Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

2015 Troutfest Banquet and Auction – ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT TO PURCHASE TICKETS!!   LINK

Friday Night , April 24 at the Knoxville Airport Hilton

Only two (2) weeks are left for everyone to purchase your Troutfest tickets!! Don’t miss out on this great evening full of good times, great food and great opportunities to pick up some fantastic auction items. All while supporting our great natural treasure – The Great Smoky Mountain National Park and youth conservation education. Our donations are more important than ever in protecting and restoring the Park as well as educating and inspiring the next generation of conservation leaders. Your support of Troutfest this year will provide donations needed to complete vital brook trout studies necessary for the long-term protection of their habitat. And we are planning to double our number of local Trout-in-the-Classroom programs.

At Troutfest, here are two of the many great items that will be available at the auction:

Orvis Recon Fly Rod 8″6″, 5wt. 4pc. / Access Mid Arbor Reel / 5wt. Access Fly Line Mist Green – A Great Outfit for both the Experienced or Novice Angler!

Beautiful Sterling Silver Fish Pendant – From Tightlines Jewerly!

We will have a full range of auction and general raffle items at this year’s Troutfest, including

– A fabulous Walter Babb bamboo flyrod. A piece of art!
– Over six local and regional guide trips
– Artwork including books, painting and jewelry
– Orvis waders
– Chota Wading Boots
– Hotel gift certificates
– Restaurant gift certificates
– There will be something for everyone

You can find additional information on Troutfest and purchase tickets online at troutfest.org. Tickets can also be purchased at Little River Outfitters and 3 Rivers Angler (cash or check). A great dinner and drinks are included in the ticket cost of $50 / person. The ticket deadline is April 17!!

I hope you will consider attending this year’s Troutfest and bring a family member and / or friend. Remember, this is our opportunity to help protect and restore the great natural resources we love!

Thank you,

Mike Bryant
President – Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

2015 Troutfest Banquet and Auction – Friday, April 24 at the Knoxville Airport Hilton

Our 2015 Troutfest Banquet and Auction is only a month away! It will be a night of good times, great food and great opportunities to pick up some fantastic auction items. All while supporting our great natural treasure – The Great Smoky Mountain National Park and youth conservation education. Our donations play a vital part in protecting and restoring the Park and educating and inspiring the next generation of conservation leaders. Donations this year will go to vital brook trout studies needed for the protection of their habitat.

At Troutfest, here are two of many great items that will be available at the auction:

Elk Springs Resort on the Elk River Package in West Virginia

Two Nights Stay at one of the cabins

Dinner for Two at the restaurant

½ Day Guide Trip

Great Fly Fishing Opportunities

A Beautiful Rod Rack Handcrafted by Dave Ezell

Dave Ezell is known for making some beautiful furniture. Dave designed and handcrafted this beautiful rod rack that would look great in any home. You have to see this in person to appreciate its beauty.

We will have a full range of auction and general raffle items at this year’s Troutfest, including

• A fabulous Walter Babb bamboo fly rod. A piece of art!
• Many local and regional guide trips
• Artwork including books, painting and jewelry
• There will be something for everyone

I hope you will consider coming to this year’s Troutfest. You can find additional information on Troutfest and purchase tickets online at troutfest.org. Tickets can also be purchased at Little River Outfitters and 3 Rivers Angler (cash or check). . A great dinner and drinks are included in the tickets cost of $50 /person. The ticket deadline is April 17!!

I hope you will consider attending this year’s Troutfest and bring a family member and / or friend. Remember, this is our opportunity to help protect and restore the great natural resources we love!

Thank you,

Mike Bryant

President – Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

P r e s i d e n t ’ s C o r n e r
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)

Newsletter

2015 GSMNP Fisheries Volunteer Sampling Schedule

Well, I guess spoke a little too soon in last month’s President’s Corner when I mentioned we were fortunate to have missed most of the bad weather that battered the east coast. Little did I know! By pure luck, Jan and I headed to Florida a day before the first winter storm hit home in east Tennessee. We spent a month in southern Florida / 10,000 Islands region. The weather was much kinder, though more variable (lots of wind) than in the past few years. Overall fishing was slower, even for the folks using live bait. But I did manage to catch some nice redfish and snook on a fly. My fish of the trip was a 24” snook who attacked a small top surface popper. What a rush to see, feel and hear that fish annihilate the fly from below. I lost an even bigger snook using that same popper. The tarpon showed up during the last week of our stay, so I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to cast to them. Fly fishing in saltwater is a different game, where wind, tides and water clarity play a big part in catching these gamefish. But it does get in your blood!

Anyway, we’re back home and gearing up for a lot of Chapter activities (including  Troutfest) and looking for happy trout in the Park.

Troutfest
Our 2015 Troutfest Banquet and Auction is right around the corner. I hope you have marked your calendars for Friday night, April 24 and have purchased your tickets. (Link) The Donations Committee led by Chuck James have been soliciting some great items for the auction. We have new trips, great gear and many non-fishing items, so there will be something for everyone at the auction. Recently we were informed that our Chapter was not awarded an Embrace-A-Stream grant this year, so the funds raised at this year’s Troutfest will be more important than ever. So remember this is your opportunity to help our Chapter mission to support the Park with our time, talents and funds. You can find more information and buy tickets on www.troutfest.org

Lynn Camp Opening
I’m sure by now just about everyone knows that Lynn Camp Prong is now open to fishing. There is going to be a tremendous amount of fishing pressure on this stream, so take extra care in handling these small brookies. Consider barbless hooks and try to remove the hook while the fish in the water. Eliminate or minimize the amount of time the fish is out of the water and make sure to resuscitate it before a release. Great work by the Park Service and our local TU Chapter volunteers!!

Monthly Meeting
I hope you will join us at the March 26 Chapter Meeting. Steve Thompson will be our guest speaker sharing with his experiences with the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Program and Trout Camp. Both programs are incredible outreach / educational programs that need our support. I’ve had the privilege of fishing with Steve, pulling old tires out of the Clinch into his boat and working together on this year’s Trout Camp. Steve is a great guy with a strong passion for helping others. Oh yea, he’s a great fly fisherman as well. So make plans to come the March 26 meeting at Calhoun’s in Maryville.

Spring is coming, time to get out and go fishing.
-Mike