Get out and fish, but here is the news first.
Loop May 2015
News and Updates
SJRVFF Club Auction
Wednesday May 20th at Juday Creek Golf Course Event Center 14770 Lindy Drive Granger, IN 46530. The annual auction pays for our speakers, conservation project, and general club expenses. There will be raffles, bucket drawings, $20 deck of card drawing that gives you a shot at any live auction item. This years auction includes a Cutthroat trout carving by Jim Lothary, Custom fly rod by Mike Beachy, art by Frank Fisher, photography by Tim Scott, a float trip with Jim Gibson, G. Loomis, Sage, and TFO fly rods, and much more.
The annual auction is the one an only fundraiser that SJRVFF holds with all of the proceeds used to fund programs throughout the year such as conservation, education, outings, etc. Your participation is greatly appreciated and ensures that the SJRVFF continues to move forward.
Doors open at 5;30 Cocktails, HorsD’eovres, raffles, silent auction, viewing of live auction will go until 7:00. 7:00 PM Dinner of Steak, baked potato with all the fixin’s, salad and desert will be served; with the live auction to follow at 8:00 PM. We will be accepting Cash
Don’t forget to RSVP by Thursday to Terry for dinner if you have not already. You can reach Terry at terryflyfish@hotmail.com or you can leave a message at 269-424-5138. Remember, we need a good head count for dinners we commit to with the good folks at Juday Creek.
Saturday, April 25 Opening Day
The Annual Opening Day Outing may not be the official start of Spring, but it sure feels like it. Nothing seems to let you know its time to start fishing like getting together with a bunch of guys and telling fishing stories. Many of the club members have 
To get to the Labar farm from South Bend, take either M-60 or M-62 to Cassopolis, MI. Then take O’Keefe Rd north out of town to Engle St. (approx. 3.5 miles). Turn left on Engle St. Labar’s farm is about a 1/2 mile west of O’Keefe Rd. The address is 23683 Engle St. Cassopolis, MI. (map)
April Loop Newsletter
Please note there will not be a meeting on Wednesday, April 15. Our April meeting will be our Club Auction on Saturday April 18 at the Juday Creek Golf Course Event Center. Details are in the Newsletter.
SJRVFF Welcomes Nicole Watson
I grew up near the shores of Lake Erie and vacationing on the Au Sable River. The first time I fly fished was on the Au Sable River when I was about 9 or 10 years old. It was a bamboo rod with line tied to it. It was nothing fancy. I did not even have a reel. It was a start.
I began studying fisheries biology at Eastern Michigan University during my undergraduate work, then went on to work for USGS at the Great Lakes Science Center. There I was part of the deep water ecosystems team working on Lake Huron.
Currently, I am studying steelhead at Central Michigan University as a graduate student. My research takes me to 46 tributaries surrounding Lake Michigan, twice per year. My sampling sites include tributaries of the St. Joe, Kalamazoo, Manistee, Pere Marquette, and many others in both peninsulas of Michigan and in Wisconsin. I focus on juvenile steelhead and use the unique chemical signature of their ear bone (otolith) to determine their nursery habitat. This signature is influenced by the water in which the fish lives. Streams with a unique water chemistry will result in a unique chemical signature of the fish’s otolith. Analysis of the otolith signature can give insight to the life history of the fish.
I am a member of Trout Unlimited, American Fisheries Society, and Anglers of the Au Sable.
I will share my fly fishing experiences, “non-traditional” fishing experiences through my research, and discuss my current steelhead research.
We need a good head count for dinner planning for our group. They charge us if we tell them too few so get your name in or you might go hungry! RSVP by emailing Terry at terryflyfish@hotmail.com or call and leave a message at 269-424-5138. Please respond by 9:00 pm on Friday.
February 2015 Loop Newsletter
Enjoy. I’m developing a heated fly line and will be testing it down on the St. Joe River Saturday afternoon if anyone wants to wader up and join me. If you can’t find me down along the shoreline I may be sitting in front of my vice and knocking out some flies for the auction. That or shoveling.
Hope to see you next Wednesday.
Dustin New
Newsletter Editor
SJRVFF Welcomes Mike Schultz
Schultzy is the Owner of Schultz Outfitters Fly Shop & Guide Service specializing in Southeastern Michigan angling, instruction, and destination travel. The shop was recently named the “Best Fly Shop in the Country” by Gink n Gasoline in 2014.
Born and raised in the Great State of Michigan, Schultzy has enjoyed the outdoors his entire life. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, he started guiding and working in the fly fishing industry full-time.
Logging 200+ days a year on the water, Schultzy has developed a vast knowledge of Midwestern waters. The bulk of his guiding and angling takes place on his home waters of Southeastern Michigan. His angling travels have taken him from Alaska to Patagonia.
In 2008 with the help of the Huron River Watershed Council, he founded the Huron
River Single Fly. An annual fundraiser that takes place on his home waters of the Huron
River. In the spring of 2014 Schultzy was honored with the HRWC Partner of the Year
award.
He has been a member of the Simms Fishing Products Ambassador Program since its
inception and is a member of the Scientific Anglers, Regal Vice, and Hatch Reels National Pro Staff. His signature fly patterns are available through the ORVIS Company. Schultz currently resides in Dexter, Michigan on the banks of the Huron River with his wife, Allie and son Tanner.
We need a good head count for dinner planning for our group. They charge us if we tell them too few so get your name in or you might go hungry! RSVP by emailing Terry at terryflyfish@hotmail.com or call and leave a message at 269-424-5138. Please respond by 9:00 pm on Friday.
Joe Mitchell – Jan 17, 1935 -Jan 19th 2015
We lost a local advocate and passionate fly fisher this week. Joe Mitchell, one of the founding members of SJRVFF passed away this week. Joe’s passion was anything fly fishing, any fish, anywhere and especially cold water streams. Pictured here, he spent a long time talking with Kevin, an active/wounded military personnel brought out to our Tie-a-thon by Project Healing Waters from Walter Reed Hospital for support of our Tie-a-thon back in 2011. Joe’s enthusiasm for conservation and spreading the love of fly fishing went unmatched. Joe will be greatly missed by fish and fly fishers alike.
I have some great memories of running into Joe and his brother-in-law, Karl Glander, on the Au Sable and the Muskegon, and Joe coming down to Leeper in later years to “kibitz” Marshall and me. Always pleasant and fun.-John Carr
He was a friend to every member of the club, and often the face of the club. He was always interested in what John (P) was doing, especially after he started at Rutgers. A sad day, passing of the guard.-Tim PoteMy oldest son helped work on the first Dowagiac creek stream project back in 1988 when he was 9 years old. Over the years Joe would always ask about him and how he was doing, where he was working, and the last few years how his own children were doing. I guess Anthony made an impression on him that day that lasted Joe’s lifetime. Somewhere I have a picture of Joe and Anthony spreading straw on the Russ Forest lunker structure. Joe was all about kids, trout, and the SJRVFF. He will be greatly missed…… -Eric Wroblewski
He was the first person I met in regards to the club at an expo downtown in South Bend many years ago. He was doing a demo on Lunker structures. I would see him many times at Dodd park sitting on a bench, always willing to share his wisdom, particularly about Striper fishing on the east coast which he said were his early home waters. I have a close friend in Mass. that I do that with and his advise was as always right on. Great guy and a big loss.
-Jim Gibson
Not everyone knows that Joe was an Adjunct Professor of Biology at Valparaiso University. He and I co-taught a river restoration course for several summers. Here we are with our first class. We only attracted a few students then because we “camped out” at the Conservation Club and at Dick Hall’s for two weeks. Most kids didn’t want that degree of involvement, but a few did. Of course, Joe and I loved it!
-Grayson Davis
SJRVFF Welcomes Jay Allen
Jay has fly fished for over 25 years and guided for 14 years. Guiding in the Eastern and Western parts of the United States has given Jay diverse knowledge and experiences which contribute to his unique perspectives on fly fishing. Jay managed a fly fishing program at a guest ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – a role which contributes to his providing an exceptional fly fishing experience. Having worked with anglers of all ages and skill levels, Jay offers clients great opportunities to bring fish to hand, all the while teaching techniques sure to improve success on any water. Jay’s passion for entomology is particularly evident in his understanding of the intricacies of nymph fishing.
Doors open at 6:30 Wednesday, September 17 at Juday Creek Golf Course Clubhouse (map).
January 2015 Loop Newsletter
January’s Loop newsletter is here, enjoy. Please remember to RSVP with Terry by email at terryflyfish@hotmail.com or call and leave a message at 269-424-5138. Please respond by 9:00 pm on the Friday before the meeting. Don’t miss next Wednesday’s meeting and club awards.