Cape Fear Flyfishers Meeting Minutes—17 October 2018
Several members participated in the casting clinic prior to the meeting.
President Ed Smith called the meeting to order and welcomed back several snowbird members who have returned to the Southport area for the winter.
Jim White announced that Tony Mangiapane and his wife Lyn were recently recognized in the State Port Pilot newspaper for celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Congratulations Tony and Lyn!
The fly drawing was won by Jim Larson.
Treasurer Scott Ewing was absent but Ed Smith announced that we have $4,859 in the treasury. Ed said that about $1,200 of that will go towards the banquet in December.
****Note: Our November meeting will NOT be held on the usual third Wednesday of the month but the second Wednesday, November 14, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Jerry Dilsaver will be our featured speaker and will discuss winter fishing. The meeting will be held at the St. James Town Hall, located next to the community center where we usually meet.
RECENT EVENTS
New River VA for Smallmouth (near Galax VA)—Due to the rainy weather, the group of eight was split into two groups of four each. Elk Creek Outfitters provided the float boats and guides. Many nice fish were caught, including several citation fish. The guides also cooked a delicious lunch riverside and a great time was had by all. Jim White reminded us that Lefty Kreh called the New River the “best smallmouth fishing in the world.” Another club trip to this destination is in the planning stages for next year.
Asheville NC—Lots of nice sizeable trout were caught while fishing on both the Watauga and South Holston rivers.
The South Holston also has striper fishing available which has been suggested as a winter trip destination. Due to the time of year and lack of crowds, a December trip could be arranged fairly quickly if there is interest.
Several folks waded on the Mills and Nantahala rivers and caught many trout.
Forest Duncan caught a few fish on the Tuckaseegee River but he wasn’t overly impressed with this river at this time of year.
Overall, everyone enjoyed the trip, the accommodations, and working with Hunter Banks.
EVENTS CALENDAR
· Our annual winter banquet will be December 15 at the Players Club in St. James.
NEW BUSINESS
Cary Davidson said his wife is coordinating Celebrate the Holidays, sponsored by the St James Volunteer Club. The event is December 5 and 6 from 2:00 – 4:30 p.m. each day at the St. James Community Center. The event includes decorated trees, carolers, demonstrations, holiday displays, Santa, beverages, raffle baskets, etc. and a holiday home tour. Cape Fear Flyfishers will have a table where Cary will be demonstrating fly fishing and fly tying. Cary would like some club volunteers to lend a hand with fly tying, rod building, and explaining the club to attendees. Admission is $10 but folks doing demonstrations enter at no charge. All proceeds are going to hurricane relief.
Ed Smith mentioned the upcoming NC voting amendment regarding “traditional methods” for hunting and fishing, where traditional methods are not defined. A brief discussion followed.
Ed mentioned that next year the club dues will drop to $36 from $48 since we have a monetary surplus this year. Please note that dues for next year will be collected in January and all members are asked to please make their dues payments then.
OFFICER ELECTIONS
President Ed stated that there were no new nominees for 2019 officers but that all of our existing officers agreed to serve for another term with the exception of Director of Education, Dan Smith who has moved from the area. Ed then gave the membership an opportunity to discuss or nominate new officers. Since no nominees were named, a vote was taken and passed for our present officers to continue next year. Ed did request for someone to please volunteer for the Director of Education position.
2019 PROPOSED MEETING TOPICS
Kayak and small boat fly fishing—Chris Tyron from Hook, Line, and Paddle in Wilmington.
Trout techniques—Patrick from Hunter Banks would like to discuss trout techniques, e.g. what trout eat/match-the-hatch, dry fly fishing, streamer fishing, nymphing, etc. Perhaps for a February meeting
President of Trout Unlimited in Hickory NC and Director of Casting Carolinas – Jackie Green. Casting Carolinas is a North and South Carolina group which is a spinoff of Casting for Recovery, a cancer recovery group for women. Casting Carolinas hosts weekend retreats that provide patients with medical and emotional support. The group teaches the therapeutic benefits of flyfishing and towards the end of the retreat patients actually go fishing. The group is holding a March retreat in Charleston so an idea for our January meeting is for the director to come and discuss how our club can help with the March retreat, maybe by helping participants fish on the last day of the retreat.. The group also needs donated gear and financial support
Fly tying—Have a class on fly tying during one of our meeting times
Improving our casting—Holding a meeting at The Woodlands pond in St. James to work on casting and have a fishing tournament
Local guides—Justin Brock, Seth Vernon, Allen Cain
False albacore—Presentation on how and where to fish for albies. Perhaps including a local club trip to Masonboro Inlet or Wrightsville Beach
Gear discussion—How to get started in flyfishing
Fishing the southern Appalachians—How to do it on your own without an area guide
Please let Ed know of any other ideas you may have for meeting topics next year.
2019 POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES
Advanced fly fishing, fly tying, Rices and Town Creeks, Lake Waccamaw, Wrightsville Beach, pond fishing, surf fishing, banquet
UPCOMING TRIPS
Three popular club trips will be repeated in 2019: the spring trout trip to Bristol TN, the July/August smallmouth trip to the New River VA, and the October trout trip to Asheville NC. The spring trip to Bristol may be moved from April to early May due to the usual bad weather in April. The New River trip seemed to work great this year with groups of four so next year the trip will be planned with that in mind. The fall Asheville trip will probably be moved to early November to avoid the crowds, the leaves on the water, and the hurricanes.
Another potential trip for spring is to Roanoke Rapids for stripers. Lee Parsons from Wilmington guides striper trips to Roanoke Rapids. A sign up sheet will be available for this potential trip.
A general discussion followed regarding destination trips for 2019. Suggestions included Georgetown SC, Bahamas, Louisiana, Belize, etc.
Sign up sheets were presented for destination trips to test interest in various locations. Other ideas are welcomed and encouraged. The sheets will be available again at the November meeting on November 14.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Fuller
Secretary