ON THE WATER FOR JUNE

Memorial Day weekend……It is appropriate that we all pause to remember the Men & Women who are serving or have served in our Armed Forces……. ALL GAVE SOME & SOME GAVE ALL……It also seems fitting to remember family, friends & old fishing pals who have passed. May they all rest in peace.

Where has this month of May gone?? I suppose it’s indicative of my getting older when the time seems to go by so quickly. We started the month with a fun Club Breakfast followed by our 1^st successful Big Creek Litter Patrol and then we had Dr. Laurie Weitkamp give us a very informative presentation on Salmon Research & Management Activity. We are very pleased to have 2 new Club Members and they are, Gil Little and our “First Lady of The Club” Barb Dudley who many of you know is Wayde’s lovely wife. Welcome to both of you and we are especially pleased Barb has blazed a trail which we encourage other ladies to follow.

I guess I need to tell you the sad story of my “Week on the Metolius River.” It goes like this, we went up to the river on Saturday and checked into our lovely cabin and I went over to the Camp Sherman Fly Shop, bought some flies, and quickly found out the upper section of the river was closed until after Memorial Day. The lower section of the river was open but it was running to high to wade & fish safely. So I never un-cased a rod or got my waders wet. You all heard the line about “when your plans turn into lemons the best thing you can do is make lemonade.” Well that’s what we did. We had a fun weekend in Sisters and came home in the rain on Monday. We rescheduled our reservations for the first week in September. By the way, there is still a LOT of SNOW at & above 4000ft and the Santiam River is really getting with the program. The Hoodoo Burn looked very sad but is beginning to show some signs of under growth between the snow patches.

Sparky, aka Bill Furgason, deserves an “Att’a Boy” for the great job he did on turning our Special Club Ball Cap Idea into reality. Many members already have their caps and for those of you who don’t, we will have them available at our 1 June Meeting. We also should acknowledge the great job Big Fish, aka Wayne Hill, has done by acting as the “Ram Rod” for our successful Litter Patrol Activity. He is also working with SOLV to have the Club Adopt Big Creek as a part of their Adopt a River Program. We got some really special compliments from various Newport City Officials for our Community Service Involvement. This is the direct result of all of you members who are so supportive of this ongoing monthly Club Activity. We also want to thank Bob Abbott for sharing his “Found Fishing Floats” with the Club Members.

As we look to June, it portends to be a fun & busy month. On the 1^st The Bear Ambassador, aka Tom Roederer, will be giving us a presentation on “Living with Bears.” On the 14^th it’s a field trip down to the US Coast Guard Station, followed on the 15^th by our 2^nd Big Creek Litter Patrol Morning. Phil Reed, his schedule permitting, will be bringing one of his boats to get some of the litter only accessible by boat. It should be a fun & rewarding morning.

Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the traditional camping and boating season. This year it’s also the opening of the state’s “second” trout season, covering most rivers and streams that flow out of the Coast Range. These rivers (Siletz,Yaquina,Alsea,Salmon,Siuslaw) should be very good fisheries for native Cutthroat followed, in an other month, by “Bluebacks”, as the sea-run Cutthroats are known. Shad can also be caught in some costal streams while the Siletz River anglers might also encounter summer Steelhead and spring Chinook Salmon. Watch for this kind of good info. on our Web Site Mastered by Big Fish.

In closing, I’ll leave you with this thought…..”Nothing I can do about it now”…..Don’t let regret get you down!!….get involved in our Club’s Meetings & Activities, hook-up with our fishing pals and go fishing. Live in the moment you never know how many you’ve got left!!

Well that’s the top of the news as it looks from here. Hope to see you on the Water !! The HOOK

TEAM WORK TEAM WORK

TEAM WORK…..It is amazing what can be accomplished when dedicated folks get together and focus there energy on a single task. Even something as simple and humbling as picking up other folks litter. Yes the Fishing Club completed it’s first monthly Litter Patrol at Big Creek Reservoir. We (6 members) collected approximately 500 lbs of stuff in about 2 hours of work. We met a lot of fishermen and residents and they all acknowledged our efforts and some even helped a bit. It is hard to understand why folks treat such a beautiful place the way they do. I am sure not all fishermen throw litter around their fishing site and some even pick up stuff and pack it out. If you focus on the negative aspects if this issue you could be tempted to just throw up your hands and just say “to heck with it”. Imagine what would happen if that’s how we would deal with thankless tasks like the litter in the forest issue. I believe we had a significant influence on the folks we met and those who saw what we were trying to do to make it a little bit better. All of the Club Members who were part of the today’s Litter Patrol Team should feel good about what they accomplished. Not just because of all the litter they picked up, but perhaps more importantly, the positive example they displayed which can have a multiplying effect with the folks we came in contact with today. I am very proud of our Club and the Team Work displayed by it’s members. Hope to see you on the water!!               THE HOOK      

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL !!

Lot’s of fun….. LVH Fishing Club Stuff happening next week. Watch for more information from Big Fish on our Web Site……Here is a sneak preview for all of you Early Birds.:   (1) 10 May we will hold our 1^st Litter Patrol on Big Creek I & II. All interested Members are to meet at the Club House at 10AM. Remember to wear sturdy boots & bring work gloves. (2)   18 May, at 9AM, we will have a NOAA Biologist (Dr, Laurie Weitkamp) visit with us to bring us up to speed on current research regarding Costal Salmon. All Members should feel free to invite a guest to any of our Club events, if you are so inclined. Hope to see you on the water !! The HOOK

FISHING CLUB BREAKFAST

Hello you all, this was our 3ed Fishing Club Breakfast at the Agate Beach Golf Club and I would like to complement all of the members and guests for the outstanding attendance. It was a really fun event and the food was good too! I apologize to some of you who were not able to be seated at the main table. The Golf Club Staff assure me that will not happen again. I would like to welcome 3 New Members to the Club and they are, RON THOMAS, MIKE LARSON & BOB ABBOT. We are very pleased that you find value in our organization and we look forward to getting to know you better. Sparky will be getting the Club Ball Cap order going next week and we will be doing our First Big Creek Litter Patrol on 16 May. Interested members should meet at the Club House at 10AM, for some instructions from Big Fish, then we will carpool over to Big Creek. Looking forward to seeing all of you at our, 9AM, NOAA Presentation on 18 May. Feel free to bring a guest with you. The Salmon Research Topic should be very interesting. Hope to see you on the water!!!                      The HOOK