Environmental Alert: Oregon Fisheries & BLM Damage Looming (Write Gov. Kulongoski asap!)

The Western Oregon Plan Revision is the BLM’s attempt to ramp up logging and dramatically reduce riparian protections on 2.6  million acres of land in the western part of the state managed by that agency. The timber industry asserted in a lawsuit that the Northwest Forest Plan cannot apply to Oregon BLM lands, most of which were acquired through the Oregon and California Railroad Act.  Instead of defending itself, the agency rolled over and scrapped the Northwest Forest Plan in favor of the WOPR.

The BLM also plans to reduce existing Northwest Forest Plan riparian buffer widths by 50%  on fish bearing waters as well as on intermittent streams.  This will result in over 130,000 acres of previously protected riparian forest being opened to logging.  This is not just an academic issue.  It puts the waters we love to fish at risk….

Currently, the WOPR is sitting on the Governor’s desk as he evaluates the plan for consistency with Oregon law.  Please write him a personal email as an angler expressing your concern about this plan. 

http://oregonflyfishingblog.com/2008/11/21/oregon-fly-fishing-blog-joins-trout-unlimited-and-other-conservation-groups-in-opposition-to-the-wopr/

http://moldychum.typepad.com/moldy_chum/2008/11/your-chance-to.html

Please complete the email letter to Oregon Governor Kulongoski and follow the format provided in the OFFB and Moldy Chum sites.

Spey Fly Fishing (Ancient Indications of Tube Flies in NW)

Ancient NW Indigenous Cave Drawings

 Tube flies—flies tied on metal or plastic tubes rather than the shank of a hook—have been around since the mid-1940s. Joe Bates in Atlantic Salmon Flies and Fishing attributes the first tube fly to Winnie Morawski of England who tied it on a hollowed turkey quill. Their effectiveness for Atlantic salmon is well established, and according to co-authors Mark Mandell and Les Johnson in Tube Flies, pockets of anglers on both coasts of the United States have experimented with tubes for saltwater species since the 1950s. A handful of steelheaders have known about the effectiveness of tubes for a long time, but an increasing number of anglers from British Columbia to the Great Lakes are discovering that they can hook and land more fish with tubes.    http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/jnsteelheadtubes/

http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/urkedal/conehead/

OK, so I am exaggerating for affect, re the cave drawings, to let you know that the 1940’s anglers were innovating toward the tube, be it quill or early tubular options. I believe it is a sound option that provides for different sized hooks for the same size fly and for the better use of stinger hooks. Perhaps for some it is just a new, refreshing option to breathe life into their stale tying practices. That is fine. But, I think tactically, it is a cheaper way to tie all manner sized flies. Vary the hooks to the species or water levels. I wonder if Winnie Morawski was inspired by others. Some indications of Indians and Islanders with tubes flies.

Winnie Morawski, whilst working for a fly tier Charles Playfair & Company of Aberdeen in Scotland in 1945, is credited with tying the first tube fly. While she was tidying up the turkey quills from her work bench she had a brain wave. She chopped the top and bottom off and scrapped the insides from the quills . She then dressed this natural tube she had created. One of the company’s customers was a doctor called William Michie. He liked the idea of tube flies but suggested that cut lengths of surgical tubing should be used instead of the fragile and very brittle quills. Word got around and soon tubes were being tied in Norway, Sweden, Canada, USA as well as the United Kingdom. Saltwater tube flies appeared in the North American Pacific Northwest and were used in Washington State’s Puget Sound in the late 1940s…

http://www.bassbug.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/stu15-general-practitioneplastic.html

The above tube fly is a design by outstanding NW River Guide, Matt McCrary. I took the liberty of using a photo design to play around a bit. I am sure Matt does not mind.  

 

spey fly (sparse, translucent, life like)

Reflection by T. Muncy, 2008

Fly fishing and your children (picture the memories)

http://planettrout.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/tim-and-ally-barker-august-2001/

I have previously remarked that, for me, one of the appealing aspects of Planet Trouts blog site is his obvious love of his family and that they have enjoyed his passion for the the outdoors and flyfishing. The pic above of Ally, near the Madison River, is a treasure. She is by now probably a young woman. The moment captured in time, of PT’s efforts to share all the facets of FF with his children. As I remarked in the earlier post, there is much to be gained in your child’s development to get them out and away from our present societal distractions. Do it! And, the memories are sweet.     

Fly fishing and your kids (More than skills are passed on…if you help it along)

Unforgiven

Tony Muncy will be putting together a tutorial; a how to for beginners on spey tube flies. Of course, he has to be home or wake up long enough to organize this. But, it will happen. I think.

As a fathers, we fish with our younger son or daughter and in the process spend a great deal of time teaching, instructing, berating or suggesting how to improve their skill sets. How to and a little why are the focus. A secondary benefit is the relationships that are formed between, say father and son. But, another benefit I want to suggest and promote is social skills with adults.

I would suggest joining a fly fishing club. Take along your son or daughter. Encourage them, over time, to over come any shyness and to start with the social skills that will stand them in good stead later in life. Greetings, goodbye’s, the usual give and take are important means to an end…guiding your child into the comfort as a young adult in talking to older people…people often in positions to affect your child’s destiny. The ability to have comfort in communications with others beyond their age group is a huge advantage for a teen. Fly fishing clubs provide this social exchange. Members often engage your child in conversation to draw them out and put them at ease. Engaging in this social experience helps your child blossom and gain confidence in talking to adults. You may end up standing aside and watching your young son or daughter hold their own in a conversation with an adult and marvel at their composure…in part you have facilitated this by putting them in the right environment.

I placed my son, Tony, in that environment at an early age (10 y/o) and watched him at shops, fly tying expos, fly fishing club meetings, club functions, club outings sitting around campfires and saw him handle many social encounters with mostly adult men and saw the advantages. Now, at 19 y/o he works part time at fly shop, is comfortable with people senior to him so he does not limit himself to his age group, and he now possesses for more knowledge than I ever did at his age. He easily engages adults on any outings…striking up conversations with strangers and making new friends. You should consider the possibilities.    

      

Spey Tube Flies (Chaos on a Dining room table)

by Tony Muncy

Where do you tie flies? Do you have a tidy spot in a den, or the perfect corner in the garage? Perhaps you have one of those highly organized stations that can be moved from spot to spot? Hmm. Well, I am beginning to feel my son and I have fallen prey to some hoarding mentality.

For many years, my gear and fly tying materials were borrowed or appropriated to cover my son’s fly tying needs. My older sons, Evan and Kelly, had long ago acquired their own gear. But, Tony just borrowed mine. Well, that has changed. Like some paranoid worried about the collapse of Western Civ. fly fishing, he is hoarding all manner of fishing equipment, fly tying materials and clothing. Hence, room is at a premium. There is no tidy corner, or empty space except upon the dining room table. Oh my! Perhaps you know how adherent fly tying materials are to a table cloth?

I periodically binge tie on the table until overwhelming feedback forces me to pack up and retreat. But, Tony has this habit of taking over an area like a gluttonous land baron. He expands out in ever increasing claims of territory…dubbing here, feathers there, tubes, hooks, debris, vice, tools, debris, lighter, tinsels, hairs, furs, debris, well you know how it accumulates and takes on the appearance of an archaeological dig.

Once this claim is established, he invariably is MIA at school, work, socializing, sleeping at odd hours and, of course, fishing. There sets the dining room table. Because he is not around, I get to hear the expressed negative opinions. You see even if he is not there to suffer the brunt of the critique of the dining room table, it does not matter because I am ultimately responsible for having led him astray. I caused all this. I created this monster. Well, yes I did. How cool is that!!!

I have tied on bread boards, kitchen tables, dark and damp basements and garages, lap stations, and yes the dining room table. The garage is busting at the seams with stuff. I am more of a guerrilla tier….there, then gone, never wanting to encounter the enemy straight on. Tony has yet to learn that lesson.