Reflections 2006

December 2006
Another great year is has come to a close and, as in the past we ended it with our annual Holiday Party. For all or most of us, 2006 was a fantastic fishing year..... just look at some of the pictures in our photos section.

We thank our officers, board members, trip captains, committee members and volunteers for making our club the best there is.

November 2006
OAK ORCHARD CREEK REPORT by Jim Foley
On November 1st through November 5th, thirteen Flyrodders trekked upstate for the fourth consecutive year to fish Oak Orchard Creek at the Saint Mary’s Archery Club. Wolfgang Porte and Jim Foley were the trip leaders. The weather was seasonally cool and the previous week’s rain would make the water flows of the creeks very rapid. 

When we checked out the “Oak” after we arrived on Wednesday, the flow was extremely fast and we saw that the catch was almost negligible by other fly-fishers on the creek. Needless to say, no one even had a hit for the several hours that we fished.

Nine of us booked a guided trip for steelhead on Thursday with Reel Action Fly, and the day turned out to be a stunning success even though we had a long drive to a “secret” creek that was south west of Buffalo. Someone in the group said that the creek we fished was “like fishing Connetquot full of steelhead”. No one remembers the exact count of steelhead they caught because they caught so many. Another Flyrodder who has been fishing for over 50 years said, “this was the best steelhead trip he had ever taken”. Check out photos from the trip on our web site, as well as Reel Action’s web site, and you’ll see that we had sun, rain, snow and sleet during the day along with scores of steelhead. And, a Subway sandwich on the side of the creek never tasted so good.

Friday was spent fishing other creeks in the area, especially Sandy Creek, and we gained first hand knowledge for future trips. Several Flyrodders landed some very nice browns. However, as you can imagine, we learned where the big fish were located after we go off of the stream.

On Saturday, we decided to spend the day at the Oak even though the flow was still quite high. Up and down the creek the “catch” was quite low when compared with prior years. Several browns and a salmon were caught late in the day when the fish seemed to perk up. Fortunately, the Archery Club was gracious enough to cook breakfast and lunch for us.

ADDENDUM TO OAK ORCHARD REPORT by Gordon Mueller
While the other Flyrodders spent Saturday at Oak Orchard Creek, I drove east to Skaneateles Lake for a guided trip with Captain John Gaulke (www.fingerlakesanglingzone.com). I had fished with John two other times this year and found him to be one of the most innovative, enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides I’ve ever chartered with. He has a beautifully equipped Crestliner bass boat and after standing in frigid water for two days, I was looking forward to not wearing waders.

The fishing was fantastic and we practically had the entire lake to ourselves. It didn’t take long to hook into some fat and frisky Rainbows that jumped and ran with abandon. On some of the hookups, I got a gold flash instead of silver, which turned out to be aggressive Smallmouth Bass. 

The glamour fish of the Finger Lakes are Landlocked Salmon and I was lucky enough to hook a couple of these beauties. Rounding out my ‘Skaneateles Slam’ were several Lake Trout and Yellow Perch. The variety of species that you can catch in one day is one of the special features of the Finger Lakes.

The fishing technique was very similar to a saltwater charter; long casts with intermediate line, big, fast strips, and strip set whenever you feel a bite. Nice change of pace from the ‘chuck and duck’ tactics of the tributaries. Crayfish are the main forage in Skaneateles, so a gold beaded brown wooly bugger was the only fly we used all day. 

The charter on the lake was the perfect ending to a magical couple of days. The weather was cold, but the fishing couldn’t have been hotter. You can’t get much better than that.

September 2006
The LIFR Saltwater Skills Day took place on September 16 at Hempstead State Park. Considering the previous day's monsoon, the weather couldn't have been better. Gordon Mueller did a Powerpoint slide show called "The Big Differences between Salt and Freshwater Flyfishing'. The Big differences include Big rods, Big water, Big Flies and Big fish (hopefully!). 

In addition to the slide show, Gordon pulled up various web sites like Noreast.com for tide tables, Maps.Yahoo.com for satellite shots of Long Island waters, and the Orvis and Cabela's sites. The Orvis site has an 'animated knots' section that's very good.

After the slide show, George Simon jr. helped teach members some of the finer points of saltwater casting, including the Double Haul. George's assistance was much appreciated, including introducing Gordon to the park's manager.

July 2006
The "Casting for Recovery" retreat for breast cancer survivors was held on the weekend of July 7 thru the 9th culminating in a day of fishing at the Connetquot. On Sunday, July 9th, thirteen members of L.I.F.R., Salty Flyrodders and/or L.I.T.U participated as "River Helpers".

June 2006
Unlike last year when we had no rain at all, our camping/fishing trip to the Farmington was a typical LIFR outing, meaning rain, rain and more rain. Some members left on Saturday morning after they found water seeping in their tents. Others braved it until Sunday while the diehards even stayed until Monday morning.

Tony and Karen Agnese did a fantastic job on both the reservation arrangements , the cooking and cleaning up after meals. It is because of dedicated and committed members like Tony and Karen that make our club second to none.

May 2006
As in the previous years, we spent a long week-end (Fri-Mon) at the Hungry Trout Motor Inn and Restaurant in Wilmington, NY and on the famous Ausable River. It rained a lot so not many of our usual group showed up. Former LIFR member Allan Sandler got there on Thursday and did extremely well. He started off with six big trout in a little over a half hour. On Friday and Saturday, the water was high and almost non-wadeable but there were plenty of fish along the banks. With not more than 8 people allowed on the Dream Mile we really have much of that stretch to yourself. 

As you may be aware, the owner of the Dream Mile instituted new regulations for fishing his water: A fifty dollar daily rod fee and not more than eight people on the water at any one time. Some of the guys signed up for a day or two on the Dream Mile an the rest of the time on public access or at the Brookie Pond. People that opted not to fish the Dream Mile got a reduced rate on their room and board for each day they didn't fish there. All in all, I think the new arrangements with the Hungry Trout worked out for the best.

HOUSATONIC CLEAN-UP REPORT by Dan Van Buskirk
This May 6, members of the Long Island Flyrodders joined the Housatonic Fly Fishermen’s association for their annual streamside clean-up and tree planting. We met at the Housatonic Meadows State Park. For those of you who have not joined us in the past, we break up into groups that either clean-up the streamside or plant willows at the mouths of tributaries to provide shade during the hot summer months. As in the past, the Long Island Flyrodders supply the picnic lunch. Paul McCain sets up his field kitchen and cooks the sausages, hot dogs, hamburgers and beans. By lunchtime all the work is completed and lunch is started. This is a good time to get pointers on fishing the river from the experts. Needless to say as soon as lunch is over and we’ve policed the picnic area, off to fish we go. With all our new insights it is not surprising that all the Long Island Flyrodders caught fish.
Club members that participated were: Cliff Dies, Nick Friedman, Paul McCain, Stan Paroly and Dan Van Buskirk.

April 2006
PROJECT ACCESS REPORT by Dan Van Buskirk
This April 29, members of the Long Island Flyrodders joined others at the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum for the annual Project Access weekend. For those of you who are not aware of Project Access, it is a program where various paths are maintained on the Willowemoc and Beaverkill to provide handicapped fishermen easy access to the streams. Usually the Long Island Flyrodders maintain two sites on the Willowemoc, one at Hazel Bridge and the other is at the Covered Bridge Picnic Grounds in Livingston Manor. This year our work was really cut out for us, with the Hazel Bridge and picnic grounds both needing tremendous repairs after the storms of the previous winter.
The Hazel Bridge path was rerouted to avoid an area that had been washed out and a shorter more direct path was built to an existing cement deck. With the Covered Bridge site it was decided that a new path would be created utilizing a lower incline making access easier for those in wheel chairs. This would have to be a two-year project as there were not enough materials available. With The Theodore Gordon Flyfishers catering a picnic lunch at the museum work, was halted. After the picnic all hands returned to the Covered Bridge to use all materials supplied. The path will be completed next year.
Club members that participated were: Herman Abrams, Mike Lackey, Robert Maggio, John Menendez, Mark Thompson and his brother, Dan Van Buskirk and Peter Yuskevich.
Just to mention that after all the work was completed there were fish caught.

March 2006
On Saturday, March 25th, the local ORVIS store in Greenvale held "Flyrodder Day". 
This gave us a chance to show fly fishing enthusiasts and prospective members what we are all about. Photographs, charts and digital displays showed our fly tying, casting and club activities, trips, excursions and community projects. Several members were present to answer questions. We had fly tying demonstrations and all attending were rewarded with Orvis discount certificates. New members who signed up on that day got a gift box from Dean, the store manager, containing an Orvis cap, tee shirt, flies, etc. This turned out to be a successful day for the club and all who participated.

February 2006
At the February General meeting, Paul Mc Cain and Allan Manz were elected (again?) to the positions of President and Vice President respectively. Lee Weil and Al Battistelli were re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer. Dan Van Buskirk, Gordon Mueller and Jim Foley were elected to the Board of Directors and Stan Paroly was appointed to the Board as a replacement forDennis Aron who is moving out of state.

We thank Mike Gelber and Jim Foley for their contributions as LIFR President and Vice President during the past two years. 

January 2006
As in past years, the LIFR were represented at  the  "World of Fly Fishing" show in Danbury, CT., the "Sportman's Show" at the Nassau Coliseum  and the "Somerset Fly Fishing Show" in Somerset, NJ. Unlike past years, the entire month of January was seasonally warm with not a flake of snow on the ground. As a result, attendance at the shows was strong with quite a few people stopping by our booths. This year's raffle prize included a rod, reel, line, backing, fly box and flies.

The January general meeting featured the nomination of officers and incoming board members.