News and Updates

SJRVFF WELCOMES JAY WESLEY

Jay has been with the Michigan DNR for 17 years. He was a fisheries biologist for six of those years and the Southwest Michigan Regional manager for the last eleven years.
Jay will discuss the Westrate Property on the Dowagiac Creek to see if there is interest in a partnership if the State of Michigan purchases the property. This is a property and creek the SJRVFF knows well and has done extensive habitat work throughout.
Jay will also give an update on the St. Joseph River Fish Ladders, trout stocking, and then open the
floor for questions and discussion.

2013 Smallmouth Outing

Flyfishers, join us for a day on the St. Joe chasing smallies. SmallieTailThis year’s outing will be in Motville, MI on September, 14. Fish early or late SJRVFF will provide lunch near the public access around noon.

We need a couple volunteers to help bring supplies and cook the food. Please contact Eric Wroblewski – 574-850-5441 (Email) or Tim Pote – 574-360-7683 (Email) if you can help out.

St. Joe River Bass Study

SJRVFF has contributed to a very important study that may significantly impact how the INDR manages smallmouth on the Joe and throughout the state. Bass in the St. Joe have been tagged and their location recorded. If you catch a tagged bass and report the tag and location information the IDNR will use this data for their study. As an incentive to return the tags, the IDNR will reward you with a  $5, $10 or $25 gift card from Bass Pro Shops.  If you know someone who fishes the St. Joe that isn’t a club member please pass the info on to them as well. More information is available on this flyer.

Opening Day

Don’t forget that the Opening Day Outing is at the end of the month on Saturday, April 27th. It takes place at the LaBar farm on Dowagiac Creek. The location is a great place to celebrate the first day of trout season and we are very fortunate to be able to invade
Bobbie’s farm for the day. The turnout is always very good as well as the food. Terry’s deep fried turkeys are like eating candy – once you have a taste you can’t stop!

Also, don’t forget to buy your tickets for the beautiful bamboo fly rod that is being raffled off this month. Craig Myers will be selling tickets at the auction and at the Opening Day Outing where the drawing will take place at 1:00 p.m. This rod was made by our own Winston Binney and is the perfect fly rod for fishing our area streams. Buy lots of tickets!!!

April Meeting/Auction

In case you haven’t heard, our Annual Fundraiser is on April 17th, Wednesday night. The doors will open at 5:30 PM at the Waterford Estates Lodge, 52890 State Road 933, South Bend, IN. The Waterford is just north of the Cleveland Road/933 intersection. The event includes a grab bag raffle, silent auction, a chance to win a a new Scott G2 8’8” 6 weight rod with a Galvan reel and a general auction run by professional auctioneer Dave Goodrich.

Dinner will be served at 6:30 PM. Admission is $25 per person and includes dinner, a bid card and a special fly box. And if you find the lucky “Okie Drifter” inside your box you win a cool basket of neat stuff. The auction is always amazing. Some of the items donated include fishing tackle, fly tying equipment and supplies, photographs, paintings, gear and hand crafted items, even a hand carved Greenback Cutthroat Trout. Some last minute items include a guided Musky trip for two  anglers in Wisconsin next fall
with Jordan Carter, a carp fishing trip with guide Brian Pitser, and a chance to be an
honorary assistant manager of the South Bend Silver Hawks for a day. Tim Scott will offer his legendary day of smallmouth bass fishing with lunch and 36 flies. We added another item to the silent auction table, a discount certificate for Chota waders and boots. That brings the items on the silent auction table to 10, all great discounts on top quality items.

Kevin Thomason

Kevin Thomason, a longtime member of the KVCTU and the Michigan Fly Fishing Club, will be our featured speaker at our March 20th meeting. Kevin has served as fly-tying and fly-casting instructor in a variety of venues over the past 30 years. He is a life long fly fisherman and joined the competitive fly-fishing community in 2006. Kevin has participated in 3 Fly Fishing National Championships in 2007, 2009 and 2011. Mostly, he loves to fly fish…any place, any time, any species…and hopes to pass along some useful information this evening.

Kevin Thomason

Got Fish?   It’s the time of year when we’re planning and dreaming of the fishing and fish to be had in the coming months. Kevin intends to share a variety of techniques and tips to make you a more successful fisherman. We’ll bounce through a number of topics including preparation, tackle, casting, line control, fly design and choices, reading water, etc. Basically, how many “secrets” can he pass along in one evening’s program.