President’s Corner
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught just the slightest movement in the water. I froze and tried to focus into the water. The fish finally gave up its position when it rose to eat something on the surface. I patiently waited and watched the trout slide over a couple of inches and eat again. I slowly backed up and worked myself into position for a decent cast upstream. The fly landed a couple of feet upstream of the fish and gently floated down the small run. The trout adjusted, eat the fly and went nuts after feeling the bite of the hook. A minute later I released a beautiful rainbow. The day had started slow with few takes or rises aimed at my CDC & Elk Caddis pattern. But after about an hour in the stream I noticed some small mayflies coming of the water. I switched to a #16 Parachute Adams and proceeded to have a great mid-day of dry fly fishing, mostly sight casting to rainbows and brookies in this high mountain stream. It was a nice change after some rather slow fishing trips in the Park this summer. After the small hatch was over and the fish started to ignore the Adams, I switched to a #16 Perfect Ant pattern and continued to catch some beautiful brookies through the afternoon. All in all, a great day to be out in the Park.
For those who couldn’t make the July outdoor meeting, you missed a good time. The weather was not cooperative in the afternoon, but nearly thirty folks from the Little River and the Great Smoky Mountain Chapters showed up. The weather cleared and I didn’t burn down any buildings cooking on the grill.
At the upcoming August meeting, you will have the opportunity to buy some fly tying materials and tools. As we have reported, Ken Henderson is in a nursing care facility. He was one of the founding members of the Little River Chapter, and an active and caring member. To help support Ken financially, we will be selling and auctioning off his tying materials and tools at the August meeting. This is your opportunity to pick up some materials and to help out a fellow member. All proceeds will be turned over to Ken. Check out the list of items listed below.
Also at the August meeting, we will present the custom made Sage rod to Steve Young as the winner of the 2014 Eddie George Award. This custom rod was built by Steve Moore.
Plans to expand the Trout in the Classroom continue to move forward and we need your help. Check out the article in the Newsletter and give some thought to volunteering your time to work with kids. You won’t be disappointed.
Be safe. I’ll see you at the August meeting.
Mike
Ken Henderson Tying Materials
At the August Meeting we will be selling and auctioning off Ken Henderson’s fly tying materials and tools. The sale and auction will be from 6:00 – 7:00pm at Calhoun’s. Ken is now at a nursing care facility. Funds raised from this sale / auction will help with Ken’s expenses. The following is a list of items that I have sorted and organized:
- Renzetti Traveler vise (silent auction)
- Older Dyna-King vise (silent auction)
- Bags of mixed fur
- Bags of mixed feathers
- Mixed rubber legs
- Mixed chenille
- Dubbing packs (hare / beaver)
- Marabou (lots of white)
- Mixed tools
- Lead and lead-free wire
- Thread (mostly greens/browns/greys/yellows/lots of black)
- Krystal flash
- Mixed yarn
- Wire and vinyl ribbing
- Rod building thread (Gudebrod)
- Egg yarn
- Roger Lowe’s Pattern Booklet
- Hooks (mostly Mustad / some Diiachi – probably several thousand hooks)
- CDC feathers
- Biot feathers
- Two large compartment boxes of dubbing (fine synthetic and hair dubbing)
- Assortment of plastic drawer units (several sizes)
Steve Moore is selling Ken’s rod building materials. If you have an interest, please contact Steve before, during or after the meeting. At the September meeting, we intend to sell or auction off Ken’s rods and reels.
Cash is preferable, no credit cards please. This is your opportunity to pick up some materials and help a fellow member in need.
