by David McWilliams, AFF Vice President

Ron McAlpin will be Alamo Fly Fisher’s guest speaker on February 16th. In preparation for the upcoming white bass outing to Colorado Bend State Park, McAlpin will share his knowledge and experiences with this species. The meeting starts at 7 pm at the Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church, 6201 Broadway.

Ron has been fly fishing since he could drive. In 1974, with cash earned from his first job, he purchased a Shakespeare WonderRod. Although upon purchase it was im¬mediately put to use on the Guadalupe, the rod’s intended target was white bass on Lake LBJ.

And thus began a way of life. Ron frequents the Guadalupe from Sisterdale to the headwaters, but he has especially honed a sense for when to target white bass… and he seems to catch them even when others are having a difficult time.

His choice in tools and materials hasn’t changed either - he prefers to fish venerable glass and vintage bamboo rods with period reels. Ron is an avid (but focused) collector and repairer of vintage fly reels, and takes reels for repair from all over the world.

Ron admits to hanging around Austin Angler a bit in the 80’s, but claims he has always been “the notoriously tough to mentor type.” Regardless of whether he was mentored by individuals or acquired his knowledge via direct inter¬vention of the fish gods, there is much an angler can learn from Ron. His acclaim recently landed him a gig fishing and filming “TU On the Rise” on the Guadalupe with Frank Smethurst and his buddy Jimbo Roberts.

Since that first trip to the Guadalupe with his Shakespeare WonderRod, McAlpin notes that access to Texas Rivers has dwindled while at the same time public use of available access has notably increased. He understands that water will be the most important issue in this and generations to come. As a result he has donated his time generously to the sport of fly fishing. Among other things, he has served as a VP of GRTU (currently a board member), a retreat guide for Casting for Recovery, and a fly-fishing life group leader with Community Bible Church in San Antonio.

By: Rob Burlingame, AFF President

PLEASE NOTE!!! The January meeting will NOT be at our regular location, but will be on our usual meeting night! It will be at Soleil Bistro & Wine Bar on Tuesday, January 19th.

As has been a tradition with the Alamo Fly Fishers for many years, our January meeting will be a fabulous cooking demonstration for our members to learn yet another tasty way to prepare their latest catch. After a fun filled and excellent event last year, we will once again be meeting at Soleil Bistro & Wine Bar at 14415 Blanco Road, hosted by owner Jean-Francois Poujol. Our January meetings are always a popular meeting and a great "couples" event, filled with camaraderie and conversation in a casual dinner setting.

The January meeting will be held at Soleil Bistro & Wine Bar on Tuesday January 19th starting at 7:00pm. The restaurant is located at the corner of Blanco Road & Cadillac Drive, roughly half way between Loop 410 and Loop 1604. We are still working out the final details of the event (i.e. catching the fish!), but expect it to be similar in format to last year. They are putting together a menu suitable to our club for a reasonable cost of about $20 per person. The cost will include a four course meal, with the main entrée served family style featuring several types of fish caught right here in our home waters. There will be a cash bar as well for anyone wanting to sample the wonderful beer and wine selection.

DIRECTIONS: to 14415 Blanco Road

FROM LOOP 410
- Take Blanco Road north from Loop 410
- In about 3.9 miles, the restaurant will be on your left hand side at the intersection of Cadillac Drive

FROM LOOP 1604
- Take Blanco Road north from Loop 410
- In about 2.5 miles, the restaurant will be on your left hand side at the intersection of Cadillac Drive

The phone number for Soleil Bistro & Wine Bar is 210-408-2670.

by Javier Trevino, AFF Vice President

Tim’s reputation as a skiff builder is widely known as his skiffs are easily recognizable on the roads to and from our Texas Coast. His latest design, The STILT is a new concept in poling skiffs. I had the privilege of seeing the STILT prototype which Tim honed after water trials to perfect the ride quality, and performance he envisioned for this new design. I must say, my first view of the prototype, and boat #1 was a sight to behold – if your a skiff fanatic. The excerpt below was taken from the New Water Website:

NewWater Boatworks and its parent company Pro-Line Custom Aluminum and Canvas have been in the business of building the finest marine accessories and custom shallow draft fishing boats since 1983. Known for its introduction of a new generation of shallow water, flats skiffs––the Avocet, Curlew, Ibis, and Stilt––NewWater has a peerless reputation among anglers who specialize in sight casting in the shallowest clearest waters along the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Representing an altogether new concept in poling skiffs, the Stilt is destined to make history for its sleek, artistic design, and its unparalleled performance as a technical poling skiff. See the first photos of this stunningly beautiful skiff, which was unveiled on August 29, 2009, at the NewWater Owners Tournament in Rockport, Texas.

Specifications:
Length–––20 feet, 2 inches
Beam––––61.5 inches
Weight–––490 pounds without motor
Fuel tank––18 gallons

Tims new invention – the Lamivent System – is incorporated into the tunnel area of this sleek skiff and Tim will explain in detail how the Lamivent System works to provide quick planing and increased speed without increasing horsepower. Tim will also explain how he designed, tested, and finalized the design of this beautiful and effective new boat design.

Come see Tim and his new boat at the November meeting November 17, 2009.

by Rob Burlingame, AFF President

The end of the year is already upon us. Traditionally, the Alamo Fly Fishers gather for a Christmas Party to share food and fellowship, and celebrate the events of the past year. We get together to share memories and stories from the year, and prepare for activities of the coming year. It is a time for celebration, and it is a time for planning. The Christmas Party will also mean officer elections, and a change in club leadership that will start in January. We will sell raffle tickets and have some silent auction items for bidding to raise money for next year’s operating budgets. The party is a fun evening, and the whole family is invited. We will be continuing last year's exciting addition of door prizes and possibly a wonderful “grand” door prize! Make sure you are there to see what it is!

This year the AFF Christmas Party will be in the same spot as last year, in a large banquet room at Alamo Cafe Restaurant on Sunday evening December 13th. Alamo Cafe is located at 14250 U.S Highway 281 North. A social gathering for appetizers will begin at 6:00pm, and dinner is planned for 7:00pm. Dinner costs will be $15 per person, and everyone will have their choice of dinner plates from a special select menu. Soft drinks, tea, and coffee are also included. Other adult beverages will be available from the restaurant cash bar. Our party will occupy the combined Travis and Bowie banquet rooms at Alamo Café, and should provide plenty of space for all of the activities. We will have the projector and screen set up to show pictures of events and outings from the year. That should bring back some great memories, and get us thinking about outings for the upcoming year. If you have pictures from this year that you would like to share with us, please e-mail or call me (robburlingame@yahoo.com, cell 210.885.3730) or Todd Fleming (tfleming@bartlett-cocke.com, home 210.479.3062). We will also have some tables set up for raffle prizes and silent auction items. Raffle tickets are $5 per each or five tickets for $20. Dinner and raffle tickets can be purchased at the party. Please join us for an evening of food, fun, and fundraising. If you need a ride to the party, please call me on my cell at 210-885-3730 and I will be glad to coordinate drivers and riders.

Trout season is nearly here and there’s no better way to get started than hearing a local expert tell us about the annual GRTU trout stockings, techniques, flies, gear, river safety, and the other tidbits of information we need to know to have a successful trout fishing season.

Bill Higdon has been guiding on the Guadalupe for 10 years after retiring from Dell Computers. Bill is VP of Fisheries for GRTU and knows the fish and waters better than anyone. For those who do not know, GRTU is the largest chapter in Trout Unlimited in the country. Who knew Central Texas had the largest concentration of trout bums?

Bill is a 58 year old hill country guide who began flyfishing these waters over 16 years ago. Bill offers guided excursions for rainbow and brown trout on the tailwaters of the Guadalupe River, below Canyon Lake dam. Fish can be caught up to 18 inches with a few larger specimens being hooked every once-in-a-while.

Bill’s knowledge of these waters has put him in several magazine articles and TV shows over the years which has helped promote his guide service and increase his reputation as a top notch guide on these waters.

Bill is owner and guide of Inn of the Hills Fishing Excursions. His website is www.inthehillsfishing.com if you would like to book a guided fishing trip with Bill. Bills guide service utilizes the drift boat technique often found in Western fisheries – but is quickly finding favor in our part of the world. His two boats of preference are a Clackacraft Drift Boat and a Aire Fishing Raft. Bill is a licensed guide (# 944) who is responsible and personable.

Please welcome Bill Higdon for a round of Guadalupe River Trout Fishing knowledge which you will not want to miss.

Fish-On!

by Rob Burlingame, AFF President

For the third year, our club has set aside September as the month to promote and honor “Women in Fly Fishing”. As the husband of an avid woman fly fisher and father of two sprouting fly toddlers, this month holds a special place for me. Since becoming involved with the Alamo Fly Fishers (and prior to my wife’s fly fishing addiction!), the sport has seemed on the surface to be dominated by men. Most of the big name fly fishers are men, the TV shows have male hosts and our membership numbers have reflected an overwhelming majority of males for years. On the surface, this looks like a male sport.

But, truth be known, the deeper you dig, the more women anglers you seem to find. And many of them can out fish their male counter parts any day of the week. Yes, my wife can confirm my last statement! There are many great women anglers right here in our back yard. This page is too short to list them all, but I am sure we can all name at least a handful! A visit to one of our casting clinics can teach us all a valuable lesson. Women tend to pick up the mechanics of casting quicker than men. (This may have to do with the “macho effect” that usually kills our golf shots too!) Women seem to be more relaxed and rhythmic when they start learning to cast. This naturally leads to better and smoother casts earlier in their adventure in the sport. That naturally leads to more consistency and more fish!

The only area of fly fishing that women seem to fall behind in (at least with our club) is in the number that fill out an application to join! With the sport being conceived as male dominant, the only reason I can find is perhaps some intimidation to join a club that is deemed a “guy thing”. The primary reason for our September meeting is to invite women anglers into our club and assure them they are an important part of the sport we love and that we would welcome their participation in the group. We all understand that men and women are different, and they have different interests, expectations and methods of satisfaction. Bottom line…The Alamo Fly Fishers would like to attract and develop our club’s programs and outings in a way that incite equal enthusiasm for fly fishing in both men and women.

This month’s program will be an open forum for women to share their thoughts about fly fishing, what it means to them, about exciting programs like CFR or whatever else they would like to share. I also encourage those of you with a female fishing buddy to share what they have taught you about the sport or how they have enhanced your fishing experiences!

Be sure to make it to our meeting this month, Tuesday September 15th from 7-9 PM, to show your support for our women anglers. Everyone is welcome and we encourage anyone to bring a friend or spouse along to a meeting that is sure to be enjoyable!

by Javier Trevino, AFF Vice President

This month, were doing something way different. We’ll be showing the film “Drift” by Confluence Film’s Tom Bie. Drift is not your weekend fishin’ show. It’s a full length 65 minute film best described in the text below out of the Confluence Film’s website. The film will start at 7:30 after a few announcements. From 7:00 to 7:30, we will have a swap meet so bring your old stuff you wanna get rid of. After the film, we will continue the swap meet till 9:00.

Description of DRIFT on Confluence Film’s website (edited for this announcement):

By now, thankfully, a number of quality flyfishing films have been produced. Some have been very well made, but were a little too short - without a broad range of subject matter. Others have been long, only to have you wishing they were shorter. And others have had decent storylines and characters, but appeared to be filmed by your nine-year-old sister as she was dribbling her soccer ball. They have all been encouraging and unique in their own ways, but none have successfully integrated the five major pieces of a flyfishing film: great characters and personalities, cinematography, music, a variety of freshwater and saltwater, and an adequate supply of what we all like to call fish porn. Confluence Films aims to change that with Drift.

The film is aimed at showing all viewers - from hardcore, 300-day-a-year guides, to people who’ve never picked up a fly rod - that flyfishing is a much deeper, more interesting, more varied, and a more fulfilling sport than they’ve been led to believe by mainstream media, particularly the more traditional fishing magazines and television shows. Drift will do this by highlighting some of the sport’s more colorful characters and destinations, capturing these stories on location with the best shooters in the business using the best medium known to man - film. That is important to mention, as every fly fishing movie and video project to date has been shot on video Drift will be the first ever feature-length fly fishing project shot entirely on film.

Drift will combine all the necessary elements to result in the first full-length, high production-value, multi-destination flyfishing movie ever made.

The Locations

Production on Drift began in September of 2007. A total of five separate segments are planned for the movie, as well as the introduction and a closing piece. The end result will be a movie of approximately 65 minutes.

Locations for Drift include:

Oregon’s Deschutes River
The North Bight of Andros Island in the Bahamas
The high-altitude rivers of Kashmir, India
Southern Belize
Montana’s Bighorn River
Utah’s Green River
Colorado’s Frying Pan River

Our July meeting will host two of our club’s very own, David Beck and Walter Ross, as they describe the adventures and excitement of their annual Alaskan getaway on the Kenai River. If you have ever spent time with this dedicated duo, their presentation is sure to be an adventure of its own. This pair of hard core fisherman coincidentally met on a long past Alaskan adventure through their shared love of fly fishing and exotic destinations. The rest is history and they have been great fishing buddies ever since. To not spoil their story, be sure that you attend this meeting for the stories that will surely be shared.

Having spent some time getting to know these two on several of our club’s white bass outings this year, I am certain we are in for a treat. Their friendship is sewn with a bond only Fly Fishing can secure, and they are almost inseparable outdoors. Both are quick witted, dedicated to the sport, fun to be around and full of stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat. And, after seeing the countless fish that these two brought to hand, I am sure there will be some exciting pictures as well.

David retired the first time in 1994 after an exciting 26 year career in the Air Force, first as a liquid fuels propellant specialist and then later transitioning into the recruiting field. The latter part of his career was a stepping stone for his current role as President of Beck-Field and Associates, Inc., an executive and physician search firm based in Selma, Texas. David’s company has recently been recognized by the San Antonio Business Journal as one of the fastest growing companies in the city.

Through his careers, David has never lost his love of the outdoors and all things that take him there. His adventures and stories are numerous, having been blessed to experience a wide variety of adventures to many exotic destinations that many of us only dream of. Perhaps David will share some of his other adventures with us at the meeting.

Join us at this month’s meeting for the great tales of David and Walter’s Alaskan adventures. I will caution you that listening to their presentation may result in an extreme desire to head to the northern wilderness to create your own wilderness memories! See you at the meeting!

by Javier Trevino, AFF Vice President

He almost needs no introduction. Anyone familiar with Texas flyfishing has heard of, read about, or read Lefty-Ray’s articles about flyfishing our Texas waters. Its safe to say that he is quite the saltwater junkie as many of us are – but he takes it one step further. He knows the salt flats so well that from San Antonio Texas, he guides the flats on what is some of the best flats fishing along the Texas Coast. The causeway between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas has thousands of acres of pristine flats that Lefty calls home.

But………..thats not all he does. He is quite an avid rock-hopper chasing Spanish Mackerel on the Port A. Jetties with his own fly design (The Spanish Macarena), the occasional Kingfish, and a few Tarpon thrown in the mix.

That’s not all– we’re not even close to being finished. He is a certified fly casting instructor (by none other than Chico Fernandez himself), and a patient teacher teaching kayak fishing lessons in his Kayak4Redfish courses.

Lefty also guides the Texas hill country and during White Bass season – will help you load up on whites – more fun than a human should be allowed to have..

Additionally, Lefty is a REALLY good photographer – so much so that it’s a business of his to professionally photograph fishing excursions, Tejano music events, awards ceremonies – you name it. He has so many photos – good photos – that he is sought by many publications for magazine photographs – but especially – flyfishing photographs.

Lets welcome Left Ray Chapa to kick off our Saltwater season.

Fish-On!!

Colin McDonald is a writer for the Express News – and recently he published 2 articles about paddling our briny waters. In his first article, he wrote about his adventures paddling what some consider to be Uncharted waters. Those are the waters south of Corpus Christi down to the Rio Grande. Anyone looking at a map will quickly see that these are certainly uncharted waters. Mostly bordered by ranchland, getting lost here would be trouble – especially if your not prepared for long term camping.

Colin did just that – paddling and camping on our south Texas Coast. In his presentation, he will be discussing “What it was Like Camping and Paddling down our coast.”

We can learn a lot about what its like to paddle and camp for weeks on end in these uncharted waters. Colin wrote a web-log which can easily be found by Googling “Colin McDonald Kayak.” Some excerpts from his web- log are found below….. Enjoy and let’s welcome Colin McDonald at our May meeting:

Excerpts from Colin McDonald’s Web-Log:
Boca Chica Beach - In kayaking it's called a wet exit. It's a last resort if you can't roll. It means giving up and going to shore.

I had made it to the Rio Grande. I took my photos. I did a little dance on top of a sand dune. I just had to paddle the five miles back to South Padre Island. …………
I thought I had it. So did the guys watching from the pickup on shore. I was paddling toward the rolling swell of the Gulf. ……………….

My timing was off. I would start to roll upright only to be knocked over again. I was struggling to remember which way was up and contorting my body to get air.

"I'm done," I thought. I pulled off the skirt that keeps the water out of the cockpit and me in. I popped to the surface. The kayak rolled over. I hung on and let the waves take us back to shore. The guys in the pickup offered me a ride.

They suggested I try the Mississippi next. The waves are smaller.

Come see Colin 3rd Tuesday in May – 7 p.m.