Cape Fear Flyfishers Meeting Minutes—16 January 2019
No casting clinic was held prior to the meeting. Pre-meeting casting clinics have been canceled for the winter and will resume in the spring.
President Ed Smith called the meeting to order and asked new attendees to introduce themselves. Ed then pointed out three people in attendance who we haven’t seen for a while: Charlie White (an original member of the club), the club’s founder Bobby Sands, and Bobby’s wife Sherry.
The fly drawing was won by Al Roy
Treasurer Scott Ewing announced that we have $4,175 in the treasury. Ed said about $300 of that amount is due for banquet expenses.
Annual dues were collected with a reminder to please get your dues paid if you haven’t done so already. A new, filled-in membership form is required from all members each year.
EVENTS CALENDAR & MEETING TOPICS
- 20 February — local guide Seth Vernon
- 20 March — Patrick Brady from Hunter Banks Fly Shop in Asheville NC will discuss different techniques for trout fishing
- 17 April — Chris Tryon from Hook, Line, and Paddle in Wilmington will discuss kayak fly fishing. Member Steve Moore will be assisting Chris
15 May — Improve Your Casting. Hands-on casting practice with a competition. This meeting will be held at the new Woodlands Pavilion in St. James
19 June — Summer picnic at the Woodlands Pavilion in St. James
17 December — Holiday banquet at the Members Club in St. James
In late February or early March, Rev Jim White will be holding a Flyfishing 101 class at the St. James Community Center which will concentrate on helping new members. Jim is also in the planning stages of intermediate and advanced flyfishing classes.
OLD BUSINESS
The holiday banquet was discussed and was enjoyed by all. The event included an awards ceremony with awards given as follows: Rookie of the Year Award/Paul Askew; Most Improved Award/Dennis Hill; What a Toad Award/Linda Rives; Smallie Smackdown Award/ Ray Hitney; Lefty Kreh Casting Award/Matt Kraker; Presidents Award/Jim White; Most Active Award/Forest Duncan; Longest Commute Award/Dean Gayther.
UPCOMING TRIPS
Bristol TN—April 29 – May 1. This trip is limited to 12 anglers because only six boats are available. So far eighteen people have signed up. If you are still interested in this trip, please contact Ed by email, a wait list will be created if needed.
Roanoke Rapids, Weldon NC—Striper fishing. This trip will be in late April or early May. More details to come.
New River, Galax VA—Smallmouth bass fishing. There are two dates for this trip: August 5-7 and August 12-14. Each week, six anglers can be accommodated on boats. Currently there are sixteen people signed up for this trip. If you are interested, please contact Ed Smith.
Bahamas—Bonefishing. Big Jim Larson is working on plans for this trip. Options to come.
Asheville NC—This trip is the annual fall spousal trip but only nine folks have signed up for this year. The trip usually runs in October but this year we may try early November to avoid hurricane season. Let Ed know if you are interested.
Wrightsville Beach NC—False
albacore fishing in October or November. More to come on this trip. Craig
Thompson, Richie Winter and Bill Buchsbaum will be pulling this outing
together.
Louisiana—Fishing for reds in the LA flats. This trip is being investigated but may be planned for 2020 as time is running out to find guides, etc. for this year.
Asheville NC—Non-spousal trip in December or January. This trip will be somewhat spontaneous during a stretch of good weather.
Florida—A FL trip could concentrate on various types of fishing, e.g. tarpon and/or bonefish, possibly in the Keys; peacock bass in canals near Miami; snook and/or redfish on the west coast around Tampa. If you have signed up for the FL trip, please decide a target species and location. You will be contacted soon by the trip coordinator, Nancy Fuller.
Note: The club will not be sponsoring a Montana trip this year as there was not enough interest.
Ed and Rev reminded folks that signing up for a guided trip is a commitment. Typically if the guide cancels the trip, you receive a full refund but if you cancel and do not find a replacement, you will be charged the full fee. Thirty to forty-five days cancellation notice is commonly required in order to receive any refund so please make sure you ask questions and understand the cancellation policy of the guide and/or service you plan to use. And again this year, each person will be responsible for making their own lodging reservations prior to ALL trips.
NEW BUSINESS
Craig Thompson said that the St. James Fishing Club will be holding a saltwater round table on March 4 which will include gear and tackle swaps. Craig is hoping to have a Garmin representative attend so if you have any Garmin equipment that you would like to discuss with a rep, please let Craig know your intentions.
PROGRAM
Our program featured Casting Carolinas, a cancer support group for women. Jackie Green, Pat Laughtner, and Pat Sadler presented the program, all of whom are cancer survivors.
Casting Carolinas is a 501(3c), not-for-profit organization
run by all volunteer women. They hold free three-day flyfishing retreats for
cancer survivors from NC and SC along with one out-of-state attendee at each
retreat. Four retreats will be held in 2019. Each retreat hosts 16 to 20 women
who have any type of cancer, at any stage of recovery. The retreats for this
year are March 15-17 at St. Christophers, Johns Island SC; April 12-14 at Lake
Logan Center,
Canton NC; October 11-13, Lake Logan Center, Canton NC; and, the Alumni Retreat April 26-28 at Spruce Pine NC.
At each retreat, there is an opening reception. Afterwards the women are fitted with gear such as waders and boots etc. and get completely geared up to go fishing. The women then receive casting instruction and are taught to tie knots and flies. On the last day of the retreat, the women actually go fishing with a guide. Many women catch fish and many times more than one! During the retreat, women also receive supportive benefits from discussing and sharing their cancer journey with others who’ve had similar experiences.
How can we help? Casting Carolinas depends on volunteers and appreciates help with guiding at the retreats and donations of equipment of all types. To sign up to help at a retreat, go to castingcarolinas.com and sign up as a volunteer. You will receive a phone call from a staff member to plan your service etc. The upcoming retreat at John Island SC March 15-17 is a great opportunity for our club to volunteer. Financial donations are also welcome and you can donate online at the website.
(Note from Ed: After the meeting, we received a thank you from the Executive Director of Casting Carolinas – Starr Nolan – who confirmed to date they received $775 in donations from CFF and our members, and new and used equipment that was donated at the meeting with an estimated $1,000 in resale value yet to come.) Thank you all for helping!
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Fuller
Secretary