Rural Missouri - March 2013 - (Page 14)

O U T D O O R S A by Jason Jenkins jjenkins@ruralmissouri.coop lone, they are mere components: a bead, a feather, a tuft of hair, a length of thread, a piece of bent wire. However, when combined correctly in the hands of a master, they can be transformed into the stuff that makes ﬁsh jump high and anglers’ hearts skip a beat. Fly-tying is a centuries-old craft that takes what is inanimate and allows it to mimic what Mother Nature has created. For Mark Van Patten, it’s a passion that has consumed him since he was 12 years old and learning to ﬂy-ﬁsh from his grandfather along the banks of Roubidoux Creek in the Ozarks. “My grandparents were purist ﬂy-ﬁshers,” says Mark, who now lives near Tebbetts in central Missouri. “It’s the only kind of ﬁshing I knew. When my grandfather started teaching me to tie ﬂies, I just fell in love with the sport.” While ﬂy-ﬁshing and To download the ﬂy recipe ﬂy-tying may be most for Mark’s “Electric Caddis,” often associated with click this button inside our trout ﬁshing, Mark ties digital edition, online at ﬂy patterns for nearly www.ruralmissouri.coop. every type of angling, from trout to largemouth bass to catﬁsh. “Basically, if it swims, it can be caught on a ﬂy,” says the 59-year-old Callaway Electric Cooperative member. “Bass ﬁshing on a ﬂy rod is a hoot.” Since 2005, ﬂy-ﬁshing fans have welcomed Mark into their living rooms each week as he hosts the television show, “The Tying Bench,” which airs on KMOS-TV. During each half-hour show, he typically leads viewers through the steps of creating two different ﬂies and provides one ﬂy-ﬁshing or ﬂy-tying tip in a segment called “Mark’s Tippets.” “We’re a how-to show for everybody,” explains Mark, who works with Michael Moyer of Niche Productions in Jefferson City to produce each episode. “I tie novice beginner ﬂies and go into great detail so that viewers can do it themselves. I also tie some intermediate-level ﬂies. People like seeing that bare hook suddenly transformed into something.” If you’re interested in trying your hand at ﬂytying, Mark says there are really only a few pieces of equipment needed to get started. These include a vise, a bobbin, a whip ﬁnisher, hackle pliers and scissors. “Go ahead and buy the tools, but don’t buy one of those kits that has all the materials already in it,” he advises. “Those things are generally full of stuff you’ll never use.” Instead, Mark recommends that once you decide on the ﬂy pattern you want to tie, buy only the materials you need for that pattern. “Over time, you’ll accumulate materials, and then you can start making your own ﬂies.” Outdoor Notes W hite-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that attacks bat species while they hibernate, has been documented at Onondaga Cave State Park in Crawford County. The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center conﬁrmed in late January that a bat found in the entrance to the cave had the disease, which has killed more than 5 million bats in the eastern United States and Canada since 2006. Signs of the syndrome or the fungus have now been conﬁrmed in 15 For more than 40 years, Mark Van Patten of Tebbetts has turned fur, feather and other materials into ﬂies that catch ﬁsh. Each week, he shares his ﬂy-ﬁshing knowledge with those who tune into his TV show, “The Tying Bench.” The lure of tying flies Master ﬂy-tier Mark Van Patten takes his passion to TV ter’s surface, it’s time to tie on a mayﬂy pattern. While tying exotic-looking patterns may be fun, you’re not likely Recently, Mark created a new ﬂy pattern, the “Electric Caddis,” speciﬁcally for Rural to ﬁll your creel. To fool ﬁsh, a ﬂy Tebbetts needs to both look and act like the food Missouri readers to use when trout ﬁshing. • The ﬂy mimics an emerging little green they eat. “You have to try to create with caddis. “This caddis is prominent in Misfeather and fur and synthetic materials the souri and would be an effective ﬂy in illusion of something alive,” says Mark, any trout water in the state,” he adds. who ﬁlmed his 15th season of “The Tying After more than 40 years, Mark says Bench” last fall. “How will that ﬂy look when it’s wet? How does the insect you’re he still gets a thrill from catching ﬁsh on a ﬂy he tied, especially when it’s a pattern of his imitating act in the water naturally? Where is it own creation. “There’s a lot of ﬂy-ﬁsherman who going to be found? Do you need it to ﬂoat or sink? don’t tie, but to me, that’s part of the whole experiAnswering these questions will help you tie the right ence. I have to tie.” ﬂy for the right situation.” Mark recommends observing the water you “The Tying Bench” airs Sundays at 6 p.m. on KMOSintend to ﬁsh before tying on any ﬂy. For example, TV in Missouri and on select PBS stations in 10 other if you see trout practically jumping out of the water, states. To learn more, visit www.thetyingbench.com or it’s a sure sign that caddisﬂies are hatching. If you e-mail Mark at mark.vanpatten@ktis.net. see the ﬁsh casually rise and sip an insect off the wabats in six Missouri counties. Overall, white nose syndrome has been conﬁrmed in 19 states and four Canadian provinces. The loss of substantial numbers of bats could be detrimental to Missouri’s agriculture and forestry industries. It’s estimated bats contribute $961 million in insect control to the state’s agriculture sector. ••••• ••••• T photo by Ryan von Linden, New York DEC 14 help test the new site and provide suggestions. Throughout the next year, volunteers may be contacted by MDC to participate in an online survey, help group similar topics by subject or test portions of the new site. To participate, complete the registration form at www.mdc.mo.gov/node/20485. he Missouri Department of Conservation needs your help to improve its website. MDC is redesigning its website to better meet user needs and interests, and the agency is seeking volunteers to WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP M issouri hunters harvested 311,304 deer during the 2012-2013 season, an increase of 6.8 percent from the previous year. Top harvest counties were: Howell, 5,574; Franklin, 5,568; Benton, 5,536; Camden, 5,383; and Callaway, 5,380. Ten ﬁrearms-related deer-hunting incidents occurred during the season. Three were fatal. http://www.thetyingbench.com http://www.mdc.mo.gov/node/20485 http://WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - March 2013

Rural Missouri - March 2013
Table of Contents
Comments
Columns
Musings in mud
The lure of tying flies
Outdoors
Out of the Way Eats
Living history
Queens of the court
Homegrown music
Hearth and Home
All about mulch
Around Missouri
Marketplace
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - March 2013