November NEWS LETTERTER NEXT MEETING NOVEMBER 5, 2013 MEETING PLACE We normally meet the first Tuesday of the month at Camp Gilson just north of Dahlonega. WE WILL MEET IN NOVEMBER AT Camp Gilson TUESDAY November 5,2013
Dinner is served at 6:30 PM. while it lasts, and programs start around 7:00 PM. All members and guest are welcome! CAMP GLISON Program begins at 7 PM. We also do FLYSWATTERS You bring two flies that you have tied or bought, one fly is donated to the chapter for a future raffle at the cookout; you will receive a ticket for the other fly which is placed on the FLYSWATTER. The Flyswatter Flies are raffled that night. Tickets may be purchased for $1.00. Also we do a 50/50 raffel Visitors are welcome. I
PROGRAM OF THE MONTH The program will be: RFC Mitchell Crump of the GA DNR Wildlife Resources Division, Region II Law Enforcement, will be our guest speaker at the November 5 th chapter meeting. They will speak on Delayed Harvest and GORP (Georgia Outdoor Recreational Pass). There are other topics that would be of interest to the membership. One that is kind of near and dear to me ( john ) is stream access and riparian rights. Region II includes Lumpkin County and surrounding areas.
Presidents Message All, it has been a busy first two months of our Chapter year, and much has happened already. Our Fly Fishing Festival went well and was successful as both a fund raiser, and a chance to experience good fellowship with other members and guests. We have had a work day at the Toccoa river, aiding the Blue Ridge Chapter in river cleanup. Our own Trout Whisperer Sam Johnson led a trip to the Tucaseegee in North Carolina. We are not slowing down. Our next meeting will be Tuesday November 4 th, and fly tying will be Thursday November 14 th. I ll get emails out to you on those at a later date. We have a group of seven folks so far who have expressed an interest in kayak fishing. We are trying to arrange an outing some time in November, weather permitting. If you are interested and don t have a kayak, let me know. There are several among us who have extra boats. This is a new thing to our Chapter, and it appears that it will be a lot of fun. Thanks to Ken McKinnon, who came up with the idea. Please know that your officers and board members are working hard for you. If you have any ideas to make Gold Rush a better Chapter, Please let us know. In conclusion, let s remember to GO FISHING. Delayed Harvest is open in North Carolina now, and will open in Georgia later this week. See you out there. Mike
Volunteers needed All, We will be having a Fly Fishing 101 Class taught by our own Sherman Head on Saturday November 9th from 9am-noon. We are expecting as many as 50 students for this class. We will need volunteers to help with the instruction, particularly with the casting portion. This is a fun morning, with a chance to meet new people and get to know better other members of our own Chapter. You don't have to be an expert on any phase of fly fishing to help. Topics covered will be: basic fundamentals of fly fishing, equipment, and casting. Would you please rsvp me if you can help us? We can arrange car pools if you wish. Thanks Mike
T shirts now available Earn a t shirt by showing up at the upcoming work days Shirts can be ordered at regular club meetings They are $16.oo each for short sleeve or can be earned by volunteering for a work day project Long sleeve are $18.00 each
LINKS AND SITES Of course the best place for information is our own web site goldrushtu.org For those with a face book account : Federation of fly fishers R&R fly fishing Fisherman s handbook Also U Tube ( fly fishing ) has great videos on fishing and tying The Itinerant Angler podcast askaboutflyfishing.com ( another pod cast) ngto.org ( North Georgia Trout On line) froghollowflyfishing.com (A special friend to Gold Rush) Thenewflyfisher.com (an online magazine free) http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishing/tuesday-tip-how-to-tie-and-fishtandemrigs/#.ucnfxz44vps
BWO split case Nymph Fly of the month The video produced and directed by our own Mike Thornton is viewable at you tube at gold rush fly tying channel Or GO TO OUR WEB SITE Web site: goldrushtu.org under fish n drop down menu fly-fishing videos Next fly tying class November 14 at American Legion Dahlonega- join us and get hands on instruction on tying this fly
THE BROOK TROUT Southern Appalachian Brook Trout I believe the Lord Almighty held the first brook trout in his hand and gently released it into a clear mountain stream. I don t remember where I heard or read this quote, but I agree. The Ice Age may have had something to do with the brook trout being in our area, but I am sure this is where it began. Volumes have been written about this creature, about its beginning, range, life cycle, spawning activities, and so on. Every adjective and superlative has been used to describe the beauty of this fishand the places they are found, but if there was only one word that could be used, I believe it would have to be survivor. The brook trout has struggled for eons just to survive and still he keeps hanging on. I believe this trout deserves special recognition and should be caught only on a fly rod, using a dry fly with a barbless hook and then released unharmed back where it was caught. If I were king and made the rules, this is the way it would be! Harry Truman was once asked how he felt about Richard Nixon being President and he responded by saying that anyone who voted for Nixon to be President of the United States deserved to go to hell when they died. I am not this adamant about the way I feel the brook trout should be respected but I am real close. In the late 1800 s and the first part of the 1900 s, the mountains of southern Appalachia were being clear cut as the lumber industry was booming. The Little River Lumber Company shut down their operation on July 5, 1939 after three decades of logging the mountains of what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is estimated that they harvested one billion board feet of lumber during this time. Little River Lumber Company was only one of several operations like this at the time.
BROOK TROUT CON T This left the mountains virtually bare and led to tons of silt going into the streams after rains. This, along with much of the shade canopy that had been destroyed, caused water temperatures to rise. Still, the little brook trout survived. Logging was also very active in and around our immediate area with large operations in Robertstown, along Jones and Coopers Creeks, and the Chattooga River. During this same period of time, another great tragedy was taking place in the eastern United States. The American Chestnut was dying due to an imported blight from the orient. It is said that the chestnut was once the dominate hardwood from Maine to North Georgia, grew to100 feet tall and up to 10 feet in diameter and could live to be 600 years old. From 1905 until 1940 a very short 35 years these giants were gone. The brook trout managed to hang on. Before words like conservation, creel limits, catch and release and sport fishing came into being, the native brook trout was under enormous pressure. I have heard stories from old timers about going to small mountain streams and bringing home 100 of these trout at the end of the day. Times were hard and people kept what they caught and ate what they kept. Nonetheless, we know what happens when any resource is being used faster than it can replenish whether it is forest or fish.
BROOK TROUT CON T All of these factors combined had left the numbers of brook trout greatly reduced. Stocking of non-native trout rainbows and browns was introduced to fill the space left by the absence of the brookie. Both of these non-native species were more aggressive feeders and pushed the brookie further into the headwaters of the streams. This left only the areas above waterfalls and other natural barriers for the remaining natives to find solitude. These areas were short lived due to well meaning humans moving the rainbows and browns above the barriers. In recent years the USFS, DNR, Trout Unlimited, Back the Brookie and other organizations have spent thousands of hours working on streams that historically held brook trout in an effort to protect these native trout. This included building stream structures and removing the nonnative fish by the use of electro-shocking. Finally some relief, although it may be short lived. The brook trout is facing two major threats at present. Global warming and the death of the eastern hemlock thanks to the infestation of the wooly adelgid. Whether you agree that global warming is a man made problem or the result of changing weather patterns or a combination of both, it is hard to dispute the scientific evidence that our planet is warming.
BROOK TROUT CON T The hemlock situation is different and can be seen today. In my favorite place on earth and the place I love to fish the best is probably the most significant stand of eastern hemlocks to be found anywhere. Over the last ten or so years, many of these trees have died and are on the ground. Still others are dead and waiting their turn to fall and others yet have joined the death march with their canopies so thin you have to strain to see what few needles remain. At the current rate, these beautiful trees will be gone in less time than it took for the chestnut to become extinct. These two factors are going to have a negative impact on the brook trout. In the fall 2012 edition of the Drake magazine there was an article by Zach Matthews titled Beyond Atlanta: the Loneliest Brook Trout in the World. The article touches on some of the same topics I have mentioned and is centered around what they call the southern most brook trout in the world. True to the brook trout fisherman s mystique, they did not mention any streams by name but did include some great photography by which I could readily identify the exact spot in which they were. I have fished these pools and climbed the falls many times.
BROOK TROUT CON T Is this in fact the stream that holds the southernmost brook trout in the world? The possibility has crossed my mind over the years but it really doesn t matter all that much. Will the brook trout, speck, native, Salvelinus fontinalis, survive? Lets hope so, but only time will tell. Sherman Head
Up coming events Upcoming activities/ work days LOOKING FOR VOLENTEERS ---SIGN UP AT MONTHLY MEETING AND EARN A CLUB SHIRT (for Work days) Nov 1 stocking at Amacalola ( 53 bridge 10 AM Nov 9 fly fishing 101 at Big Canoe KAYAK OUTING ON THE RESEVOR IN DAHLONEGA NOVEMBER 10----fly fishing for bream and bass Dec1 dead line for trout camp application
Dec Christmas party date tentative Dec 7 FISHING REPORTS Nantahala The Nantahala DH section
Fred and I fished the DH section last week the water level was low the fishing was slow on the upper end those that were down river did better but all caught fish, beautiful river, also we were in the middle of a Bear hunt The Tuckaseagee River in Sylva NC The Delayed Harvest section Johnson party of 5.fished this section I caught my first Brooke along with taking my first river bath fishing was fairly good thought fish were small Fishing Pictured above are two of the rivers fished recently by club members
Other rivers include the South Holston, Looking Glass and the Trophy waters in Cherokee If you have never fished these rivers.you should make it a point to add to your bucket list as they fish like the big rivers out west and hold some nice sized fish as shown below. This is a rare fish PALOMINO TROUT caught on a wooly bugger, by a TU member from the Foot Hills chapter, in Cherokee on a resent trip and I was there to witness it. A Palomino trout caught by E. Parks Davis
CONTACT US Officers President- Mike Thornton drtrout@bellsouth.com Vice President- Ken McKinnon Wildturkeyflyer@gmail.com Secretary- George Parsons Treasurer- Warren Martin treasurer@goldrushtu.org Board members/ committee chair John Simmons past President johnsi@goldrushtu.org Jim Elmore new board member jelmoreutah@yahoo.com Ken Nicholes board member ken.nichols0@gmail.com Ken McKinnon newsletter newsletter@goldrushtu.org Fred Ruppel TU council rep. streamwalker2@aol.com Ben trail raffle boss btrail@windstream.net John Simmons web site johnsi@goldrushtu.org Mike Thornton fly tying drtrout@bellsouth.net Pat Pattillo education jrpat@windstream.net Marge Ruppel sunshine mar2391@aol.com Kenny Simmons fundraising kenny@froghollowflyfishing.com Sherman Head mentoring beartooth@windstream.net
Item for sale See next page for details Items for sale
Planning on doing some salt water fly fishing here is the rod for you 9 foot 9 wt fly rod by PENN great rod cast really well yes the reel shows a little salt water wear Can be yours for $60.00 call Ken at 727-347-8808 or e- mail wildturkeyflyer@gmail.com will have with me at Tuesday meeting