Fly Expert has Clinics, Mexico Bass Trip on Tap

Posted by D’Arcy Egan January 25, 2008 10:52AM

Categories: Outdoors

Fly fishing expert Jerry Darkes has a wide range of fly fishing fun on the horizon.

The Strongsville angler and Scott Fly Rod pro will kick off a series of fly tying seminars at The Backpacker’s Shop in Sheffield, starting with a Getting Started session on Feb. 4. Classes to follow include Basic Steelhead Flies (Feb. 11), Nymphs and West Flies (Feb. 18), Dry Flies (Feb. 25), Streamers (March 3) and Basic Patterns for Warm Water (March 10). All of the classes are from 6:30-9 p.m.
To sign up, call 440-835-0861. The fee is $25 per session, $95 for all five sessions.
Darkes and sidekick Will Turek will team up for the Warm Water Fly Fishing School on May 2-4 at well-stocked Lake Shawn in southeastern Ohio near St. Clairsville. The 30 acres of ponds feature largemouth, smallmouth and hybrid striped bass. The cost is $495, which includes on-site lodging, meals, boat and electric motor and, of course, lots of fly fishing tips and tricks.

For the ultimate in fly fishing trips, Darkes will lead an expedition to northern Mexico’s largemouth bass paradise, Lake Guerrero. The April 4-8 adventure is $1,150 for room, board, guides and transportation from Harlingen, Tex. For the Lake Shawn and Lake Guerrero outings, call Darkes (440-781-3906.

Coming right up: The deadline for a lottery to fish the fantastic Cold Creek waters at the Castalia State Trout Hatchery this spring and summer is Jan. 31, with online applications accepted at ohiodnr.com . . . The Cleveland Hailers Chapter of Ducks Unlimited has its winter Sportsman’s Night Out on Feb. 2 at the West Park Party Center on West 130th St., with April and Dave Blaylock (216-749-7758) in charge . . . . Tony Misseri (440-975-6566) is taking reservations for the 15th annual banquet of the Western Reserve Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited at the American-Croatian Lodge in Eastlake.

Ice fishing safety: With new ice on area ponds and lakes, here are some safety tips:
** Constantly check the thickness of the ice and wear a life jacket, float coat or float suit.
** Let someone know you’re going to be on the frozen water. Take a cell phone in a sealed container.
** Go with a fishing buddy, but don’t walk or fish close together until you’re sure the ice is thick enough to support your combined weight.
** Don’t fish near streams or rivers, or around bridges. Currents keep ice from forming and can erode ice.
** Dress in layers. Anglers can quickly succumb to hypothermia, a cooling of the body core. Don’t drink alcohol, which lowers internal body temperatures.

More tournaments: The success of the night walleye fishing tournament late last year prompted Cleveland guide Virgil Tent of Fish Crazy Charters to expand his list of fishing derbies. Tent will have a Spring Walleye Frenzy on April 20-May 31, and one-day walleye and steelhead trout tournaments on June 21 at Edgewater Marina and July 12 at East 55th St. Marina. The fall Walleye Frenzy for the Cleveland area night anglers will return on Nov. 2-Dec. 6.
Mussels out west: California and Colorado fisheries officials are very concerned after finding zebra mussels in San Justo Reservoir in California’s San Benito County and Colorado’s Lake Pueblo. If those fisheries managers would like to see the trouble they will soon face, visit Ohio. Lake Erie has trillions of the invasive species, and no real plans to halt ocean freighters from bringing more exotic creatures to the Great Lakes.

Free camping: On the road with your recreational vehicle and looking for overnight camp site? Visit FreeCampgrounds.com, which lists more than 1,800 places where you can park for free - or almost free. Many of the sites, including Wal-Mart parking lots, are listed as "boondocking." That’s a nice way of saying that you’ll be squatting on private property and hoping no one gives you the boot. Many of the sites do welcome RVers, and are free.

Ethanol backlash: The rush to plant corn and other bio fuel crops in order to cash in on the ethanol for auto fuel movement has had major repercussions in North Dakota, America’s duck factory. Federal figures show 420,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program lands, a federal set-aside to benefit nesting waterfowl and other wildlife, were converted to cropland in 2007 as crop prices soared. That’s about 12 per cent of all CRP acreage in North Dakota. CRP losses were double what was expected.

"Conservation is in for a long swim against a strong current when trying to fight the tide of land rolling out of CRP," said Duck Unlimited’s Jim Ringelman, director of conservation programs. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service credits CRP with producing more than 2 million ducks a year.