Fly club gains new life after disbanding scare | Sports

A few months ago, the administrator of the club’s Facebook page posted that the club “has pretty much disbanded, with most of its aging members either passing or not traveling” as they used to.

The post shook several members into action and a few younger anglers have stepped up to join the club.

“The club is still alive,” said President Jim King, a longtime member and former Okanogan County planner who’s now retired and living in Curlew. “It’s harder to keep clubs together now. We’re still active, but we are a stand of old-growth trees. We need some healthy younger ones.”

Member Dan Boettger, Okanogan, who’s retired from the Okanogan County Public Utility District, said longtime members offer a lot of fishing knowledge to the younger folks who could do as he did: Sit by the water and soak up knowledge.

But besides fishing and visiting, the club also is involved in water restoration and maintaining access to Okanogan County’s many fishing waters.

“The younger crowd can offer photos and video, and we can have a greater presence,” he said.

“That sets the tone for where most club members would like to go,” said King. “We’ve talked about outreach, demonstrations and so on.”

According to a history of the club published around 1983 in The Chronicle, the club was started by five men – two lawyers, one banker, one calf roper and a reclamation district manager whose job required “enough smarts to use horse manure to repair leaky irrigation ditches.”

Four of the five were experienced fly fisherman; the other hoped to be. The club began around 1954.

“They all realized carrying home dead fish to eat was not the best use of either the activity or the quarry; they wanted more satisfaction out of the sport of angling, and to learn more things about fish, about a satisfactory environment for fish and about the elements leading to enticing fish to bite an artificial insect,” said the story, titled “Anatomy of a fly fishing club.”

The members soon realized maintaining good fishing “is a complicated business,” said the story.

Membership rules were written, with eligibility for membership dependent on written certification by an existing member that the candidate was a “Bona Fide Fly Angler,” meaning the sponsoring member had to watch the prospect on the water, fishing.

That rule remains on the club’s books, although it’s been relaxed some.

Stated purposes of the club are to encourage the enjoyment of social contact among fly fishermen, encourage fly fishing as a method of angling, and protect and increase fishery resources, according to the membership rules.

King said the club isn’t just for fisherMEN now, but extends to youth and women.

“There’s a family focus,” he said.

Boetter said the club used to run fly-tying clinics and events for youth; he said he still fishes with some of those folks.

At its peak, the club had around 120 members. Now its membership numbers 25-30.

During the spring and summer months, club meetings are held at one of the county’s lakes. The May meeting, set for May 6-8 at Ell Lake east of Tonasket. The following meeting, planned for the second weekend in June, is at Chopaka Lake west of Loomis.

“Chopaka is kind of the crown jewel” for meetings, said King of the lake that’s regarded as one of the state’s premier fly-fishing lakes.

That meeting has long been known for its cholesterol-laden steak-and-eggs dinner, although “the potatoes aren’t as greasy” as they used to be, said member Stewart Mitchell, retired from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Ell Lake, site of the May meeting, has long been another favorite of the club. The 1983 Chronicle story pointed to Ell’s status as a “quality fishing water” and members’ efforts to get the state to extend that designation to more waters.

The club also installed an aerator on the lake after the lake’s trout suffered winterkill.

The state designations now are selective gear or fly fishing-only, but Ell remains on that list.

Club members again have turned their attention to Ell, with plans to re-establish aeration for the lake after years of low water, said King. Members plan to meet at the lake May 6 with representatives of the Department of Fish and Wildlife to talk about what can be done.

They also are working on habitat enhancement in Jasmine Creek, a juvenile-only water that runs from the Omak Fish Hatcher on Jasmine Street about a half-mile to the Okanogan River.

Mitchell said the club also supports aerators at Molson and Sidley lakes near Molson, although another group is primary operator of those aerators.

“In the past we have worked with (the department). We’re trying to be more active,” said King. “We have a focus on recreation in Region 2 (which includes Okanogan County). There are so many things going on with fish.

Okanogan County Fly Fishing Club is one of two fly groups in the county. Methow Valley Fly Fishers, which includes a few former Okanogan County club members, has an aerator project on Big Twin Lake.

“We work with them. A joint meeting is planned. We have a good relationship with them,” said King.

Boettger said several members of the Okanogan County club also fish together outside of club outings, traveling to Alaska, Missouri and elsewhere.

“I dream about fishing,” he said.

“I ask myself why I never miss a meeting,” said King. “It’s the camaraderie with like-minded people. I have good memories.”

Anglers interested in joining the club may contact Boettger, 509-322-6554, or Mitchell, 509-322-4035.

Dues are $20 per year. Existing members may send dues to Treasurer Judy Lawson, 589 Salmon Creek Road, Okanogan, WA 98840.

For more about Okanogan County fishing prospects, including those for selective gear/fly fishing-only waters, see the “Fishrapper” magazine in this issue.