Just what Whitlock will do at the meeting is still being determined but rest assured his programs and tying and other demonstrations are excellent. Make sure you bring a book of his to sign because he autographs like no other person we've ever seen.

An artist, consultant, video performer, lecturer, master fly tyer, and author, Whitlock is one of the preeminent communicators in fly fishing. His work can be read in nearly every significant fly fishing and fishing publication. Most recently, his picture graced the cover of the February 2000 issue of Fly Fisherman, perhaps the leading fly fishing publication in the country.

A quarter of a century ago, Whitlock, a native Oklahoman and now living beside the White River in the Ozarks of northwestern Arkansas, resigned his position as a research chemist and embarked on a full time career as a fly fishing professional. He has co-authored or contributed to many books, including The Flytyer's Almanac, Second Flytyers Almanac, and Imitating and Fishing Natural Fish Foods. He has illustrated more than 20 books, including Steve Raymond's Year of the Angler, and Year of the Trout, plus former President Jimmy Carter's Outdoor Journal. He contributed the Whitlock-Vibert Box to enhance wild trout fisheries. He's also helped revive interest in fly fishing for black bass and other warmwater species.

Whitlock has served as a consultant for 3/M Scientific Anglers Company, L.L. Bean, Bass Pro Shops, Sage Rods and Gander Mountain. He was inducted into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame in 1987. He has received a number of awards from the Federation of Fly Fishers, including the James E. Henshall Award for his work in warmwater fishing and conservation, the 1976 Conservation Man of the Year Award, and the Max Ander's Wild Trout Award in 1976, and the Buz Buzeck Flytyer's Award. The Ozark Fly Fishers has been in the St. Louis area for more than a quarter of a century and this is part of our annual effort to bring in prominent fly fishers from throughout the country. For more information about Whitlock's appearance and the Ozark Fly Fishers, contact Brian Flinchpaugh at (314) 453-9586 because we may need help with this meeting or the Ozark Fly Fishers web site at http://ozarkflyfishers.org.

Note: This is not Jerry's canoe or ad, but he thought it would be of use to a member.

1. Terry Pierce
   
2. Rubin Schuelke
   
3. Leroy Nagle
   
4. David Baumgartner
   
5. Christine M. Sanford
   
6. Randy & Sue Boyce
   
7. Vince Manno
   
8. Jim Modica
   

2) Eat the local specialty. This has served me well in my travels. The specialty can be regional i.e., salmon/halibut in the Northwest, clams in the Northeast, or a breakfast burrito on the San Juan river. Or the specialty can be the "daily special," which your waitress suggests. You can be reasonably certain that this is a meal the house is proud of, is a good value, or a logging truck just killed a cow on the interstate. It is hard to go wrong here.

3) Cleanliness is next to Godliness, but don't get carried away about it. Sure we like to have the illusion that our food is prepared with the greatest care, but if you are overzealous about this, you can miss some great food. And, I might add, appearances can be deceiving on both ends of the spectrum.

As long as restaurant workers are the lowest paid people in our economy, I make no assumptions about cleanliness or care of preparation. I believe in a "natural immunity" I have built up by trying anything I wanted, anywhere I was. I also carry antacids by the roll.

4) I believe that any new food I haven't tried is worth trying, and any method of preparation could be worthwhile. I would rather have a wretched meal and watered liquor than a preprepared one served out of a centralized commissary, and electronically dispensed hooch. At least it will be different. At least you can complain all day to your companion, giving you something to talk about other than what specie of mayfly is hatching. And I remember these places. You remember to stay away from the bad ones, and return to the good ones. But even the bad ones have their qualities. And they are all different, showing the personality of their staff. Not a focus group in Atlanta or marketing department in Chicago.

5) There are some places to avoid. Saloons with no windows, and only one door, for example. Some of these structures, made of cinder block with tin roofs are so grim they might as well post a "Keep Out" sign on the entrance. And I do. My mamma didn't raise me to die in a bar fight in which I have no quarrel. Staying out of these places is a good way to keep mamma happy. I include in this category places which have signs on the entrance like "No Knives Allowed" or "No Fighting In Parking Lot."

Places which have signs "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" are usually right. The service tends to be lousy. So does the food. It's peculiar, the sign which carries the message "We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone." Particularly in the South, where it could be a cryptic message. But in over fifty years of eating out, I have yet to see this right exercised. I want a sign in my house "We Reserve the Right to Refuse to Quarter Troops Except in Time of War." I'd probably get as much use out of it.

I will not eat in a place that has a "C" rating. I am not unaware of salmonella and hepatitis.

I will not eat in a fern bar. I can do that when I am home, but won't anyway.

I will view a restaurant parking lot with nothing but pickup trucks with the same skepticism I would if they were all BMW's.

As a rule, motel restaurants are to be avoided. They are an afterthought, not a focus.

Ice cream in all forms is the refuge of the hungry.

I view eating on a fishing trip with almost equal importance as which fly to use. It's not that a good one will make your day. But it should be an experience remembered.

ed. Ted is now retired and living well off the proceeds of his revolutionary fly, the Golden Parachute.

Springcreeks.com
c/o Tom Chou
3 Whatney
Irvine, CA 92618

Please write in "Gary LaFontaine" in the "For/Memo" section of the check. Or you can donate on-line at the following secure link using your credit card: https://secure17.client-mail.com/alsalink/als/help1.cfm

When donating on-line, please specify "Gary LaFontaine" as the "Living Honoree". For each $10 you donate, you will receive one "ticket". If you donate $100 or more, you'll receive 5 additional tickets for free (15 total per $100). To see a list of prizes and official contest rules, visit the Springcreeks.com website at:
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We're also running a charity auction with great items such as guided fly fishing trips, autographed books, and more. You can bid for items on the springcreeks.com web site. The raffle is scheduled to be held on March 31st, 2000. The auction ends on this date as well.

• Hook: Mustad #94831, #9674, or equivalent, sizes 4-10
  
• Thread: Gold or black monocord, number 6/0 or 8/0
• Tail: Gold (amber) biots
• Antennae: Gold (amber) biots
• Body: Gold or camel Mohair yarn
• Wingcase: Lacquered turkey feather, pheasant tail, or flat silver tinsel
• Head: Cemented gold or black tying thread
• Weight: An appropriate number of wraps of 0.015" or 0.020" lead wire
  

The lead is wrapped on the hook shank and the tails added in a preliminary step. After the lead is wrapped, a small ball of thread is wrap-ped on the hook shank near the bend and the split tails (biots) attached. The thread is tied off and the position of the tails and lead is fixed with a small amount of "Super GlueTM". This hook with lead and tails attached is placed aside to allow the glue to dry. The yarn is tied in and wrapped, followed by the addition of the wing cover, or flashback if used, and biots for antennae. After wrap-ping the abdomen with the Mohair yarn, I tie in an ordinary piece of yarn and "bulk up" and shape the thorax before finishing wrapping the Mohair yarn. Hackle may be added for legs if desired, but I typically omit it to save time; just roughing up the Mohair yarn of the thorax with a tooth-brush. The abdomen also may be wrapped with Larva LaceTM to give a segmented, shiny appearance. Rubber legs, monofilament, or Krystal Flash may be substituted for the biots used for the antennae and/or tails (but I typically don't). This fly can be fished in typical stonefly fashion, bumping along the bottom, or dead drifted in stiller waters. Although this pattern can be tied in larger sizes, I prefer smaller flies to catch more fish. With these smaller sizes the smaller wire hook of the #94831 is preferred. For larger sizes ordinary yarn may also be used to bulk up and shape the abdomen.

This fly is tied in other colors (olive, black, black/red, etc) by changing to the appropriate color of biots, Mohair yarn, and thread.

• Hook: Mustad #9671 or 9672, or equivalent, sizes 12-20
• Thread: Brown or black monocord, number 6/0 or 8/0
• Tail: Several hairs (moose or boar), and several strands of pearl Krystal Flash
• Wings: Pearl Krystal Flash
• Body: Normally dubbed Hares Ear/Antron mixture for abdomen, loop dubbed Hares Ear/Antron for thorax to give a "buggy" appearance
• Segmentation: Fine gold wire wrapped on thorax
• Wingcase/Back: Flat silver tinsel
• Head: Cemented brown or black tying thread
• Weight: An appropriate number of wraps of 0.010" or 0.015" lead wire
  

My favorite sizes are 16 and 18. The fly was named for Spring Valley, one of our favorite trout fishing places. The fly has also been fished successfully in Colorado and the Great Smoky Mountains. My brother-in-law, Glen, and I have had some good days in Colorado fishing this fly and catching rainbows, cutthroats, and whitefish. We have also found this to be a real good fly for bluegill as well. In the Fall, 1997 issue of Fly Tying Magazine Gene Fassi describes an almost identical fly for crappie (Krystal Flash Hares' Ear Nymph).

The S. V. Hares' Ear Nymph was pictured in the Summer, 1998 "Flyfisher" (FFF) in the Flybox department (page 41), and pictured and described in more detail in the "Campfire Flies" department in Flyfishing magazine (April, 1998, page 13).