Leadership Elections at the October Membership Meeting 

    NCC-TU's October Membership meeting is traditionally when we elect our leadership for the coming program year.  On October 11, before hearing from our guest speaker, Theaux LeGardeur, from Backwater Angler, on the Gunpowder River, the Board of Directors will recommend the following slate names to the Membership for election:

Officers

President
Alfredo Suescum

Vice-President
Vacant

Co-Secretaries:
Robert McConnaughey 
French McConnaughey 

Treasurer
George Gaines

Board of Directors

Eleanor Adkins 
Steve Bell 
Mark Binsted 
Brian Durkin
R. Scott Faley
Eduardo Feller 
Doug Gaines 
Andrew Janssen 
Tom Mann
Irene Petrlik 
Mark Schifrin 
Lynn Scholz 
Frank Smith 
Andrew Spence 
David Thompson

NCC-TU needs you!  Open Board, Officer, and Volunteer Positions

    Have you been wondering how you might become more involved in Chapter activities?  NCC-TU is always in need of volunteers for various ongoing functions.  Here are a few specific suggestions:  

          1.  Become an Officer or Board Member.  Help guide NCC-TU's programs.  We are always looking for new leaders.  If you would like to be considered, or suggest a name, please write us at contact@ncc-tu.org.

          2.  We need a new Webmaster.  Keep up our presence in cyber-space.  Gene Gaines, our champion cyber-meister, has moved on.  We rolled out a new look for our website this past summer, and need a volunteer to maintain our site and e-mailings.  We will train! 

          3.  Work with our kids as the Stream Team Coordinator.  This involves organizing and coordinating First Cast, and Trout in the Classroom programs.  This is a great opportunity to become involved with our local schools, and grooming our next generation of cold-water conservationists.  

          4.  Lead an outing or teach a clinic.  We have several outings planned for this year, but we need new blood!  We have a Father’s day outing planned; how about organizing the Mother’s Day outing?  Or a casting clinic?  Or a fly-tying clinic?  No experience is necessary, and we can help you with set up, gear, and materials.  Trust me, you can’t go wrong.  People are always happy when they learn that little something extra, even if you only learned it five minutes before they did.  

    Not exactly what you had in mind?  Tell us your interests, and we'll find a way for you to make your mark.  We are always in need of volunteers to help with conservation projects, casting instruction, fly-tying clinics, outings, and everything else that has kept you coming back.   We are investigating several new possibilities for a new project along Little Bennett Creek, for which we need the advice and experience of Members on topics such as erosion, streamside plants, stream-bed improvements, environmental law, easements, etc.  No one will be refused.   

    To sign up, learn more, or to be added to our electronic mailing list, please write us at contact@ncc-tu.org.  You are also encouraged to attend our regular Chapter meetings every second Wednesday of the following months: October, November, January, February, April, and May.  

Bigger and Better! The 32nd National Capital Angling Show. 

    In 2007, NCC-TU will hold it's 32nd Annual National Capital Angling Show, proudly sponsored by the Bank of Georgetown - Washington's Finest Community Bank.  The Washington Metro area's original and longest running angling show will be back with an earlier date and new, larger, location, on  February 24, 2007, at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, on East-West Highway, in Bethesda.  

    Our Featured Speaker this year will be Lefty Kreh, the world-renown fishing expert, author, and instructor.  Lefty will lead an outstanding team of speakers and instructors who to present the latest information about regional, national, and international fishing destinations, as well as effective fishing tips, techniques, and tactics.  As usual, we will have fly casting and fly tying clinics for all experience levels, from the beginner to the seasoned veteran.

    We need volunteers to step up now to ensure the success of this bigger, improved, National Capital Angling Show.  Help us make the next show even better!  Write us at contact@ncc-tu.org, and check our web site for updates.

Waders 101:  Wear and Tear and Wader Repair

By Alfredo Suescum

    Most of the streams in the DC Metro area are small, get smaller as summer advances, so I do most of my fishing in hip boots, when I wear waders at all.  The particular brand and model I prefer are fairly rugged items:  Heavy rubber boots with thick felt soles, rubber uppers covered with cotton and thick canvas.  I can walk through pricker bushes with impunity, and probably average a couple of trips per week through the underbrush to my favorite pools.  At some point, always a bit too soon, it seems, something will punch a whole in my armor.  I can usually get a good year of heavy use from them before they spring a leak I cannot find and repair.

    One of the sad facts of fishing is that if you own waders, they will eventually leak.  Thorns, jagged rocks, barbed wire, and just plain wear and tear will eventually conspire to leave a bit of water sloshing in your boots.  This will happen even to tough, thick, waders, not just your expensive ultra-light breathables.  Not to worry.  Unless the leak is really a big tear in the wader material, the fix is usually simple enough.  Even with a tear, all is not lost.

    It is helpful to keep a few general rules:  First, don't use Shoe-Goo.  This works for shoes, but is not up to the rigors of dampness and flexion to which you will subject your waders.  It will peel off with a couple of uses.  A few companies make products specifically for repairing leaks.  Stick to these.  Aquaseal is an old standard.  I always have a tube or two handy.  This is also useful for holding together boots that are finally becoming unstitched.

    Also, Loon Outdoors makes a quick curing adhesive that sets in a matter of minutes if exposed to full sun.  It is great for on-stream repairs.  The instructions say to let it cure for 15 minutes.  I find 30 to 60 to be much better.  I will sit out the time with a sandwich, and watch the stream for trout-sign.  Once the glue sets, it's there for the life of your waders.

    Second, repair the INSIDE of your waders.  In some cases this won't be possible.  The rubber boots of my hip waders, for example, will eventually spring leaks near the toe-caps and insteps, from flexing, heat, cold, and sun.  They eventually end up with a full coating of Aquaseal on the outside.  They look ugly, but they will keep me dry, happy, and within budget for a few more weeks.  But in most cases, inside is the right side for repairs.

    Third, make sure the surface you are repairing is dry.  With some adhesives, like the Loon product, this is not strictly necessary, but always better.

    Fourth, make the surface you are going to repair is clean.  Perspiration will leave oily deposits on the insides of your waders.  So will that floatant you rubbed off your fingers, it seeps through.  You can wash most waders.  Washing can even take care of some problems with seepage.  Most breathable materials will start to seep if they are not kept clean.  The dirt, oil, grime and other miscellaneous gunk acts as a wick that will pull water through what is normally a waterproof fabric.

    The toughest part about repairing waders is often finding the leak, particularly pinhole leaks.  Often, finding the several leaks.  If you can't spot the damage right away, there are several tricks you can try.

    If the leak is low down near the foot of a sock-foot wader, turn your waders inside-out, and partially fill the offending leg with water.  You should see water trickle out through any leak.  Take a sharpie, mark the spot, dry, and repair.  Make sure that the inside (now the outside) surface is dry before you fill the leg with water.  Often, a leak will actually be a seep along a seam, and it will be much more difficult to spot if the surface is already wet. 

    You obviously can't turn a boot-foot inside out, so just make sure the outside is dry, and fill `er up.  You can dry out the insides later by hanging the boot upside down using bent wire clothes hangers.

    If the leak is high up in the leg or chest, filling the wader leg with water is pretty cumbersome.  Water is heavy, and holding up that weight while you check for leaks is difficult.  Don't hang the waders by the straps, since they probably won't be strong enough to hold the weight.  In this case, it is probably best to take your waders into a dark room, and shine a flashlight close to the inside surface of the waders.  Any puncture will show up as a little bright white dot.  Mark and repair.  Look carefully at seams as well, for thin spots where chaffing may have worn out the material.  The light will shine through here, though not brightly.  It is wise to put a thin layer of adhesive on these sections.  If they do not leak now, they will soon.

    If your expensive breathable waders are torn, and new ones are not in your current budget, stitch them together as best you can.  You can seal the stitched seam with adhesive, then, after that dries, glue on a bit of the patching material that usually comes with your waders.  Make sure the material becomes saturated with the glue.  Again, repair the inside.  The cloth patch is for reinforcement only.  The adhesive will provide the seal, not the material, so if your wader manufacturer forgot to include a swatch, you can use any piece of cloth.  Plaid is nice. 

    In emergencies, when you are far from an outdoors shop that sells Aquaseal or Loon, good ol' duct tape from the local hardware store will get you through a surprising number of situations.  Throw some in your fishing bag.  You won't be sorry.

    Leaky waders are one of those inevitable facts of fishing.  But with a bit of the right stuff, you can patch just about anything, and show the other fishers you've put in your time. 

    Tim Pavlick, his two children, and Tim's father in law, Victor Ciuccio, joined NCC-TU President, Alfredo Suescum in the Catoctin Mountains for a beautiful morning filled with clear running water, bugs and brookies. 

Photo: Alfredo Suescum

After meeting at the upper end of the put and take area, and a quick orientation (sneaking counts, don't mind the hatches), the fishers  headed downstream to make sure they remained in the brookies' blind spot as they fished upstream.  The flies for the day were elk hair caddis, stimulators, Adams and humpies.  The fish proved happy to take them.     Tim caught his first fish on flies, and on a dry fly at that:  a beautiful Fishing Creek brookie from a plunge pool.  The kids were plenty happy to land the 6 incher in a long-handled net suitable for stripers.  It was a whale, as far as they were concerned.  By stealthily hop-scotching past one another, everyone caught several fish, including a 10 inch rainbow by Tim, again, on a dry from a plunge pool.  When the kids began getting restless, the group had lunch, and moved downstream to a swimming hole, where the fun continued.  Minnows were sighted, chased, spooked; kids fell in the water, and more fish were caught.

    It was a great Father's Day outing, and with luck (and volunteers), the first in a new NCC-TU annual tradition.  Thanks Tim, Victor, and kids, for a fun day on the stream.

Outing Report:  September 14th Outing to the Yellow Breeches

By Tom Mann

    Like it or not, we’re fast headed for fall and the eventual arrival of colder weather.  Daylight is disappearing from both ends of the clock.  Nearly all the bug hatches are over, and the blue wing olives of October will wind down the 2006 trout fishing season for most of us.  The trout react to the changing seasons as well, and they will soon be looking to fatten up on big meals.  Now is the time to think about streamer fishing. 

    Streamers imitate the small fish on which larger fish feed.  This category includes everything loosely called “minnows,” e.g., black nose dace, golden and silver shiners, shad, sculpins, mad toms, smelts, and young game fish.  The classic streamers tied by legendary New Englander Carrie G. Stevens imitate lake smelts, the favorite forage of Maine brook trout and landlocked salmon.  See, e.g., http://globalflyfisher.com/streamers/guest/cgstevens/index.html 

    My two favorite trout and smallmouth streamers are the Muddler Minnow, and the Woolly Bugger.  Neither fly is a precise imitation of a specific bait fish, and they can be tied in a variety of colors.  You can fish streamers by slapping the fly right up against the bank and stripping it back quickly.  A fish will usually hit the fly within the first few feet of the retrieve, but not always.  Or you can cast streamers up, across, or down stream, and strip them as they swing in the current.

    Trout will also take a streamer that is just hanging in the current at the end of the swing.  Remember that it is risky to generalize about the effectiveness of fishing techniques, and experimentation is always a good idea. Trout can hit streamers hard.  Use the heaviest tippet feasible under the circumstances, and check your knots often. 


Tying Instructions for the Woolly Bugger:

Hook:       2X-to-4X long streamer style, size 14-6
Thread:     pre-waxed Monocord or similar, 6-0 or heavier
Weight:    non-lead wire wrapped on shank
Tail:          marabou blood feather, with 5-8 strands of crystal flash material mixed in
Body:        chenille, or sparkle chenille material with flash
Hackle:     soft hen or saddle hackle
Optional:  dumbbell eyes, or conehead

Photo and fly:  Alfredo Suescum

    This is one of the easiest flies to tie, although it takes practice to achieve the correct proportions and neatness. Wrap the thread on the hook, wrap the non-lead wire, cover with thread and paint with fly head cement or clear nail polish.  Tie on the marabou and flash tail.  Attach the hackle tip next to the tail.  Attach the chenille body material, wind toward the eye, and tie off.  Wind hackle in 4-5 turns to just behind the eye and tie off.  Whip finish.  I suggest tying the bugger in the following colors: all black, black tail olive body black hackle, all olive, all green, all chartreuse, all brown, all white, and all purple.  It is also a great smallmouth fly.


Tying Instructions for the Muddler Minnow:

Hook:        2X-to-4X long streamer style, size 14-6
Thread:     Prewaxed Monocord or similar, 6-0 or heavier
Weight:     thin non-lead wire wrapped on shank (optional)
Tail:           turkey wing
Body:         gold or silver tinsel
Wing:         matched pieces of turkey wing with 5-8 strands of crystal flash material; may have squirrel underwing, may be topped with marabou and/or peacock herl
Head:        deer hair trimmed to desired shape
Optional:   dumbbell eyes, bead, or conehead
Photo and fly:  Alfredo Suescum

    For a good “how-to” tie the Muddler, see Moose Peterson’s illustrated instructions at Fly Anglers Online.  This is an easy fly except for the deer hair head, and even the head is not difficult with a little practice.  Wind thread on hook.  Tie on the turkey wing tail.  Wrap the non-lead wire, cover with thread and paint with fly head cement or clear nail polish.  Attach tinsel and wrap forward toward the eye, leaving plenty of space for the wing and deer hair head.  Tie on underwing if desired.  Tie on matched pieces of turkey wing, tips pointing outward.  Tie on several bunches of cleaned and stacked deer hair, tips facing back toward the barb, covering the hook with a round bunch of deer hair.  Trim to shape with a scissors. Many professionally-tied Muddlers are made with bullet-shaped heads. 

    I prefer a less severely trimmed look, shaped like the front end of a minnow.  This fly is usually tied with gray-brown mottled turkey wing, but you can make the color darker or lighter.  For the marabou Muddler, black, yellow, and white are the most commonly used colors.  If the fly is tied unweighted, it can imitate a grasshopper.  However, I prefer tying the Muddler with enough weight to overcome the buoyancy of the deer hair. 

    Large brown trout are notorious cannibals, and many of the bigger browns caught are taken on streamers.  I can remember several instances when a huge brown darted out and took a swipe at a much smaller trout on the line.  Matt Supinski, a guide who operates Gray Drake Outfitters in Newaygo, Michigan used to live in the DC area.  Matt specialized in locating large browns in places like Falling Springs and the Letort, and stalking them with streamers under cover of darkness.  In the western US, there is a time each fall when the big trout switch over from bugs to streamers, as the last hatches wind down.  This is something to try if you can.  Happy fishing.

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A Trip to Chile is Planned ...

By Eleanor Adkins

    I like wandering around the World by myself, at my own pace, looking to see what makes people tick.  And I love to fish!  So when I wandered down to Chile and found a wonderful, fun loving people and more rivers than you can remember, I went back and back for more. 

    On my second trip I looked for a river that was away from everything, few or no other fishermen on the water. Then find a camp with unhurried guides and be more reasonable than the ones I had been going to in Argentina.  Camp Gray was all these things and more. My friend of three years and a local travel agent that knows his area has put together the arrangements in Chile for me.  Fishing doesn't get much better than this.

    I had such a successful find on the Camp Gray that I put together some special figures for the trip (using American Air charges for 4 people and before December booking).

    DATE:        Jan or Feb 2007
    PLACE:      Camp Gray (near Puerto Varas) on river Puelo (transfers to camp by boat)
    TOUR:        MAPA TRAVEL in Puerto Varas
    AIRLINE:  American Air Line (Washington to Puerto Montt)
    COST:        Ten days everything included   $ 3,400.00  -- Includes : full air fare, transfers to and overnight guest house on arrival & departure, 5 full days fishing with guides, boats, cottage for 3 or 4, all 3 meals and drinks.  Jan & Feb is full season.  Other months would be slightly less

    Local contact is Eleanor Adkins at 202-338-7533.

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Learn to be a Stream Monitor

    The Audubon Naturalist Society conducts training for those who'd like to become stream monitors, or want to improve their skills.  The classes are designed for the non-scientists among us!

 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Identification II 
    Saturday October 7.  10:00 am - noon

 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Identification I
    Thursday, October 12.  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Identification I
    Saturday, October 28, 10:00 am - noon.

 If you're interested, call ANS to register at (301) 652-9188 to register.

Classes are free.  ANS will be able to provide you with location and directions to the class sites.

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(The following press release was posted on TU's national website on September 20, 2006.)

TU Applauds Re-instated Roadless Protections

 DURANGO, Colo —Trout Unlimited commended today’s U.S. District Court decision to reinstate protections for 58.5 million acres of National Forest roadless lands. 

 “Protecting roadless areas is vital to conserving fish and wildlife habitat and for providing clean water in our streams,” said Jack Williams, Trout Unlimited's Senior Scientist and former Forest Supervisor on Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests.  “The scientific consensus on the values of roadless areas is clear. It’s a great victory to have the federal courts reinstate protection for these national assets.”  In recent years, Trout Unlimited has rallied anglers, hunters, and outfitters to participate in efforts to conserve America’s remaining roadless areas. 

 “This is great news for sportsmen,” said Mike Beagle, an avid hunter and fisherman and Trout Unlimited’s Oregon and Washington field representative.  “Hunters and anglers value intact backcountry roadless areas because they provide important fish and wildlife habitat, and outstanding hunting and fishing opportunities. It’s important to note that this decision won’t close any existing roads, it will simply keep the land like it is, without new roads damaging the backcountry.”

 “I hike and fish in the Hermosa Creek roadless area north of Durango, and plan to hunt elk there in October.  It’s great to know that this area is once again safeguarded.”  said Brian O’Donnell, Trout Unlimited’s Public Lands Initiative Director. 

 "Trout Unlimited produced scientifically-based reports for Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon demonstrating the value of roadless areas for fish and wildlife and hunting and fishing.  The reports can be found on the TU website."

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NCC-TU Chapter Assessment is now due

    When you pay your annual dues to National Trout Unlimited (TU), you automatically pay your annual dues to be a member of a local TU chapter.  However, the income that the National Capital Chapter receives from National TU memberships does not cover the total costs of operating the chapter.  Therefore, we annually assess our members $15 to provide the funds necessary to operate our chapter, and to enhance angling experiences for our members.  We need your annual assessment for 2006-2007, which was due September 15, 2006.

    While the Chapter operates solely with volunteers, the other key ingredient is obtaining adequate funding support.  Annual assessments enable us to communicate through our Website, www.ncc-tu.org, distribute Riffles our electronic chapter newsletter, and by email notices.  Assessment fees help to cover the rising costs of offering monthly programs on fishing adventures and techniques, and on stream conservation.  They enable us to develop and provide fly fishing and fly tying classes, to offer conservation and fishing education programs for youth, and to organize outings to local hot fishing spots.  Your assessments provide seed funds for our major annual fundraiser, the National Capital Angling Show, and they enhance our conservation and education grant-making capability.

    Last year, we made over $8,000 in grants to such organizations as the Beaver Creek (MD) Watershed Association, the Anacostia (MD-DC) Watershed Society, TU Back the Brookie Campaign, the Whirling Disease Foundation, and the Falling Spring (PA) Greenway.  We supported the founding of the TU Conservation and Fishing Camp (VA-MD-DC-WV, see www.tucamp.org), and sponsored two area youth for a week at the camp during its first summer.

    Your $15 assessment for Chapter year 2006-2007 was due September 15, 2006.  Please mail the form below with a check payable to “NCC-TU” to:

National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited
P.O. Box 42291
Washington DC 20015-0891

 

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NATIONAL CAPITAL CHAPTER of TROUT UNLIMITED
Annual Assessment Invoice, 2005-2006 Year

Please provide the following information to insure proper credit for your payment:

 

Name _______________________________________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________________________________

City _________________________________ State ______________ Zipcode _____________________

 

NCC-TU communicates by email.  Please provide your preferred email address:  _______________________