February 2025 @ NSC

Fly Tying Night

Tuesday 4th February (6pm)

Members Meeting

Thursday 20th February (7pm)

Ice Fishing Afternoon @ NSC

Saturday 8th February (12pm)

Member's Recent Fishing Trip

Guadalupe River, Canyon Lake, TX

February Fly Tying

Tuesday 4th February 2025

Pizza @ 5:30pm, Tying starts @ 6pm

The featured fly patterns for February will be the Australian Bead Head Bugger (or Aussie Bugger).  This streamer should be a great addition to your pond fly box. The second fly of the night will be the Devil Bug, a simple fly that can be fished on or below the surface. Tony O'Leary and Dennis Tibbets will be leading the instruction and offering help and advice with tying techniques and materials choices.

A full list of materials can be found on the Fly Tying page of the club website

February Members Meeting

Thursday 20th February 2025

Dinner served @ 6:30pm, Meeting starts @ 7pm

The agenda for February features the club officer slate/elections, Spring 2025 stocking and opening day information plus a guest speaker (see below for more info)

February Meeting Guest Speaker - Rob Wallace, author of "Machine Guns and Typewriters"

While not a fishing story this 1934 Needham bank robbery tale will be very interesting to locals, as well as crime buffs.  Below  is a summary: 

In 1934, a backyard auto mechanic, his dullard brother, and an M.I.T. graduate fleece the Massachusetts State Police at a Boston auto show when the trio steals a Thompson submachine gun from an exhibit.

Days later, the bandits turn the weapon on hostages used as human shields, while killing two police officers during a bank heist in the sleepy suburb town of Needham.

For the first time in Massachusetts history a machine gun has been used in a crime.

It is yet another job during a ruthless deluge of bloodshed which leaves two more citizens dead and a pair of taxi cab drivers caged in a courtroom surrounded by a legion of vengeful witnesses on the verge of convincing a jury to sentence the friends to death by electrocution.

Mired by political motivation and turmoil within an unorganized police force, tenacious detectives, known as "The Four Aces", find themselves clashing with more than just gangsters.

Now, two rival crime reporters must combine wits to piece together the truth under the weight of competition between the city's mightiest newspapers.

Against them are the tick of time, deficient evidence, and the indifference of cold blooded killers.

Ice Fishing Afternoon at the NSC Trout Pond

The Board of Directors have discussed and agreed to support an ice fishing afternoon at the club pond on Saturday 8th February. This will be a one-off, club sanctioned event to offer members a chance to get together, grill some food and hopefully pull a resident trout through the ice (and returned it quickly).

This type of event has been discussed for many years and members should understand that ice fishing will not become a permitted winter activity at the club unless new by-laws and rules are passed.

General Details

• The ice fishing event is open to club members only (sorry, no family or guests as space is limited)

• Any member who wishes to participate must have paid their 2025 club dues ($250). This can be paid on the day.

• Burgers, sausages and hot dogs will be served at 12pm. Fishing will start at 12:30pm.

• This event is dependent on safe ice conditions and weather. Ice Status is updated daily by the town of Needham. A confirmation "The Ice Fishing Event is on" email/blog will be sent out on the morning of Friday 7th February.

• The pond will be closed to the public (skaters and hockey players) for the afternoon.

• Please email the club (needhamtroutpond@gmail.com) if you are interested in attending. This will help us to estimate our food, bait and equipment requirements.

The Ice Fishing...

• Fishing will be done through pre-drilled 6" or 8" holes. Holes will be in close proximity to each other so members can sit down (bring a chair or bucket), jig the rod and have a good old chin-wag with their ice-hole neighbors.

• Ice fishing jigging rods only, no tip-ups will be used

  • One rod per angler/ice-hole.

  • The club will have some jigging rods available for members to use.

• Size 6 or 8 bait holder or circle hooks with crimped barbs will be used.

• Live shiners and night crawlers will be supplied by the club. Anglers are also welcome to use their own jigging lures and streamer flies. All hook barbs must be crushed down.

• There will be a maximum of 10 anglers on the ice at any one time.

• To get everyone on to a trout (hopefully), anglers will fish a hole for 20 minutes then rotate to a different hole.

• If there are more anglers than ice holes, anglers will be rotated on and off the ice. When not fishing anglers can spectate from shore and stay warm by the fire pit or in the clubhouse.

• Ice cleats are recommended in case the ice is smooth after the predicted rain next week.

We hope this will be a fun way for members to get together at the club during the winter. If you have any questions please email the club (needhamtroutpond@gmail.com).

Fly Fishing the Guadalupe River, Tx

By our Club V.P Jeff Boutin

Bernie S. and I (Jeff B.) recently escaped Massachusetts’ fridge temperatures for a 2-day fly-fishing trip on the picturesque Guadalupe River in Canyon Lake, Texas. On our first day we hired a guide, Justin Crockett, from ReelFly Fishing Adventures for a full day raft trip. Justin shared his insider knowledge of the river, what flies work best and where the most productive pools were located. He proved to be an outstanding guide and put us on fish right away.

At one point, Bernie and I were catching fish as soon as our flies hit the water. The morning was surprisingly cold with temps in the mid-20s, but it warmed up pretty quicky settling in around mid-50s by the afternoon. Between the two of us, we probably caught 30 rainbows between 15in and 20in. It was a great first day.

The next day, Saturday, we met up with our friend Stewart from Texas to fish further down river in a deep pool he liked. We waded in water that was flowing at around 65cfs, and Justin told us the day before that the water was really low for this time of the year, but it didn’t seem to impact our fishing. We discovered that Saturday was a popular day to fly-fish as the river got pretty crowded.

The popular holes were surrounded by fishermen who were putting too much pressure on the fish, and they weren’t catching anything. We moved to a shallow area where the river widened out, but Stewart pointed out to us how the river cut deep into the bank. We fished there for hours changing our positions along the bank and pulled out some beautiful chunky rainbows. Stewart told us that the local Trout Unlimited chapter he belonged to was responsible for stocking this section to the river, and they did an awesome job.All in all, it was a great trip, even if it was only for two days of fishing. We highly recommend ReelFly Fishing Adventures, and if you are guided by Justin, be sure to tell him that Bernie and Jeff recommended him.

Jeff Boutin