On June 18, 2019 three signs were installed at Rocky Ford Creek near Soap Lake, WA.
This project got its start in March 2018. Byron Jones of the Wenatchee Valley Fly Fishers (WVFF) watched in frustration as a person at Rocky Ford badly mishandled the release of a fish. He talked with Harry Lane, president of their club and they decided that some signs with educational information on how to properly release a fish would be helpful. Harry contacted our club and asked if we would be interested in partnering with them on some signs.
The IEFFC board of directors was supportive of the project and in addition to our club and the WVFF we managed to bring in the Dry Side Fly Fishers and the Washington State Council of Fly Fishers International (WSCFFI) as partners.
We agreed on a final concept. The clubs would construct three 4’x4’ signs mounted in angle iron frames, one for each parking lot. Information on the signs included WDFW rules for Rocky Ford, information on how to properly play and release a fish and a link to a video from KEEPEMWET that shows how to play and release a fish. WDFW approved the concept, the WSCFFI gave us permission to use their written information on playing and releasing a fish and KEEPEMWET gave us permission to reference their video and use their logo.
Our club took the lead on providing the signs. The frames were made in Floyd Holmes’ shop. Floyd did the welding and painting. After that the signs were mounted in the frames and the completed assemblies loaded in Jim Athearn’s trailer for transport to Rocky Ford. The following members helped at various stages in this project: Jim Athearn, Phil Beck, Scott Fink, Lee Funkhouser, Floyd Holmes, Bob Johnson and Jerry McBride.
Each of the partners put in $615 to fund the $2460 cost of the project. The three fly clubs installed the sign they sponsored on June 18. The IEFFC provided lunch for all of the participants.
This project was well supported by individuals we worked with at several organizations. Chris Donley, Chad Jackson and Mike Schmuck at WDFW, Bill Wheeler, President of the WSCFFI, Virgil Redwine, President of the Dry Side Fly Fishers, Harry Lane, President of the Wenatchee Valley Fly Fishers, and Bryan Huskey, KEEPEMWET Fishing.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/rocky_1.png603604Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2019-07-16 08:30:412019-09-16 08:47:33Rocky Ford Signs
Kid’s Fishing was again a great success and IEFFC was well represented with helpers on both Friday and Saturday. Floyd Holmes was in charge of the IEFFC representation and did an outstanding job.
Friday was the special event for the Ronald McDonald House kids and it was well attended. The children had a wonderful time and the parents and friends also enjoyed themselves. Helping on Friday were IEFFC members Bruce Morgan, Jerry Harms, Lee Funkhouser, John Bennett, Bob Schmitt and Phil Beck.
Saturday brought us to the main event and over a thousand kids. Fishing was sometimes difficult as the bright sunshine pushed many of the fish away from the shore meaning most fish were caught from the docks. The kids still had a great time. Assisting WDFW on Saturday were IEFFC members Bruce Morgan, Lee Funkhouser, Randy Shaber, John Bennett, Jim Athearn, Bryan Harman, Eric Delbo, Floyd Holmes, Phil Beck, Paul Coopwood and Doug Arndt.
We need to give a big thank you to the 18 volunteers who did a great job at the Big Horn
Show this year showing kids (and some adults) how to tie flies and sharing our enthusiasm for the sport of fly fishing. Our club was wonderfully represented by Leon Buckles, Bruce Morgan, Ray Kranches, Lee Funkhouser, Stephen Aspinwall, Dan Lobb, Gordon Olson, Randy Shaber, Jerry McBride, Bill Papesh, Bob Burton, Bryan Harman, Skip Cavanaugh, Lowell Tveit, Phil Beck, Bill McElroy, Bo Brand and Jim Athearn.
This was probably our busiest year, in part because show attendance
in general was up plus our booth was one of those listed on the kids’ passport program. That meant every one of them stopped by the booth to get their stamp and many then lined up to try their hand at tying. Bill Papesh brought some hats to hand out which is always popular.
I would like to give extra thanks to Leon, Bill P, Phil and Bill M for taking care of setting up and tearing down the booth while I stood around and watched. Leon generously provides the tables and chairs for us and he stores all of the other items that we use every year. Most importantly, he is there every day, all day to help me make sure everything is
taken care of and running smoothly and he is a fountain of knowledge for all the tough
questions we get.
We are signed up again for 2020 in the same booth (85) so mark your calendars to save some time to volunteer or just come to the show and visit with us. Show dates will be March 19 – 22.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/IMG_1956-Copy.jpg671493Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2019-04-13 09:52:102019-04-13 09:55:222019 Big Horn Show
At the February meeting Jim Turner, from the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club Legacy Committee, announced the Eastern Washington University IEFFC Legacy Committee Scholarship, which will be given out to a deserving student starting this fall.
The scholarship will be a $1,000.00 amount and will be awarded to a Junior or Senior enrolled in the Biology program with a preference to those in the Fisheries Department. The Legacy Committee was pleased to have Laura Thayer, from Eastern Washington University, present at the meeting. Laura has been instrumental in setting up the scholarship.
Jim Athearn will represent the IEFFC by sitting on the selection committee, along with the faculty members designated by EWU. We will invite the 2019 recipient to a fall meeting so that IEFFC members can meet and talk with the individual.
The forest service recently installed a total of 300 feet of puncheon (pronounced pun-shun) otherwise known as a plank road on the upper St. Joe trail above Spruce Tree Campground.
IEFFC went in with the North Idaho Fly Casters to purchase the 5″ twisted spikes used to nail down the individual planks. The puncheon sections will keep hikers and pack horses out of the mud which will reduce the amount of mud that gets washed into the St. Joe.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Plank-road-St-Joe-trail-208.jpg20481536Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2018-12-01 08:23:062018-12-01 08:23:06Puncheon Project for Upper St. Joe River
The Toys For Tots event was again very successful with four large bags full of toys and a $1,000 check being given to the Marine representatives. The members of the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club have always been extremely generous in regards to this program and this year was no exception.
Sgt. Faudy Familia and Corporal Nate Medellin came by Frankie Doodles during a recent Liar’s Club luncheon to gather the toys. The donations this year have been coming in at a rapid rate and they apologized that they could not attend our meeting. Just that day they were picking up donations at 100 sites.
The program will help those families that are not so fortunate have a better Christmas. A huge thank you goes out to all the IEFFC members for their generosity.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/toys2018.jpg15772048Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2018-11-23 09:18:002018-11-23 09:18:00Toys For Tots 2018
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently awarded our club with a Certificate of Recognition for our contributions to the WDFW mission. It is nice to receive this recognition and know that our efforts are worthwhile. We will continue to work hard with our partners in preserving our fisheries and providing education to those who use these resources.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/wdfw2.png395508Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2018-11-15 09:56:172018-11-15 09:56:17WDFW Certificate of Recognition
Many years ago the IEFFC in cooperation with the WDFW put in five 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 during spring run-off 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 return to the lake and live a year or two longer than the normal three years. This of course, meant more large fish in Bayley that we could fish for. Normally, the water temperature in the channel gets too high for the fertilized eggs to hatch so there isn’t much if any natural reproduction.
During the summer the grass along the channel grows almost chest-high and then droops into the channel tending to restrict the flow. Also, the gravel gets moved around and is sometimes covered with sand.
Just about every year a group of eight to ten members from the IEFFC has gone up in September or October to cut the grass, rake it out of the channel and restore the gravel beds. Most years the channel is dry as it was this year so it is fairly easy to do the work and usually takes about two hours.
Typically we pair up and drive from Spokane to meet in Chewelah at Zips for breakfast and then drive to Bayley to do the work. After we get done with the work we go and fish Bayley Lake which is pretty good fishing in the fall.
This year we tried a little different approach. We scheduled the clean-up for Saturday, September 22, 2018 and actively recruited members that had joined our club in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The idea was that newer members who have full-time jobs Monday through Friday might be able to come up and help on a Saturday. I recruited five “veterans” who had done the cleanup before, had fished Bayley and had boats. They were Lee Funkhouser, Bob Schmitt, Scott Fink, Bruce Morgan and Jerry McBride. The “veterans” were to be paired up with five newer members. The three newer members (all retired) recruited were Ron Gill, Leo Harman and Bob Littlejohn. Unfortunately Bob Littlejohn had a last minute sewer system crisis and was not able to come over from the coast and help us. Lee Funkhouser recruited his son Jeff Funkhouser to come instead and being a young guy, he outworked all the rest of us. As he has done many times in the past, Bill Papesh volunteered and showed up with his killer weed whacker.
We had a great breakfast at Zips, got the work done in about two hours and then all of us except Bill Papesh went over to Bayley to go fishing. The conditions at Bayley were less than ideal with a very strong wind and a heavy algae bloom. Some of our members did fairly well and some not so well. I think all of us had a good time and felt we had done something helpful for future fishing at Bayley Lake.
We will be doing this project again next year so if any member would like to be a part of it let me know.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Work-Crew.jpg15362048Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2018-10-21 08:43:572018-10-21 08:44:15Bayley Lake Spawning Beds
Once again IEFFC Volunteers helped the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife at the Little Spokane River Fish Hatchery in
September. About 60,000 triploid female rainbow trout were fin
clipped for the ongoing Long Lake program. Talk around the
clipping trough indicated that fishing out at Long Lake has
been fairly good on the previous years’ plants so folks might
want to go try it out. Thank you to the IEFFC members who
volunteered including Bob Harley, Tom Hoag, Dan Lobb, Keith Kuester, Bob Burton, Phil Beck, Floyd Holmes, Jon Bowne, Jim Athearn and his brother, Bob.
Those little devils can be mighty slippery!
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/fin2018.png147195Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2018-10-01 08:46:172018-10-21 08:56:37Fall Fin Clipping 2018
In cooperation with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the town of Medical Lake the IEFFC furnished two new signs spelling out Selective Gear fishing rules for Medical Lake. These signs are the same as the ones put up earlier at Amber and Coffeepot. Medical Lake city personnel installed the signs, one on the road down to the launch ramp on the south end of the lake and the other adjacent to the parking lot at the north end of the lake.
Club members Jim Athearn, Phil Beck, Gary Honeyman and Jerry McBride refurbished and repainted two used sign frames that been stored at Gary’s place for the last 10 or 12 years. The next day after the paint dried Jim, Phil and Jerry installed the new signs purchased from Monroe Correctional Industries in the frames. Club member Bruce Morgan volunteered to take the signs out to Medical Lake in his truck.
The number one violation of Selective Gear rules at Medical Lake is the use of bait. Hopefully the signs we provided will reduce this violation. At the least, if someone gets ticketed they can’t claim they didn’t know the rules.
https://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/20180622_102609.jpg15362048Lee Funkhouserhttp://ieffc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logo.pngLee Funkhouser2018-08-15 06:24:392018-08-25 06:32:29Signs For Medical Lake
Lake, WA.
Kid’s Fishing was again a great success and IEFFC was well represented with helpers on both Friday and Saturday. Floyd Holmes was in charge of the IEFFC representation and did an outstanding job. 
sometimes difficult as the bright sunshine pushed many of the fish away from the shore meaning most fish were caught from the docks. The kids still had a great time. Assisting WDFW on Saturday were IEFFC members Bruce Morgan, Lee Funkhouser, Randy Shaber, John Bennett, Jim Athearn, Bryan Harman, Eric Delbo, Floyd Holmes, Phil Beck, Paul Coopwood and Doug Arndt.
(pronounced pun-shun) otherwise known as a plank road on the upper St. Joe trail above Spruce Tree Campground.
large bags full of toys and a $1,000 check being given to the Marine representatives. The members of the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club have always been extremely generous in regards to this program and this year was no exception.
a Certificate of Recognition for our contributions to the WDFW mission. It is nice to receive this recognition and know that our efforts are worthwhile. We will continue to work hard with our partners in preserving our fisheries and providing education to those who use these resources.
dams) and laid down gravel in the ponds formed by the weirs to create spawning beds in the short, channel-like stream that flows during spring run-off 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 return to the lake and live a year or two longer than the normal three years. This of course, meant more large fish in Bayley that we could fish for. Normally, the water temperature in the channel gets too high for the fertilized eggs to hatch so there isn’t much if any natural reproduction.
During the summer the grass along the channel grows almost chest-high and then droops into the channel tending to restrict the flow. Also, the gravel gets moved around and is sometimes covered with sand.
drive to Bayley to do the work. After we get done with the work we go and fish Bayley Lake which is pretty good fishing in the fall.
In cooperation with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the town of Medical Lake the IEFFC furnished two new signs spelling out Selective Gear fishing rules for Medical Lake. These signs are the same as the ones put up earlier at Amber and Coffeepot. Medical Lake city personnel installed the signs, one on the road down to the launch ramp on the south end of the lake and the other adjacent to the parking lot at the north end of the lake.
Honeyman and Jerry McBride refurbished and repainted two used sign frames that been stored at Gary’s place for the last 10 or 12 years. The next day after the paint dried Jim, Phil and Jerry installed the new signs purchased from Monroe Correctional Industries in the frames. Club member Bruce Morgan volunteered to take the signs out to Medical Lake in his truck.