This winter has brought changes to the Board of the Northern Arizona Flycasters with Warren’s resignation as our President. The Board of Directors selected the following to serve as officers through May 2009.
Todd Rovelstad President
Clark Dierks Vice President / Programs
I will continue the follow the path Warren had mapped out to keep continuity within the club until the general membership selects new officers at the annual meeting in May.
The Banquet is on Saturday April 4, 2009 at the Woodlands Radisson, tickets are $35 if pre purchased, and will be available:
At the March meeting
From Peace and Babbitt’s Flyfishing until noon on April 4th
By calling or e-mailing Tresa Ronco
Contacting any Board Member
Tickets purchased at the door will be $40. We are looking for raffle items for the event please gather your items and contact Tresa, Greg or myself.
Enough of that stuff –
March is already here, this means spending more time thinking about fishing than actually wetting a line. Many of us spend our time tying flies, building rods, organizing equipment, and watching fishing films. Some of us are fortunate enough to escape the cold and travel to new fishing destinations. It is also time to think about participating in the club – if you are interested of have ideas on what you think our club should focus in the next year, now is the time to let me or the Board to know so we can insure we are meeting the needs of the general membership. If you are interested in a leadership position of the club please let me know.
If you are going fishing and have room, invite someone who is new to fly fishing or to the club to go along. Trips to the walk-in, the San Juan, Oak Creek, or the Williams lakes are great starting points. Besides they have not heard your fishing stories before and can help pay for gas.
To add to this, what about giving a friend a years membership, that’s what I did for Christmas. You can always change your single membership to family. Makes a great birthday or anytime gift! Tresa
Fossil Creek is just down the road from Flagstaff and has gotten a lot of media attention in the past few years, I’m sure many you have seen stories, and for those of you that have not, it is worth looking into. In short it is a major river restoration project that has returned the creek to its wild origins.
How to Release a Trout - How many times have you watched someone tug, drag, squeeze, fail to return to the water quickly, or otherwise harm a trout they just caught? Of course, no member of NAF would do such a thing but I see it often when I fish.
The AGF and other government agencies (NPS, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of reclamation) had a meeting on Wednesday November 28th at the Marble Canyon Lodge at 4:00 p.m. Following is a short summary of the discussion.
Good News- The NPS has stopped it's Bright Angel Creek trout killing project. This may be temporary; it was supposed to continue for the next four years. I don't think they will make this public and I think the reason is that the Arizona Game and Fish Department did not want the NPS killing rainbow trout and only wanted brown trout killed. The NPS thought they could kill any trout they wanted to and this issue is now part of a states rights issue as to who controls wildlife in National Parks.
BAD NEWS- The Department of the Interior is considering another flood release from Glen Canyon dam for March 2008. The last flood was in November 2004 and it was very bad for the Lees Ferry trout fishery. This past Wednesday there was a meeting at Lees Ferry with Marble Canyon lodge owners, Lees Ferry fishing guides, NAF (Me), National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, and the Western Area Power Administration. The Government was told in strong terms that a flood in March of 2008 would not be a good idea. A compromise of a flood in January or July was suggested to the government folks and was turned down for 2008 but may be considered for 2009. Mark will have a more detailed report for the General meeting in December and the Board Meeting in January
Are you a fly fishing person in the Flagstaff area? If so, come join us on the first Wednesday of each month. We meet at the Arizona Game & Fish Office at 3500 S. Lake Mary Road (map) at 7 pm.
Starting this Month we will be meeting on the second Wednesday of the month for a informal fly tying gathering. Each quarter we will choose a locale destination for a fishing outing and reseach and tie the flies needed for the outing. Join us at 7pm at Bigfoot BBQ (basement of Old Town Shops)