Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Most of us initially joined Trout Unlimited due to our love of trout fishing and later realized the importance of conservation efforts to sustain the future of our cold-water fisheries.  We continue to fish for many reasons and sometimes fishing can even become an obsession.  Sara and I have been striving to complete the Utah Cutthroat Slam for the past year; so, I thought I would share our most recent experience with you.   

Sara caught three of the four subspecies of cutthroat trout required to complete the Slam last summer and only needed to catch one Yellowstone Cutthroat.  Yes, native Yellowstone Cutthroat really exist in the Raft River Mountain Range in Northern Utah and are slightly more elusive than Bigfoot and live in creeks the size of drainage ditches.  On the first day the water temperature was 47 degrees and flowing high.  She got three strikes in about 5 hours of fishing and managed to hook one that went into a root ball.  I was able to touch the fish, but unable to free it from the roots.  I finally decided it was time to go for broke and tried to net the entire root ball which was an epic failure.  Needless to say, it was a quiet 90-mile ride back to Brigham City which is the closest town with a restaurant and hotel.

After a week in Yellowstone National Park, we returned to the Raft River Mountains hoping for warmer and lower water to improve fishing conditions.  Heavy rains overnight actually made the water higher and colder (44 degrees).  After two hours, Sara got a strike and “landed” the trout.  I suggested she just sling the trout into the bushes and I would go find it if it came off.  As luck would have it, the fish came unhooked and landed on the bank less than a foot from the creek.  I did my best mountain lion imitation and pounced on top of the 4-inch trout.  Note: None of the above methods are approved by Trout Unlimited.  I did manage to revive the fish, but am certain it needs a few weeks of therapy before returning to normal.  It’s memories like these that keep us fishing.

The June Chapter meeting will feature the presentation of the Eddy George Award.  The Eddy George Award is presented to the person with the greatest number of volunteer hours in support of the Fisheries Department on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bob Bishop, President

June Newsletter

The Little River Chapter logged 3,457 volunteer hours during the past year which is a 90% increase in volunteer hours from the previous year. Maybe more impressive than the overall total is 53 members participated in one or more volunteer activities including GSMNP Fisheries Projects, Trout in the Classroom, and Stream Clean-Ups. LRCTU members provided 71% (1,469 hours) of the total volunteer effort contributed to the Fisheries Department of GSMNP which supports our charter to conserve, protect and restore the cold water fisheries and their watersheds in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Thank you for your commitment to our volunteer efforts which are at the very heart of the Little River Chapter.

Bob Bishop

MAY 25 @ BLUETIK TAVERN IN MARYVILLE

Social hour starts at 6:00, program starts at 7:00, business meeting following Ordering from the menu will be in the meeting room from 6:15 to 6:30. After 6:30 you will need to order any food at the bar. Adult beverages must be ordered and paid at the bar.

Bill Stiver, Supervisory Wildlife Biologist at Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be speaking about the Smoky Mountains BearWise® Community Task Force. BearWise® is an education program that provides sound information and smart solutions that help homeowners, businesses and communities coexist with black bears (bearwise.org).

May 2023 Newsletter

The April Little River Chapter Meeting is our annual business meeting, but also includes a feature presentation by Larry Everett from the Water Resource Knoxville Environmental Field Office.   The business portion of the meeting will be limited to election of officers and board members, a financial summary, and a brief overview of our Chapter’s Annual Report to Trout Unlimited National.  The number of volunteer hours logged during the past year will be revealed and the total is impressive.  You will learn some interesting information about the Little River Chapter by attending this meeting.  The point is, do not avoid the meeting because of the word “business.”

LRCTU member Jimmy Jones was featured in the March edition of “On The Fly South” in an article entitled “Tying for the Smokies.”   The fly shown below was pictured in the article and has yet to be named.  You will have the opportunity to name this fly at the April Chapter meeting.  Check out his article at https://ontheflysouth.com/jimmy-jones/.

Bob Bishop
President

April Newsletter