible we will get a chance to catch some later in the summer.

The project continues through the summer until school starts August of 1997. Thanks to the Federation's donated water quality monitoring kits, the eight graders and the older kids in summer school will continue to monitor the creek. This is very important because we already know the creek has a phosphate problem. The good news here is the Spring Creek coalition is partially made up of the cattle ranchers along the creek. The bad news is the other ranching and farming remains an ingestor of pollutants. We are confident the coalition will remain a vigilant watch dog as will our kids.

Additionally next year, those kids from the current seventh grade will stay connected by becoming the water quality team. The new sixth graders will be trained by this years sixth graders and the project continues.

Thanks should go to the Southern Council for the funding support. Thanks also go the volunteers that helped make all the days with the kids possible. The volunteers from the Green Country Flyfishers include Bob Cunningham, Ed Pennington, Walter Beckham, Bill Chapman and Gerald Shulz, President of Green Country. The volunteers from the Tulsa Flyfishers include Joel Kantor, Jimmie Durham, Tom Davis and Laurene Gilroy.

What happened in 1970-73 was duplicated by the Arkansas Flyfishers in the Little Red River immediately thereafter and it resulted in the finest brown trout fishery in Arkansas, maybe the USA. According to the Arkansas Fish and Game Department no other brown trout have been introduced into the Little Red River since that work. It is our belief that had we been able to do in 1970-73 what we are doing now, the youth of that time would now have a positive influence on their families. By now the local population would be saying "look what we created." We would not have a group of people who are reclaiming the stream. They would be maintaining and enjoying it. We could be working with the second generation of local conservationist. But the silver lining here is it is not too late. Today is always a good day to start a conservation project!

by Steve Taylor, Arkansas Fly Fishers

My wife, Cindy, and I took Aubrey, our niece, to Lake Sylvia. The Ouachita National Forest wore its Easter finery - dogwoods bloomed everywhere. After a picnic and hike, we settled down to fishing.

For safety and sanity's sake, Aubrey used a spinning rod, bobber, and worm. (We'll save fly fishing lessons until she's a little older!) She turned out to be such a good caster that she rarely left her bait in the water long.

Finally, a green sunfish struck. It wasn't a dramatic battle, but the sound of a little girl squealing with delight - just like me when I caught my first bream 30 years ago - was beautiful music.

We posed for pictures too long, then returned the fish to the water. As it lay on its side, Cindy and I talked with Aubrey about releasing fish, how we regret sometimes hurting them, not wasting fish, and that this one was too small to eat. Suddenly, the fish swam away while Aubrey clapped and cheered. I like to believe that she grew up, just a little, that day.

I hope this becomes the first of many fish stories for her. Fishing is a unique brand of optimism that I hope Aubrey will always have. If we didn't believe we could catch a fish - or a bigger fish - on the next cast, why would we ever cast again?

If we applied that same optimism to our everyday lives and learned to enjoy simple pleasures with childlike wonder, imagine how rich and fulfilling all our days would become. Take a child fishing today, with a fly rod or a cane pole. You both can learn something from it.

The famed Johnny Chamness will return as the auctioneer. For those who have seen him work, enough said, you will be there. For those who have not had the pleasure, you are in for two evenings of fun. You don't have to bid to experience the entertainment that is part of Johnny's craft. Those who participate come away feeling they are part of the program.

Been there, done that? Then we have a new twist from the fly tying demonstration area. Fly Tyers, which will include some of the best in the country, are being asked to bring an extra vice and tools to help you with problems. You might call that a hands-on opportunity.