Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited
May 2006
From the Prez …
The man sat down in the confessional. It was dark, cramped and hot which only added to the discomfort he felt. He almost changed his mind and started to get up and leave when he heard the door open and close on the other side followed by the rustling of robes.
“Forgive me Father, I have sinned.” It had begun. No turning back.
“When was your last confession, my son?” asked the priest.
“March of ’84. Right after my last spring break trip.”
“Aye, awhile. And what have you to confess since then?” The man thought he detected a slight Irish lilt in the priest’s voice. A remnant of a childhood long left behind.
.
“I bought a fly rod.”
“I see. A fishing rod. And how have you come to think that this is a sin?” the priest inquired.
“Well, my wife and I sort of have this informal agreement that before we buy anything for more than a hundred bucks we run it by each other first. You know, not a promise, just kind of an understanding. I may have forgotten to tell her.”
“A fishing rod for more than a hundred dollars!? Just how much was it?” Surprise brought out the brogue more noticeably. The man knew this lack of perspective could go against him.
“Well, you have to understand Father, it’s a bamboo rod. Hand-crafted by someone who took years to learn the nuances of building a tool from natural materials, hours spent making precise measurements, careful planing of each segment and days of gluing, sanding, wrapping and varnishing. And this one had the nodes cut out of the culms, which means the maker spent even more time splicing the segments together. The result is a magnificent rod worthy of being called a true heirloom. I will give this rod to my son one day.”
“Ahh. And how old is this son?”
“Nine.”
“So, he will receive this gift at a milestone such as sixteen or twenty-one years of age?”
“Oh no, no, no, no, no.” A chuckle of surprise escaped as he said it. “I was nearly forty before I got my first bamboo rod. You need to be older to appreciate the significance of a gift like that. Sixteen or twenty-one is way too young.”
“Your first rod? You just said your first bamboo rod. You own more than one? Have you told your wife of this?” The man thought he could feel the priest leaning into the window a little as the depth of the depravity became clearer.
“Well, she’s seen me with a bamboo rod, you know, casting in the yard and fooling around with one in the living room. It’s not like she doesn’t think, you know, that there aren’t any in the house at all. It’s . . . well, it’s just known. I don’t have to say everything, you know, out loud. If she had the impression I was just keeping a couple for Mike, well, I’m not sure exactly how she would have gotten that idea because, you know, it’s not like I exactly said it. To her, you know, I didn’t say it to her.” The man felt the heat increasing and the confessional began to feel a little claustrophobic.
“Yes,” The priest leaned back a little. “I think the commandments cover this situation and clearly at that. But, Sweet Jerusalem, son, God’s grace canna’ thicken the ice upon which you stand right now with your wife. Is there anything else you need to confess at this time?”
“I bought a shotgun.”
“Oh, dear.”
(President Curt promises that this story is pure fiction and any resemblance to actual persons or events is strictly coincidental.)
May Meeting
Tim Riell, Volunteer Monitoring Coordinator, Missouri Department of Conservation will present a program entitled "Aquatic Monitoring in Missouri, What We Do and How You Can Help". The meeting will be Tuesday, May, 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Missouri Department of Conservation, Resource Science Center at Stadium Blvd. and College Ave. in Columbia.
June Meeting
Tuesday, June 6 will be our annual picnic (hot dog burn) at Bethel Park. Our guest will be Patti Hummert, from Casting for Recovery. She will talk about the Missouri retreat to be held this fall. MMTU has donated money to sponsor women for the Casting for Recovery retreats for the past several years.
April Chapter Business:
Little Piney Project -- $3000 allocated with money not to be distributed before February of 2007, partial funding to come from the 2007 budget
Chapter newsletter and other operating expenses -- $3000
Casting for Recovery -- $650
South Platte River Fund -- $350, plus $350 from the Ozark Council and further matching from Orvis and National TU to total a $2,800 donation.
MMTU College Scholarship -- $500; Bryan Chilcutt will develop qualifications.
Cold Water Fund -- $3000 allocated for a pending project.
Fishing the Beartooths
At the April meeting Tom Hargrove presented an entertaining and informative program on fishing Montana’s Beartooth Mountains. His message can be summarized as: good access, no crowds, and lots of fish (including some big goldens if you are willing to work to get to them).
UNDERSTANDING STREAM FLOW TO IMPROVING YOUR NYMPHING SUCCESS1
Norm Crisp has written a two-part article on nymphing for this and next month’s newsletters
Trout don’t move very far from their preferred location when feeding on drifting nymphs. This means that if you want to be successful, your nymph has to be “spot on “ the feeding lane, both from side-to-side and right at the feeding depth. Nymph in the feeding lane, takes. Nymph out of the feeding lane, try again.
Getting the right lateral or side-to-side drift of you nymph through the feeding lane, while not always simple, is not terribly hard. For one thing you know where that feeding lane is. Just follow the foam line. And ,you know where you want your nymph to be by watching the indicator. If your indicator is not drifting the nymph where you want it, a few subtle mends should position the indicator in the feeding lane. Making sure your nymph is drifting at the right depth is another issue.
A basic understanding of how water flows in a stream channel will help you understand what it takes to get your nymph down to the trout’s level. The first thing you need to know and understand is that the speed the water is moving, called the velocity, is not the same throughout the stream. A generalized view shows that the velocity is greatest in the
middle and just below the surface. This variation is primarily due to the friction from the sides and bottom of the stream channel on the water molecules flowing by. This vertical velocity distribution is why a trout can live and grow in water that looks like it is moving too fast. At the location where the trout is holding, the velocity is near zero!
Stream flow velocity
You also have to consider the sinking rate or settling velocity of your nymph relative to the water velocity. There are two important considerations in the sinking rate of your nymph. The first is the drag or resistance of the leader and the nymph. The second is the weight and density of your nymph. With this understanding of stream flow and sinking characteristics you can take a few simple actions to improve our nymphing success.
1. DON’T USE A TAPERED LEADER
2. START WITH THE INDICATOR 1.5X THE WATER DEPTH
3. CAST UPSTREAM OF WHERE THE TROUT WILL BE
4. MAKE AN IMMEDIATE UPSTREAM MEND OF THE INDICATOR
Next month Norm will go into greater detail in how you can use each of these actions to improve your nymphing success.
Norm Crisp is owner and head guide for STREAM SIDE ADVENTURES (www.StreamSideAdventures.com). STREAM SIDE ADVENTURES offers guided fly fishing trips in Missouri and Wyoming. STREAM SIDE ADVENTURES is permitted by the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the Medicine Bow National Forest and the Rawlins, Wyoming District of the Bureau of Land Management. STREAM SIDE ADVENTURES is an equal opportunity provider
1 © 2006 STREAM SIDE ADVENTURES No portions may be used or reprinted with expressed permission.