“FORWARD CASTING”

Important Dates - See you there!

Dec 1 (Thurs) Public Meeting - Upper Chattooga River Boating Ban; 5 PM Walhalla (SC) First Baptist Church, 403 East Main Street

Dec 3 (Sat) GA TU Council Meeting, 9 AM, USFS Office, Gainesville

Dec 13 (Tues) Family Christmas Dinner, 6 PM,

The ‘Rock House’ at the Dillard House

Dec 20 (Tues) BOD Meeting (CANCELLED)

Jan 17 (Tues) Chapter Meeting, 6:30 PM, Clayton Presbyterian Church

Program: Jeff Durniak – How and Where to catch ‘Really Big’uns’ in GA Public Waters

– Final Arrangements for Rabun Rendezvous

Jan 21 (Sat) Rabun Rendezvous, 2 PM Set-up, 5 PM Social, 6:30 PM Dinner

Jan 24 (Tues) BOD Meeting, 6:30 PM

Feb 4 (Sat) Annual Planning Meeting, 8 AM Breakfast Meeting at the Dillard House

FLY OF THE MONTH

by Terry Rivers

BLUE WING OLIVE NYMPH

THIS FLY CAN BE TIED IN A VARIETY OF COLORS, THIS IS A GOOD FLY TO HAVE BECAUSE TROUT ARE MOVING UP IN THE WATER COLUMN PRIOR TO HATCH, WE SAW THIS ON OUR LAST CAMPOUT. JUST TIE THIS FLY AS YOU WOULD A GOLD RIB HARE’S JUST SUBSTITUTE THE DUBBING WITH OLIVE, DROP THIS BEHIND A DRY FLY OR STRIKE INDICATOR, AND DEAD DRIFT THAT’S THE TICKET TO MORE HITS ON THIS FLY DURING THE WINTER MONTHS, A MUST AFTER THE FISH ON THE D.H. GET SMARTER

HOOK: 14 TO 24

THREAD: COLOR TO MATCH

TAIL: HACKLE TO MATCH COLORS

BODY: OLIVE, BROWN, DUBBING

WING CASE: TURKEY FEATHER OR PEACOCK PULLED OVER THORAX

"Calvin Coolidge's exploits as a fisherman are well known. One of his favorite angling places was the River Brule. Once a newspaper reporter asked him how many fish approximately were in the Brule, and the President answered that the waters were estimated to contain about 45,000 fish.

'I haven't caught them all yet,' he said, 'but I've intimidated them.’ "

John McKee (1933)

DECEMBER HATCHES

The Bugs Time of Month Time of Day Suggested Flies

Blue Winged Olive & All Month Late AM to Mid PM 16-20 BWO, Blue Quill or Adams Parachute

Blue Quill 16-20 BWO nymph or Pheasant Tail

Midges All Month All Day 18-22 Griffith's Gnat 18-22 Midge Pupa

TU Chapter ‘Website-of-the-Month’: http://www.coosavalleytu.org/xoops/cvtu/

(Take a look at their home page photos and their ‘gallery’)

The Fourth in a Series:

Stream Habitat Protection and Enhancement

Bank Crib: The purpose is to protect unstable banks and at the same time provide excellent overhead cover for trout.

Suches Creek behind Woody Gap School – before & after

If you are aware of a section of public stream in need of restoration or enhancement, please report it to the local USFS office or tell us here at TIGHT LINES. If you know a private owner that wants some help with stream restoration or enhancement, put him in touch with:

Monte E. Seehorn, 5292 Clarks Bridge Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506, Phone 770 983 3019, E-mail mseehorn@adelphia.net

Here is One That Rabun TU Just Reported Again to the USFS!

And the same could be said for trout fishing:

"With every trip I collect new mementos, though few are collected in scrapbooks. And all who fish for bass across the land collect them too. They are the images from first light to last and from first fish to last. And we'd share them in a minute. Some recall particular triumphs, often preserved in snapshots and clippings, while others we tend to hide, at least until the time we're ready to laugh about them. Daybreaks, canebrakes, heartbreaks, muggy nights, and foggy mornings. A hundred things that worked, and a thousand more that should have. That's bass fishing."

George Kramer

“BACKCASTING”

Nov 5 (Sat) Tailwater TU Banquet: Tom L sez – “June and I really enjoyed the banquet and look forward to 2006. Met a few new folks and renewed old friendships. Food was good and plentiful. See you on the stream!”

Nov 5 (Sat) Tri-Chapter (SC) Meeting: Terry R & Doug A accepted the invitation of the SC Council Chairman, Tom McInnis, to attend this event at the Oconee State Park over in Mountain Rest. They plan to make this an annual affair to be scheduled to coincide with the first weekend of the Chattooga DH season. We enjoyed the good fellowship and great food – and sold a bunch of Dream Trip raffle tickets. The Highlight of the Evening was the Palmetto Trout Award they presented to Dan Rankin (see below).

Congratulations to DAN Rankin

Coldwater Fisheries Biologist – SC DNR

On November 5^th, the SC Council of Trout Unlimited presented Dan with the

Palmetto Trout Award

“For his contributions to the protection and preservation of trout and their watersheds in South Carolina”.

An earned and well-deserved honor!

"It has been said that one's true character is determined by what they do when no one is watching them. What would you do if you'd thrown every last fly in your fly box, including your complete assortment of hoppers, at a big rainbow to no avail? Then you see a juicy grasshopper jump off the bank, only to be immediately inhaled by a big bow. Then several more hoppers land on your arms and began crawling all over you. What would you do? Stand there like an idiot, while muttering to yourself, "I don't use live bait", or would you grab one of those naturals and impale it on a fresh hook from your streamside kit? No question what I'd do, and my character would not be impugned, for I'd grab that grasshopper right off, no matter who was watching me."

Jimmy D Moore

“BACKCASTING” (Continued)

Nov 10 – 13 (Thurs – Sun) Fishing on the Chattooga with Camping at Long Bottom: Four days of beautiful fall weather, mild days and cold nights, was enjoyed by the 13 Rabunites that participated (plus Dixie, the official ‘Camp Greeter’). The Chattooga ‘fishing’ was great and the ‘catching’ was even better! Successful ‘catching’ took place in all the Chattooga sections that were ‘surveyed’; Long Bottom, The Delayed Harvest, The Backcountry, and The Front-country. During those days we enjoyed camp visits from 8 friends of the Rabunites, members of various other TU Chapters in GA and SC. One of the visitors was Don Eng of the Saluda River Chapter of TU (Columbia, SC), a founding member of The Chattooga Coalition and the former Supervisor of the SC National Forests (retired since 1991). For more info, see below: “Our Visit From Don”. A BIG THANK YOU goes to Terry Rivers for planning and organizing the outing. Also to Ray, Kelly, Frank, Terry, and the others that pitched in with KP duty. And to Greg and Ray for the much needed loads of firewood. Nugget entertained us with songs and campfire stories and we capped off the affair with a big fish fry on Saturday evening. Kelly wants to do it all again real soon - - say in about a week or so.

Our Visit From Don

All too often the mentor departs from the scene and proceeds to the next tutoring engagement without receiving any well deserved recognition. We’ve seen it happen time and again that a wrong be righted, the day will be saved, all things placed into order and proper perspective of understanding and the hero rides away with the only thanks given is that one of the serfs mumbles “who was that masked man?”

Well, not this time! I am now a believer in “The Saying” because of the Herculean efforts and unselfish devotion of my mentor’s personal time to the task of convincing me “The Saying” is indeed actually true!

The inherent “tendency of unbelief” began to surface in me at an early age, as I remember my second grade teacher trying to explain to me the method of subtracting the number of 19 from the number 24. Now I felt that as an individual with considerable experience with numbers, (I spent a whole year in the first grade) that this lady was trying to spoof me, because you cannot subtract 9 from 4! However, she continued her efforts by suggesting that I “borrow” 1 from the adjacent 2 to make 14, and then I could subtract the 9 from the 4. I am wondering….”Is this legal?”… and made a mental note that my teacher just might be a criminal and will bear some close watching! Also, I think my endearment to her for some reason evaporated at that moment because her eyes narrowed to slits, and her nose kinda twisted to one side and looked like a dog that you’re trying to take a piece of meat away from as the words came from her chapped lips which barely moved……”You’re a hard headed little ‘Dustard’ aren’t ‘cha!!!”

This handicap of “having to be convinced” has followed me all the years of my life and has been reinforced throughout my adult years by another mentor, whom I hold in high regard, as he constantly tells me “I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to!” Well, I believe “The Saying”..….. now.

Really, I can’t help but wonder if my previous teachers and mentors had taken as active an interest in my personal development and intellectual growth as Don has…. where would I be today? Anyway, I do believe “The Saying”….. now.

Over the years I have been a slow learner because of the incessant insistence of taking the position “prove it to me”, and don’t give me opinions and estimates….. I got to have definitive data before I will accept that it is a fact. Well, I know now that “The Saying” is indeed….A Fact!!!!!

All of us “slow learners” can be a detriment to our society and sometimes an absolute pain to those around us who have had to adopt a policy of tolerance, and try to bring us along at our reduced pace of grasping understanding. As my wife said to me recently “I’m amazed at your attention to detail as you stacked that load of wood on the porch.” I replied, well hey….I happen to be a “high school graduate”!

I’m truly appreciative of the “Object Lesson” Don took time out of his busy schedule just to provide me that I might finally accept “The Saying” as being raw truth in all of it’s radiant beauty, shimmering, glowing and covered with goose bumps.

I have now listed “The Saying” and fully accept it as a fact along with others that I have gradually accepted over the years, such as: “It’s gonna rain”…(it always has), “The sun don’t shine up the same….”, “The woods sure are dry”, “Evolution has affected the turnpike trail to be longer and steeper”.

Yes, I wanted to give my special appreciation to Don for his unselfish efforts to try and stimulate my miniscule neurons that I might be able to come to grips with my wrongful dismissal of “The Saying” as being folklore and heresy.

With heartfelt Thanks,

Jim (Nugget) Nixon

…oh yeah, “The Saying”… A MAN DON”T NECESSARILY GIT SMARTER AS HE GITS OLDER!

HEADS UP!!! Some _ _ _s want to sell off OUR USFS, F&WS and BLM lands!

AND also put a moratorium on the LWCF and all other acquisitions!

WHAT? A BILL IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; 109th CONGRESS; H. R. 3855; Sept. 21, 2005

WHO? Mr. TANCREDO of Colorado, Mr. FLAKE of Arizona, Mr. ROHRABACHER of California, Mrs. CUBIN of Wyoming, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. PITTS of Pennsylvania, Mr. FEENEY of Florida, Mr. AKIN of Missouri, Mrs. MYRICK of North Carolina, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, and Mr. OTTER of Idaho introduced the bill.

WHY? To raise funds necessary to respond to Hurricane Katrina and future disasters by selling a portion of the lands administered by the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.

HOW? (a) Sale of National Forest Lands- The Secretary of Agriculture shall select 15 percent of the lands included in the National Forest System and convey all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the selected lands by public sale.

(b) Sale of Department of the Interior Lands- The Secretary of the Interior shall identify 15 percent of the lands managed by agencies of the Department of the Interior (excluding lands in units of the National Park System established by Act of Congress and lands held for the benefit of an Indian tribe) and convey all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the identified lands by public sale.

(h) Moratorium on Federal Land Acquisition- Until the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior comply with the duties imposed on the Secretaries by this section, an interest in land may not be acquired by the Forest Service or an agency of the Department of the Interior unless the acquisition of that land is specifically authorized by an Act of Congress enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act.

WHEN? (d) Commencement of Sales- The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior shall complete the identification of Federal lands under this section and commence the sale of such lands not later than October 1, 2006. The land sales shall proceed without regard to any other provision of law.

DON’T BELIEVE IT? Read it yourself! Click on: http://www.house.gov/ Enter in the “Search”: HR3855 & Click “Go”

“BACKCASTING” (Continued)

Nov 15 (Tues) Chapter Meeting On a rainy November evening, about 20 Rabunites gathered for fellowship and thoughts of bight sunny days of western trout fishing. Kyle Burrell and Butch Martin presented an excellent PowerPoint presentation about the Green River Guest Ranch (http://www.grguestranch.com/ ) where both men are fishing guides during the summer months. Their program included photos from many beautiful streams in the Upper Green River area including the river itself, meadow streams, alpine valleys, and above timberline backcountry just to mention some of the choices. Pictures included multiple trout over 20 inches caught by guests on the same day! Costs for 5 days of guided fishing, 6 nights room and board is $1450 per person (contact Kyle Burrell: fishwithkyle@yahoo.com ) - - - or take your chances with Dream Trip Raffle Tickets at $10 per ticket (contact Terry Rivers: tlr1121@alltel.net ). Meeting Raffle: Seven nice items and naturally Lea R. won the flies – AGAIN! The raffle raised $72 to cover the costs of mailing the monthly newsletter to Chapter members without E-mail. A special ‘thank you’ goes to those members who donated the items.

Nov 17 (Thurs) Public Meeting - Upper Chattooga River Boating Ban in Clayton was attended by about 20 or 22 Rabunites and like minded friends from the GA side of THE RIVER (thanks for the good turnout, folks). The meeting began with a review of the Visitor Use Capacity Analysis Process. This was followed by a Q&A session. The USFS planners said the boating ban is still possible. They said it in a written handout and they said it verbally. The written Q&A handout said:

Q. Has the Forest Service's Washington Office mandated that boating occur now, during the study, or after the 2-year study?

A. Now? - - boating is only allowed downstream of Highway 28 - - -

During the study? - - the Forest Service may or may not allow user trials - - -

After the study? - The Forest Service has not yet determined what alternatives will be analyzed, which will lead to the agency's final decision. - - - That new decision will determine whether the agency intends to allow boating above the Highway 28 bridge.

When verbally asked if there was anything in the Wilderness Act, the W&SR Act, or the Chief’s decision that required all users to have access to ALL sections of THE RIVER, the answer was 'NO'! The AW representatives and their lawyers were quite agitated by these answers. AW people said that this was not treating all user groups equally as the Chief had instructed.

Then the attending stakeholders were randomly sorted into smaller groups of up to 8 people and, with FS facilitators, identified the types of recreation in which we participated while in THE RIVER corridor. Stakeholders filled out Recreation Use Forms and described conditions desired for conducting these activities. Then each of the smaller groups identified the similar and conflicting desired conditions of the represented users. A spokesperson from each small group presented the results of each group to the entire audience.

After the meeting ended, the AW people called me (Doug Adams) into a side gathering between AW officers, their lawyer, and 2 of the Forest Service planners. The lawyer said that the FS answers did not agree with what the Chief’s decision had said and he was asking for a private meeting with the Chief to get his views on the above answers. An AW person then asked if I would be willing to participate in such a meeting. I said only if representatives from all user groups were present. One of the Forest Service planners finally said it was his personal gut feeling that after the 2-year study there would be some level of boating allowed. This seemed to have somewhat of a pacifying effect on the AW people. This side gathering lasted 15 or 20 minutes.

Even if you were unable to attend the meeting, the Forest Service wants and needs your comments to make the study as accurate and as complete as possible. Tell them WHAT you do on your trips to Upper Chattooga River (List the ‘Prime’ activity & then all the others - Ex: Backcountry Fishing, Hiking, Camping, Hunting, Wildlife Viewing, Nature Study, Photography, Birding, Waterfall Viewing, Fish Viewing, Wildflower Viewing, etc), WHERE (list the sections above Highway 28 that you visit), WHEN (which months do you go and which months are ‘prime season’ for your activities), HOW OFTEN (trips per year), WHO (alone or with how many others), FOR HOW LONG (in hours or days), ATTIBUTES OF A HIGH QUALITY TRIP and CONCERNS ABOUT HOW OTHER USERS MAY AFFECT YOUR TRIP Take a few minutes, tell the Forest Service what the Upper Chattooga means to you by sending your comments to: Project Coordinator - John Cleeves, E-mail jcleeves@fs.fed.us

USDA Forest Service, 4931 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29212

One Rabunite shared these thoughts: Actually I believe our premise to be that we don't want the boats in the stream. The paddlers themselves are as welcome as anyone to enjoy the upper river. It's the vehicle! There is this assumption they present that they are being denied access. Again it's the vehicle. And because it detracts from the Wild and Scenic status. Denise Galvin the retired deputy director of the National Park Service said: " The National Parks do not have to sustain all recreations; that is why we have various other federal, state, local and private recreation providers. The present Park Service should keep that in mind".

(Editor’s note: Yellowstone National Park has had a ban on whitewater boating on all streams and rivers since 1950. Reasons: crowding, aesthetics, and conflicts with other park visitors, such as anglers.)

THE RABUNITE POSITION: The Forest Service planners had the proper solution for angler-boater conflict resolution in 1976 and ‘zoning’ by maintaining the boating ban is still the proper solution today. It has achieved solitude and harmony for visitors on the Upper Chattooga for almost 30 years. This unique solitude experience is shared without conflict among traditional backcountry visitors such as anglers, hikers, backpackers, bird watchers, swimmers, waterfall viewers, and nature lovers. For the anglers, there is nowhere else they can go in the East that has the size and volume to permit quality trout fishing in a spectacular backcountry setting that is boating-free. The backcountry visitors want to preserve this unique resource of solitude and protect the natural resources of the only section of the Chattooga that has not been damaged by conflict and management for too many user groups. ‘Zoning’ the space to ensure physical separation of visitors with differing and conflicting ways of experiencing the river and the environment is proper management; and it is also what is best for the future of the Upper Chattooga River.

For the NGTO Message Board on this subject, click on: http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53217

A CHATTOOGA RIVER FISHING REPORT

(Reprinted from November 2005 Unicoi Newsletter)

    Ron Sharp and I fished the Chattooga on Saturday, November 19 and had an absolutely great day. If you have not fished the Chattooga yet this delayed harvest season, you owe it to yourself to do so immediately. We need to all give the Georgia Department of Natural Resources kudos for the wonderful fishery they've created in the North Georgia mountains. Well they have outdone themselves on the Chattooga this year. Although I have caught more fish (and we caught plenty) along a greater stretch of the river than Ron and I did on Saturday, I don't know if I have ever spent more quality time fishing on this wild and scenic river. This was no doubt the result of:
   1. A great number of larger fish. We caught few fish under 10 inches (maybe one or two) with the average running between 11 and 13 with some larger. In fact, I caught the largest brook trout of my life on Saturday. And, I did it 4 times!!! These trout are in beautiful spawning colors and are sporting overly large kyped jaws. They are absolutely stunning. The mix of fish seemed to be roughly 50% brookies and 50% rainbows. We didn't catch a single brown trout all day.
    2. Outstanding dry fly action. I don't recall a single day in the years that I have fished the Chattooga (and few other rivers for that matter) when the dry fly fishing was as outstanding as it was on Saturday. Starting around 11:30am until we left at approximately 5:00pm dry flies were the main course on the menu. Skip the dry fly and nymph dropper. I'm talking about dry flies only. And, the later the day became, the better the fishing got. The last hour was purely magical. The yellow humpy in size 16 and 18 was the fly of the day. But we also continuously took fish on elk hair caddis, PMD's, and small (size 18 and 20 BWO's). As the sun was fading during the last half hour of the day, the BWO's were especially hot. Trailing the smaller fly behind a larger dry (using the larger fly as an indicator) proved to be an especially productive and fun technique.
    3. Solitude, beautiful fall colors, and mild temperatures. We met only two fishermen and three hikers all day long. We absolutely had the river to ourselves. I suspect we owed that to a very cool start (morning temperature in the upper 20's, but by midmorning temperatures were ideal), coupled with the bulldog fans staying home, and the deer hunters doing their thing. Who could have asked for more.
    I've fished a lot of western streams and rivers, and I can tell you that very few are as beautiful as the Chattooga, or offer fishing better than the Chattooga is offering today. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died. As a result, I got one, and only one picture. That was too bad. I would loved to have taken a few shots of those beautifully colored brook trout. They truly are stunning. But don't take my word for it. With the long weekend
coming up, skip out on the family (they probably think that you are weird anyway), and hit the Chattooga. If your family is like mine, your pumpkin pie may not be waiting when you return. But, trust me, you won't mind. Ren Gobris

From: "Jeff Durniak" <jeff_durniak@dnr.state.ga.us>

GA needs to give credit where credit is due for the Chattooga DH fishing. South Carolina DNR's Walhalla hatchery stocks the Chattooga DH section. Based on fishing reports this year, they've done a fine job for anglers from our two states. Thanks to our partner agency on the other side of the river. Feel free to tell them so if you see a SCDNR ranger or log onto their web site.

Rabun TU Sends Our Thanks For Actions Taken

(See November TIGHT LINES for ‘Erosion Cases in Rabun County Magistrate Court’)

November 1, 2005

Marshall Roy Lovell

25 Courthouse Square #137

Clayton, GA 30525

Dear Marshal Lovell:

The Rabun County Chapter of Trout Unlimited is dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring Rabun County’s 466 miles of primary trout water.

Every year hundreds of trout fishermen and women from throughout the Southeast and beyond come to Rabun County to fish streams like the Chattooga and Tallulah rivers and Wildcat Creek. While here, they contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rabun’s economy.

The only way that Rabun’s large trout rivers and creeks can continue to survive is if all of us in Rabun County constantly guard the water quality of the tiny streams that feed them. The same is true of our lakes…like Burton, Rabun and Seed.

Right now Rabun County is being seriously challenged in the protection of its streams by extensive highway construction. Since the Georgia Department of Transportation is responsible for oversight of that construction it would seem to follow that they would take responsibility for adequately protecting our streams from silt and other construction debris. However, in recent conversations with Mr. Jacob Dockery, the construction project manager for the DOT we were informed that the DOT is not involved with the operation of the fill sites…such as the huge site on Persimmon Road…and that the individual landowners are responsible for getting permits and maintaining proper erosion control on their land. Which means that you and your staff are responsible for enforcement.

We realize that your office, with limited resources, is being asked to accomplish a wide variety of tasks in the county. But if these fill site landowners are not required to install adequate sediment control the water quality of our streams and the existence of our trout fishery will be seriously threatened. It takes a very small amount of sediment to change a clear trout stream to an uninhabited ditch full of murky water.

You are to be commended for work already done to bring legal action against some of the contractors and landowners who have already caused the pollution of some of our lakes and streams. We hope that you and your staff will keep Rabun’s trout streams very high on your list of priorities. If Trout Unlimited can assist in any way let us know.

Sincerely,

Ralph T. Morgan

Vice President

Rabun TU Asks For Legislative Help

And Our Legislator Responds!

That Dang Kelly

A new SC game warden finds Kelly at a popular trout fishing spot on THE RIVER with two-dozen trout swimming in a bucket. "That's way over the limit, Bill" he says. "You're under arrest."

"But officer, please," Kelly says, "these are my pet fish from home. I just bring them down here to let them swim free once a week. When I whistle, they all come back and get into the bucket to go home."

"I don't believe it," says the warden. "Show me."

Kelly promptly dumps the trout into the stream and gazes after them as they swim away.
After a minute, the warden says, "OK, how long?" "How long what?" says Kelly.

"How long till you call the fish back?"

- - - - - -

"What fish?"

(Our thanks to Everett Stiles for sharing this story with us.)

Q & A Follow-up

Q: What are the basic flies I should have for trout fishing the streams in NE GA?

The list of flies in the November issue of TIGHT LINES drew the following comment: “Gotta add yellow and olive (caddis green) colors in sizes 14 – 16 to the elk hair caddis supply. I wouldn’t fish anywhere in the Southern Appalachians without them. The only other missing dry that I’m never without is a rusty orange colored parachute. Works great during late spring/early summer evening spinner activity and especially in the fall as an all purpose attractor. The closest commercial pattern I’m aware of is the Ausable Wulff. What I tie is basically a parachute version of that fly” Banker Our thanks to Rabunite Doug Hickman (a.k.a. Banker) for these great suggestions.

"Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl."

Ernest Hemingway

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

A Big Rabunite welcome to 2 new members this month: (Transfer) Bruce Mitchell, 556 Campbell Hill St., Marietta, GA 30060; & (Transfer) Rick Hires, 3951 Sylvania Ave., Toledo, OH 43623

Thanks for re-upping: Lindsey Gilbert, Kyle Burrell, Travis Barnes, William Thompson, Bob Johnson, Terrell Tanner, Connie Keener, William Hamlett, and John Hoppes

It is time to renew your membership: Paul Barnes, Anthony Nunley, Daniel Wall, Andrew Wylie,

Maria Rodeghiero, and Donald MacLeod

What About It Ray?

Rabun TU Officers & Directors

President - Terry Rivers, PO Box 371, Clayton, GA 30525 Ph 706 782 7419 E-mail tlr1121@alltel.net

Vice President - Ralph Morgan Ph 706 782 4857 E-mail rtsc8745@alltel.net

Treasurer (w/Newsletter) - Doug Adams Ph 706 746 2158 E-mail edadams1@alltel.net

Secretary - Tom Matthews Ph 706 782 0369 E-mail tmatt@hemc.net

Past President (w/Membership) - Ray Kearns Ph 706 782 9913 E-mail raykearns@alltel.net

Director (w/Programs) - Bill Kelly Ph 706 746 2104 E-mail bkjk1@alltel.net

Director (w/Website) - Kathy Breithaupt Ph 706 782 6954 E-mail knc615@direcway.com

Director (w/Campouts & USFS Work-outings) - Charlie Breithaupt Ph 706 782 6954 E-mail knc615@direcway.com

Director (w/Publicity & Hospitality) - Tom Landreth Ph 706 746 2295 E-mail landreth@alltel.net

Director at Large - Jimmy Whiten Ph 706 886 6546 E-mail jimmywhiten@alltel.net

News from the President...... Terry Rivers

Hi All,

Well the last few weeks have been exciting, fun, and interesting. I'll start with the November campout. It was great for those that could attend; food was great, fishing is always great, but we had a extra bonus of catching - which was outstanding, ask those who ate fish Saturday night. Thanks guys for all your help. Also I would like to personally thank Jim Nixon for the entertainment he gave singing and playing, also the past memories and tall tales.

Well the next thing that came up was the fall and spring helicopter stocking, after several phone calls and a decline in our local chapter checking account, maybe the USFS can "GIT ‘ER" done! If they can get the helicopter fixed, they said the stocking would be done by the end of the month

Well the boating ban process meeting was held in Clayton, and I was well pleased with the turnout we had form our local Chapter (13 attended) and it was greatly appreciated by me. The reason this being is when we got into group discussions we were divided up to answer questions about our ideas about certain things pertaining the RIVER. So if possible we need all the anglers to attend if at all possible for the remaining meetings. Everybody that cast a line in this RIVER should be there and give their opinions if they are concerned. You would be surprised to see the different user groups that were there, and I think most were to keep the RIVER as it stands now, and this could mean a lot when the USFS makes their decision in this matter.

I would like to end this letter saying I hope that everybody had a great Thanksgiving, and a sure way to loose those extra pounds is to get out and fish, and hope that everybody has a wonderful and safe Christmas Holiday Season.

Terry

Have a great day - Hope you catch a lot of fish!

For pictures and more info, visit the Rabun TU website: http://www.rabuntu.com/ Georgia TU Council website: http://georgiatu.org/ or National TU Website: http://www.tu.org/index.asp We would love getting your suggestions, stories, articles, and questions for our panel of experts in the Q & A section, or your comments about our Website and Newsletter. Send them to: edadams1@alltel.net Or to: Rabun TU, PO Box 65, Rabun Gap, GA 30568

Please tell us if you have E-mail, it will save the chapter $0.93 per newsletter mailed: E-Mail edadams1@alltel.net

RABUN CHAPTER of TROUT UNLIMITED PO BOX 371 CLAYTON, GA 30525

Cost: $20 Single or $38 Couple

Stream Habitat Protection and Enhancement

Rabun Rendezvous

When: Saturday, January 21, 2006

"Eventually all things merge into one and a river runs through it.

The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.

On some rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."