FOOLING THE FISH - ON YOUR TERMS/Flyfishers' get-together spawns robust club still afloat 28 years later
by John L. Perry

Fly fishing may be viewed by some as an “elite” activity practiced by city slickers and snobs. But that isn’t reality with the Lower Columbia Flyfishers.

Anyone interested in fly fishing is eligible to join and will be warmly welcomed at monthly meetings and club outings, said club president Jerry Schroeder of Toledo, Wash. Club members run the gamut from students to retirees, mill workers and plumbers to medical professionals and bank presidents. There are even a few old foresters. They all enjoy fly fishing, along with the social aspects of club activities.

“Basically, it’s the camaraderie,” Schroeder said.

Lower Columbia Flyfishers club advances the artificial fly as a means of fishing. Goals include preservation, conservation and propagation of fish, betterment of streams and lakes and encouragement of sportsmanship through the traditions of fly fishing. The club is affiliated with the Federation of Fly Fishers, a national coalition of clubs involved in broader political aspects of the sport.

A sport with an artistic flair
Longview resident Ron Pihl, a 20-year member and the club’s current newsletter editor, grew up in the Midwest. “I’ve always been enamored with the sport,” he said. “I was attracted to fly fishing when this exotic form – with sort of an artistic flair – captured my imagination.”

“It was the first of all the fishing sports that really was focused on conservation – protecting, rather than just harvesting,” Pihl said. He joined Lower Columbia Flyfishers “to share the communion, to learn the local waters . . . the techniques . . . and the fellowship.”

The club came about in early 1970, in response to the local newspaper’s outdoor columnist mentioning a note from Dave Carlson, a colorful, avid fisherman, who now lives in Tacoma but still belongs to the club. A group interested in forming a fly fishing club met at Carlson’s home and laid the groundwork for Lower Columbia Flyfishers, scheduling the initial club meeting a few weeks later at Longview’s Hotel Monticello.

Fratenizing fishermen
There, thirty-some attendees elected officers, adopted bylaws and established the club as a non-profit organization. In the 28 years since, the Lower Columbia Flyfishers has slowly, but steadily, grown to nearly 80 members from all over Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon, and beyond. There have been  “growth cycles,” as membership ebbs and flows, Pihl noted.

After the movie, A River Runs Through It, “there was quite an explosion of people interested in it,” he said. Fly fishing suits those “who like a solitary environment out in the river.” It’s not like ordinary fishing.

It’s not the numbers or size
“You learn a lot more about the environment than when you go fishing with a worm and a cork,” said Schroeder. Much of fly fishing is catch-and-release. “It’s not about numbers and size,” he said. “It’s more about being there and fooling the fish on your terms.”

Lower Columbia Flyfishers operates in a non-confrontational manner, preferring to work behind the scenes on political issues affecting fish management and fish habitat.

Direct involvement in conservation programs has included financial and in-kind support for local fish enhancement projects, financial support for local and regional conservation groups, providing volunteer labor and equipment for stream nutrient enhancement (surplus hatchery salmon carcass distribution into headwater creeks), sponsorship of a youth fly fishing camp, volunteer work at local fish hatcheries, and assisting genetic research and DNA analysis (via tissue sample collection) of wild fish populations in cooperation with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Fresh fish or pork and beans
On Lower Columbia Flyfishers’ club-sponsored outings, members and guests expand their fly fishing experience and skills by fishing with others in new places and with different techniques. Members meet to fish and then enjoy a meal of fresh fish—if fishing was good—or maybe pork and beans with hot dogs, if fishing was otherwise. Recent fishing trips took club members to South Fork Toutle River in March for steelhead, Swofford Pond (Lewis County) in May for bluegill sunfish, Leech Lake (at White Pass) in August for eastern brook trout, and the Cowlitz River in October for sea-run cutthroat trout.

Previous treks have included southeastern Cowlitz County’s Merrill Lake, Lake Lenice and Dry Falls Lake in central Washington, and Davis Lake in central Oregon (all for trout), Grays River in southwest Washington for steelhead, North River on Willapa Bay for searun cutthroat trout, and other eastern Washington and Oregon waters for trout and panfish.

The club meets monthly. “Wet fly” hour begins at 6 pm, featuring a no host bar and lots of interesting conversation. This is a good time to meet like-minded people and to find out where the fish are biting. During dinner, club members who have been fishing recently report on their activities.

Bring money; there’s a game warden
Any use of coarse language or mention of fishing other than with fly tackle (such as using bait) is met with friendly derision and a visit from the Ghillie, also known as “The Game Warden,” who assesses on-the-spot fines which, depending on the severity of the offense, sometimes run as high as one dollar! It’s all in good fun. The official program begins about 8pm, as members finish eating.

Programs feature a variety of topics related to fly fishing – tips and tricks, trips, techniques and traditions – in slide shows and presentations by club members, biologists or government representatives.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 3rd at the Hotel Monticello in Longview (See sidebar). If you like to fly fish or want to learn more about it, attend the meeting. No special invitation is needed. Just show up in the Rose Room at 6 pm for wet-fly hour and introduce yourself to one of the members. You’ll soon be among friends.