wfc 09/10

unlike their PacificO n c o r h y n c u ssalmonid kin, steel-head are able to spawnyearly (iteroparous)and may make severalspawning trips between fresh and saltwater. The steelhead smolts remain inthe river for about a year before headingto sea, whereas salmon typically returnto the seas as smolts. Different steelheadpopulations migrate upriver at differenttimes of the year. "Summer-run steel-head" migrate between May andOctober, before their reproductiveorgans are fully mature. They mature infreshwater before spawning in thespring. Most Columbia River andPacific Northwest steelhead are "sum-mer-run." "Winter-run steelhead"mature fully in the ocean before migrat-ing, between November and April, andspawn shortly after returning. The max-imum recorded life-span for a rainbowtrout is 11 years.

Rainbow trout are predators with avaried diet, and will eat nearly anything

they can grab, evenJoe Meyer's flies.Their image as aselective eater is onlya legend, exceptwhen Alex Rose isstorytelling and try-

ing to justify why he hadn't caught any-thing at all on a three day weekend fish-ing trip.

Rainbows are not quite as piscivo-rous (fish eating) or aggressive as browntrout or lake trout; however, the mightybrook trout really does put the run ontheir larger rainbow brethren and willown the entirety of many a mountainstream where one might always expectto find rainbows present. Young rain-bows survive on insects, fish eggs, small-er fish (up to 1/3 of their length), alongwith crayfish and other crustaceans. Asthey grow, though, the proportion of fishdiet increases in most all populations.Some lake dwelling lines may becomeplanktonic feeders. While in flowingwaters populated with salmon, trout eatvaried fish eggs, including salmon, cut-throat trout as well as the eggs of otherrainbow trout, fry, smolt and evensalmon carcasses.

The first rainbow trout hatchery wasestablished on San Leandro Creek, a trib-

hen the average personthinks of a trout, the onethat most often comes to

mind is the brilliantly colored rainbow. The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus

mykiss) is a species of salmonid native totributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asiaand North America. The species hasbeen introduced for food or sport to atleast 45 countries, and every continentexcept Antarctica.

They were originally named byJohann Julius Walbaum, a German doc-tor and avid angler, in 1792 based ontype specimens from the time of hisexploration of the Kamchatka peninsulain extreme western Russia. Originallygrouped into the Salmo genus, DNAstudies showed rainbow trout are geneti-cally closer to Pacific salmon(Oncorhyncus species) than to browntrout (Salmo trutta) or Atlantic salmon(Salmo salar), so thegenus was changed.

Unlike thespecies' former name'sepithet iridia (Latinrainbow), the specificepithet mykiss derivesfrom the local Kamchatkan name “myk-izha” (or "colorful one"). Oncorhyncus isGreek for "hooked snout," so the fancysounding scientific name Oncorhynchusmykiss simply means "snazzy fish with abig nose." Funny how scientists all overthe world can recognize that, but I forone know the beautiful rainbow just asone of my favorite Wyoming fish.Equally odd is the concept that our famil-iar rainbow, a fish many of us cut ourtrout teeth on, so to speak, is as wellknown to us as to a Mongolian tribesmanor some denizen of a back country north-ern Chinese village. The rainbows'home is the northern hemisphere Pacificbasin and coastal rivers that feed theNorth Pacific.

The ocean going form (includingthose returning for spawning) are knownas steelhead, (Canada and the UnitedStates) or ocean trout (Australia),although they are the same species. Likesalmon, steelhead are anadromous: theyreturn to their original hatching groundto spawn. Similar to Atlantic salmon, but

Wyoming Fly Casters Monthly Newsletter

The Backcast is the monthlynewsletter of the Wyoming Fly Casters,an affiliate club of the WyomingCouncil of Trout Unlimited, theNature Conservancy and theFederation of Fly Fishers. Editorial con-tent does not necessarily reflect theviews of the officers, board or membersof the Wyoming Fly Casters.

Annual dues are $20 for an indi-vidual, $30 for a family, or $250 for alifetime individual membership or$450 for a lifetime family membership.

Visit the club website atwww.wyflycasters.org.

The deadline for submission ofinformation for each issue is the nextto last day of the month. Make contri-butions to the next issue by e-mailingmaterial to the Backcast editor [email protected], or call (307)436-8774.

OFFICERSMelody Weinhandl, President

Vacant, President-electAndrew Sauter, Vice President

Casey Leary, SecretaryMatt Stanton, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORSTerms expire in 2011

Bob FischerScott Novotny

Alex RoseBill Wichers

Terms expire in 2012Spencer Amend

Neil RuebushBrent “Smokey” Weinhandl, DDS

VacantTerms expire in 2013

Greg GrovesJoe Meyer

Will WaterburyHerb Waterman

The Backcast is available either inelectronic format or through USPSsnail mail. To receive each newsletterthrough a monthly e-mail, you must beable to open .pdf (Adobe Acrobat, asoftware program available free ofcharge) documents. Usually, each issueis roughly 1 MB in size, some are larger.Your e-mail provider may have limitson the size of attachments. In order tobe added to the e-mail list, send arequest to [email protected]. Inaddition to receiving each issue of thenewsletter earlier than your hard copypeers, e-mail subscribers are able toprint each copy in vibrant color -- anadded plus if the issue is rich in colorphotographs. By subscribing electroni-cally, you also save the club roughly$17.40 a year in printing and postageexpenses.

Drag-free DrifDrag-free Driftsts

by Melody Weinhandl, President, WFC

[email protected]

W

(continued on page 6)

The Wyoming staterecord for rainbow trout

is 23 pounds


Ten Sleep Creek 2010


The idea was that 12“flies of the month”could be framed as afly plate for the annualfund-raising banquet inthe spring. The response was under-whelming. No one has, so far, submitteda fly pattern. So without contributions, Iam discontinuing this feature.

•There is still time to head north

and sample the outstanding fishery ofNorth Tongue River. In mid-August,four or us took the 3 and a half hour tripto the no-kill stretch. The Tongue hasnever been a morning river, and itdemonstrated this well-deserved reputa-tion when the chemist, the plumber, theminer and I arrived shortly after 11 a.m.A few fish were caught, but all on size14 hare’s ears or Prince nymphs danglingbelow a foam hopper.

But around 3 p.m., fish began look-ing up. The Yellowstone and SnakeRiver cutthroats, and some rainbows aswell, started dimpling the surface, theirrises subtle but consistent. So weswitched to size 18 elk hair caddises, andwe all were in double digits of fish by 4p.m. But then the surface actionappeared to subside. So the miner and Itied a foot long dropper behind theadult caddis imitation, and knotted onan emergent sparkle pupa. Boom! Theaction was explosive. We caught ten fishon Gary LaFontaine’s emerger to everyone hooked on the lead fly.

As we were breaking our rods downat 6 p.m. and preparing to return home(with a stop at Sheridan’s Dragon Wallbuffet), another fisherman stopped tochat. “I caught four fish this afternoonon blue wing olives,” he bragged.

We complimented him on his suc-cess, muffling our chuckles. We didn’thave the heart to tell him the fish wereeating caddisflies, not baetis mayflies.

By the way, foam hopper patternscaught a few fish, but nothing like thecaddis imitations.

Get a bunch of guys or gals togeth-er, carpool and sample the Tonguebefore cooler weather sets in.

You might see some familiar faces.Tight lines,

know what you’re thinking: Hasthat goofball Stalker lost his mind?What’s a non-fishing photo doing

gracing the cover of this month’sBackcast?

Well, it is a fishing photo, in a way.Breanna Leary, a second grader, enjoysthe campfire at the Ten Sleep outing inearly August, sharing her chair with hernew-found friend, Gigi Knight. Fourteenattended this year’s tradition in the BigHorns, and it was a terrific weekend.The fishing was good, the food was ter-rific and the cameraderie was outstand-ing. Hence, this month’s photo. Itdemonstrates that the Wyoming FlyCasters is a family-friendly club, andeven second graders are encouraged tocast a line at brook trout.

During my 28 years at the helm of asmall weekly newspaper, I always soughta photo of a kid with a pet to grace thefront page. Those issues were alwaysgood sellers. So when Bree was enjoyingthe campfire after chowing down onMatt Stanton and Bill Knight’s dinnerfare, my camera naturally sought to cap-ture the moment.

Speaking of Matt Stanton . . . theclub’s treasurer and two-time Ten Sleepstreamkeeper has been honored as the“distinguished young pharmacist of theyear” for Pharmacist Mutual. Congrats,Matt.

•Here’s a deal too good to pass up.

Herb Waterman has some bonefish fliesto give away to the first fly tosser toclaim them. “Will they catch fish? Somewill, some won’t. But they are all pret-ty,” Herb says.

Give him a jingle at 235-5638.•

Regular readers of the Backcastmight note the conspicuous absence ofthe “Fly of the Month” feature usuallyappearing to the left of this column.Well, two months ago, I invited WFCmembers to submit their favorite pat-tern, describe it, and include a recipe.

TTailing Loopsailing Loops

I

by Randy Stalker,Backcast editor

[email protected]

Even Napoleon had his Watergate.-- Yogi Berra

Scoop

On Saturday Sept. 18, the outdooreducation classes at Natrona CountyHigh School will be having a field trip toHarry Yesness pond where they will beparticipating in a fly casting, knot tying,canoe, kayaking activity. I am asking foryour help. We need between 5-8 instruc-tors to demonstrate fly casting and basicknot tying. We will rotate between cast-ing, knot tying, canoeing, and kayaking.We have instructors for the "on the waterexperience."

The class will go from 8 to noon.The school will furnish fly rods with thepossibility of the club loaners being used.

This will be a great opportunity toshowcase our club and contribute to theeducational process in Casper.

Please reply asap so we can planaccordingly.

If there are any questions please donot hesitate to email me with your con-cerns.

Scott [email protected]

LETTERS

In 1997, an enterprising fishery biol-ogist in Cody put out the first angler’snewsletter. Typed and reproduced on acopier, it was mailed to a small list of per-sons. In 1998 it was the same format andI received my first copy. By 1999, Casperhad gotten into the act and the letter wasnow computerized and all that neat stuff.

Now all the fishery districts publish ayearly newsletter. You can read themonline at the G&F website:http://gf.state.wy.us/ and follow direc-tions. All the back issues are available.

The letters contain many nuggets ofinformation. It was through the Cody let-ter I learned goldens had been planted inthree lakes next to the Beartooth high-way. Two of the lakes are only a mile or sofrom the highway. The chance to catch agolden after a short hike was previouslyunknown when pursuing goldens. I’dlove to spend a week on the Beartoothsfishing for them, but physically I can nolonger hack it. There are many otherchoice bits of information in thesenewsletters.

Herb Waterman

Flycaster help needed

Newsletter nuggets


BBRRAAGG BBOOAARRDD


utary of San Francisco Bay. The hatcherywas stocked with the locally native rain-bow trout from local creeks. The fishraised in this hatchery were sent as faraway as New York(!) and the lucky onescame to Wyoming.

Shortly after the pioneers and theArmy, rainbow trout were introducedinto Wyoming in the 1890s. On one veryfortuitous day in the spring of 1893, aneastbound Union Pacific train haulingmany thousands of rainbow fingerlingfrom San Leandro broke down near whatwas to become Saratoga. The coolingequipment quit with the power plant ofthe locomotive, and the fish were goingto rapidly warm in their tanks in thefreight cars and die. UP personnel didthe only humane thing they could do,which was to dump the fingerling intothe North Platte River. Interestingly, thePlatte was naturally devoid of trout atthis time and the rainbows found a vir-gin home to colonize. Most people forgotabout this stocking until regular catchesof rainbows nearing 30” began to becaught years later, catapulting Saratogato preeminence as the rainbow troutcapital of the world during the firstdecade of the 1900s.

The Wyoming state record for rain-bow trout was caught in Burnt Lake,Sublette County in 1969 by FrankFavazzo, a monster of 35 and a half inch-es and weighing 23 pounds! The worldrecord for the largest rainbow was in LakeDiefenbaker, Saskatchewan in 2009.Sean Konrad's catch of 42 inches and 48lbs. humbles even Wyoming's best.These large fish doubtlessly providedmany fine steak fillets, and family andfriends dined contentedly revelling inthe magnificence of the catch and thesucculence of the meal.

This would have been, I dare say, ahappy denouement and a fitting "end ofthose particular rainbows'" lives.

So, the next time you're fishing theNorth Platte you'll have a new angle onany rainbow trout you catch. Who'dhave thought their ancestors wouldhijack a train just so they could relocateand populate the world famous MiracleMile?

Happy angling,

Melody

MMMM YYYY FFFF LLYYLLYY BBBB OOXXOOXX ...... ...... CCCC AASSEEYYAASSEEYY LLLL EEAARRYYEEAARRYY

President’s message(continued from page 2)


the sink to determine the effective-ness of treatment and to removedead fish. Rotenone sand-mix willbe applied to small seeps and areaswhere the chemical does not mixwell.

Following this year's treatment,most of the brook trout will beremoved. However, completelyremoving fish from a stream requires aminimum of two years. "We antici-pate very few fish will remain in thestream following the treatment,"said fisheries biologist MarkSmith.

It will likely take two or threeyears to complete the SoldierCreek portion of the project. "Weplan to treat the same section againin 2011 to ensure that we haveachieved our goal to remove allbrook trout. Then we plan to moveYellowstone cutthroat trout back tothe stream from Buckskin Ed Creek,sometime in 2012," Smith said.

The Big Horn Mountains con-tain hundreds of miles of brook troutstreams, but only a few isolated miles ofYellowstone cutthroat trout streamsremain. "We like brook trout and wehave no intention of removing themthroughout the Big Horn's. We just needto provide enough habitat forYellowstone cutthroat to thrive in thearea and to provide anglers a diversity offishing opportunities," Smith said.

South Paintrock Creek on the westside of the Big Horn Mountains containsone of the few remaining Yellowstonecutthroat trout populations in the BigHorn Mountains. The loss ofYellowstone cutthroat trout has occurredlargely due to competition by introducedspecies such as brook trout and hybridiza-tion by introduced rainbow trout.

Soldier Creek treatment to benefitthe Yellowstone cutthroat trout www.wyflycasters.org

BBEE IINNFFOORRMMEEDD

Receive each issue of theBackcast in a timely man-ner, without relying onthe Post Awful to deliverit. Sign up for electronicdelivery! Not only do youreceive each issue near theend of each month, but itwill feature color photo-graphs and graphics. Andyou can save the club pre-cious money and resourcesbecause printing andpostage costs and thechore of stapling, stamp-ing and stickering themonochrome hard copyare eliminated. Just dropthe editor a line, request-ing electronic delivery [email protected].

www.wyflycasters.org

Yellowstone cutthroat trout, a nativespecies and one of Wyoming's Species ofGreatest Conservation Need, will benefitfrom a restoration project to be conduct-ed in the headwaters of South PaintrockCreek. The stream is located on the westslope of the Bighorn Mountains.

In cooperation with the BighornNational Forest, WGFD fisheries biolo-gists planned to begin the second phaseof this multi-year project of brook troutremoval for Yellowstone cutthroat con-servation last month. The project beginsby treating Soldier Creek with Rotenone,a chemical used in very small doses thatis toxic for animals having gills.Rotenone is not toxic to humans, pets,cattle or sheep in the quantities that willbe used for treating the stream.

Prior to treatment, the remnant pop-ulation of Yellowstone cutthroat fromlower Soldier Creek will be transplantedto Buckskin Ed Creek where brook troutwere removed in 2008 and 2009. Thesetransplanted fish are expected to expandand provide angling opportunities incoming years. A series of waterfalls andsinkholes in the drainage will isolateYellowstone cutthroat trout from fishdownstream. To prevent elimination ofYellowstone cutthroat trout in thedrainage, brook trout must be removed.

Rotenone drip stations will treat thewater for eight hours. During the treat-ment period the treatment portion of thecreek will be closed to fishing until theproject is complete. "As an added safetyprecaution, we do not want anglers fish-ing in the area while we are working,"Smith said.

A detoxification chemical will bedispensed immediately upstream of thewaterfalls during the entire time theRotenone is in the stream. Blocking netswill be set between drip stations and at

Annual club picnic Sept. 8, 6:00 p.m.Izaac Walton League clubhouse(Bring a covered fish to share)


SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR Club CalendarMONDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4

5 86 7 9 10 11

12 1513 14 16 17 18

19 2220 21 23 24 25

26 27 28

Regular meeting, 6 p.m.

WFC BoardMeeting, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY

29 30

SUNDAY

Labor Day

Deadline forBackcast info

WYOMING FLY CASTERS BOARD MEETING MINUTES -- DRAFTAugust 18, 2010

Vice President Andrew Sauter called the meeting to order at7 p.m.

Excused absences: Melody and Smokey Weinhandl, BillWichers, Alex Rose and Will Waterbury.

The board approved the secretary’s report as printed in theBackcast. Matt Stanton provided the treasurer’s report and theboard approved. Matt reported he filed the annual report withthe secretary of state. Conservation: Matt is trying to get fundsfor the club’s commitments, discussing ideas of raffles, etc. Mattwill have a meeting soon and once the date is set, it will beannounced. The Platte River Revival is coming up and due tohigh water no drift boats will be needed. Outings and programs:The September meeting will be the annual picnic. Casey Learyand Will Waterbury will cook. Andrew Sauter asked membersbring a side dish. Mark Boname might present a program onentomology, specifically caddisflies, in November. Matt reportedthe Ten Sleep outing was a success, 14 attended, everyoneenjoyed themselves. The streamkeeper collected $56 for the out-ing and the board approved to pay the balance of the expenses.Matt reported he has been in contact with the Game and Fishregarding the possible fish stranding prevention project belowPathfinder to see if it is worthwhile. Joe Meyer will be havinganother “Fishing with Joe” outing on Aug. 21, at Petro and Water

Tank ponds. Old Business: The board approved Abe Knapp topurchase 24 MacTavish patches at $4.25 each and 4 MacTavishpins at $2.75 each. Joe Meyer reported that due to recentchanges at Sam’s Club the club discounts are not complete andhe is looking into the matter further. Scott Novotny indicated afly fishing clinic for high school kids will be held on Sept. 18,2010 at Harry Yesness Pond for 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Casting, knottying, kayaking and canoeing skills will be demonstrated. Noactual flies will be used. He is looking for 8-10 members to assist.An article will be placed in the Backcast. Joe Meyer was contact-ed by Mark Mackateer of the Boy Scouts to have members teachfly tying and casting. Due to prior commitments, Joe will ask seeif the Boy Scouts will seek alternate dates. Joe reported theWFC will be helping at the Expo on Sept. 9, 10 and 11. A pen-tathlon will be conducted on Sept. 10, 7:30 a.m., consisting of16 teams of 3, casting 10 times into hula hoops. Joe reported hehas adequate member support. Trout Unlimited would like toco-assist with casting at the Expo again. WFC will have a boothat the Expo and Matt is looking into the fish stamps to have atthe booth. The board tabled discussion on the Memorial Accessstone to allow more information on plastic and woodsignage.New Business: None

Meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.

Full moonNight outing atGrey Reef

AutumnEquinox

G&F ExpoG&F Expo

G&F Expo


CCLLAASSSSIIFFIIEEDDSS

GOOD STUFFFOR SALE(CHEAP!)

WFC TREASURER'S REPORT (ending July 31, 2010)

Date Vendor/Item AmountIncome

07/07/10 Deposit - Dues $110, Banquet $3220.80 (Platte River Fly Shop Receipts) $3,330.80

07/20/10 Deposit - Dues $150, Banquet meals $175,July raffle $115 $449.00

07/30/10 Deposit - Dues $30.00Total $3,770.80

Expenses07/14/10 #4052 Izaak Walton League, July rent $75.0007/20/10 #4053 Ugly Bug July raffle $98.4807/20/10 #4054 Tony Martin, Backcast postage (multiple months) $88.0007/20/10 #4055 Fed Ex Office, June Backcast printing $83.8807/30/10 #4056 Joe DeGraw, Walker Jenkins outing $59.03

Total $270.36

Our members are very special to us and we want to remember themin times of adversity. If you know of a member or their spouse who is illor is recently deceased, please contact Donna Diesburg at (307) 234-4278 or e-mail her at [email protected].

Thousands of aquatic invasivespecies inspections have been conductedthis summer as inspection crews havetraveled the state to set up check stationsat Wyoming's lakes and reservoirs.

The number of waters and launchpoints far exceed what inspectors cancover, and not every boater who headsout will encounter an AIS check station.With that being the case, a good deal ofthe prevention of AIS introduction intoWyoming will be tied to the self-checksboaters do before launching their boatsin Wyoming.

The purpose of a boater self-check isto ensure they are not transporting mus-sels or other AIS into Wyoming waters.To facilitate an effective self-check, aboater can use a self-check form, which isavailable at all watercraft check stations,the Game and Fish website, regionaloffices and in small kiosks on signs atmany boat ramps in Wyoming. The self-check form guides the boater through aself-inspection and ensures the boat is"Drain, Clean and Dry."

Self-checks are key to AIS introduction"The majority of our Wyoming

boaters never take their boat out of stateand their boating activities are confinedto nearby lakes and reservoirs. As a resultour boaters present a low risk of infectingWyoming waters with AIS," said WGFDAIS Coordinator Beth Bear.

Drain, Clean and Dry still applies toall boaters. This will limit the spread ofexisting AIS in Wyoming, like whirlingdisease and New Zealand mudsnail, aswell as prevent the spread of invasivemussels if they are detected in ourwaters.

The real danger lies when a boat isused in an out-of-state water where AISis present and is brought back intoWyoming or when a boat is purchasedfrom another state. "We have had a num-ber of these instances this summer," saidBear. "Instances where boaters have con-tacted us, telling us where their boatshave been and requesting inspectionsbefore they launch." She adds this levelof concern will be key to preventing AISintroduction in coming years.

SORRYThe new, and popular, reg-ular feature on WFC mem-bers usually featured onpage 7, did not arrive aday after deadline, so thisissue of the Backcast isbeing distributed without it.The WFC member profilewas to be on Bob Fischer.Look for it in the Octoberissue of the newsletter.

Patagonia SST jacket, XL, Brand new.

$175 (list $315).

Scott Novotny266-3072