Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

President’s Corner
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)

Newsletter

2014 GSMNP Fisheries Volunteer Sampling Schedule

Well, I’m going a little crazy with this long winter like everyone else.But like all other optimistic men and women who fish, we know that when spring does come for good the fishing should be fantastic.  Warmer weather and water bring happy bugs leading to happy fish.

Jan and I continue to travel quite a bit, so this will be a rather short President’s Corner.  But that doesn’t mean activities are slow for the Chapter. This spring is going to be a very busy time for us. Planning continues for the 2014 Troutfest Banquet and Auction.  Don’t forget to buy your tickets to support your Chapter and the Park.  We need your support. Consider volunteering to help organize and implement Troutfest, solicit donations (and possibly make a donation), help spread the word and bring a family member and / or friend.

March will bring our first Chapter trip to Cataloochee.  April brings our 2014 Troutfest Banquet and Auction.  May brings our annual Little River Clean-up.  The Acid Deposition teams are organized and will be out in force this spring as well.  On top of all that, we have started the initial planning for multiple Trout-In-the-Classroom programs in our Chapter.  And we are in the initial thoughts for a Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing 101 Program.

Need more? Check out the article on upcoming events in our region.

And don’t forget to buy your Troutfest tickets (troutfest.org) and bring a family member and / or friend!

Thanks,
Mike

March Meeting Features
Fishing East Tennessee Outside The Park
By Jim Habera
Biologist 2, TWRA Region IV
Coldwater Fisheries

 
The wild trout fisheries available in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are widely known as some of the best available in the eastern U.S. However, east Tennessee offers some other outstanding (and often overlooked) trout fishing opportunities in streams, tailwater rivers, and reservoirs.  Jim will provide an overview of some of these “other” trout fisheries, as well as a summary of TWRA’s current brook trout conservation efforts.

Jim has B.S. (1984) and M.S. (1986) degrees from UT Knoxville and did his graduate work on brook and rainbow trout in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).  He was the Research Associate for the TWRA-sponsored Wild Trout Project at UT Knoxville during the 1990s and came to TWRA in 1998 to continue that work.

Jim is currently responsible for managing Region IV’s wild trout streams and trout tailwaters.  He represents TWRA on the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society’s Trout technical committee and on the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture. He cooperates closely with coldwater fisheries manager s from the National Park Service (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) and the U.S. Forest Service (Cherokee National Forest), and also routinely communicates with stakeholder groups (e.g. Trout Unlimited).

Our Meeting on Thursday, March 27, 2014, will be at the Monte Vista Baptist Church in the Fellowship Hall. Address: 1735 Old Niles Ferry Rd, Maryville, TN 37803-5505

Chapter Fishing Outing

Cataloochee River on March 21 and 22.
The club has reserved group site 1 at the Cataloochee campgrounds. In the group campsite, we have room for 25 people with 5 vehicles so we will have to buddy  up for the trip to the valley. This is a tent only site. If members wish to take a camper vehicle, please make your own reservation for an appropriate site. This is a rich historical area and should make for an interesting trip.

If you have question about the trips, contact Ernie Frey at ernest.frey@comcast.net or call 403-2832

The 2014 Fly Fishing Film Tour is headed to Knoxville

Fri, Mar 14, 7:00 PM
3 Rivers Angler we be hosting the evant.  All proceeds will benefit Legacy Parks Foundation. Tickets are available locally in advance at the 3 Rivers Angler or online at 3riversangler.com.

Call 865-200-5271 or e-mail info@3riversangler.com for more information.

Location:  Map
Relix Variety Theatre
1208 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917
(865) 474-1017

Troutfest tickets are now on sale.

The banquet and auction will be held on Friday evening April 25th at 6:00 pm at the Hilton Knoxville Airport will be a large event attended by many people from the fly fishing industry and anglers. There will be an auction and raffles with a large assortment of prizes. Great food, water, tea, beer and wine will be served.

You can pick them up at Little River Outfitters or order by phone at 865-448-9459. You can also pick them up at our next month meeting.

President’s Corner
Mike Bryant (mjbryant1954@hotmail.com)

Newsletter

I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions.I guess subconsciously I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep them. But I normally do take a couple of minutes to think about the year ahead and set some goals. I find it helpful that a little thought an d planning goes a long way to staying focused on my priorities and not let the countless everyday demands that we all face get in the way. So making a kind of mental list of things I want to accomplish helps keep me on track. Regarding flyfishing, my goal is to lace up my wading boots to fish in the Park at least a hundred times this year. I plan to earnestly start exploring and fishing a couple of our local tailwaters (probably the Clinch, Holston or the South Holston).  I plan to continue chasing brookies at least once at Greenbrier. And Jan and I will be expanding ourfishing opportunities with our fishing kayaks. This will be on top of trips planned to the Everglades and Alaska. Looks to be a busy year (just the way I like it)!

Regarding our Chapter plans, we will be expanding our activities from last year, including a Troutfest Banquet and Auction (April 25), expanded Chapter trips and developing a youth education program. By our very nature, folks who fish are optimists and we have a lot to be excited and optimistic about this coming year. We are building on our successes and but we can only be successful in the future with your help.

I mentioned earlier that Jan and I will be spending some time in the Everglades.  I’ve bought several books on backcounty fly fishing and tying saltwater patterns.  For those who like to tie their own flies, one book I would recommend is Drew Chicone’s “Feather Brain – Developing, Testing & Im proving Saltwater Fly Patterns”. Drew does a nice job of introducing some new techniques, new materials and fly patterns. Though aimed at saltwater flyfishing, much of the information is applicable to cold and warmwater fly designs we use in our part of the world. This isn’t a beginner’s book, but one worth having in your library.

The Troutfest Committee is busy planning the April 25 Troutfest Banquet and Auction. This will be our major fundraiser with proceeds going to the GSMNP. So hold that date, make sure you buy your tickets and bring a friend. Check out the article below for more information. I’m ready for Spring! I hope to see you at the February meeting.

Be safe.
Mike

 !LOCATION CHANGE FOR FEBRUARY MEETING!
In the spirit of trying something new, our February 27 meeting will be held at Calhouns restaurant in Maryville (across from the Target store). Meeting at Calhouns will enable folks to have dinner before the meeting. This is a great opportunity for folks to come straight from work and / or folks who travel a bit longer distance. The food is good and reasonable.

Please note – you are not obligated to order dinner to attend the meeting. All are welcome whether you have dinner or not. The February meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. The back room will be open for TU members as early as 6:00 p.m. for dinner if you chose to eat there. Rick Murphree (Tennessee TU Council President) will be our program speaker discussing TU activities in our state. The restaurant is located in the same complex asTarget, in Maryville, at the intersection of Highway 129 & Highway 321 next to Smoky Mountain Brewery. Join us for dinner with our program beginning at 7 p.m.

The topic for this month’s meeting will be an update on Trout Unlimited activities in the state of Tennessee: Including, upcoming activities, conservation, brook trout restoration and other financially supported state programs.

Our speaker will be Rick Murphree. Rick has been involved with Trout Unlimited for 30 years. Over the past 18 months Rick has served as chairman of the Tennessee Council of Trout Unlimited. Rick has served as Tennessee’s representative to Trout Unlimited’s National Resource Board, the predecessor to the current National Leadership Council. From 2004-2010 he served as a grassroots member of the TU National Board of Trustees, was selected as one of the inaugural members to the Board.

Rick retired in 2013 from the First Tennessee Bank. He and his wife Gracie live in Knoxville and enjoy traveling in their camper and spending time with their 3 grandsons. Come and enjoy bbq and/or your favorite beverage and this Trout Unlimited update.