The President’s Letter — Notes from Al

This is probably the last newsletter for 2020….This one covers everything from the OctoberMeeting to the November Meeting and that isthe last event for 2020. You will get anelectronic ballot for the Club Officers Electionand a short notice for the November meetingabout Halloween. Then a December/Januarynewsletter before Christmas to kick off 2021.This year has been a real challenge to our clubwith all the things going on that have interferedwith our activities. Our President Al has showngreat leadership through it all. I am so thankful.

October has some things happening that aregems. And this newsletter has three memberarticles in it about their great family outings toArkansas to flog the trout in the blue ribbontrout streams from Cotter to the two Dams inMountain Home and Lake Taneycomo inBranson. When Sow Bug comes around in2021, this might make a good trip to fly tie withthe best of the best and to get in some great

fishing in this area. Your Editor greatlyappreciates these travel reports from members.Keep up the good work.

A lot of the 2021 events we love are movingaround to new dates so print a copy of yourcalendar in the Newsletter and keep it on yourfridge with the magnets. It looks like we may becoming back to normal, whatever that might be.

We are going to Oktoberfish and hope to see alot of you there. Blessings for the Holidayseason and while we need to be careful, all mykids are coming home for the holidays. I wishthe very best for you and your families.

Tight lines and BIG fish.

1 Newsletter of the Dallas Fly Fishers

Greetings to All.

As this year is quickly coming to an end we asa club have numerous things to be thankfulfor. Since the beginning of this virus the clubhas grown in new members and with eachpassing month more are added. I'm alwaysexcited to hear about their adventures andwhat they want to improve on skill wisethrough the club.

Rex Walker our club casting instructor hasheld two (2) classes that have taken in all skilllevels and as these continue to be offered Iwould love to continue to see more new

members as well as our older memberscontinue to attend.

Our club is also coming up on Election ofOfficers and I encourage all to participate inwhichever form of balloting we decide upon.

Don't forget about Oktoberfisch 2020 which isbeing held 16-18 October in FredericksburgTexas, hope to see you there. Also on 24October 2020 we have the Gannon outing athis home in Ennis Texas and once again hopeto see you there and remember to RSVP toJeff Gannon. A poster is on page 2 of thisnewsletter.

The last thing is our hotel has changed fromthe Wyndham to now the Sonesta and we'reworking on continuing with this newmanagement. Our October meeting will aZOOM meeting due to the hotel transition.

As usual it's wonderful to communicate withyou through this letter and I'm wishing you allgood health and keep your family and yourselfsafe until we meet face to face again.

Tight Lines

—Alfred Hil lman,—Alfred Hil lman,President, Dallas FlyFishers

Newsletter of the Dallas Flyfishers u October/November 2020Volume XLIII u Number 10 u www.dallasflyfishers.org

The President’s Letterby Alfred Hillman

— Notes from Al —

Letter from the Editor by Jere Anderson

IN THE OCT./NOV. ISSUEPage:

1 The President’s Letter

1 Letter from the Editor

2 DFF Board 2020

2 DFF Speaker Details

2 4th Annual DFF Fly Fishing Outing at Sunset Ridge Ranch

2 2021 Election News

3 2020 Calendar

4 No Taneycomo Turnovers Next Time

4 DFF Does The White River. September 12-19, 2020

6 Arkansas Fishing Trip

7 The Conservation Corner

9 Education And Outreach Report

10 Membership/Renewal Application

The Dallas Flyfishers regular meetings normally are on the firstMonday of the month. For now, meetings in a room are blocked inDallas. For the rest of 2020, you may attend on ZOOM through yourhome computer. Watch your E-Mail for information. October Meeting, Peter Breeden.

Peter guides out of the Sportsman Outdoors and Fly Shop, in Lake City, CO,and guides for Beavers Bend Fly Shop, according to his Facebook pages.

November Meeting Speaker is Pete Shanfelt.

See his web site at www.bighornangler.com . Pete is the ownerand guides Montana all inclusive fishing trips. Go look at their website for some great pictures.Our usual December Meeting, the Holiday Party is called off, andwill be held as an Awards Banquet later in 2021.

— Finny Khan — Finny Khan Program Chairman, Dallas FlyFishers

Newsletter of the Dallas Fly Fishers 2

DFF Board 2020PresidentAl [email protected]

Vice-PresidentJulia [email protected]

Past PresidentJack JancoC-214-542-1738 [email protected]

TreasurerSteve [email protected]

SecretaryJim [email protected]

Trustee 2020Jay [email protected]

Trustee 2021Steven [email protected]

Trustee 2022Dave Shatzer972-571-7622 [email protected]

Trustee At LargeWilliam [email protected]

MembershipMike [email protected] Shatzer972-571-7622 [email protected]

Casting Instructor

Rex [email protected]

ConservationJere [email protected]

OutreachJack [email protected]

Education CoordinatorRichard [email protected]

Newsletter EditorJere [email protected]

OutingsKevin [email protected] [email protected]

IT SpecialistJeff [email protected]

Auction ChairmanFinny [email protected]

ProgramsFinny [email protected]

Event PhotograperBob [email protected]

DFF Speaker Details

2021 Election News by Jere Anderson

Here is the slate of candidates for the November Electionof our Leaders for 2021. All of them have agreed to runfor these positions. While the eight elected officers aredefined in our by-laws, the committee chairs are addedas needed by the other officers. If any of you do not quitefeel like being a committee chair, but do want to help outa bit more, most of these positions could easily useanother active Club Member to help with the level ofactivity that our club usually achieves.

1) The club has 8 elected officers. The candidates are:President – Alfred HillmanVice President – Julia Bell Past President – Jack Janco Secretary – James WoodmanTreasurer – Steve Jackson2023 Trustee – LaJan Barnes

Two trustees have time left on their three year terms:2022 Trustee – Dave Shatzer2021 Trustee – Steven Pirtle

2) The club has 11 major committee chairs, allappointed positions: Auction Chairman – Finny KhanCasting Instructor – Rex Walker Conservation – Jere AndersonEducation – Richard JohnsonEvent Photographer – Bob BenderIT Specialist – Jeff ZiehmMembership – Mike Becker and Dave ShatzerNewsletter Editor – Jere AndersonOutings – Keven Crawford, Johnny Martinez Programs – Jack GillisTrustee-at-Large – William McAlpine

This list is finalized and in November we will vote. Thisis usually accomplished at club meetings, but since wewill not be having a face-to-face meeting again this year,we will use the same E-mail network that delivers yourcopy of The Leader.

That is the process, and the folks so honored will benotified and will take over in January. If by then we areback to face-to-face meetings we will install the officersto begin the January meeting.

4th Annual DFF Fly Fishing Outing at Sunset Ridge Ranch

October 24, 2020

7:30 am to 1 pm

In rural Ellis County at the properties of

Jeff & Catherine Gannon & Family 1234 Sugar Ridge Rd

Ennis, TX 75119

Sign up with name and number of fisherpersons via email to [email protected] or text 214-608-7507

Bring your own camping chair and beverages. Bottled water will be available. Social distancing will be observed by sitting apart

with your chairs. Wear a mask when appropriate.

Menu

Pastries in the morning A box lunch at noon BYOB if you wish

Fishing Info

3 Ponds totaling ~10-15 acres stocked with Bass(some 6# or more),

Panfish(some > 1#), and Catfish of ? weight.

Onsite transportation to/from ponds provided as needed.

Personal fishing watercraft can be brought for use on the largest pond. (no access to ponds with your personal vehicle)

Contact Jeff for directions


2020 CALENDAR:

October 5th - The October Meeting of the Dallas Flyfishers.The Speaker will be Peter Breeden.

October 5th, 7th - DBU Outdoor Experiences class is canceled.Due to some COVID-19 issues there will be no fall break, andhence our class is canceled.

October 16th-18th - OKTOBERFISCH 2020 by theFredericksburg Fly Fishers. Oktoberfisch is a premier Texas HillCountry fishing event. In2020, Oktoberfisch will beheld at the new 140 acreEdgewater Springs Resort inFredericksburg which islocated in the heart of theTexas Wine Country. Theresort and event headquartersoffers over a mile of private fishing access to the PedernalesRiver. Participants will enjoy fine event details such as accessmaps and shuttle service around the event. See all the detailsat https://www.fredericksburgflyfishers.com/oktoberfischand sign up soon if you are thinking about going.

October 24th - The Gannon Ranch Fly Fishing and outdoor day.A notice about this fun event is on page two. Don’t miss it, andbe sure to register for it so the food will be ready.

November 2nd - The November Meeting of the DallasFlyfishers. The speaker will be Pete Shanfelt whose web pageis at www.bighornangler.com.

December 6th - Sunday, was to be our Annual Holiday Party ofthe Dallas Flyfishers. However, it was canceled. This will berescheduled as an awards banquet, hopefully some time in thefirst quarter of 2021. The board deeply regrets this.

2021 DATESJanuary 4th-6th - DBU Winter Fly Fishing Class.

February 19th-21st - GRTU Troutfest is canceled.

February 27th-28th - Fly Fishing and Brew dates, MesquiteConvention Center, 1700 Rodeo Dr. Mesquite, Texas 75149

March 1st - The 2021 date for our fund raiser auction.

March 8th-10th - DBU Spring Fly Fishing Class.

March 25th-27th - Sow Bug Roundup, Mountain Home, AR,though this may move to May 13th, 14th, and 15th, in 2021. Wewill keep you informed.

April 30th-May 1st - Probable date for the SmallmouthRendezvous, Tahlequah, OK.

July 17th-24th - The joint DFF/FWFF Colorado Trout Outing toSouthfork, CO.

July - There will NOT be an FFI Expo in Montana this year eitheras of now. Plans for possible regional EXPO’s are under study.

October 1st-3rd - Southern Conclave, Mountain Home, AR

November 5th-7th - Toledo Bend Rendezvous.


My wife, Judy and I were invited to her cousin’s new retirement houseoverlooking Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri over Labor Dayweekend. Cousin Mike just retired from a 36-year career flyingAmerican Airlines planes. I had always wanted to fish the LakeTaneycomo trout fishery so this was my chance. Lake Taneycomo isthe White River, just the Missouri upstream part of the White River,from the Bull Shoals, Arkansas tailwaters that the club does the annualtrip. In fact, Mike and Pat Becker, Jeff Eggleston, Jeff Ziehm, and Iwould be downstream in Cotter, Arkansas, ten days later for our virus-delayed trip.

I wanted to a float trip as the best way to learn about Taneycomo. Icalled the “expert”, our own DFF member, Dan Montayne, to ask whowould be the best guide service. Dan gave a high recommendation toRiver Run Outfitters and to ask for Carolyn Parker. Carolyn and herhusband, Stanley, are the owners of River Run.

Carolyn told us the Taneycomo had started its annual thermal turnover4 to 6 weeks earlier than usual this year in mid-August and that theoxygen levels were low. The fishing had been a little slower than theirnormal great catch levels. Our recent DFF speaker, Branson guide,Phil Lilley, spoke to us about this Taneycomo phenomenon. I wadefished the day before our float trip. Very few wade fishermen caughtmuch, except the 8 guys crowded around the ten-foot wide outflow

sluice from the hatchery – lots of oxygen and bugs. I starteddownstream a bit and noticed rainbows jumping out of the wateraround me. I thought “this is a great place to start.” Next day, Carolyninformed me that my observation was completely wrong. Thosejumping rainbows in these turnover conditions were stressed and insearch of oxygen. Indeed, almost all the fish caught during my twodays were caught is some sort of moving water.

For our float trip, Carolyn had beautiful Orvis Helios 5 wt rods for usto use. She started Mike out with a #14 beadhead San Juan wormdropped with a #18 red midge. Both worked well for him catching fishon both. She started me on a #14 gray scud dropped by the red midge.The scud did not work so I got the worm and midge. She also hadanother rod with streamer to strip, a JQ Streamer, kind of looks like awooley booger crossed with a cricket.

We had a marvelous day. Mike was a first-time fly fisherman andCarolyn patiently helped him catch fish. We caught seventeen,equally split between us when the river was not yielding much. Ourlargest was 19 inches and chubby. I cannot imagine how many youwould catch with River Run in May at peak conditions, oxygen levelsand bugs. I strongly recommend all interested DFF members try tobook a trip with Carolyn before she retires. Thanks, Dan, for therecommendation, she’s fantastic.

No Taneycomo Turnovers Next Time by Dave Shatzer

Pat Becker and Mike Becker, Jeff Ziehm, Dave Shatzer and JeffEggleston spent a wonderful week fishing the White and NorfolkRivers and Crooked Creek. The weather was very cooperative. It wasgenerally in the 60's when we launched in the morning, in the low 80'swhen we finished. We also enjoyed a nice cloud cover for most of eachday. Our fishing headquarters for the week was Dally's Ozark Fly

Fisher, which is a consistent donor to our DFF auction and hostsexperienced and knowledgeable guides. Pat and I fished with SteveDally for three days, Jeff Z. and Dave fished with Chad Johnson for oneday and Steve Dally for two days. Jeff E. fished with Chris Bolton forone day and solo bank fished various spots on other days. Jeff Z iswriting separately to better describe his and Dave's experiences.

Pat and I arrived on Saturday and set at Denton Ferry RV Park inCotter. Ordinarily, the park offers bank access to the White; however,the river was up, and wading would have been difficult. After aleisurely Sunday morning, we went about checking other areas forbank access to the river. Jeff E. arrived at the campground on Sundayand we briefly fished Wildcat Shoals on Sunday evening.

Monday - Pat and I met Steve and launched at Wildcat Shoals. Weprimarily fished the area between Wildcat and the Cotter park riggedwith girdle bugs followed by a bead head midge dropper and used alarge indicator and had no problem finding fish. We landed 20 or moretrout in the 12" - 18" range, mostly on the bottom midge. About 75%rainbows and 25% browns. The flows started to pick up in theafternoon and Steve gave us a lesson in hopper fishing. We finished

DFF Does The White River. September 12 - 19, 2020 by Mike Becker

(Continued on page 5)


the day on a high note. As we were packing up for the day, Jeff Z andDave arrived at the house they rented at Wildcat. I would have takenmore pictures; but some idiot forgot to charge his camera battery.When Jeff E. was not working, he waded at Norfolk and landed severalbrowns.

Tuesday - Pat and I met Steve and launched at Wildcat Shoals. Westarted working upstream toward Bull Shoals with the same typerigging. On our first drift, Pat landed 2 rainbows before I had a strike.We were consistently landing a nice variety of rainbows and brownswhen I locked up with a fat brown that took at least 6 hard runs indifferent directions. He finally stopped and was sitting next to a log;Steve maneuvered the boat to avoid breaking the tippet on the log andhe was netted. Drifting below Bull Shoals I saw another large brownsitting on the bottom. My dropper was going to pass in front of hismouth. Just as I said, "take it", he did; and, I had another fat brown.Another 20 plus day with a better mix of browns to rainbows and abrookie to boot. Jeff E. told Chris that he only wanted large fish. Hemanaged 5 over 20" including a 25" rainbow and a 23" brown. Wefinished the evening enjoying cocktails at my campsite and watchingthe river flow past.

Wednesday - Pat and I met Steve Dally, launched at Cranor's andheaded for Bull Shoals. We were having nice success with the girdlebug/midge combination. We switched the dropper on one rig to a pinkSan Juan worm and that proved effective, as well. We were landingrainbows, browns, brookies and cutthroats. Pat even added a tigertrout for good measure; she landed 5 different species. Later in themorning something happened that is difficult to describe. As we werefinishing a drift, another guide passing by told Steve there was a shadrun at the dam. We changed our rigging to a floating top fly that lookedmore like a bass lure; it was curved white hollow faced plastic with ared mouth. Below it was a fly that I can only describe as Cousin IttAddams with white fur and a silver bead head. The fish were in a shadfeeding frenzy and we were getting hits faster that I could count (evenif I counted fish). All I can say is that extraordinarily little time passed

between hits and we caught a lot of fish; primarily, large sizedrainbows. We did not stop for pictures, lunch or bathroom breaksbecause the fishing was so intense ("mind over matter" was ourmantra). Steve mentioned that he had never hit the run before and thatit usually occurs in February and March. All I can say is "WOW!".The five of us finished the evening with a nice dinner at Gaston's.

Thursday - Pat and I went to Norfolk and explored other wade in sites.I intended to wade Crooked Creek; but I lost track of time and nevergot a line wet. We finished the evening at Jeff E's campsite enjoying aDutch oven cherry cobbler that he prepared on coals.

Pat and I headed home on Friday morning.

Once again, we had another great Arkansas adventure. The onlydownside was the lack of wading sites due to the amount of watergenerated. This is the second year for this trip; and, I will plananother trip for next year; and, hope more DFF members will decide tojoin us. Watch the Leader for dates. As a reminder, to the folks whoattended this year, your trout stamp is good for 12 months; it may stillbe valid.

DFF Does The White River. September 12 - 19, 2020 (Continued from page 4)


Dave Shatzer and I joined Mike and PatBecker, and Jeff Eggleston for the club outingto Cotter, Arkansas the week of Sept 13 to 19.

Day 1. Tuesday, Sept 15, 2020. CrookedCreek. Crooked Creek is a smallmouth bassfishery not far from Cotter, dumping into theWhite River below Cotter. We thought wewere going to wade fish the creek on our own,but at our access point we bumped intoGabriel. Gabriel was fishing by himself, saidhe was a guide, and offered to guide for us fora half day for $50/person. We took him up onthe offer. We caught smallmouth, largemouth,and sunfish fishing wooly buggers andclousers. Dave fished with an olive bead headwooly bugger all day, and caught twice asmany fish as I did. We exited the river 2.7miles downstream from our access point.Gabriel called a friend to shuttle us back tothe access point. Friend was Betty. Betty isfrom Mississippi and runs a canoe livery. Toget to the correct side of the river, we had to

cross a railroad trestle, about 50’ above theriver. Very scarry. All fish caught in fastwater or deeper holes. Next time we will renta canoe from Betty, and float rather thanwade. Easier on the legs, and we will be ableto see more of the river.

Day 2. Wednesday, Sept 16, 2020. NorforkRiver. Our guide was Chad Johnson. Wefound Chad thru Dally’s. Chad is fromMississippi and has been guiding in Arkansasfor about 15 years. He brought his Brittanyspaniel named Tucker with him. I have neverseen a dog so well behaved. We put in at theconfluence of the Norfork and the WhiteRiver. For most of the day they were releasingtwo generators, so lots of water. We could nothave waded. The Norfork can be hot or cold.We got lucky and caught it on a hot day. Lotsof fish. 90% rainbows. 10% browns. Primaryrig was a double nymph rig with an eggpattern upper and a midge nymph lower. 75%of the hits were on the lower fly. One of mylargest biomass days ever.

Day 3. Thursday, Sept 17, 2020. White River.Our guide was Steve Dally. We put in atCranors. Lots of water being released from thedam. We did not catch as many fish at theprevious day, but the fish were larger, fat, andhealthy. Mostly rainbows, a few browns, onecutthroat. Primary rig was a dry/dropperimitating shad. Steve grew up in Tasmaniaand was a journalist early in his career. Hemoved to the US when he was 35 years old.

One of the highlights of Day 3 was the Dutchoven cherry cobbler that Jeff Eggleston made,and shared with the Beckers and me thatevening.

Day 4. Friday, Sept 10, 2020. White Riveragain guided by Steve Dally. A slower day.Amazing. Same River. Same Guide. SameFisherman, but completely different results.How is that possible. Oh well.

Steve Dally is a big supporter of our club. Hedonated a guided trip for our fundraisingauction. Please consider using him if you arefly fishing north central Arkansas.

Please consider joining us for this outing nextyear. It is primarily a floating outing, so if yourwading legs are not as strong as they use to be,you can still get in a lot of fishing, and catchsome large trout.

Arkansas Fishing Trip by Jeff Ziehm


The Conservation Corner by Jere Anderson

One of the most precious commodities in all ofTexas is water. With no mountains that get asnow pack and then ration out the water overmany months like we have in the CoastalRange of states, we are at the mercy of theelements more so than is prudent. Before thecurrent set of overall water plans for the state,there was a terrible patchwork of overlapping“water rights” some of which went back to theSpanish Land Grants that were awarded inTexas before our independence and statehoodin 1845. It was a bad joke, that the mostlucrative thing a new Texas Lawyer couldspecialize in was unraveling water rights.This was not very funny, and it was very costlyto litigate and very confusing. Did you or didyou not have any right to the seasonal steamson your ranch? Did you or did you not haveany rights to a windmill and a shallow well towater your cattle? You get the idea.

When I returned to Texas in 1992, and was anoutdoorsman, conservationist, and Educator, Idid not know where to start. Texas seemed tobe ahead of the game by having a watershedapproach to water management. We were themodel the Federal Government followed whentaking the Environmental Protection agencyto a watershed management style about thattime. Before, when the major problems werepoint source pollution, there were too manyflagrant violators of our Clean Water Act, andtoo much to do. But as the most flagrantabusers became regulated and monitored, theissue of non-point source pollution made awider viewpoint and less narrow focusedapproach necessary. We needed to think ofan entire river drainage as a single system.

That was when I got involved big time withTexas Water Quality. I became a WaterWatch Monitor and a trainer of Water WatchMonitors. Even then, it was apparent thatwhat we were doing was more like trying tofind where the cow went after a gate was leftopen. We were chasing the right things, butwe needed an approach that would have uspreventing the harmful things that were mostimportant. Having just come from Californiawhere the water situation was a disaster evenback in the 1980’s, I could see the issue as aneed for an integrated planning andmanagement approach, taking into account allthe many facets of the individual needs.

About this time, Texas in its wisdom passedsome strong legislation creating a state waterboard. This group was given regional planningauthority to find the needs and to evaluate theissues. Then it was to blend all these lists intoa coherent plan that might just work. With191,000 miles of named streams most of whichwere in more than one water managementregion, the coordination task was still going tobe a challenge. This may have had a bearingon the choice for most of the water planningregions to be made up of entire counties.Since each of these counties was alreadydealing with water issues, it let the new waterboard have a head start on the process ofdetermining who was in charge and what wereour big hot button issues. In any case pleasenote that we of the DFW region are in WaterBoard Region C, with Region D being the lessindustrialized region to our East.

Without boring you with all the pushing andshoving that went into the first few cycles of theplan, we are now in the 2017 Plan Document,and working diligently on the 2021 plan. Thelaw requires an ongoing reevaluation of theneeds and a review of everything that went intothe prior plan. Then the results are to bepublished every 5 years, with the newer andmore glorious vision of what our needs are andhow are we going to fill them. I will skip thedetails, but if you do have some questions, theimmense amount of work in the 2016 plan andthe even more incredible mission to producethe 2021 Plan is available here athttp://www.twdb.texas.gov/waterplanning/index.asp and you are free to read it.

Even now, with a couple of years of aboveaverage rainfall, we must continue to manage

the water resource carefully. Texas is growingand is expected to be 30 million people in theextremely near future. With the likelihood ofgetting new water sources being exceedinglysmall, the only choice to expand our watersupply to meet our growing needs is morereservoirs. The goal to catch the rain runoff asneeded is a reasonable option. Other optionslike better water conservation and morerecycling are also in the plan. But by andlarge, somewhere and some time, probablysoon, we will need to catch more of ourprecious rainfall. So ever since the first plan,an inventory of the possible new lakes as beena part of the planning process. This is a realsource of contention, and not unreasonably so.To build a new lake that will flood thousandsof acres has to intrude on a lot of citizen’sproperty rights. It also ends up requiring newroads to make up for the flooded area’s roads.In short, the solution to a larger problem isoften a vast number of individual problems,some large and some small. So, we are backto priorities. This process is incredible slowand ponderous but seems to be wearing downthe resistance. The benefit of having ourwater taps still running in a hot dry summerand the sidebar advantage of more fishinglocations does have an upside that is strongenough to stand on during these lengthydebates.

The below map has the additional suggestedreservoirs in the long-range vision of theTexas Water Planning Board. Note that thewiggly line is the Red River border betweenTexas and Oklahoma. In the upper right-handcorner are three red lakes. These are the newreservoirs for North East Texas.


EXISTING MAJOR RESERVOIRSand

RECOMMENDED NEW MAJOR RESERVOIRS


You are already aware of the progress on Boisd’Arc Lake. The other two are on the SulphurRiver. The Ralph Hall Lake just south of Boisd’Arc Lake, and the much bigger MarvinNickols Lake have a lot of support in the plan.While Lake Ralph Hall has received itspermit to go forward, Lake Marvin Nickols isa source of contention, largely because it is inwater planning region D and we are region C.this leaves a lot of room for the why should welet you steal our water types of arguments.Lake Marvin Nickols is the biggest of thethree and would inundate thousands of acresof beautiful forests and productive ranch landvital for wildlife habitat in the Sulphur Riverbasin in Northeast Texas. The claims of manyare that if Dallas and its neighbors would justpractice better water conservation, this newlake is not needed. I disagree with that, butI am just one citizen. The Dallas / Ft. WorthRegion is growing and will be over 8 millionpopulation soon which is more people thanabout 40 of the 50 states. So while Region Cis already recommending cost-effective, low-impact options for water supply such asincreased municipal water recycling,harnessing urban runoff, and reducing theamount of water used on lawns is not totallyout of the question, I think it will only delaythe game by a decade or less. There are fewother alternatives. One interesting suggestionis to raise the lake level in Wright PatmanReservoir. Our Lake Lavon was once a lotlower and it had its depth raised about 10 feetin the late 80’s or some time like that. Bottomline is that Lake Marvin Nickols is probablygoing to be a project whose time will come,but for now it is a big political football.

Bois d’Arc Lake is well underway and theriver has been diverted back to its old routeand passes through the Dam. Fish havebeen planted and lots of environmental workhas been done as we said in the lastnewsletter. All the data is available athttps://boisdarclake.org/construction/schedule-status-construction-alerts/ for youto see.

Here is a chart from the latest monthlyprogress report. This lake will be filling thisfall and winter if enough rain comes. Thenmore fish will be planted and the boat rampsinstalled. The big highway across the lake isalready finished and open or will be soon.

Treated water from this new lake will be in thepipes by some time in 2022 if the plan doesnot hit a snag.

Next on the hit parade of new fishing sites isLake Ralph Hall. It has just gotten all thetons of environmental paper and licenses andfunding sorted out. All the facts and a fewhopes and open questions are onhttps://lakeralphhallinfo.com which is likean early version of the Lake Bois d’Arc pages.This information extracted from the aboveweb site fills us in on the project plans.

The Lake, which will be about the size of LakeGrapevine, is expected to provide about 35million gallons of water per day from theSulphur River and its feeder streams. Thisarea has had erosion problems since the1920’s according to this web site, but with theerosion area planned to be lake bottom, thatproblem seems to be less of a future issue.Lake Ralph Hall can be completed in time tomeet new water needs by turning the erodedriver channel into a reliable water supply. An

existing pipeline from Chapman Lake isexpected to be able to handle the new watersupply. So another new fishing spot appearsto be beginning construction about now and isplanned to come online by 2025.

Lake Marvin Nickols is much larger, and isfurther down the wish list. It has a lot ofbaggage from the locals. But here is a map ofthe expected footprint.

This is just upstream in the Sulphur Riverfrom Lake Wright Packman, another reservoirthat people are suggesting could just bedeepened and hold off on new reservoirs. Asoutdoor people where do we stand?

I am always a supporter of conservation.Water lawns less, and do not leave thesprinklers running in an expected to be rainyweek. Consider catching rain water off yourroof for the garden and flower beds. But in theend, these are probably just stop gapmeasures. The growth of our state, and ourregion will demand more water be managed inlarger puddles. I would live in fear of what a1950’s class drought would be like today. Sowhile we have a little time to prepare, we stillare depending on our several years of aboveaverage rainfall. What I am saying is thatright now we have an above averageabundance of water. But weather is cyclical,and you must not depend on dumb luckgetting you by for too long at a time.

Hang in there, we are in the start of the fallspawn. This second topwater season is almostas exciting as the spring one. Talk to ourguides that post on our FB pages, and ourbetter traveled fly fishers. We have a lot of fishthat need to be caught. They must be gettinglonely without our many highly skilled flyflingers out there annoying them. Live withnature, love the wild and take care of it…..

The Conservation Corner (Continued from page 7)



There will be two more meetings of the DallasFly Fishers in 2020. Everything elsebetween now and January of 2021 is goneexcept for a few outdoor things...

Our president is searching for and organizingsome Saturday Fly Fishing events, and they are being announced by E-mail using the mailing list that Jere uses to send you theseNewsletters. Anyone with a favorite place that fishes well, and hasroom for Social Distancing, please let Al or another board memberknow about it. I am also fishing with some other clubs that arearranging some morning or evening fishing in the many ponds of NorthTexas. Just about every high dollar housing development has somedecorative water and most of these are managed for the kids to fish.

In spite of assurances that the mail is safe and on time, I take anewsletter that is weekly. It has been getting to me WEAKLY if it getshere at all. Dave Smith won a prize at the canceled Sow Bug 2020event, and here it is. It just arrived in the last few weeks.

Great work Dave!! Here are all the winning flies. Dave’s fly is in thelower right-hand corner, the Tenkara Fly. This annual contest is

tough, and a lot of really good flies are entered. Grant Adkins, a formerDFF member, also won for his Steelhead / Salmon Fly. When we getSow Bug going again, I want more entries. The framed entries showyou the variety of categories that are available.

Despite the bad virus, we will have a full month of October before wehibernate until 2021.

Don’t miss out on the Oktoberfisch event by the FredericksburgFly Fishers. This is a great event, and almost the only one thatseems to have survived. Bring your mask and be careful, but there is just too much fun there to miss. It is October 16th -18th,and you need r e se rva t i ons . Eve ry th ing i s a thttps://www.fredericksburgflyfishers.com/oktoberfisch

And you will not believe how much fun it is. This is in a new location.A big resort is going to be the host site, and it has a lot of good fishing,or at least it should have. If our rain season will remain calm, a lot ofgood people will be there.

The Saturday after that is the 4th Annual DFF Fly Fishing Outing atSunset Ridge Ranch will take place on October 24, 2020. 7:30 am to1 pm. This event is usually in the spring with the Bluebonnets inbloom. However this year we were locked down that week. There is

Education And Outreach Report by Jere Anderson


a poster in this newsletter for the fun. Reservations required, so signup with name and number of flyfishers via email [email protected] or text 214-608-7507. The Food is greatand the fishing is even greater.

Life is returning to the land of Oz.

Best wishes for big fish and lots of them….

— Jere— Jere

MEMBERSHIP / RENEWALNew Member o or Renewing My Membership o (Check one) Date ___________________________________

Name:____________________________________ Spouse’s name:_____________________________________________

E-mail address: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Home phone:_______________________ Work:___________________________Cell: _____________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

City: _________________________________________________ State:______ Zip Code: __________________________

Are you a current member of the Federation of Fly Fishers? Yes o No o (check one)

New Members: Renewing Members:

Annual membership dues: $36 per year Annual membership dues: $36 per year

After July 1st, pay $18 for half year

After Oct 1st, just pay for the following year

To Join DFF, complete the form below and mail along with your check to:Dallas Fly Fishers

8349 Club Meadows Dr.Dallas, Tx 75243

You can also join or renew online at http://www.dallasflyfishers.org/membership.html

Education and Outreach Report (Continued from page 9)

The President’s Letter — Notes from Al

Documents

Transcript of The President’s Letter — Notes from Al