Toys for Tots Fundraiser 2025

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Thank you all for your continued generosity and support of Toys for Tots!  Our donations to Toys for Tots greatly exceeded
our goal. In all, we were able to collect nearly $3,000 for the program, in addition to a handful of toys. Toys for Tots representative Kari Sobinsky presented IEFFC President Guy Gregory with a certificate thanking our club for the support we have given the program through these past 16 years!

2025 Toys for Tots

 

2025 President’s Retreat

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Presidents’ Retreat was held July 26 at Devils’ Elbow Camp Ground on the North Fork. Bob Johnson, Skip
Cavanaugh, Jeff Pope, Pat Stuart, Jerry Mc Bride, Bob Schmitt, Bryan Harman, Phil Beck, and Shawn Denny joined
Guy Gregory and his wife Norine for a potluck supper and some good discussions. Fishing seemed slow for everyone,  but Jerry- per the norm!

 

2025 Big Horn Show

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Another year, another Big Horn show in the books. We talked to lots of people, handed out brochures to interested individuals and made a healthy list of people for the membership committee to call.

I really enjoyed my time working with several club members, talking fishing, tying and sharing stories. We also tied dozens of flies for kids to help plant the seed for future fly fishers.

This show takes a lot of help from members and I want to thank everybody that helped make it a success. Thanks to all the volunteers, Denny Carson, Jeff Pope, Jake Nelson, Jerry McBride, Stephen Aspinwall, Jim McDevitt, Doug Brossoit, Bob Johnson, Leonard Gross, Pat Stewart, Floyd Holmes, Larry Ray, Skip Cavanaugh, Shawn Denny, Guy Gregory, Stephanie Stephens, Rob Stephens, Phil Beck and Lee Funkhouser.


This year Jerry did a presentation about fly fishing in the seminar room on behalf of the club. I extend a special thank you to Jerry and Lee for making that happen.

Submitted by Bryan Harman

Phil Rowley Clinic and Presentation

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Our friend, Phil Rowley, was able to make a stop in Spokane in between two of the many Fly Fishing Shows he appears at every year. Much of the credit needs to be given to the Spokane Fly Fishers and we were able to help with some of the
finances and organization.

Phil was able to provide us with two excellent fly tying clinics and a two part lecture consisting of equipment and tactics. Both were impressive and well received.

Phil has visited our club many times over the years and some of us bump into him in May when we visit Corbett Lake. He is full of knowledge and always ready to share new flies and new tactics.

The clinics were provided free of charge to anyone interested and both Spokane Fly Fishers and the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club should be applauded for providing the Spokane area fly fishers with this great opportunity to sharpen their skills.

Rocky Ford Winter Outing

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Rocky Ford Creek was the site of our Winter outing. It was a successful day, with great weather, good food, and huge fish. IEFFC members present were Jim McDevitt, Shawn Denny, Guy Gregory, Jeff Pope, Lee Funkhouser, Bryan Harman and his friend Trevor.  Jeff Pope caught the largest fish of the day, a massive 28-inch rainbow. He was rewarded for his efforts by losing his balance while reviving the fish and taking a plunge into the water.  Shawn Denny caught what he said was the largest trout he had caught with a fly rod. There are some mighty big fish in the creek this year.  Join us for next outing – the Annual One Fly Outing at Amber Lake on April 26th!

 

Toys For Tots 2024

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Our donations to Toys for Tots greatly exceeded our goal. In all, we were able to collect an impressive $2,825.00 for the program, in addition to a handful of toys.

The program began in 2009 as the brainchild of IEFFC President Jon Allan. Initially, we mainly received donations of toys and each year members donated hundreds of toys. Working with Toys for Tots representatives we were made aware of the greater need for cash donations to fill in categories where toy donations fell short.

This year we had Toys for Tots representative Kari Sobisky attend our
meeting. During the meeting Kari said a few words about the importance of the Toys for Tots program to the Spokane area, and reminded us that volunteers apply 100% of donations to the cause.

President Bob Johnson presented her with a check from the club.

Thank you, Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club members, for your tremendous generosity in supporting this special program.

EWU Scholarships – Red Tie Gala 2024

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On Friday, October 18th, IEFFC members Stephenie and Rob Stephens, and Skip Cavanaugh and his wife, Holly, attended Eastern Washington University’s Red Tie Gala – an event that recognizes donors that help fund student scholarships. The event was held in the ballroom of the Spokane Tribe Casino.
The Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club awards two scholarships annually to students involved in Fisheries Science. One of the $1,000 scholarships is directly from the Legacy Committee, while the other is funded from donations, by members, to our restricted FFI account. Your purchase of Legacy Committee items, and your individual donations, provide the funding for these students.

As proof of the significance of these scholarships, we witnessed several inspirational stories shared by students that would not have been able to complete their college degrees without financial assistance, and stories of how their degrees opened doors of opportunities that otherwise would not have been available.

Thank you for your support. You are making a difference.

Bayley Lake Channel Restoration 2024

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What a day! We had 12 volunteers this year and met at the Maverick’s restaurant in Colville for breakfast which, as usual, was very good.

Background
Many years ago the IEFFC put in weirs (low dams) and laid down gravel in the ponds formed by the weirs to create spawning beds in the short, channel-like stream that flows out of Potters Pond into Bayley Lake. The idea was to enable rainbow trout to come up in the channel in early spring and spawn with the females getting rid of their eggs enabling them to live a year or two longer than the normal three years. This of course, meant more large fish in Bayley. Normally, the water in the channel gets too warm for the fertilized eggs to hatch so there isn’t much, if any, natural reproduction.
Present
During the summer the grass grows almost chest-high in the dry channel and along the banks. The grass restricts the flow. Also, the gravel gets moved around and is sometimes covered with sand. Just about every year a group of members from the IEFFC has gone up in September or October to cut the grass and clean it out of the channel. We also renew the gravel as required. Most years the channel is dry so it is fairly easy to do the work and usually takes about two hours. In past years
the Little Pend Oreille Wildlife National Refuge (LPO) has provided the gravel. We used up the last of the gravel last year and the LPO was unable to provide gravel this year so the IEFFC purchased the gravel and had it delivered to the LPO.

The following IEFFC members worked on the project: Jerry McBride, Bill Faloon, Bob Schmitt, Eric Apelskog, Bob Johnson, Guy Gregory, Scott Fink, Jeff Pope, Phil
Beck, Jake Nelson, Doug Brossoit, and Chad Hueter.

We traveled in caravan style to Bayley Lake, unloaded equipment and set about cleaning out the chest high grass that had grown up and renewed the gravel. The grass was the thickest we have ever seen. As usual, Bill Papesh loaned us his gas powered hedge trimmer which was wielded by Phil Beck and later by Chad Hueter. Doug Brossoit brought his hedge trimmer also. They led the way with others raking the cut grass out of the channel and spreading gravel where needed.
After we finished the work Bob Schmitt provided sack lunches and assorted beverages for the group. Thanks to Bob for doing this again this year. We launched our boats on Bayley Lake and fished for about four hours. With 12 people fishing only a few had bites and Scott Fink caught the only fish which was about six inches long. Very disappointing. As far as I know, Bayley has never had a summer or winter kill, but it looks like maybe this year there was a summer kill. Scott and I fished Bayley in late April this year and caught a fair number of really big fish so we know there were fish in the lake go ing into the summer. Not sure what happened this summer, but it doesn’t look good. IEFFC member Father David fished Bayley about a week before us and caught three large fish. Father David is an outstanding fisherman so maybe the rest us just don’t measure up. Of course, being a Catholic priest probably doesn’t hurt when it comes to fishing.

In spite of the poor fishing, I would say we had a successful day with lots of
camaraderie and work well done.

Fin Clipping 2024

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We had great weather for fin clipping this year, sunny
and cool in the mornings, arguably a bit warm mid
day.

Club members pitching in included Doug
Brossoit, Matt Mason, Phil Beck, Skip Cavanaugh,
Steve Boharski, Jeff Pope, Bill Papesh, and Guy
Gregory.

We teamed up with the Spokane Fly Fishers, and were
joined by a number of WDFW staff, and on Tuesday,
students from Colville High School.

Clipping of adipose fins goes a long way to protecting
wild fish by clearly marking those fish which may be
legally retained. It’s important work, and it cannot be
mechanized. That snip requires a human touch.
Thanks to all for the turnout, it was as lot of fun!.

NW Youth Fly Fishing Academy Learns Runje Releaser Use

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In an effort to continue training fly fishers on the importance of proper fish handling, Northwest Youth Conservation and Fly-Fishing Academy Director John Gravendyk utilized our Runje releasers and trained the 2024 academy students in its use.

The Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club supplied the academy with 20 releasers and the students were allowed to add the releasers to their fly-fishing equipment.

We appreciate that fish handling is a part of the academy curriculum and that these students now have a tool that will assist in keeping released fish healthy.