Northern Arizona Flycasters ^Inc.

After nearly 15 years as chairman of NAF's conservation committee, you may conclude I have a passion for fishery conservation. Unfortunately the time has arrived for me to step down as the altitude does not agree with my current medical condition. I do this with reluctance since I have really enjoyed this position and all the doors it has opened for me. Over the years I have had the opportunity to visit with Ted Turner, Sandra Day O'Connor and numerous associations with many people prominent in the fly fishing community. The conservation committee continually interfaces with all State and Federal agencies involved in fish and fisheries conservation and I'm proud to say we have a great relationship with all of them.

The position has no pre-requites other than an interest in fishery conservation and the desire to serve NAF in an important part of our mission. However, I do have one suggestion (and it is only a suggestion) for the person that may be interested in this position. The individual should either be retired or have a flexible work schedule since nearly all meetings with fishery agencies are conducted during workdays. Since it takes time to get to know and develop relationships with agency people I suggest this person consider a relatively long term commitment, but it doesn't have to be 15 years!

So if you have an interest in conservation and a desire to serve NAF, please consider this position. It would be great if someone would step forward soon (we have a West Fork Oak Creek meeting on April 17) so we can have some overlap time. I will continue as chairman until the end of 2008 if needed.

I plan to continue as FFF Eastern Rocky Mountain Council VP for Conservation which includes chairing the West Fork Oak Creek project to its completion. If you have any questions call me a 928.606.0068.

Dick Brown

Fishing season is upon us and I believe the following article is quite appropriate for the time. It comes from the Arizona Outdoorsman web site and was written by Chip Chipman

Harvey's Fundamentals

Have you ever fished with someone many times and that person always caught more fish than you? As Harvey would say, "It ain't luck." To become outstanding at any sport, the fundamentals must be mastered. Harvey said that there were two types of fundamentals. He called them the fundamentals of mechanics and knowledge.

Harvey was my fly fishing mentor when I was in my early teens. When asked if he had any luck fishing would always answer, "It ain't luck," and give one of several reasons why.

He disliked being called a "born fisherman", saying there was nothing innate about it. "Did you ever hear anyone referred to as a born bricklayer?" he would ask. "A good bricklayer learned his craft well. Fly fishing is no different.

1. Learn to cast correctly. It doesn't do any good to practice casting if you ain't doing it right in the first place. Practicing bad casting only makes you a better bad caster

2. Practice accuracy. Put the fly where you want it the first time-there might not be a second chance. Keep your cast short when fishing streams. Short casts are more accurate that long casts. I don't care how good you are or think you are.

3. Short casts makes line control easier too. Line control sounds simple enough. You want the fly to drift naturally, so the line can't have too much slack or be too tight. The main reason people don't have good line control because they have too much line out.

4. Finally, casting and good line control ain't necessarily going to make you a good fisherman, any more than being a good rifle shot will make you a good hunter. I bet you could train an ape to cast a fly line. To become a good hunter, you have to know your quarry. Same thing fishing. Learn all about trout. What kind of habitat do they like? What do they feed on? How does water temperature affect them? You already know trout mainly feed on aquatic insects. Learn about insects, too.

Good advice and happy fishing. Thanks Chip