Tag Archives: Hoosier Fly Fishers

Meetings, Meetings 2016

October Official Meeting

Hope the summer has treated you well with lots of successful fishing.!

The first Official meeting of the Hoosier Fly Fishers will be October 18th at the Colorado Steakhouse. Please note that dinner will be 6:00 and the program will begin at 7:00.

The program this month will be about fly tying and tying bench tools.  I will demonstrate two flies that involve rabbit fur in a dubbing loop. The flies are Murray’s Strymp and Shenk’s White Minnow. Both these flies have been productive for me for Small Mouth Bass in local waters. Tutorials for both these flies can be found on line. However, I will be showing some tools and techniques from my bench that I think make the pattern easier to tie.

About those tools… first is a dubbing loop tool I have made and a method for cutting rabbit fur into zonker strips and crosscut rabbit fur strips. Both tools are easy to make from simple materials, effective and fun to make and use. I will also show some hair packing tools I have made. And, some other stuff… I strongly invite and encourage others to bring some of their homemade fly tying tools! I always look forward to seeing and learning about others tier’s tricks and tools. When we share, we learn.

As always, we are looking for suggestions for future programs. We are working on several programs for the coming year, including cleaning and cooking fish and a neat little event Paul Brown and Larry Barber will describe. Guest speakers are also in the works. And, oh yes, dues are due.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday October 18th at the Colorado Steakhouse at 6:00 PM. Don’t forget to bring some of the nifty gadgets you have invented to make tying easier, more fun and productive.

Go Colts,

Tim M

Events, Fish Report, Meetings, Meetings 2016

Hospitality, Meetings and the Expo.

Talk about Hoosier Hospitality and we’re talking Bobby’s Colorado SteakHouse.  The Club holds it’s regular monthly meetings at their restaurant and the month of February was made special by Steve who cooked us up a fish fry for the evening meal. Thanks Steve it was great!

Jill Vance INDNR Naturalist
Jill Vance INDNR Naturalist

The speaker for the February meeting was Jill Vance, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Interpretive Naturalist for Lake Monroe. Jill informed us about past and present activities offered by her office around Lake Monroe . Activities range from Nature Hikes in the Winter to Youth Activities in the Summer. Some of her favorite projects involve wildflowers, youth activities, hikes and Lake Monroe Cleanups. Jill is a very good speaker and presents an interesting program about Lake Monroe and the year round activities that are available from her Office and the INDNR. To find out more about Jill and scheduled activities around Lake Monroe for 2016 visit their Facebook Page or the DNR website for Lake Monroe. You can download updated activity sheets and read more on recent events sponsored by Jill’s office.

The second half of the meeting featured Mike Donovan at the fly tying vise. Mike always does a good job showing everyone how to tie traditional flies.  This month Mike demonstrated tying a hair wing streamer.  I’m sure it will catch fish.

Don’t forget your Indiana State Park Entrance Pass this year. The prices have gone up again but if you’re a Senior you get a discounted rate. If you have a boat, registrations are due and you must have the DNR Launch permit on State waters. March will be time for new fishing license, don’t forget.

Indy Fly Fishing Expo: A few of us attended the fly fishing expo at the Indiana State Fair Grounds last week end. Coupled with the Indy Boat Sport and Travel Show, a guy could spend an entire weekend looking at all the GUY stuff they had there. The Fly Fishing part of the show was a three day event. It took us a few hours to visit all the booths and talk with some new friends and some familiar faces. They had a casting pond setup and fly fishing seminars were held all day long, featuring some of the most informative fly fishing experts in the Midwest . Booths were full of fly tackle, guide services, fly tying supplies, fly tying demos, zingers and forceps by the hundreds and free hats for special anglers.

Fish Report: What a weird year for weather and fishing around Lake Monroe. During the mild winter fish were very active up to the end of last year but the fly bite slowed down a little in January as water temperatures dropped into the 30’s. Fishing was slow but with patience fish could be found where there was open water. February sunny days have prompted fish to move a little shallower and they continue to bite on small flies. Fishing will only improve if the water temps continue to rise. Spring is on the way, get out and fish.