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

 

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!

 

Sometimes things go South!

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The second week of April, Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club members, Bob Burton, Bill Papesh, and Leon Buckles, were on their annual trip to the Bahamas. Three good friends, Jim, Larry and Mic, were a part of the group to fish for bonefish.  What could possibly to wrong…and right?!?  Check out the May Fly Leaf to learn about their adventure!

 

February 5th Fishout to Rocky Ford

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Who said you can’t have a Fishout in February- not us!  Members enjoyed bluebird weather for February during  a fish-out to Rocky Ford.  Fish were
caught and a good batch of chili by served up by Bryan Harman!

 

What’s New with Strike Indicators?

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We’ve all been there…Working some nice fish. Then the release type of strike indicator keeps coming unbuttoned on each cast. Frustrating. It happens when we are fishing our balanced or jiggy type flies. Indicator fatigue. The foam wears out around the peg.

February’s Fly Leaf, presented some fun ideas with fixed indicators- Part 1. They are effective to about 8 feet of depth.  With the release indicators, we can fish depth up to 14 feet effectively. It’s a good system but it’s time to upgrade the design. Two goals: An indicator that lasts; and is easier to see.  For detailed design and instruction, read Mark Pinch’s  Part 2 of “What’s New with Strike Indicators?” in the April Edition of The Fly Leaf!

Kid’s Fishing 2023

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The 2023 Kid’s Fishing event was again a great success.  The IEFFC sponsored the bus bringing families from the Ronald McDonald House on Friday, May 5th and the kids had a great time.  Assisting Kid’s Fishing Chairman Floyd Holmes were IEFFC members Eric Apelskog, Stephen Aspinwall, Jerry McBride, Jerry Harms, and Bryan Harman.  The weather was threatening, but the rain held off until right at the end.  All the kids caught fish with the biggest coming in at 24 inches.

On Saturday, May 6th, over 600 kids descended upon Clear Lake and had a wonderful time, as you could tell by the laughter and giggles and hoops and hollers as many youngsters caught their first fish ever.  IEFFC members present on Saturday were Eric Apelskog, Jake Nelson, Bryan Harman, and Floyd Holmes.

Many thanks to all the members who volunteered.

Bayley Lake Spawning Channel Restoration 2022

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As always, the Bayley Lake Spawning Channel cleanup was a lot of work and a

        Before

lot of fun. The Channel was more constricted than in past years, but the IEFFC  crew was up to the task and created an easy path for the spawning trout.

Our crew of nine volunteers met at 8AM at Maverick’s Restaurant in Colville. Those working on this noteworthy project were Bob Schmitt, Mike Schmitt, Doug Brossoit, Jim Athearn, Lee Funkhouser, Phil Beck, Jake Nelson, Guy Gregory and Denny Carson. Breakfast was wonderful, after which we proceeded to the channel.

         After

The work entails clearing all the heavy grass and debris from the channel, followed by carrying loads of gravel for the spawning beds. There is a lot of heavy lifting involved. The work was steady and the project was done in about three hours.

Following the clearing of the channel we always head over to Bayley Lake to do a little fishing. The fishing was slow, but the fish that were caught were quite large.

A special thanks to Projects Chairman Jerry McBride, who did all the planning for this years cleanup.

Bob and Mike Schmitt

The Crew

Jim Athearn Hard at Work

Going for the block at the launch

Doug Brossoit on the Rake

Bayley Lake Spawning Channel

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Our annual trip to repair the Bayley Lake spawning channel was another success story. We were unable to clear the channel last year due to Covid concerns so the need this year was extreme.

An able crew of ten members was assembled on September 25th and the transformation was spectacular. The group included five veterans and five new recruits and everyone worked well together. The channel is clear and covered in gravel, which should provide excellent spawning beds for the trout. The members volunteering were Jerry McBride, Bob Schmitt, Jim Athearn, Bob Johnson, Jake Nelson, Bill Papesh, Scott Fink, Phil Beck, Chet Allison and Lee Funkhouser.

Breakfast was provided by the IEFFC at the Maverick’s Restaurant in Colville and Bob Schmitt brought an excellent lunch for everyone.

Following the completion of the project the group headed over to the lake for some fishing. Unfortunately the fish were not informed that we were working on their behalf and they were very tough to catch. A few made it to member nets and they were mostly big, healthy fish. Hopefully next season they will be more cooperative.

Before

After

Toys For Tots 2019

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Thank you all for your generous contributions.
We were able to raise $740 in cash donations
and we gave the Marines almost 100 toys.

There are many youngsters who will have a
merrier Christmas because of your generosity.
Sgt. Victor Sijohn and SSgt Dustin Pfister are
shown receiving the donations. They send their
thanks from the Marines and apologized that
there was not a representative present at our
meeting. Most importantly, the Toys for Tots
program has received the gifts and monetary
donations.

North Fork Cleanup

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Earlier this year we were invited by the North Idaho Fly Casters (NIFC) to participate along with some other organizations in a cleanup of the North Fork.  Since many members of our club fish the North Fork we felt this was a worthwhile project.  We have a long history of working with the NIFC on projects.  Tom McLaughlin, Conservation Chair for NIFC and his helpers did an exceptional job of organizing this event.

Our member Bryan Harman represented our club at the planning meetings for the cleanup.  It was Bryan’s idea to put up several banners advertising the event.  We purchased two 4’ x 8’ banners and Bryan put them up about 10 days before the cleanup.  Our in-house graphic artist Lee Funkhouser created the banners.  Even the printer of the banners remarked on the quality of the artwork.  The date portion of the banners can be changed so if the cleanup becomes an annual event the banners can be reused.

We had seven of our members volunteer for the cleanup.

Fifty volunteers picked up enough trash to fill up the bed of a pickup.

It was encouraging that pretty much all of the volunteers found way less trash than they expected given that there are literally thousands of people floating the river on summer weekends.

IEFFC Cleanup Volunteers L to R: John Bennett, Bryan Harmon, Jim Athearn, Bob Johnson, Lee Funkhouser, Phil Beck and Jerry McBride

After the cleanup we were treated to a barbecue put on the North Idaho Fly Casters.

 

After lunch honors were given out for the most unique item found (a doorknob) and the most gross item (not sure what that was).  John Bennett and I missed this part of the program because we were out looking for Phil Beck.  After considerable travel up and down the roads on each side of the river we found Phil along the highway still picking up trash an hour or more after all the rest us had quit and gone to the lunch.  I wish there had been an award for the most dedicated volunteer.  Phil would have won it hands down.  Not only did he work the longest and probably picked up the most trash, he waded across the river up to his waist in jeans and spent the rest of the day wearing them.  Why did Phil wade across the river?  Good question.  By the time we got back to cleanup headquarters the food and equipment had been pretty well picked up and put away.  The cook was gracious enough to pull out some food for Phil so he didn’t go hungry.

 

All-in-all it was good day and if the cleanup is put on next year I recommend we participate.