Twin Tiers -- Five Rivers Chapter
Fly Fishers International
Corning, Big Flats, Elmira, New York
As of August 2009 this calendar will no longer be maintained. Please refer to the most recent newsletters for a list of upcoming events.
Upcoming Events -- Fall 2008 through Spring 2009
All meetings are held at Big Flats Community Center, Maple Street, Big Flats, NY, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, unless otherwise noted.
September 8, 2008. Member meeting, 6:30-9:00 PM. Casting Clinic with Dave Rothrock, Carol Farkas, and Kirk Klingensmith.
September 22, 2008. Business meeting. All registered FFF members welcome.
October 6, 2008. Member meeting. Presentation by author Rob Streeter "99 Tips to improve your fly fishing".
>October 20, 2008. Business meeting. All registered FFF members welcome.
November 3, 2008. Member meeting. Presentation by Dr. Walter Hang, "Citizen Advocacy Efforts to Clean up Cayuga Lake". Election of officers for 2009.
November 17, 2008. Business meeting.
December 1, 2008. Member meeting. Presentation: A video on fly casting by a well-known instructor was shown, and method of making welded loops in fly line was demonstrated.
December 15, 2008. Business meeting.
January 5, 2009. Member meeting. Dave Rothrock spoke on "Eastern Hatches and Their Imitations". Dave is a nationally known author, instructor, guide, and is President of Trout Unlimited for Pennsylvania.
January 6, 2009. Open fly tying, 6:00-9:00 PM. Bring your own materials and tools and tie alongside other club members. Informal sharing of recipes and techniques. [NOTE: Fly tying has ended for the winter 2009 season.]
January 20, 2009 (Tuesday - no school on Monday). Business meeting.
January 23-25, 2009. Trip to Somerset NJ Fly Fishing Show, Garden State Exhibit Center. Several members attended.
February 2, 2009. Member meeting. Presentation: Tom Mason, "Fly Tying and Baloney". Tom is also very knowledgeable of old bamboo fishing rods and other antique fly fishing equipment. He shared his knowledge of old equipment that members brought in.
February 16, 2009. Business meeting.
March 2, 2009. Member meeting. Presentation by Joe Cambridge on tying and fishing soft hackle flies, as well as tips on fishing the Finger Lakes tributaries for spring run trout.
March 16, 2009. Business meeting.
April 4, 2009. Fly Fishing Academy. Basics of fly fishing taught in a one-day seminar taught by some of the best instructors in the Northeastern U.S. 30+ students participated.
April 6, 2009. Member meeting. Presentation by George Daniels, member of the US Fly Fishing Team. Topic is "Lessons Learned from the World Fly Fishing Championships".
April 20, 2009. Business meeting.
April 25, 2009. Fishing outing to Cayuta Creek. We first did a litter pickup in heavily used areas, and trimmed some roses bushed from the streamside paths.
May 4, 2009. Member meeting. The club viewed the documentary film "Red Gold", which follows the annual migration of sockeye salmon in Alaska to the watershed where the world's largest gold and copper mine is being proposed. This film has won multiple awards at numerous film festivals.
May 9, 2009. Fishing outing to Rainbow Paradise. We car pooled from the Corning Wegmans, leaving at 9 AM. Caught many brown, brown, rainbow, and tiger trout in the 14"-20" range.
May 18, 2009. Business meeting.
May 30, 2009. Fishing outing to the Cohocton River. We fished from noon till 6 PM, most participants caught fish despite warm sunny weather.
June 1, 2009. Member meeting. Kirk Klingensmith gave a talk on fly fishing for smallmouth bass.
June 13, 2009. Fishing outing to the Genesee River. We will car pool from the Corning Wegmans, leaving at 1 PM and fishing till dark. All registered FFF members welcome.
June 15, 2009. Business meeting. All registered FFF members welcome.
July 6, 2009. Evening wade fishing outing on the Chemung River. Meet at Denison Park in Corning. Time TBD. All registered FFF members welcome.
August 2, 2009. Float fishing outing on the Chemung River. We plan to float and fish from Corning to Big Flats on Sunday afternoon. Details will be worked out. All registered FFF members welcome. If you do not have a watercraft we will try to match you with empty seats in other's craft.
2007 - 2008 Events
September 10, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Speaker: Mike DeTomaso, Fly shop manager, Bass Pro Shops and fly fishing author. "Effective flyrod methods for salmon and steelhead". If you want to learn how to catch large trout and salmon in the Lake Ontario and Finger Lakes tributaries this fall (or learn a new method), this talk is for you. Mike will cover all the bases, from beginner to expert.
October 1, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Speaker: Dave Rothrock, author and guide. "Fly Fishing Pennsylvania's Limestone Creeks"
November 5, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Speaker: Joe Cambridge, author and fly fishing instructor. Topic: "Strategies for Rising Trout". Joe explained different riseforms, what they mean, which flies work for each..Election of officers for 2008 also took place at this meeting.
November 2007. Tuesday night open fly tying begins, held each Tuesday night 6 - 9 PM at the Big Flats Community Center, and continues through March.
December 3, 2007. Club general meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: Amy Wolfe, "TU Kettle Creek & West Susquenhanna Restoration".
December 17, 2007. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
January 7, 2008. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: Kirk Klingensmith, "Trout Bugs - All You Need to Know to Get Started".
January 22, 2007. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
Jan 25 - 27, 2008. Trip to Somerset NJ Fly Fishing Show, at the Garden State Exhibit Center (New Jersey).
February 4, 2008. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: Keith Mathews, "The Origins and History of Our Classic Catskill Dry Fly Patterns".
February 18, 2007. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
March 3, 2008. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: Web Pearsall and Peter Austerman, "Region 8 DEC Update & Conhocton Creel Survey Results".
March 17, 2008. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
April 5, 2008. Fly Fishing Academy, 8 AM - 5 PM, Horseheads Middle School. Pre-registration and pre-payment of class fee required. Contact Kirk Klingensmith at kklingensmi@stny.rr.com or 607-562-3344.
April 7, 2008. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: George Daniel, "Active Nymphing". George is a member of the US fly fishing team.
April 12, 2008. Club fishing outing to Rainbow Paradise. Pond fishing for big rainbows, browns, and brookies. There is a fee to fish but a PA fishing license is not required. Meet at Corning Wegmans parking lot at 08:30 hours. Jake Trimmer is coordinating.
April 21, 2008. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
May 5, 2008. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: Mike Hogue, "Fly Fishing in the Catskills". Mike is the owner of Badger Creek Fly Tying, and serves as VP Conservation for the New England Council of the FFF.
May 10, 2008. Club fishing outing to the Cohocton River. Maybe we'll hit the Hendrickson hatch. Meet at Corning Wegmans parking lot at 08:30 hours. Dick Naylor is coordinating.
May 19, 2008. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
June 2, 2008. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. Speaker: Ray Grandner, "One-person Watercrafting on Local Waters".
June 14, 2008. Club fishing outing to the Genesee River. Meet at Corning Wegmans parking lot at 08:00 hours. Tom Krajci is coordinating.
June 16, 2008. Chapter business meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:00 PM. All registered FFF members welcome.
July 7, 2008. Club fishing outing to the Chemung River for smallmouth bass. Meet at Dennison Park in Corning near the dike at 7:30 PM.
August 4, 2008. Club fishing outing to the Chemung River for smallmouth bass. Meet in parking lot behind West Elmira village offices off Water Street in West Elmira at 7:30 PM.
August 16, 2008. Club fishing outing to the Susquehanna River for smallmouth and possibly carp! Meet in parking lot of the Holiday Inn on East Water Street in Elmira at 8:00 AM.
2006 - 2007 Events
September 11, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. A fly casting clinic was taught by Dave Rothrock, FFF Certified Casting Instructor; Joe Cambridge, who teaches fly fishing at SUNY Cortland; and Carol Farkas, who has taught casting and flyfishing all over. This program was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to learn from some very competent casters.
September 23, 2006. (Saturday) Club fishing trip to Genesee River.
October 2, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Fly fishing author and guide Dave Rothrock spoke about tying nymphs, demonstrating a basic nymph design, and one of his own fur gill nymphs. He also talked about features of the fly which are helpful in triggering a take in those tough situations.
October 14, 2006. Club fishing trip to the Cohocton River.
November 6, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Speaker: John Shaner of the Cortland Line Company, spoke about "Fly Lines, their Construction, Choice, and Care". Election of officers for 2007 was completed.
November 7, 2006. Open fly tying nights began, Big Flats community center, 7 to 10 PM. Will be held every Tuesday from November through March, except holidays.
December 4, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Speaker: Joe Cambridge, "Winter Fishing in the Finger Lakes". Lots of tips for when and how to be successful trout fishing in January, February, and March.
January 8, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Member Keith Mathews spoke on "Fly Fishing in South America". Very interesting slide show about the culture and fishing in Argentina.
January 16, 2007. Fly tying classes began.
Jan 26- 28, 2007. Trip to Somerset NJ Fly Fishing Show, at the Garden State Exhibit Center (New Jersey).
February 5, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Speaker: TDB.
March 5, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Pro tier Greg Heffner spoke about "Tying the Carrie Stevens Streamers". These are classic streamer patterns originated in Maine many years ago.
April 2, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Club member and world angler Bill Kessler spoke about 'Do it yourself bonefishing', based on his recent explorations in the Bahamas.
April 14, 2007. Spring cleanup of the Cayuta Creek special regulations area. Club members pruned rose bushes and picked up 6 bags of litter over the most heavily used area of this creek.
May 7, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Well-known author Ed Shenk presented a slide show on fishing the world famous limestone trout streams in south-central Pennsylvania.
May 26, 2007. Club trip to the Genesee River. Members met at Wegman's in Corning and car-pooled to Wellsville. The midges and sulfers were 'on'.
June 4, 2007. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center. 7 - 9:30 PM. Finger Lakes fishing guide John Gaulke spoke on "Unique Fly Fishing in the Finger Lakes".
2005 - 2006 Events
September 12, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. We held a casting clinic outdoors on the lawn from 7-8 PM. Many thanks to Dave Rothrock (certified FFF casting instructor) and to Ray Gradner of Pinewood Flies for the demonstrations and evaluations.
October 1, 2005. Club fishing trip to Rainbow Paradise, a pay-to-fish operation near Coudersport PA, where you can fly fish for very large rainbow, brown, and brook trout. This is all catch and release fishing. Waders not required but the shoreline can be wet and/or muddy. Meet at the Corning Wegman's parking lot at 9:45 AM.. we'll car pool to save gas, and return by dinner time.
October 3, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Ithaca flyfishing instructor Joe Cambridge will speak about fly fishing for Finger Lakes-run landlock salmon and brown trout in the autumn.
November 7, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. World-traveling angler Bill Kessler will narrate photos and tell tales of "Russian Fly Fishing Adventures"
December 5, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Topic-
Beginner's roundtable.
January 9, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM.
Joint meeting with the Upper Genesee TU group.
January 28-30, 2006. Several club members attended the Somerset NJ fly fishing show and exhibition. See Dick Paul for details.
February 6, 2006. Club member Keith Mathews gave a presentation on flyfishing several English chalk streams.
March 6, 2006. Final planning for the Fly Fishing seminar.
March 26, 2006. The club held it's annual Fly Fishing Learning Fair at the Horseheads Middle School Field House, from 1 - 5 PM. Over 200 adults and children attended and were able to try fly tying and fly casting, and hear talks on a variety of subjects such as choosing a starter outfit, Alaska, and Montana. Kids were very successful catching trout in the club's indoor trout pond.
April 3, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Greg Hefner and the Conhocton TU group spoke about fishing the Cohocton River.
May 3, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Dave Rothrock spoke on "effective nymph tactics and patterns".
May 6, 2006. Club fishing outing to the Cohocton River. Meet at Corning Wegman's parking lot at 9:30 AM. Bring a bag lunch.
May 9, 2006. Willow planting, Catherine's Creek. Call Don Walker for details. 607-739-2024.
June 3, 2006. Chemung River Fest at Grove Street boat launch in Elmira. FFF club members will have a table and demonstrate fly tying, and will have membership information and brochures on hand. Tom Krajci, Bill Lavris, John Dytman volunteered for this project.
June 5, 2006. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Jeff White, manager of Al Caucci's Delaware River Club, will speak on flyfishing the Upper Delaware River system.
June 17, 2006. Youth fishing derby at Park Station in Chemung County. FFF will host the fly fishing category, provide advice and supervise weigh-ins, award prizes in the fly fishing category. Russ Hyde and Dick Paul volunteered to manage the club's involvement in this. Club volunteers should plan to work 7 AM through noon.
June 16-19, 2006. Parent/child (or grandparent/grandchild) club fishing excursion, possibly one evening during the week. Details yet to be finalized. Talk to John Lively if interested.
July 10, 2006. Club fishing outing to the Chemung River. Meet at covered pavillon near the dike on the north side of Denison Park in Corning. Club will provide drinks and refreshments of some kind. Plan to fish till dark.
2004 - 2005 Events
September 13, 2004. The club's first fall 2004 meeting was held in the new Big Flats Community Center. Kirk Klingensmith organized a casting clinic on the lawn, with distance and accuracy competitions, and a chance to try different makes, models, and weights of flyrods. John Lively did a short 'show and tell' on Salmon River fly fishing for kings and cohos. If anyone wants a little more detail on rigging your fly rod for the Salmon River (three different ways), email John and he will send you something (in Word format). Ideas for the fall program were presented and discussed. We also enjoyed having two visitors, Diane and Mike, and hope they will become regulars.
September 26, 2004. First fall fishing trip for the club. Allan, Mike, Gary, Tom, and John L. got together Sunday morning and drove to the Genesee River south of Wellsville. Although the river had cleared since the blownout conditions of last week, there were few/no risers to be seen, and nymphs and streamers did not move the fish either. Around noon, we decided to execute "Plan B" and drove the 40 minutes to Rainbow Paradise, west of Galeton PA. This is a "pay to fish" operation with brook, brown, rainbow, and hybrid trout in the 14-24 inch range (with some up to 10 pounds). The fish were very picky but small flies and light tippets (and green weenies, in some cases) soon had everyone hooked up. Everyone learned something new and everyone caught fish. Photos will be posted when available.
October 4, 2004. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Kirk Klingensmith gave a talk about his fly fishing trip to Harker's Island NC for False Albacore. These are real tackle busters.
October 17, 2004. Club fishing trip to Rainbow Paradise. "Round 2" here was a quite a contrast to the previous month's trip. Cold, wind, and some snow accompanied our group as we headed south over the mountains early in the day. The cold and wind persisted, but so did our group of anglers, and we all caught some beautiful fish. Kirk K. provided some sausage and sour kraut and we had a picnic in the shed after a couple hours of catching fish.
November 1, 2004. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Webb Pearsall & Brad Hammers of the NY DEC Region 8 fisheries gave us an update on local fisheries and the future of our streams. Brad reviewed results of the creel census on the Conhocton. Elections were held and the slate nominated was elected by the group. The new officers are listed here.
December 6, 2004. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Greg Heffner, a regionally popular flytyer known for his artistic and realistic tying, demonstrated the use of 'Ghost fiber' to create some very lifelike minnow imitations, and also how to create very realistic mayfly wings using hackle tips.
January 3, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Ray Gradner of Pinewood Flies presented a slide show on various nymph fishing techniques.
February 7, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Mike Lenetsky and Shahab Farzanagen gave a talk on "Winter Fly Fishing in the Finger Lakes: A Cold Wind Blowing".
March 7, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. We saw a short video on the breast cancer survivors group, Casting for Recovery, and then spoke the program leader on the phone. The remainder of the meeting was dedicated to final planning for the Fly Fishing Seminar.
March 20, 2005. The club held a Fly Fishing Seminar at the Horseheads Middle School Field House, from 1 - 5 PM. Over 200 adults and children attended and were able to try fly tying and fly casting, and hear talks on a variety of subjects such as choosing a starter outfit, entymology, stream reading, and fishing for false albacore. Kids were very successful catching rainbow trout in the clubs new indoor trout pond.
April 4, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Joe Cambridge, a fly fishing instructor and long time trout fisherman from the Ithaca area spoke about spring time fishing on local Finger Lakes area streams. Jim Pfeiffer also spoke about organizing a Chemung River Watch and a river cleanup day.
May 2, 2005. Special club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Dave Rothrock, flyfishing guide, instructor, and author gave a slide show on 'Fly Fishing the Pine Creek Valley'. Dave is a Pennsylvania-based flyfishing guide and is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on the streams of the central and northcentral regions of the state.
May 15, 2005. Club outing to Cayuta Creek for trout fishing. We met at noon at Alpine Junction, toured access points from there to Van Etten, then split up to fish various places. Some decent fish were caught despite the bright sun and low water conditions.
June 6, 2005. Club meeting in the Big Flats community center, 7 - 9 PM. Club members and world-traveling flyfishers Dave and Cheryl Larsen gave a slide show on 'fly fishing destinations for couples'.
June 12, 2005. Club outing to the Cohocton River for trout fishing.
July 11, 2005. World angler Bill Kessler gave a spey casting demonstration, followed by an hour or so of fishing the Chemung River, in West Elmira. Fishing was slow but the demo was great!
August 1, 2005. A club fishing outing was held at the Spencer Crest Nature Center in Corning, in the evening. Some sunfish and bass were caught.
2003 - 2004 Events
July 7, 2003. In lieu of chapter meeting, met at West Elmira town hall and fished the river.
August 4, 2003. Meeting was held at West Elmira town hall/recreational fields again. Approx. 15 members attended. No report if anyone actually fished - the Chemung River was pretty blown out.
September 8, 2003. Jake Trimmer gave a presentation on basic types of acquatic insects that trout feed on. A nominating committee was chosen to come up with a slate of candidates for club officer elections to be held in November. Kirk Klingensmith volunteered to head planning for the spring flyfishing seminar.
September 21, 2003. Club made an outing to Rainbow Paradise, a private pay-to-fish operation in Pennsylvania with 2 stocked ponds. 6 members attended and all caught some fish.
October 6, 2003. Local angler Jim Rideout brought his homemade wooden drift boat and talked about building the boat, and then gave a slide presentation on fishing the Delaware for browns and rainbow trout.
October 12, 2003. Three club members fished the (upper) Genessee River.
November 3, 2003. Ray Gradner, local guide and fly shop owner, showed slides and videos of fishing for silver salmon, rainbows, and grayling in Alaska. Officers for 2004 were elected, and planning for the March flyfishing seminar was begun.
November 9, 2003. Held planning meeting for the March 2004 flyfishing seminar.
December 1, 2003. Greg Heffner of Bath gave a presentation on advanced flytying techniques.
January 5, 2004, 7 PM. Morretti's Restaurant - Couples Night - Wildlife Artistry
February 2, 2004, 7 PM. Brad Hammer & Chris Yearick spoke to the club about restoring shad to the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers.
March 1, 2004, 7 PM. Chapter meeting was held at the Big Flats Post Office. Topic: Final planning for flyfishing seminar
March 13, 2004. The chapter's annual fly-fishing seminar was held at Southside High School, Elmira. About 110 people showed up to try fly-tying, fly casting, insect identification, knots, and other things, and kids were given a try in our live trout pond. Presentations were given on flyfishing in Alaska, Montana, and the Delaware River. Special thanks to the Bath TU for helping us out.
April 5, 2004, 7 PM. Jerry Stercho, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Angler magazine, gave a slide presentation on "Fly Fishing the Beaverkill and Willowemoc Rivers". This event was open to the public, and over 60 people attended. Jerry also demonstrated how to tie two of his favorite nymph patterns for Finger Lakes tributaries.
May 3, 2004, 7 PM. Chapter meeting in rear of Big Flats Post Office. Presentation: "Warmwater FlyTying- Favorite Patterns", by Tom Kracji
May 16, 2004, 7 PM. Club fishing trip to the Genessee River. Meet at the Corning Wegman's parking lot at 9 AM.
June 7, 2004, 7 PM. Chapter meeting in rear of Big Flats Post Office. Panel Discussion: "Carp on the Fly", organized by John Lively
July 12, 2004. Club picnic and meeting was held in West Elmira followed by bass fishing in the Chemung River till dark. A few people actually caught fish!
Send schedule changes and additions to the club webmaster here.
