CFFC Swap Meet / Garage Sale
December 13, 2017

 

There were three rows of tables full of really good stuff for swapping and or buying at the meeting!  Also, Ben showed a great video on Nymphing with Devin Olsen of Tactical Fly Fisher that was full of good information.  

CFFC 2017 Annual Banquet and Meeting
November 8, 2017

Great job Rick Meeks on hosting another successful banquet! Great fellowship, food and fun. If you didn't go, you missed out on a great evening. Better go next year. Plenty of quality raffle prizes were won by newcomers. Congratulations to Richard Griggs, Gary Jones and Dave MacBurnie for special recognition's.

 

See more pictures here

Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing Expo
Bryson City, NC
October 7, 2017

  

CFFC presented Dale and Bobby of the Tuckaseegee Fly Shop an award of appreciation for all they have done for our club.

We were also set up in a field where people could come and be given casting instructions.

CFFC 2017 Annual Banquet and Meeting
November 8, 2017

Great job Rick Meeks on hosting another successful banquet! Great fellowship, food and fun. If you didn't go, you missed out on a great evening. Better go next year. Plenty of quality raffle prizes were won by newcomers. Congratulations to Richard Griggs, Gary Jones and Dave MacBurnie for special recognition's.

 

See more pictures here

Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing Expo
Bryson City, NC
October 7, 2017

  

CFFC presented Dale and Bobby of the Tuckaseegee Fly Shop an award of appreciation for all they have done for our club.

We were also set up in a field where people could come and be given casting instructions.

Mitchell River Outing, 
Saturday, November 4, 2017
By Jim Mackey

Six brave souls showed up for the Mitchell River outing, four adults and two up and coming junior fishermen. The weather was a bit damp with drizzle, fog and moderate rain.  Other than a little discomfort from the rain it was great to be outside and on the water.  There was a lot of fishing with not too much catching.  However, as evidence shows, at least one nice fish was brought to net. 

  

Wilson Creek Outing, October 7, 2017
by Ben Bishop

  

It went well. Everyone showed up. We got everyone rigged and set up. People met and talked and helped.

Different groups went different ways. Tons of people on stream as expected.

We gathered for lunch and reviewed. Most people caught a fish or two. Everyone seemed happy. Some left right after lunch and others stayed a bit longer.

Fishing for me was a bit slow. Fish were unsettled as would be usual with a stocking earlier in the week. Water was as expected low and slow.

It was a good day with sharing, learning fellowship and enjoying the outdoors.

If I were to break down the parts of the day that were covered it would include: rigging, equipment basics, knots , fly selection, casting, mending, reading the water, on stream etiquette, and safety. All of those things are quite an agenda to accomplish in one day for multiple people. 

We are fortunate that we have so many members of the Carolina Fly Fish Club who generously give of their time and share their experience  to enable other people to grow their Fly Fishing abilities and enjoyment. Everyone was very helpful.

Thanks to all who attended and participated. I had a great day.

October 7 - Saturday Oct. 7, 2017 will be the Fly Fishing Festival in Bryson, NC. CFFC and the FFI will have a booth there and will be tying flys, casting lessons and having a good time. Hope to see you all there. Plus great fishing real close, plan to spend some extra some time there.

Healing Saturday – Charlotte

 
Check out this video about Healing Saturday by Mike Krzyzewski(head basketball coach for Duke University):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb7G_ClUmh4
 When:   Saturday, September 30, 2017
              11:00 am to 2:00 pm
 Where:  JHG Financial Advisors
              1370 Briar Creek Road
              Charlotte, NC  28205
Please come out and join us with the family for Healing Saturday

• Have some good BBQ from Midwood Smokehouse with Sir Purr from the Carolina Panthers
• Meet and greet with some of your local veterans
• Kids and adult fly tying classes
• Casting demonstrations
• Raffles and silent auctions for Fishing Trips, Fishing Gear and Flies from the following area fly shops and outfitters:
• • Jesse Brown’s
  • Great Outdoor Provision Co.
  • Madison River Fly Fishing Outfitters
  • NC Fly Fishing Guide Service
  • Orvis Charlotte
  • The Sporting Gent
• Bid on several boxes of hand tied flies provided by some of our veterans and volunteers 

Click to see more information!

2017 CFFC Picnic @ Lake Norman State Park
September 16, 2017

  

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for a perfect picnic.  The catered food came on time and was fantastic…especially the mac & cheese along with all the pot luck side dishes, salads and desserts.  There was no need to go away hungry.

  

The Raffle committee put together a very nice raffle. And with the help of a young gentleman picking tickets out of the ticket shuffler, kept things moving smoothly.

The Deck of Cards Raffle for the TFO Reel was drawn also.  And the lucky winner was Gary Lautzenheiser from Concord, NC.  Congratulations Gary!

  

There was a nice group that attended Tradd Little’s fly tying session with at least five new tiers.

There was a nice number of beginner and intermediate fly casters attending the casting clinic in the morning.  

A big thanks goes out to Gary Jones and Lee Butler for organizing and running the clinic and the casting competition in the afternoon. And thanks also goes to Pam Johnson for her great pictures of the picnic activities.

WOMEN ON THE FLY

Mark your calendar for August 25-27, 2017

WCNC Friday, July 21, 2017 

In case you missed the 11:00pm news, there was a great clip about Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing and how fly fishing has helped veterans with PTSD.  Click here to view the clip.

July 18-20 CFFC Outing to the South Holston River in East Tennessee
by Rick Meeks

Six club members traveled to East Tennessee to fish the South Holston River and the Watauga River for several days. The weather was clear but very hot all 3 days. Generation schedules were not ideal but, were workable enough to allow for plenty of fishing hours each day.

On the upper SoHo, Sulphur hatches were strong. Fish were active. The water was a bit low and very clear, allowing for some nice site fishing. Two members chartered a float trip in the Watauga one day and had good fishing success. Other members concentrated on the SoHo and most everyone caught fish, both up river and down river.

Just as FYI, the fishing access restrictions at our housing location did limit access to some of our usual wade fishing water but, there was still plenty of river access and a number of nice fish were caught.

Overall, everyone had a good time fishing and socializing even after the air conditioner broke down on our second day. Everyone took it in stride and we all survived the night.

Largest fish of the trip was a nice 20” brown caught on 7X tippet. Thanks to the nice gentleman who waded up after the netting and offered to take a picture. 

Watauga River Camping Trip

June 22, 2017
by Steve "Nightcrawler" Patterson

Everyone had a great time and caught a lot of fish on the Watauga River at several locations. The fishing was great in front of the campground (Camp Stonefly) where several nice Brown Trout were caught: one by Ben Happach and one by Steve Patterson. Of course, Ben’s was larger than Steve’s!  The South Holston was also fishing great. There was a good Sulphur hatch. A big thanks to Rich Puco for sharing where to fish and what flies to use. 

  

  

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First Fly Fishing Merit Badge Program at Belk Scout Camp A Success

by Bill Kalbas

On Saturday, May 13^th, twenty boy scouts gathered at the Belk Scout Camp in Midland, NC, for a day of instruction on Fly Fishing.

Nine members Carolina Fly Fishing Club, including club president Dave MacBurnie, Rick Meeks, Jim Mackey, Gary Jones, Jack Cummings, Herb Broegmann, Charlie McDaniel, Frank Perry, and Bill Kalbas, along with Ms. CC King, a wildlife education specialist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Scoutmaster Dr. Stuart Tucker and several fathers from Troop 55, and Bert Fox, Scoutmaster of Troop 165.

Dave, Frank, and Herb taught the scouts how to tie a San Juan worm and a Woolly Bugger, which the scouts used to catch fish later in the day.  Gary, Jack, and Charlie taught casting, and Rick and Jim taught knots, rigging and entomology.  Bill was the merit badge counselor, and eight out of the 20 scouts earned their Fly Fishing merit badge.

“All hands were on deck” when it came time to mentor the scouts in catching a fish at the lake.

Though a long day, everyone had a good time.

A number of scouts and fathers said they want to do more fly-fishing and attend future CFFC meetings and functions with their sons.

Well done CFFC!

          

Thursday, May 18 to Sunday, May 21, 2017
Davidson River Four Day Camping Trip
By Rick Meeks

On Thursday, May 18, 10 CFFC members headed to the Davidson River Campground for 3 nights of camping and fishing. For fishing, the members spread out and covered a number of streams, including the Little River, upper and lower South Mills River, North Mills River and the Davidson. Fishing was fair with various results by the fishermen. Some rainy weather and high water impacted some fishing time. Everyone enjoyed the outing and especially the camp fires at night. We did have to pack up in the rain Sunday morning.
On Friday I got a real big surprise. In the AM we heard lots of thunder and had dark clouds but no rain. It seemed to clear up in the afternoon so I headed out. As I was getting my fishing gear ready at the car, a group of bicyclists rode by coming down the mountain. As they went by one of them said "heads up, there is a ton of water coming your way". I did not think too much of it as we did not have any rain to speak of. After fishing for about 30 minutes I was changing a fly and noticed something did not feel quite right. I looked up and the water was definitely moving faster and the trail that I had walked along to get to my starting point was under water. Water had already come up a foot or more. I said "wow, get out of here now", and I did. In just a few more minutes the river was even higher, rushing very fast, unwadeable and totally brown.
When I got back to camp, one of the guys new to the river asked me if the Davidson was a tail water. I laughed because I knew he had gotten caught in it as well. The storm we heard in the AM was at the top of the mountains, away from us. Looking Glass Creek was the one that was gushing into the Davidson and caused the high and brown water.
Now I will know that in bad weather, keep a better look out for sudden rising water.
It did come down a lot and cleared up by next morning.

           

April 18-20, 2017 SoHo Trip
Ramblings from a Rookie
Ben Happach

Whoa,tauga!

Caddis, trichoptera, sedge-flies, and rail-flies; whatever your name for this pattern, there’s nothing I can write about it that hasn’t been written 1,000 times before. I CAN mention how underappreciated that this particular pattern was by me until last week, when I found myself on the Watauga River in Elizabethton having possibly the best day of fishing I’ve experienced. (continued)

CFFC April 12th Meeting @ Bass Pro Shops

Kevin Howell of Davidson River Outfitters (DRO) came with five different presentations.  So our Director of Programs, Susan Hinsen decided to put it to a vote by the meeting attendees.  It was a unanimous vote for his "Improving your Trout Fishing Tactics".  It was an awesome presentation...thanks Kevin!

The Director of Membership, Jack Costa took some great notes of the program that can be accessed here -> Kevin Howell fishing tactics.pdf

  

 March 18, 2017 - North Toe River in Mitchell County, Spruce Pines NC. 

They had heavy rain in the mountains and when we got there the river was very muddy, trashy, high and fast. Only three members showed up at 09:00 and waited around till 10:00. We then decided to head over to Wilson Creek where the water was up (more of a normal level) and slightly off color. Fishing was very good with lots of fish caught by all.

Ft. Mill, SC
Spring Fly Fishing Classic

Saturday, April 8 and Sunday, April 9, 2017
The club is demonstrating Fly Tying at Cabela's and needs tiers.  We also need helpers to help promote the club and fly fishing. You don't have to be a tier to be a helper...just have an interest in fly fishing!