HFFA 44th Annual Fly Fishing Show -- March 2018 -- Bettendorf, Iowa

43rd Annual HFFA Fly Fishing Show, Iowa City, IA, Feb 17-19, 2017!!

Please attend the Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association's 43rd Annual Fly Fishing Show! Lots of fun, learning, and networking with other friendly fly anglers. Proceeds benefit restoration and education projects. Great bucket raffles, silent auctions, live auction, guest fly tiers, and more! Excellent speakers with multiple programs and Iowa DNR's Mike Siepker will also present a program.

A Sluggish SMB Start Leads to Mid-Afternoon Feeding Fun

   I was able to fish the Volga River yesterday -- finally after 1.5 years of wanting to get there again!  

Three of us. Water low and had to drag boats more than usual. Portage toons (like the meat in a sandwich) between 2 downed tree trunks in the water. None of us were complainers, and we had a good time. All SMB were small and then rock bass and a few chubs thrown in to widen the species caught. Ha! Too bad it wasn't the occasional white bass or trout that are sometimes pulled from here.

   I did finally trial my yellow popper and after broadcasting a hole, I switched to chartreuse popper (ole faithful) and had a couple strikes and landed one after casting to the same hole. There were a few more strikes later on, but the day remained cooler and the fish were lazy like I had been the previous day.

   Switched to streamers and had some more contact, but guys doing better (M knows the Volga VERY well). Then, I switched to an olive pattern -- no one fishes olive anymore, why is that?!-- and the game changed. Then Douggles switched to olive with orange. Bango!

   Whether is was the fly color, the time of day the fish turned on, or a mix of both, I got most of my fish with that fly. For me alone, probably ~20 bass day overall after a slow start. But, at the hole that had already been fished, I did pull out an SMB in the first few casts with that fly. It was an unpainted lead eye crawdad-like pattern with 2 rabbit strips as legs. Olive tinsel chenille for body. Rubber legs and a little flash. With rabbit strips located at tail of body, I think they may have contributed more to profile color than anything else.  I watched that fly while stripping it in the clear water. I tell ya, with that lead head and the chenille, that fly looked more like a thin baitfish imitation and almost translucent... delicate, thin and very vulnerable.

(Click on photos to see close-up images. Thanks for looking and please comment to let me know you were here! ~Twitch 9-5-15)

Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association Fly Fishing Show: Feb 19-21, 2016, near Des Moines, IA

I'm looking forward to attending our annual fly fishing show, and I hope to see lots of anglers there and enjoying themselves!!!!   It's a friendly group of people and the members who organized this year's show have really put a lot of hard work into it. 

Reflecting on this Fly Angler's Life

With three napkins from Subway and a load of hand-picked wood, my thoughts were on coaxing up a nice campfire and setting to work on blackening some hot dogs.  The day's fish were also on my mind but not on the menu.

With late-evening sights of an Iowa summer as a backdrop, I looked past my fire to the Turkey River.  Just as I wished for fish-sign to ring the watery surface, it appeared in silence, and I watched the rings merge and fade with the ripples of a slow current.  Locusts buzzed and the fire popped.

The waters of small rivers and streams enrich my soul and return to me the peace that so frequently slips away during the work hours, days, and weeks.  No matter the rewards; the beeps, alarms, & people-sounds of my work in healthcare still extract a toll on me.

Three weeks ago, nearing the latter half of August, I sat in the same place, same chair, overlooking a campfire along this river for the first time.  I never thought I'd light a campfire when tenting solo, but acting on a whim may have started a comforting new habit.

That weekend threatened wind and rain.  Twenty to thirty-mph wind reigned supreme while clouds and sun battled for second place.  The rain never came despite the forecast, but oddly enough, planning smallie Iowa float trips nearly always seem to elicit bad-weather forecasts.

I'd needed to escape the day-to-day world and rediscover my peace.  Sharing this with like-minded friends would have been welcome, but I ultimately explored new water alone & had been grateful to do it.

And now, 3 weeks later, I sit here again in my Farm & Fleet clearance patio chair.  My pen, paper, headlamp & Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale keep me company by the fire.  Darkness is nearly here, & swallows, silhouetted by calm river water reflecting rays from a setting sun, will shape my memory of this extended weekend.

This time, yes, work was still stressful - very stressful - but this time I really wanted to enjoy the company of friends on what might be the final smallie float of the year.  But, it just didn't work out that way.  All were too busy doing other things.

So, once again, I'd made plans for a solo-camping & smallmouth float trip.

Strange, but it seems like I've returned to where I started.  But there aren't many fly anglers, especially in the Midwest.  Back in 2008, when my only fly fishing friend lived 8 hours away, I mostly fished, traveled, made lots of mistakes, and got lost -- alone.

Then I learned to network - at the local fly fishing club, fly fishing shows, on-line, with conventional anglers, and then slowly the world opened up.  I've been able to travel to go fishing with others in NC, MI, MT, and AK.  I can text, call, or email fly fishing friends anytime.  I lay out our club's newsletter, and there are so many known friendly faces at the shows.

Yet, it still frequently remains hard to find someone who has the time to go fishing for a few days, especially on smallmouth float trips, which I love nearly as much as fishing for musky.

I'm pretty happy by myself, which is probably a great reason why I shouldn't be alone too much.   When does finding a little peace transition into becoming a recluse?

But, I personally know people who won't go somewhere unless they have company.  Some of my best discoveries & most memorable times have been shared with others.  But my memories & my life would be far less rich if I'd waited for company to happen prior to venturing off on many things fly fishing.  The ironic thing is that I've met many of my fishing friends because I was willing to go someplace on my own & was willing to meet others.

I wonder if coming full circle also means that I will get to meet more wonderful people.

I live my life, and life has been great.  If I'd waited for life to happen to me, I think I'd still be waiting, or I'd have given up on this fly-fishing thing.   Don't wait!  And then someday, maybe we'll meet on the water & share some stories beside an evening campfire.
 (Written fireside 9-13-15 & finished while lounging in bed 12-13-15, because 100% heavy rain forecast would make for poor fishing and unsafe driving on gravel roads...& it's deer shotgun season. But, I did fish yesterday & it was good... but it wasn't enough. I think you know the feeling.) 

HFFA 2015 FLY FISHING SHOW ~ Dubuque, IA, Feb 20-22

Please copy and paste the link below to learn about this year's Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association show that is a celebration of the heart of the Driftless!

file:///C:/Users/Davis/Downloads/HFFA%202015%20Show%20handout%204%20pdf%20(2).pdf

The Only Flies Welcome at Java Java - Tie One On: Jan 18, 2014

   Unless the forecast for this Saturday, January 18, 2014, changes to NOT blustery and NO snow greater than 1/2 inch (more specifically around Decorah, IA) one will find this gal tying flies -in lieu of fishing in the Driftless- from 9-noon, at Java Java Cafe, 836 E. River Drive, Davenport, IA.  The coffee shop closes at noon.
   It should be understood by most fly anglers that it is perfectly acceptable to cancel tying due to fishing..
   I will check the forecast by tomorrow evening.  If the weather changes for the better I will update this post with a 'gone fishing' notice by 730PM. (1/17: See you at Java Java tomorrow!) However, I am rather confident that tying will ensue and I am so certain that I have contacted my favorite local folk musicians Joe and Howard to see if they'd like to join us.
   So, please come on out to a friendly little coffee shop and chat, learn about fly fishing and tying, and hopefully enjoy some great music!  

  Thanks! 

~Twitch

A Snowshoe & Campfire Finale for Fly Fishing 2013

   Without the fish, we likely would not have come.  However, the fishing wasn’t the main attraction on this particular trip.  The guys wanted to snowshoe into the valley and winter camp along the sweet little brookie stream tucked away in the Driftless Region.  I’d hoped we could trek in at night and enjoy the star-specked darkness of a moonless sky.  We made it all happen by altering our plans by one day to avoid the predicted rapid drop in temperature accompanied by freezing drizzle, snow and blustery wind.

   We towed our belongings in on our backs and on a sled on a starry, moonless night with the snow brightening our way.  The sled was also used to carry the firewood we cut for that night’s and the next morning’s campfire.  At the top of the ridge overlooking the little brookie stream, I paused and let the guys shoe ahead.  For a few moments I enjoyed the view of the valley coupled with the sound of the spring-fed stream.

 

   Dan and Jeff have an intimate knowledge of this little Iowa stream.  It is their favorite.  However, on a blue-sky, upper 30*F Saturday, the fish were inactive and all 3 of us were skunked.  However, we’d enjoyed each other’s company during an ideal winter’s night and day.  We’d laughed, shared meals, and drifted to sleep to the sounds of coyotes howling in the distance.

   Snowshoeing out of the valley was a bear – much of it is uphill and generally a workout, even without backpacks and a sled to pull.  But we all shared & appreciated the work and it was a mighty fine way to spend the last weekend of 2013.

Iowa's First Casting for Recovery Retreat for Women Who Have Had Breast Cancer

   Iowa’s first “Casting for Recovery” retreat was held on October 11-13, 2013.  Women with breast cancer & survivors attended seminars, counseling sessions, an entomology class, fly casting & knot tying classes, were treated to good food, and finally, enjoyed a few hours of fly fishing with a “river buddy”.  The retreat was held in Decorah, a small, scenic town in Northeast Iowa, and the attendees fished the clear, spring-fed water of Trout Run.

   Women, who must be Iowa residents, signed up to attend the no-cost retreat and 14 were randomly chosen to participate.  Volunteers included social workers, other health care workers, fly fishing instructors and fly anglers.  On the final day, the ladies were paired up with a River Buddy to stream fish for trout.  Afterward, the ladies and the volunteers were treated to a luncheon.

   For the retreat, the women were provided with everything they needed to fish, including a fly rod, waders, vest, tippet materials and flies.  I’ve been told that at least a couple of the women have since purchased their own fly rods & plan to continue fly fishing.  Of course those who caught fish were thrilled to do so and others also said they enjoyed the peace of listening to and being on the water.

   For more information about Casting for Recovery in Iowa or in another state, including how to sign up, how to volunteer or where to send donations, see the link below. 
http://castingforrecovery.org

A Heap o Thanks for Making the 2013 HFFA Fly Fishing Show a Success

   The 39th annual Hawkeye Fly Fishing Show, held March 1-3, 2013, was evidently a darn good success!  I didn't get to our branch's Sunday meeting since fishing trumps meetings, but rumor has it that we were successful in generating a fair amount of funds for stream restoration in NE Iowa.  I also heard that the number of 'walk-ins' at the show was greater than expected and that the speakers were well-received.
  
   A public thanks goes out to fellow club members who put forth so much time and effort to make the show a success, as well as those people and businesses who donated items and services for the raffles and silent auction.  If you were one of the the lucky winners, please thank the merchants for their donations and tell them why you appreciated using their products or services!  Heck, even if you didn't win, if you know a particular business donated, tell them thanks the next time you visit the store.

   Thanks also to the tiers who donate their time, gas money, and lodging to share their knowledge with others.  As usual I spent money with the vendors and am always glad to see them.  They were also a very helpful and friendly bunch. Thanks!

   A club member had the bright idea of taping the presentations so other members who worked the show and didn't see the presentations could watch them at a later date.  I'm looking forward to a few hours in the near future of fly fishing tales, popcorn and beer.
 
   When I learn where some of the generated funds will go, I'll update this post.  Thanks also, to those who attended and filled the silent auction lists and the buckets with their tickets/contributions.  There would be very little funds for conservation efforts without your help.  Next year's 40th anniversary show is in Cedar Rapids.  I think it is going to be a primo show!!

IA DNR & AWARE Volunteers Clean Up Waterways (...Trash Talk continued)

*JULY 7-14 were the dates for the 2012 AWARE clean-up of the Iowa River. Please see the 2012 post for results:  http://strip-n-twitch.blogspot.com/2012/07/this-year-participants-in-iowa-dnrs_19.html *


    On July 9-16, 2011, the Iowa DNR again backed up its trash talk with action.  The DNR’s Project AWARE volunteer river clean-up of the Little Turkey, Turkey, and Volga Rivers netted 64,722lbs of garbage.  That is the equivalent of 32.36 tons, or nearly the weight of 18.5 new 4WD Honda CR-V LX SUV’s, being removed by volunteers and their canoes! 

   This year, 429 volunteers participated in the clean-up.  An average of 152 volunteers participated each day with 273 being new to AWARE this year and 61 having participated for 5 or more years.  Of the total amount of trash collected by these volunteers, 96% was recycled.  Scrap metal, then tires (611), composed the greatest weight of recyclables, and 335lbs of redeemable cans/bottles (cha-ching!) were found.   

   Participants ranged from aged 2 to 76.  An Indiana father/daughter team participated and a father from Cedar Rapids, IA., had sons from Illinois, Colorado, and Oregon join him on the hunt for garbage.
    When asked what the most unusual piece of trash removed from a river was, Brian Soenen, Project AWARE Coordinator replied, “While I don’t recall anything being incredibly unique, volunteers found quite a few wooden-spoked wagon wheels and an insane number of large implement tires.  The great news is that most of the trash was ‘old’ junk…been there a long time and has now been forever removed.”

Photo Caption Information:

   #1:  On day 1, Nick Gaeta, Cedar Rapids, IA, transports trash through Gouldsburg Park on the Little Turkey River, following a 'pre-cleanup' of nearby Crane Creek. Gaeta has participated in all but the 1^st year of the Project AWARE clean-ups.  #2:  While at least 5 paddlers had already spent a good portion of this day plucking trash on a 'pre-cleanup' of Crane Creek, most volunteers set up camp at Gouldsburg Park, Hawkeye, IA, & enjoy the day's outdoor festivities. The confluence of Crane Creek and the Little Turkey River is located at the park.  #3:  KJ Rebarcak, Long Grove, IA, left, and 'Dutch Oven' Dave Brown, Springfield, MO, transport trash through the Little Turkey River on the first day of this year’s Project AWARE river clean-up.  The trash was actually removed from nearby Crane Creek.   

 #4:  Members of the Dubuque Fly Fishers and the Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association were asked to volunteer their time and present a hands-on fly casting clinic.  Approximately 8 fly anglers participated.  Project AWARE volunteer Rose Danaher, Homestead, IA, (pictured) receives a fly casting lesson from Kate Lodge, a member of both clubs, & a Geneseo, IL, resident. 

   For more information about Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition), & methods of participating in the clean-up of Iowa waterways, please visit this link:   http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/CanoeingKayaking/ProjectAWARE.aspx .   And, please e-mail me your 'trash talk'!  If you pick up trash from waterways or want to share how you have changed your own habits of trash disposal while on waterways, if you want to comment about how waterways have improved over the years, or if you want to report about what you most commonly find in and along waterways, email me about it or send me a picture.  I'd like to increase the attention paid to the maintenance and appreciation of our waterways.  ~Twitch

CHASING FIN IN AN IOWA LIMESTONE FISHBOWL

   Jackfish Kate and I arrived at the quarry around 10AM on what would soon be a hot, August day. The water-level was down, but we could still cool ourselves wet-wading the nearly knee-deep water flowing above the limestone ‘shelf’ bordering much of the quarry. Fly fishing, photos, and exploration ensued.
 

      I cracked out the 10wt, knowing this was too much backbone for the intended quarry, but wanted to prepare for upcoming blind dates with musky. The rod was loaded with a Guinea Bugger. Jackfish chose a 3wt and smartly fished the steep quarry banks.

    I landed & released a skinny 15” largemouth on my bugger. Then, time was made for photos and exploration of the sister quarry. Just a ~30’ thick wall separated the two stone fish bowls. The banks of this latter quarry were more suited to spin fisherman, but I expect to wet a line there someday. Rock and brush habitat made great cover for the bluegill, shiners, suckers and lone bass that we discovered when stopping to scan the clear water at one end of the stone tank.

   Amidst the hot afternoon when the fishing was slow, we had a quick lunch of PB&J & got back at it. Despite the skimpy quantity of fish landed, the challenge of fishing this water and the diversity of fish present here will easily draw me back again. I hope Jackfish Kate agrees to return.

   Jackfish chose to get acquainted with her new 9wt (We’re both headed to musky country in October.) and to tie on a heavy fly. I switched to ‘My Fluffy Butt’; a red, lead-eyed, white-colored fly which pike find tasty. I was beginning to doubt Esox still lurked here, but knew this fly would get me down more quickly to cooler water.

   And Bang! Fish on! Oh, was I happy. During the fight, I was able to direct the victim onto the limestone flats & net me an Iowa Quarry Bonefish. Well, not a bonefish but a slick-looking, lively white bass that was also a species-first for Twitch.

   A little later, just when I thought My Fluffy Butt was safe from toothy critters, it was nipped and followed by a pike! Strongly marked and no longer quite able to carry the tag, ‘hammer handle’, it re-submerged into the cooler depths, never having known the thrill it provided me.

   I believe that My Fluffy Butt and a certain pike will have a date in October. Bite it again, Esox; I dare you!

Fly Fishing at an IA Quarry

   Late last week a close friend came from the great fly fishing waters of N. MN to visit me and my IA homewater. Must be one heck of a friend, right?! LOL!!  Seriously, though, while quantity of fishing opps are not the same, quality fishing and fun are certainly present in Iowa. I believe he enjoyed the fishing more than we both expected. I'd also planned music and rib fests, & time with friends. However, once that fly fishing fever hit, thoughts of all else but fishing faded, aside from catching a few winks and grabbing a couple of cold ones.  We fished French Creek and then Bloody Run(day 2) in NE IA.  Buddy couldn't believe how many trout were in French.  He fished hot both days.  Lots of browns, then bows.  I didn't fish my worst and really started to get the hang of nymphing with a dropper on the Run.  On day 2, we had two doubles.  Cool beans!  A hot day + hiking + quik-dry clothes= swimming in trout stream.  Whew weeee!
   Next day:  sleep in, burn gas getting lost driving through an area which could've been found in the movie Deliverance, then find quarry.  Let's just say at least one of us used a fly rod that day, and I won't say who, and my buddy will remain anonymous. haha.  The bait caster did land more largemouth. However, when we experienced our 3rd set of doubles(!) that weekend, twins in the 15-16" range, I'd swear the one on the long rod was just a little larger. While there are many bass out there much larger than 16", that was my best fighting fish to date...it topped the fight of 'Dale' the 18" smallie I took on my birthday in June.  Both bass were taken on a Guinea Bugger; my confidence fly.  Do you remember the feeling you had the first time a fish took the fly you tied?  Fly fishing as a sport and an art is not easily or quickly learned.  I expect to be a lifelong student of the fly, enjoying & appreciating each new discovery along the way.  I'm into my 3rd year of fly fishing, and when one is 'in the groove' slightly more frequently and for longer periods of time, that feeling reaches the soul & I believe that is what keeps most of us casting the long rods.  Heck, you don't even have to boat a fish to be awash in that awesome feeling(think 'musky on the fly')...but then land one, too, and ooh lala!
   Anyway, tomorrow morning I will take 'Jackfish Kate' to the quarry.  She has introduced me to new waters and now it is my turn to return the favor.  Life is good.  The 8 wt was perfect for the first trip, but I plan a little 10 wt action this time around.  I hear pike lurk in the quarry...but more importantly I also sense musky in my near future.  The 10wt is calling.  Gosh, I love casting that rod! 
  I hope to add some pics from the quarry to the blog soon.  Either way, it will be a mighty fine day.