October Newsletter PAGE 1 COVER Next Meeting October 2,2012 PAGE 2 MEETING PLACE PAGE 8 EVENT NOTES PAGE 3 PROGRAM OF THE MONTH PAGE 9 LINKS PAGE 4 DIRECTORS MESSAGE PAGE 10 CONTACT US / officers & board PAGE 5 UP COMING EVENTS PAGE 6&7 fly fishing injuries
WE ARE BACK AT CAMP GLISSON. AT THE IVEY LODGE We meet the first Tuesday of the month at Camp Gilson just north of Dahlonega. Dinner is served at 6:30 PM. while it lasts, and programs start around 7:00 PM. All members and guests are welcome! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FINAL PLANS FOR FAMILY FUN DAY Program begins at 7 PM. YOUR ANNUAL PICNIC 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. PROGRAM OF THE MONTH The Program will be presented by Jake Darling from Unicoi Outfitters
THIS COMING SUNDAY OCTOBER 7 TH WILL BE THE ANNUAL FUN DAY AND PICNIC. IT IS ALSO THE CLUB S ONLY FUND RAISER FOR THE YEAR. PLEASE COME OUT AND HAVE SOME FUN & GREAT BAR-B-Q A GREAT OPPORTUITY TO FISH ONE OF THE BEST TROPHY TROUT STREAMS IN THE COUNTY AT FROG HOLLOW WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR DONATIONS FOR THE BUCKET RAFFELS, SILENT AND LOVE AUCTION - BRING YOUR DONATIONS TO THE MEETING TUESDAY OCT. 2 THSESE ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS SEE Web site goldrushtu.org FOR DIRECTIONS AND SIGN UP SHEET FOR FISHING Congratulations to Fred Ruppel On Saturday Sept 8th at the Georgia Council Meeting in Athens, Fred was nominated and voted in as 2nd Vice Chair. This position is the same as a Vice President to the Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited. Fred will be working very closely with Mark Martin, chairman, and Carl Rigs, 1st Vice Chair, on many projects and will chair many committees that support the Georgia Council and chapters. Again congratulations to Fred for his great effort and hard work to earn this position
Fly Tying We do have a fly tying class the second Thursday of the month (at the American Legion Hall), we have all the tools necessary for those of you that do not have fly tying tools. The class is geared for the beginner but also have some experienced tyers Last month the fly was a Royal Wolf Upcoming events GOLD RUSH FAMILY FUN DAY SET FOR SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2012 DETAILS TO FOLLOW SO BE SURE TO WATCH FOR THEM; GREAT BUCKET RAFFEL AND SILENT ACUTION ITEMS NOT TO MENTION GREAT EATS Activities and past events Oct. 7th Gold Rush Family Fun Day @ Frog Hollow Oct. 11th Project Healing Waters at Blairsville VA clinic Oct. 13th Etowah and Chastatee River clean up Oct. 13th Another Ladies Day Fly Fishing Oct. 13 th @ Nachoochee Bend Dec.1 & 2nd Gold Cup - volunteer judges will be needed
Fly Fishing Injuries By Richard Oldenski, MD SNAKEBITE Bitten by a snake? Get thee to the emergency room. DO NOT try to suck out the venom. DO NOT apply a tourniquet: DO NOT drink a beer. Seriously, do not drink a beer. In our search for new and unfrequented fishing spots, we fly fishermen tread into remote areas inhabited by snakes. Fortunately, snakes try to avoid contact with humans, but if they feel threatened, they will defend themselves. Most snakebites occur when someone tries to capture or handle a snake. But "accidental" snakebites do occur when the victim unwittingly gets too close to a snake, and they are always a medical emergency. Of the 44 species of snakes native to Florida, only six are venomous. They are divided into two groups based on the nature of their venom: the Crotalidae or pit vipers and the Elapidae. The pit vipers include the diamond-back rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake, copperhead and the cottonmouth, which is also called the water moccasin. The venom of these snakes causes tissue damage and bleeding. A person bitten by them can experience pain, progressive swelling with bruising and blistering, bleeding, nausea, low blood pressure with dizziness and confusion, and eventually shock The only member of the Elapidae group in Florida is the eastern coral snake. Its venom attacks the nervous system. A person bitten by a coral snake mayor may not feel pain when first bitten, but can go on to experience progressive paralysis possibly to the point of being unable to breath. Each year approximately 8,000 venomous snakebites occur in the United States, but only about five of these bites result in death. The only effective treatment is antivenin. The sooner a person with snake envenomation receives antivenin the better their chances to avoid loss of limb and death. What to do in case of a snake bite? First of all, don't panic. You are not about to die. Snakebite continues on next page>»>
SNAKEBITE by Richard Oldenski, MD Stay calm and get to the nearest emergency room for treatment Try to identify the snake, but do not waste time trying to kill or capture it If it is dead, do not handle it as dead snakes can still reflexively strike. 1 f possible, call the emergency room so they can get the antivenin ready. Remove any rings, watches, jewelry, bracelets or tight clothing that can cause constriction if the swelling increases. Keep the body part that was bitten as immobile as possible and below the level of the heart Get to the hospital and don't delay. Here's what not to do. Do not cut the wound open or try to suck out venom. Suction devices in snakebite kits have been shown to have no effect and may cause more damage. Do not apply a tourniquet. Do not apply ice or heat Do not eat or drink anything, especially no alcohol or anti- inflammatory pain medication like aspirin or ibuprofen as these can make the effects of the venom worse. Don't delay; get to the hospital. Steps to avoid snakebite: Be familiar with the snakes in your area and their habitat Always take a buddy with you. Wear boots and loose fitting long pants if you're going into areas where venomous snakes live. Stay on trails and watch where you place your hands and feet, especially when climbing over logs and rocks. Do not take snakes by surprise. Pound your feet on the ground or use a stick to make noise to warn them that you're coming. Dr Richard Oldenski is an avid fly fisherman (and friend) in St. Petersburg, Florida and a member of the Suncoast Flyfishers and this is reprinted with his permission
TU Annual Meeting attended by Fred and Marge Ruppel The TU Annual Meeting was held in Asheville, NC from Wed Sept 12 through Sat Sept 15. We (Marge and I) attended and discovered that this is an outstanding event. All aspects of the meeting were very professionally done. The agenda, organization, sharing of information, and education were great. Each day was full of beneficial activities that included a full day Watershed Conservation Tour, many business meetings that covered all aspects of the state of TU, many work group opportunities to share ideas on various topics like chapter / council effectiveness, how to help struggling chapters, how to bring more women and youth into our membership. Conservation Projects, past, current and planned were reviewed and the efforts of TU is this area is simply unbelievable. We got to sit in on actual Council Chair and National Leadership Council meetings to see how our organization operates. It was great to see that the Georgia Council / Chapters were well represented by over 20 folks. The total attendance was over 300 that included National HQ staff, and representatives from councils, chapters from all states including Hawaii. The event ended with an outstanding Banquet and an live and silent action, bucket raffles and door prizes. Our council was well represented by many great items made by our members. i.e. Sherman Head and his beautiful fly box, which I tried to win. As I stated, this is an outstanding event in all respects I highly recommend to everyone that works so hard all year to come see just how much our efforts contribute to the TU mission. It is worth our efforts!
PROFECT HEALING WATERS Members, Trout Unlimited is very active in supporting our Veterans. We have now partnered with Project Healing Water Fly Fishing, Inc http://projecthealingwaters.org/ to enhance and broaden our support opportunities. I attended a meeting at the VA Clinic in Blairsville on July 12 to discuss how TU and Project Healing Waters can help provide additional support to Vets that reside in the North Georgia area. The VA Clinic in Blairsville is the only Clinic in North Georgia that is available for wounded vets. The TU Blue Ridge Chapter is now recognized by PHW as the contact point for activities involving the Mountain Chapters of Blue Ridge, Blairsville, Foothills and Gold Rush. Allen Folgers from TU National also attended our meeting to provide his support. Our mission is simple, all of us working together - TU, Project Healing Waters and the VA Clinic to broaden our support to provide additional opportunities for our wounded veterans. This is a new project that will take a lot of support to get rolling. We plan to have lot of information available including posters, banners, video etc that lets the vets know that TU cares and is willing to help. For now, we would like to have TU representation at the clinic one day a month, (second Thursday) just to talk to vets, maybe tie flies or do some casting. Each of the four chapters are asked to take a month. Blue Ridge will cover in August and Foothills in September. Our Gold Rush Chapter will be asked to provide representation on Thursday Oct 11. We also need to have a chapter contact named to be focal point for this worthy opportunity. Please contact Fred Ruppel for additional information or to discuss your interest in becoming our chapter representative....mike Thorton has stepped up to be the contact person for Gold Rush chapter
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 Askaboutflyfishinhg.com ( another pod cast) NGTO ( North Georgia Trout On line) FROG HOLLOW Froghollowflyfishing.com
Contact us President- John Simmons Vice President- Mike Thorton Secretary- Ken McKinnon Treasurer- Warren Martin johns@goldrushtu.org dtrout@bellsouth.net wildturkeyflyer@gmail.com treasure@goldrushtu.org Board members Ben trail raffle boss btrail@windstream.net Marge Ruppel sunshine mar2391@aol.com Kenny Simmons fundraising Sherman Head mentoring kenny@froghollowflyfishing.com beartooth@windstream.net COMMITTEE HEADS Ken McKinnon newsletter newsletter@goldrushtu.org Fred Ruppel TU council rep. streamwalker2@aol.com John Simmons web site Mike Thornton fly tying/ PHW Pat Pattillo education johns@goldrushtu.org dtrout@bellsouth.net jpat@windstream.net PHW- Project Healing Waters---helping thru fishing as a therapy for wounded and no wounded returning vets