Last evening we announced (and discovered) new folks to help fill some of those open positions. They are:

• James Mullen: Meeting Set-up Chair. Help is always appreciated here so if anyone can arrive early and help James out that would be great.
• Steve Rudolph: CVTU Librarian. Steve has cataloged an extensive video library that was donated to the chapter. I’ll get details on how to take things out of this library up on the website in the near future.
• John Queirolo: TIC Chair. John will take over the overall coordination of the Trout in the Classroom program with a strong supporting cast.
• Dick Rothen: TIC Mentor Chair. Dick will coordinate communication and activities of the chapter mentors who work directly with each school in the program.
• Kit Kechekian: TIC Equipment Chair. Kit has moved easily into the role of helping to make sure all the equipment we’ve got deployed across the schools stays up and running.

We still have several position open and would appreciate anyone who could help get involved. These positions can also be co-chaired so if you have someone who you can split the responsibilities with that would make the job easier for both of you. They include:

• Trips Chair: Coordinating several trips a year for the chapter. This job can be as big or small as you like. Many of the relationships we have with guides and locales run on well grooved paths (e.g. Pennsylvania trip or the Deerfield trip) but there’s plenty of opportunity to expand.
• Master Class Chair: This has been a series of very successful classes. Again, this doesn’t have to be an overly massive undertaking. A handful of interesting classes during the year would be great.

If you’re interested in finding out more about these roles or volunteering to fill them please contact Adam Taylor.

Again, welcome and thank you to the new volunteer leaders. I’m sure you will find the opportunity to work on the chapter a rich and rewarding experience.

First, what is a reach cast? According to Tom Rosenbauer in the Orvis Fly Fishing Guide, a reach cast “is merely an aerial mend”. So, it’s a way of mending, helping you manage your line so that you get better drag free drifts as your fly approaches a fish.

Why a reach cast and not just a normal mend? Well, if you’re a “on the water” mender you know that one of the tricks that’s difficult to master is to mend the line without moving the fly. One of the tricks is to make sure you give the line some slack as  you mend to help limit the movement of the fly. The reach cast is useful to master because you mend before the whole rig (line, leader, fly) hits the water. So, you get the correct mend without moving the fly.

So, how’s it done?

Rosenbauer continues, “Just before the line hits the water on a forward cast, you move the rod upstream of where it would have ended up on a standard forward cast.”

So, easier said than done. To see how it all comes together, check out this video over on midcurrent.com that shows Joan Wulff demonstrating the reach cast.

It seems to be a win all around and most members at the meeting last night were in favor of increased stocking of rainbows.

The survey asks a bunch of questions but stick with it. It eventually gets to the heart of the matter: What type of fish should be stocked in the Farmington River — large browns, large bows or something else?

In addition to responding to the survey you can also write directly to the DEP. You can shoot Neal an email directly at: neal [dot] hagstrom [at] ct [dot] gov

Get out and register your opinion - Link to the survey

Penns Creek, May 2009

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 9th at 7 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut. [directions]

Jonas Price, owner of the Feathered Hook Fly Shop in Coburn, Pennsylvania will be coming to speak with us about the five creeks of Centre County. The Feathered Hook is located on the banks of the fabled Penns Creek in central Pennsylvania. The chapter has fished this area several times over the past few years and now you can learn why it’s such a special place to fish.

For freshly stocked fish, use big, bright flies, such as a San Juan Worm in hot pink or red, or an egg pattern, such as a Jighead GloBall in ‘clown’ colors.

You can check out the complete article at midcurrent: http://midcurrent.com/flyfishing/stocked_trout.aspx

You can take a look at TU’s position on this on this at our streamflow page. If you’re interested in downloading the proposed regulations themselves you can find them on the DEP’s Flow Standards Website. Scroll down to the link “Proposed Regulation“.

So, please take the time to write (no email will be accepted, we need your letters). The handy template below provides a Microsoft Word version of a letter you can mail. Feel free to download, customize and mail. Ideally, we’d like letter in by the first week of February.

Click on the link below to download the template for a letter.

Streamflow Regulations Written Testimony – TU Members TEMPLATE

We will likely be asking you all to write in to the DEP and your State Representatives to comment on these proposed regulations in the near future. Already there are industry organizations aligning against these changes.

Main Points Regarding Proposed Streamflow Regulations

These regulations have been a long time coming

• The existing regulations date back to 1979
• The existing regulations ONLY protect stocked streams
• The 2005 bill was meant to address the major gaps in river protection
• The past four years of work was aimed at balancing human needs and ecological concerns and included input from all stakeholders, including water utilities.

These regulations are important

• Water in Connecticut is a public resource which must be protected and preserved for all uses.
• Connecticut has abundant water resources enjoyed recreationally by state residents which also serves as a significant economic asset.
• Current regulations do not adequately protect the fragile ecology of our rivers and streams.
• Rivers in Connecticut already face an abundance of threats from habitat fragmentation due to dams, culverts and other passage barriers, to development, point-source and non-point source pollution and temperature variances which can be ecologically devastating. While these issues can be, and are being addressed through active advocacy, education, outreach and restoration initiatives, it is the supply of natural flows of water, which has the potential to dramatically mitigate much of the other ecological imbalances.
• Trout Unlimited actively works to protect water quality and provide suitable habitat for trout and other aquatic species. Positive gains have been made in increased wild spawning and wild and native trout population levels. All of this work, however, can quickly be undone and take years to recover from just one or two successive years of low flow conditions.

What the new regulations accomplish

• The new regulations provide protection to ALL rivers
• The new regulations require more protective stream flows which more closely match natural flow patterns and protect river ecology
• The new regulations limit groundwater pumping which diminishes river flows. This is a result of several instances where groundwater withdrawals lead to the complete desiccation of large sections of rivers.
• The new regulations provide for a phased implementation period which will allow adequate time for a classification period and implementation by water users.
• The new regulations recognize the varied viability of stream ecology and implement a classification system to guide stream flow levels.
• The new regulations provide ample opportunity for public discourse and input into the classification of all rivers in the state.
• The new regulations allow for individualized stream flow management plans, which can be crafted to more accurately reflect water flows and water needs in a specific river or stream system.
• The new regulations have several provisions which protect the public’s right to water in the case of drought or for other purposes.

Where the new regulations fall short

• The new regulations include a Class 4 designation, which would strip many streams of regulatory protection. Class 4 designations SHOULD include minimum standards which allow for the sustenance of the existing ecological conditions and provide an opportunity for improvement and re-classification.
• The new regulations DO NOT include an emphasis or impetus to actively work to improve ecological conditions for streams. This is particularly important for Class 3 and 4 streams and is directly tied to TU’s mission to Protect, Restore, Reconnect and Sustain.

Source: Biosecurity New Zealand

Our next meeting will on Tuesday, February 9th at 7 pm at the Miry Brook Firehouse in Danbury, Connecticut. [directions] Neal Hagstrom of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection will be speaking to us about invasive species in Connecticut and what we can do to help stop the spread of these diseases in our watersheds.

The photo at right is from a Didymo (also know as Rock Snot) infestation in New Zealand. Didymo is currently found in three New England Rivers — the Connecticut River in New Hampshire, the Battenkill and White Rivers in Vermont.

For all you spey casting types out there (and those who are interested), a bunch of the guys will be attending Spey Nation III on June 19th. Check out the details at speynation.com   There is also a Skagit Clave at Pineville on May 1; Ed Ward is coming east and will be at the Clave and giving private instruction on May 2. 

Ask around at the next chapter meeting. Gary Whipple and Joe Hovious can fill you in on the sickness that is “Spey Casting”.