President’s Corner
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)
Seems like every year the holiday season sneaks up on us. With the demands of the holidays and cooler weather settling in, my fishing time tends to drop. This year is no exception. It’s mid-November and I have been on a stream only a handful of times in the past six weeks. In October, we did manage to camp at Smokemont and fish for four days. We really never did figure out what the fish were up to. Bill, a couple of his good friends and I fished hard every day. We caught fish, but the number of fish and the size were definitely down from previous fall trips. The water was great. Cool, clear and good flow. Yet the fish just weren’t interested. But it was great to be out, even with 29 degree mornings!
But overall, I have no complaints about the fishing this year. I’ve had the opportunity to fish in the Everglades, small mountain streams in Colorado, spring fed creeks in Pennsylvania, as well as our local Park streams and tailwaters. And I had the opportunity to return to Lynn Camp Prong! Great memories.
As the weather cools down, I will be ramping up my fly tying. The Fly Tyer’s Weekend held in early November was a success. Nearly fifty tyers demonstrated their skills and knowledge. I had the opportunity to tie, but also met some incredibly talented tyers as well.
Last month, we delivered a $15,000 check to the Fisheries Dept. of the Great Smoky Mountain Park. Earlier in the year we donated $4,000 to the Friends of the Smokies Fisheries Scholarship Fund (supporting the hiring of interns in the Park Fisheries Department), bringing our total donation to $19,000 for the year. Not bad!! We had the opportunity to meet the new Park Superintendent Cassius Cash at the check donation ceremony. He was well aware of the Chapter’s on-going support and showed his appreciation. You can read the press release in the newsletter.
Looking ahead, we will be voting on next year’s Board of Directors at the December 3 meeting. The slate of candidates is listed further down in this newsletter. We’ve accomplished a lot in the past year, none of which would have happened without the leadership each officer and board member. And I am looking forward to keeping our momentum going forward with next year’s Board.
Membership Meeting (Thursday, December 3)
At the December 3 meeting, Justin Murdock will be presenting his learnings on didymo (invasive algae). Justin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Tennessee Tech University. His work on didymo included assessing the distribution and impact that didymo has on our local waters as well as best practices for geardisinfection. A $10,000 grant from the Tennessee license plate conservation fund (managed by the Tennessee Council of Trout Unlimited) helped support Justin’s research. This will be an educational and enlightening presentation; one you don’t want to miss. We meet again at Calhoun’s in Maryville. Social hour and dinner starts at 6:00pm and the business meeting followed by the presentation at 7:00pm. As always,you do not have to buy dinner to attend. Everyone is welcome!
Be safe and I’ll see you at the December 3 rd meeting.
-Mike
