Happy May 2015 fellow fly fishers. My good intentions of hitting the water on a more regular basis are being dashed by kids and honey dos. As the days grow longer it seems that I have more things to do and less time to do them. My annual pilgrimage to Eastern Washington will happen later this month. With any luck I’ll have a great picture for next month’s newsletter. As time is short so are my words. Here’s wishing you all tight lines. Tom

LEADERS LINE BY TOM BOLENDER

GARDEN HACKLE VOLUME 15 NUMBER 5 MAY 2015

PROGRAM PLEASE SEE PAGE 3 FOR PROGRAM INFORMATION.

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MUNN LAKE REPORT SEE DON FREEMAN’S REPORT ON THE RECENT SSFF SPONSORED EVENT AT MUNN LAKE

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TREASURER’S CREEL DAVE FIELD’S CREEL IS WELL WORTH READING. THANK YOU AGAIN DAVE.

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2015 NWYCFFAcademy – I am happy to report that we are going to have another full house again this year for The Academy. We set our goal to recruit 22 boys and girls, and we have accomplished that goal. I am also happy to report that all of our instructors from the past years are going to return, and we are blessed to have some of the best in our area. What we will need now is support from the fly fishing community to help the kids at the River and Ponds. Folks that are willing to make sure the kids are safe and help with their fishing. If you would like to help, please call Jim Brosio @ 360-943-9947, Tom VanGelder @253-261-8890 or Mike Clancy @253-278-0061. The fishing is in the early morning and in the evening after dinner starting Monday evening. The event is June 21-27 at The Gwinwood Community Center on Hicks Lake in Lacey, WA. Mike Clancy, Co-Director

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Garden Hackle May 2015 Treasurer’s Creel Hello Fellow Fly Fishers: South Sound Fly Fishers serves as a conduit for making good things happen in the world of fly fishing. The club receives donations from members and other organizations to further club programs and carry out the club mission. The club maintains the following dedicated funds: Coastal Cutthroat, Alan Harger and Munn Lake Fund. The Coastal Cutthroat Fund was created some years ago to support the conservation of this fishery in area waters. The club recently spent money from this fund to expand the scant scientific research on the life cycle of these fish in local rivers and surrounding saltwater habitat. The Alan Harger Fund is used to fund scholarships allowing young people to attend the Northwest Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Academy. Alan Harger was a long time member of SSFF and supporter of the NWYC&FFA. This fund was started from the money generated on the sale his fly fishing equipment from his estate. Members are encouraged to annually donate money to this fund enabling it to maintain this scholarship program. It is truly an investment in the future of fly fishing in the Northwest. The Munn Lake Fund was created to support the conversion of Munn Lake from a “Put and Take Lake” to the only Selective Rules Lake in Thurston County. Individuals and other fly fishing clubs are encouraged to make annual donations to SSFF earmarked for the Munn Lake Project. Tight loops, Dave Field Treasurer

Sunset in Thurston County Photo by Gene Rivers

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MAY 2015 Program SURPRISE!!

DESPITE MY BEST EFFORTS (I HAVE SPENT TWO WEEKS TRYING TO GET THE INFORMATION) I HAVE RECEIVED NO INFORMATION ON WHAT OUR MAY 2015 PROGRAM WILL BE. I AM SURE WE WILL HAVE SOME SORT OF A PROGRAM AS WE HAVE HAD TO SCRAMBLE IN THE PAST TO FIND A MONTHLY PROGRAM. ANYONE WONDERING WHAT OUR MAY PROGRAM WILL BE SHOULD DIRECT THEIR INQUIRIES TO WALT DOHRING, OUR PROGRAM CHAIRMAN OR TOM BOLENDER OUR CLUB PRESIDENT. THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION IS ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE NEWSLETTER.

EDITOR

Being editor of the Garden Hackle is sometimes a bittersweet task. As editor I wanted to say a special thank you to club members Dave Field, John Sabo, Don Freeman and Mike Clancy. These gentlemen provide information for the Garden Hackle every month. Also Don Harold has been doing a great job as Membership Chair and has helped me field numerous inquiries about the club which come across the editors desk. All of these people work hard on the SSFF Board of Directors and regularly attend Board meetings. They consistently make decisions that are in the best interest of SSFF. Say thank you to these Board members next time you see them. They are the backbone of your club. Gene Rivers, Editor

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MUNN DAY APRIL 2015

Saturday, April 18, The Friends of Munn Lake, under the aegis of the club of course, hosted board members from Kitsap Fly Fishers, Lower Columbia Fly Fishers, and Puget Sound Fly Fishers for a fun (Funn Day) event. Presidents, Tony Busch from Silverdale, Mike Koslosky from Tacoma and Terry Frost of Longview came in to learn how a quality fishing lake can be established through cooperation between WDFW and volunteer action. James Lossee, area 6 Biologist attended to provide insight to creating similar resources in their adjacent areas. In a nutshell, back in 2008, club members started working with the Agency to change the model at Munn Lake, then a typical put and take seasonal fishery located just minutes from I5. SSFF raised money at the annual auction and through individual donations to pledge support in the form of oversight on the lake, working with the DFW commission to change the rules to catch and release, year round opening, and selective gear rules. Up to $2,000 per year was pledged to buy food in order to feed hatchery stock to much larger size than is commonly stocked in lowland lakes. The ad hoc group, “Friends of Munn Lake” was created to help with fund raising, report daily catch records to monitor the stocking level, and ease transition from harvest fishing to a trophy trout fishery. This model has been so successful, both from providing a rare opportunity to catch giant trout in an urban setting, monetary savings, increased usership and general good publicity that the WDFW is eager to expand the program to surrounding areas. The program has proved to be a win both for anglers and the state, and we are proud to have been the trend setters. To support the event, the state donated a planting of 650 rainbow trout up to six pounds and 75 cutthroats without any monetary contribution from the club. Weather cooperated, 20-25 eager anglers arrived bright and early, John Sabo showed up to cater the event as a donation from last year’s auction, Howard Nanto collected favorite flies from many of the more successful “Friends” for a display posted next to the coffee and cookies. Board members Don Harold and Dave Bryant were on hand to lend support. The fishing was great, lunch good and plenty. Between donations from Lower Columbia, new members enlisted in to the “Friends” and a cash contribution from a Munn Lake resident couple the event raised nearly a thousand dollars, and saved another $750 or so due to the free plant by the state. The visiting club presidents jump started new networking opportunities for the 4 clubs represented, and went away inspired to work on similar programs for their areas. By the way, the fish are still in the lake so the spring is a great time for our club members to get on down to Munn and enjoy high lake quality trout fishing right here in town. DON FREEMAN

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May 2015 Raffle Report We are doing well with the Raffle and T-Shirt sales. Remember, T-Shirts are on sale for only $5, be sure to get yours at the next meeting. Thank you; to all the club members who participate in the club’s monthly raffle and to all of you who donate raffle items or fill fly boxes. We are looking forward to even more interesting and useful raffle prizes in the coming months. Sound Fly Fishers Dinner and Auction The club’s Potluck Dinner and Auction will be at the Black Lake Grange Hall in April of next year. We are looking for donations of “experiences and adventure” (fishing trips, vacation cabins, gourmet dinners, etc.), and for club members who would like to be on the auction committee and support the club. If you would like to participate, please see me at the raffle table at the club meetings, or e-mail me at: chrisonquince@comcast.net. Club Picnic The club’s annual picnic and potluck will be Tuesday, August 18 (our regular meeting date) at the North Olympia Fire Station. All members, their families, and guests are invited. Don Harold will again hold a 50/50 Raffle. See you there. John Sabo

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SSFF 2015 OFFICERS, DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS

President: Tom Bolender tombolender@comcast.net Past President: Don Freeman donfreeman74@gmail.com Treasurer: Dave Field D_W_Field@hotmail.com Membership: Don Harold don@gophish.net Secretary: Dave Bryant granbry@yahoo.com Conservation liason: Don Freeman donfreeman74@gmail.com Education: Outings: Terry West Terrywest1@comcast.net Programs: Walt Dohring waltdohring@outlook.com Fundraising: John Sabo chrisonquince@comcast.net Newsletter/website: WEB SITE www.southsoundflyfishers.org SSFF PO BOX 2792, Olympia, WA 98507 General Meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of every month except December, starting at 6:30pm. Board meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month starting at 6:00 pm. Meeting are held at the North Olympia Fire Station (Boston Harbor Fire Station) 5046 Boston Harbor Road NE, Olympia WA