BEGINNERS AND BEYOND

Ken Bowyer and Tim Pawlowitz provide one on one stream side fly fishing instruction to PPTU members. Participants must show commitment by having waders or hippers, a rod and reel outfit, and leader. Discussions will include equipment, knots, casting, flies, dry fly and nymphing techniques, entomology, reading water, conservation, etc. at nearby streams. Instruction will be tailored to individual needs. Members who have not made an Annual Supporting Contribution will be asked to contribute $20.

Contact Ken at 301-627-7154 or e-mail kenbowyer@verizon.net.

Contact Tim at 410-203-0369 or e-mail tpawlowi@msn.com.

2009 Mentor Program Report

In 2009, 10 members listed in the table below were tutored at the Morgan Run, Big Hunting Creek, or the Gunpowder. First timers received a current issue of the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide (or a copy of the Maryland section) and a 4 page summary on entomology. This introductory material provided the newcomer with an idea of what flies to use at any given time and general information on identifying insect types. Knot tying was discussed showing two basic knots; the surgeons knot (and surgeons loop) for tying or connecting tippet to leader and leader to line and the improved clinch knot for tying flies to tippet. Different types of leader (the standard 7.5’ 3x nylon tapered leader, the Orvis braided leader, and the Airflo PolyLeader) were discussed to show them alternative setups. For those with their leader connected to the fly line with a nail knot or to a nylon butt section with a loop, the Cortland braided loop was shown as an alternative for line to leader loop to loop connections. A brief time was spent on the stream turning over rocks to show some insect life in its early stages. For those with no casting experience, basic casting techniques were shown. On the stream, casting variations including the sidearm cast and the roll cast were demonstrated to avoid overhanging trees and brush behind you. Basic short line nymphing techniques with a strike indicator and dry fly fishing techniques were demonstrated. Line mending was demonstrated to insure drag free fly presentation. A combination rig was also demonstrated and/or discussed using a dry fly such as an elk hair caddis or royal wulff along with a bead head nymph. The bead head nymph is attached as a dropper fly on about an 18” to 24” piece of tippet tied to the bend of the dry fly hook using the improved clinch knot. With this setup, the dry fly acts as a strike indicator to detect when a fish takes the bead head nymph. Two nymphs and a streamer with a dropper nymph combination were also mentioned along with the advantages and disadvantages of these combination rigs.

Member	Dates	Streams	Fish Landed	Fish On	Insects Observed
Tim Pawlowitz	1/23/09	Morgan Run/Gunpowder			Few Midges
Desmond Butler	2/1/09	Gunpowder			Few Midges, Mayfly Nymph
Rodger Johnson	3/13/09	Morgan Run	3	3	Few Stoneflies
Desmond Butler	3/15/09	Morgan Run		3	None
Marshall Cowan	4/22/09	Morgan Run	1	4	Some craneflies, mayflies, midge & caddis larva
Ron Beloff	4/30/09	Morgan Run	2	2	A cranefly, a few mayflies, lots of black caddis, a few crayfish & some midges
Marshall Cowan	5/14/09	Big Hunting Creek		1	Brown & yellow stoneflies, a few caddis, mayflies, & midges.
Marvin Washington	5/30/09	Morgan Run		1	Caddis larva, mayfly nymphs, midges, minnows, sculpin.
Rodger Johnson	6/15/09	Big Hunting Creek	1	1	Some brown & yellow stoneflies, few large stoneflies & caddis
Lou Reichel	10/4/09	Gunpowder	3	3	Some tricos, midges, & a few caddis
Tom Crabill	10/22/09	Morgan Run	1	1	Few Bugs
Adam Rice	11/21/09	Morgan Run	2	3	Little Black Stoneflies all over
Cliff Rice	11/21/09	Morgan Run	1	1	Little Black Stoneflies all over

Mentor Program Photo Album

The following photos were taken over the past few years during some of the mentoring sessions.

Tom Crabill at Morgan Run	Adam Rice at Morgan Run	Cliff Rice at Morgan Run
Large Stonefly at Big Hunting Creek	Yellow Stonefly at Big Hunting Creek	Lou Reichel at Morgan Run
Ron Beloff at Morgan Run	Henderickson? at Morgan Run	Black Caddis at Morgan Run
Rodger Johnson at Morgan Run	Desmond Butler at Morgan Run	Marshal Cowan at Morgan Run
Bernie Werwinski at Morgan Run	Wayne van Rooyen at the Gunpowder	Angelo Rivera at Big Hunting Creek
Barry Hedden at Big Hunting Creek	Alan Burrows at Morgan Run	Bob Kaiser at the Middle Patuxent
Gerald Elgert at Morgan Run	Steve Graves at the PhD Pool on the Savage River	Steve Fletcher at Big Hunting Creek
Steve Shauer at Morgan Run	Mike Doyle at Morgan Run	Charlie Moseley at Morgan Run
Sandy Serafin at Morgan Run	Todd Carver at Morgan Run	Patrick Masler at the Casselman
Jewel Barlow at the Gunpowder	Nick Weber at the Gunpowder	Jerry Gessner at the Gunpowder