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TIGHT
LINES March 2005 Newsletter of the
Rabun Chapter
(522) of Trout Unlimited
"The two best times to
fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't" Patrick F.
McManus
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At the Green River
Guest Ranch near Pinedale, Wyoming
Rules: Winner will be drawn at the Georgia Foothills Chapter of Trout
Unlimited annual banquet on March 5th 2005.
One winner will be drawn and the winner will choose a
partner to accompany them on the trip**.
Raffle Tickets are $10 each. Proceeds
go to the Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited to help fund our annual Youth
Fly-Fishing Camp and the “Back the Brookie” campaign
that will help Brook Trout restoration and educational projects.
The winner and their partner will
EACH receive the following:
> 5 days fishing and 6 nights food and lodging at the Green River
Guest Ranch near Pinedale, WY. One of
the Fishing Days will be a float trip on the Upper Green River guided by either
Butch Martin or Kyle “Hoover” Burrell.
> The trip will take place from July 23 to July 29, 2005 (NON
NEGOTIABLE).
> An Orvis Battenkill Barstock Reel with line and backing.
> A 9ft.5 wt. Winston Boron II X custom made fly rod by Mack
Martin of North Georgia Custom Rods.
> A fly box and flies for the trip (approx. 5 to 7 dozen
flies per box).
> $250 each toward airfare and travel expenses.
NOTE: Travel
arrangements will be the responsibility of the winner and their partner. They
must arrive together to be picked up at the airport. If the winner and their
partner choose to fly in to any destination other than Jackson, they will be
responsible to get to and return from the guest ranch on their own.
*Fishing licenses, gratuities, and
alcoholic beverages during their stay are the responsibility of the winner and
their partner. **The winner and their partner will
be required to sign a waiver releasing the Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited,
TU National, and the Green River Guest Ranch of any liability of injury that
could occur during the trip. Get your tickets now from any TU Chapter
President - or buy your tickets at the ‘Hoot on the Hooch’!
Give a man
a fish, and you will feed him for a day.
Teach a
man to fly-fish; and he will go West of Hiawassee every summer!
"I don't
know exactly what fly-fishing teaches us, but I think it's something we need to
know"
John
Gierach
THE CHAPTER MEETING PLACE!
Clayton Presbyterian Church - Clayton, GA 3rd
Tuesday of the Month 6:30 pm -
Fellowship 7:00 pm – Meeting
& Program
Beginning with the March Chapter meeting there will be a raffle for
fishing or camping stuff.. Bring a dollar or two - you might win something!
Fishing is life. The rest is just details.
“FORWARD CASTING”
Important Dates - See you there!
March
5 - Georgia
TU Council Meeting
in Dahlonega, GA. 9:00 am
March
5 - Hoot on the Hooch!
Sautee
Community Center, 6:00 pm Come support the Foothills Chapter! Dream
trip raffle drawing tonight!
March
8 - Fly
Tying with Terry
Rivers at his home near Persimmon; 7:00 pm Call or email for directions (706) 782- 7419 tlr1121@alltel.net
March
15 - Chapter
Meeting – Clayton
Presbyterian Church (Rec Room) 6:30 - Social (Story Telling – you don’t have to
believe ‘em if you don’t want to) 7:00 Program – Terry Seehorn: Genetic
Typing of the Local Brook Trout & the Ramey Creek ‘Back the Brookie’
Project
March 17-20 - Fishing
& Camping at the Tallulah
River with Camping at a USFS C.G. (with outhouse & tables). Contact Charlie B. (706) 782-6954 or
Terry R. (706) 782- 7419 tlr1121@alltel.net as they are planning the cooking!
March 22 - Board
of Directors meeting at 7:00 pm, followed by Fly Tying at Terry
River's house.
March 26 - Clean up of Betty Creek; 9:00 am
Meet at the Creek behind the Dillard Methodist Church
March
29 - More Fly Tying at Terry's
April
8-9 -
Campout and Work Project - Ramey Creek, Details at March 15th
Chapter Meeting
April 19 - Chapter Meeting – Program
Details in the April newsletter
April 26 - Board of Directors meeting - location TBA (Probably
on a stream bank)
April
29, 30 & May 1 - 4th Annual S.E. Regional Rally in
Abington, VA
REMEMBER TROUT
CAMP! June 12-17th! We need
you to mentor our campers – put it on your calendar!
FLY OF THE MONTH
GRIFFITH’S GNAT
By TERRY RIVERS
Quick and easy: a great fly
for the novice to get started on, kinda like a small, no-tail, floating
woolly-bugger. No fly box would be complete without two in a range of
sizes. It’s versatile; you can float it, skate it, clip the bottom and emerge
it, or sink it. I’m sure it has been sucked in, gulped in, slashed at and
refused as much as any other great fly. We’ll be tying it at the first
tying session at my place, be there if interested – March 8th at
7PM.
Hook: TMC 101, sizes
14-22; Thread: Olive 6/0; Rib: Fine Gold Wire (optional); Body: Peacock
Hurl; Hackle: Grizzly or Blue Dun Palmered.
“I spent the entire dream
fishing a single Griffith’s gnat.” Harry Middleton in Rivers of Memory (1993)
March Hatches
The Bugs Time of Month Time of Day
Suggested Flies .
Early Black
Stone All Month
L
am to M pm 18
Henryville Special
16-18 Black Stone
Nymph
Small Dun
Caddis All
Month L am to M
pm 18 Henryville Special
(Important)
18
Grey Caddis Pupa
Blue Winged
Olive & All
Month L am to M pm
16-18 BWO, Blue Quill or Adams Parachute
Blue
Quill
16-18 BWO
nymph or Pheasant Tail
Quill
Gordon All
Month L am to M
pm 12-14 Quill Gordon
(Important) 12 Quill Gordon Nymph
Cream
Caddis Late
M day to L
pm 12-14 Elk Hair Caddis
(Important) 12-14 Dark Cream Caddis Pupa
Red
Quill Mid to Late
M day
to L pm
14-16 Red Quill or Hendrickson
(Hendrickson) 14-16 Pheasant Tail
March
Brown
Late L am to M
pm 12-14 March Brown or Adams Parachute
(very
Important) 10-14 March Brown Nymph, Dark
Hare's Ear, or Pheasant Tail
Midges
All Month
M am to L
pm 18-20 Griffith's Gnat
18-22 Midge Pupa
“If fishing
interferes with your business, give up your business - the trout don’t rise in Greenwood Cemetery”
Sparse Grey Hackle in Fishless
Days (1954)
“BACKCASTING”
Jan.
22 The 18th Annual Rabun
Rendezvous What a great night! A well deserved award for Doug Watson, our friend
at the Forest Service, “For 25 years of outstanding personal service and
leadership in the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the cold water
fisheries in the Tallulah Ranger District of the Chattahoochee National
Forest.” Thanks Doug. And for our own
Doug Adams, a special presentation commemorating his Distinguished Service
Award from TU National. In
spite of the cold temperature, the freezing rain, and the snow we still had 222
Rabunites, Friends, and Supporters in attendance. The 2005 Rendezvous cleared an estimated $8895 and the cash
donations bring the total funds raised to $9845. Another great Rabun
Rendezvous. A BIG thanks to everyone that contributed and to all the guys
and gals that worked so long and hard to make it a successful fundraiser event
for the benefit of our cold-water resources. It was a lot of fun. Waaaaah Hooooo!!!!!
Feb. 5 The Annual Planning
Meeting The meeting was attended by 13 members and 2 more members
submitted their input by E-mail. The total budgeted expenditures for
2005 is $11,300 disbursed in 25 line items.
Feb. 15 Chapter Meeting Our own Jeff Durniak presented a
motivating program on ‘Mentoring’. As a
result, the Rabunites will offer mentoring at all of our future fishing outings
where an experienced fly-fishing angler will work with
anyone that wants to learn the basics of fly-fishing for trout. This would
involve discussing necessary equipment, how to rig it, how to cast, and time
together on a trout stream to actually try fishing. All this FOR FREE!
Feb. 22 Board of Directors Meeting The
board has lined up quarterly fishing-camping outings. All four outings will be
local and all will be 4 or 5 days long.
Come when you can, stay as long as you wish. All will offer fly-fishing for trout mentoring. The first will
start on Thursday and run through Sunday (March 17th –20th)
on the Tallulah River at one of the USFS campgrounds. Details at the Chapter Meeting on March 15th.
There will be 5
in-stream work outings, three of those with camping. The first work outing is
March 26 on Betty Creek. The board also
selected interesting programs for all the remaining 2005 chapter meetings. There will be 3 fly tying sessions in
March. See “Forward Casting” section
for more details. A nominating
committee was appointed to bring a new slate of chapter officers for next
fiscal year, beginning October 1, 2005.
The board also decided to conduct bucket raffles at chapter meetings to
fund the mailing of monthly newsletters to our members without E-mail.
Bill Kelly was
Re-Kneed Bill had his right knee replaced on Feb.16th
and he seems to be doing just fine. He
said the doctor told him it would be 6 months before he could put his full
weight on it. This will be the first
spring in over 50 years that we have a chance to fish THE RIVER in front
of Kelly. If you want to wish him a
full (and somewhat slow) recovery: Bill
Kelly, 204 Zack Dillard Lane, Dillard, GA 30537 Phone: 706 746 2104
E-mail: bkjk1@alltel.net
I spend most of my life
fishing; the rest I just waste.
Chattooga Q & A
Q. I
usually fish downstream of Burrell’s Ford or at the Thrift
Lake area. Haven’t fished the delayed harvest section since it
became a delayed harvest section. I’ve never caught (or seen) a fish
over 11 inches. I know large browns exist throughout the Burrell’s
Ford area and further upstream, but I’m told they are pretty tough to
catch in the daytime. My question is, are there larger rainbows as
well? That is, fish that have been in the river a year or
more. Or are large rainbows generally recently stocked fish that
have been put in at the bridges? I’d fish the Chattooga a lot more
if I believed the larger fish were there and it was only my lack patience
or talent that is keeping me from hooking them. Thanks, Dwight
Moffitt (SC Angler & TU Member)
A.
Big rainbows really don’t exist in the Chattooga
except for some Walhalla Hatchery stockers (13-17 inches, sometimes 20+)
in the DH section. You’ll get an occasional 13-14 inch holdover,
especially if we’ve had a cool, wet summer that allows the river below Big
Bend Falls to stay cold enough for trout survival. I base this on
our nearly 20-year history of river electro-fishing with great biologists
like Dan Rankin (SC) and lots of TU bucket toters to help us.
We biologists think that wild
rainbows aren’t in there because of the sandy substrate that limits
spawning success. Both rainbows and most browns don’t grow big (I’m
talking % of populations now, not individual fish) because of the low
alkalinity that limits aquatic insect production.
What rainbows lack
in size, they make up for in numbers and catchability. They “fuel” the
daytime fishery, when browns seem nonexistent. If you
use an ultralight spinner or a 3 or 4 weight fly rod, the 10 and 11 inch
rainbows are a lot of fun. Plus, you’re fishing in one of the
prettiest places in the East. Go back to “the Steps” , a mile below
BF, in March and throw a caddis dry with a Prince dropper. And by
all means, hit the DH. It’s a blast.
The best fish are those wild
browns. I’ve only caught them via rod/reel up to 14 inches myself,
but we’ve shocked them up to about 27 inches. They just don’t bother
much with a size 16 dry fly. Throw some calories at them (woolly
bugger, crayfish, Rapala) where they live (deep pools or places with
cover, like boulders) and you can tempt them from the groundhog
hole. Bounce your offering off the rocks and get it deep. If
you bait’s 3 feet away, they won’t come out. Kyle
Burrell’s (“Hoover” on ngto.org) Clemson thesis (brown trout telemetry)
showed that the wild browns are groundhogs. They only poke their
noses out of their holes under rocks and logs for about a half hr at
sunrise and sunset, and after a rain that clouds up the water.
Hope
this helps return you to the river. Get to know it again.
Soon you’ll be past the Snoopy pole stage (a great experience in itself)
and will show your best fishing friend HIS river, one that he will have
to take care of when you and I are “fishing some distant waters.”
Good luck. Sincerely, Dredger (a.k.a. Jeff Durniak – GA WRD
N.E. Regional Fisheries Supervisor)
“Often, I’ve been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold,
briar-scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly-rod in my
hand, have I been unhappy.” Charles Kuralt
A Chattooga DH Fishing
Report
Fished the Chattooga DH Saturday
afternoon
(Feb. 12) with a couple of friends and we had a great afternoon. Caught
fish from the get-go until we walked out in the dark. A couple of fish
taken on brown woolly buggers, one on Y2K and two on prince; every other
fish was taken on a peach egg. Some fish were caught in shallow runs and
riffles (2’ – 3’ deep) but most were very deep. At one point I was fishing
5 size AB split shot on a twelve foot leader. One pool was so deep the
entire leader, strike indicator and 10 feet of my floating fly line were
under water. I caught three fish in that hole and lost two more. I’m
confident that, had I been fishing a 9’ leader and a beadhead fly even
with a split shot, I would have gone right over all those fish. Water was
gin clear and 43 degrees. Two brookies, the rest rainbows up to 16” or 17”. If
you’ve not been there lately, you’re really missing something. We couldn’t
have asked for more perfect weather and, yet, there were only 7 cars in
the parking lot when we arrived. Some of those folks were leaving
shortly after we arrived. Only two other anglers stayed as late as our
group. Five anglers on over 2 miles of river. I’ve said it before, but
the Chattooga, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful rivers in
the entire country. And the fishing is great!
Jimmy Harris (Owner of Unicoi Outfitters in
Helen, GA and a member of Foothills TU)
“I object to fishing
tournaments less for what they do to fish than what they do to fishermen”
Ted Williams (1984)
“More
BACKCASTING”
If you missed the February 15th Rabun TU
meeting you missed a great program on ‘MENTORING’ presented by our own Jeff
Durniak. The following article is
copied (or you might say stolen) from the Feb. 2005 Newsletter (The Korn
Dunker) of the Cohutta Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
February 24th Chapter Meeting: This month’s speaker will be Jeff
Durniak, DNR Northeast Regional Fisheries Supervisor. His subject will be
mentoring and fishing Georgia NE streams. An avid fisherman himself, his first
fish was a stunted pumpkinseed in a city pond before his third birthday. He has
been trout fishing since about age 10 and took up a fly rod at age 12. He
figured out how to catch fish on the fly rod about age 14, after finally
setting aside the Mitchell 408 ultra-light spinner.
Grew
up in NJ, catching trout in the mornings and sometimes bluefish on the coast in
the same afternoon. Jeff still goes home to chase stripers in the surf for a
week each November. He is very proud of his fishing buddy up there, who is the
GA trout map poster boy! (Patrick Gorman, member of the Rabun TU
Chapter).
Jeff
fed his fishing addiction by going to VA Tech for a BS and UT-Knoxville for an
MS degree. Studied in between fishing trips to Jefferson National Forest, New
River, Outer Banks, and the Smokies. From UT, he came to GADNR in 1985 and,
stationed at Burton Hatchery. At the hatchery worked as a trout biologist for
10 years and promoted to NE regional supervisor in 1995. Along with a
great staff of folks like Bill Couch and Lee Keefer, manages a 16 county region
that includes nine major reservoirs (Lanier to Hartwell to Nottely), two trout hatcheries,
and the majority of the state’s trout waters.
Jeff is proud of his
distinction of being one of the dozen founding members of the Rabun TU Chapter.
One of his many honors is being a graduate of the Bill Kelly School of Angler
Communication.
As
Jeff recently stated, “That thirty pound brown trout I caught on 8X tippet last
week in north GA was the highlight of my fishing days in GA. The stream I
caught it in was, well, I don’t believe I said.” (This makes Doug Adams a very
happy angler).
Jeff
states that he has enjoyed the cooperative working relationship we have
fostered, together, among GADNR, the US Forest Service, the US Fish and
Wildlife Service, the power companies, and volunteer groups like Trout
Unlimited. Jeff also stated that it has been a fun career of working with
GA citizens to conserve their fisheries resources and teaching a few of them,
young and old, how to catch more trout!
Written by Sonny Marshall of the Cohutta
Chapter
“Fishermen are born honest, but they get over it.” Ed Zern in To Hell with Fishing (1954)
Rabunite
Terms Used On THE RIVER
by Jim Nixon & Doug Adams
1. HIPOLUM immediate removal of
the fish from the water
2. RAISDUM the fish just came up
to look, no contact
3. BURNDUM
definite contact with
the fish
4. UNCAPPED fish getting off after
at least 0.5 seconds of play
5. LONG-LINE-RELEASE fish released prior to netting or fondling
6. HORSUM identified by a
piece of fish lip on the hook
7. BROKOFF a defective hook or a
tree in the wrong place
8. CHOPPER trout stocked by a
helicopter
9. DUMPLIN fresh stock trout
dumped from the bridge
10. SIDEWINDER stock trout with some fins
missing
11. DRIFTER stock trout with all
of its fins missing
12. GOODUN any trout
13. KEEPER same as GOODUN
14. NICE FISH the ‘flatlander’ term
for GOODUN
15. BANKER any fish other than a
trout, deposit it on the bank
16. West-of-Hiawassee more good places to fish, like the
‘DREAM TRIP’
Where? “I don’t believe I said.”
Scoring
90 – 100% Master
Angler or a Rabunite Guide, soars with the Ospreys
80 – 89% Accomplished
Angler, Fishes with a Rabunite Guide
70 – 79% Typical
Angler, Fishes Behind the Rabunite Guide
60 – 69% WannaBe
Angler, Watches others fish while carrying lunches & cameras
Less than 60% Just
a plain ole ‘flatlander’
One more question:
What
is the Rabunite Hog-Call? Waaaaah Hooooo!!!!!
MEMBERSHIP
A Big Rabunite welcome to 2 new members this
month: John
Starinchuck, PO Box
96, Tiger, GA 30576-0096
And Bob Johnson, 208 Jacob
Hunter Lane, Ellijay, GA 30536-6956
Rabun
TU Officers & Directors
President Ray Kearns Phone 706 782 9913 E-Mail pndmilck@alltel.net
Vice President Tom Matthews Phone 706 782 0369 E-Mail tmatt@hemc.net
Treasurer Russell Johnson Phone 706 783 2424 E-Mail rwjrabun@alltel.net
Secretary Russell Burken Phone 706 779 5597 E-Mail mkopchic@alltel.net
Past President Charlie Breithaupt Phone 706 782 6954 E-Mail knc615@direcway.com
Directors Kathy
Breithaupt, Tom Landreth, Doug Adams, Terry Rivers, Terry Seehorn, Bill Kelly, Ralph
Morgan
News from the President......
Ray Kearns
Hi
Folks, The
TU Chapter officers and board members met on Feb. 24 for an Activities
Planning Meeting. A lot of good
ideas for the coming year were discussed. The ones that will be implemented
will be posted on our web site. I hope many of our members will be able
to participate in some if not all of the events. Thanks
to Terry Rivers and Doug Adams we will have a new articles titled "The Fly
of the Month” and “The Current Hatch", for our local streams. This
should help you select the right fly to catch the "big one". How
would you like to have a personal fly-fishing instructor work with you one on
one showing you the basics of fly-fishing for trout? This would involve
discussing equipment, how to rig it, how to cast, and a visit to a trout stream
to actually fly fish. ALL FOR FREE. You will have that chance when the
chapter has one of our camping and fishing events, four of which are planned
for this year on different streams. How's that for a mentoring program? If
you need help with equipment, casting, etc. please ask.
We are here to help. One other item I would like to
touch on is membership. We need new members. Talk about TU to
anyone you think would be interested and let them know we will help them get
started in fly fishing if they need it. I
see the bugs are starting to fly and temperature is rising so it's time to get
your equipment ready to fish and camp. Our first outing will be March 17,
18 and 19 on the Tallulah River. Lots of good fishing, eating, fellowship
and fun. Plan to be there.
PS:
Good Luck on your raffle tickets. Hopefully someone from the Rabun Chapter will
be going to Wyoming in July.
Please tell us if you have E-mail, it will
save us the printing & postage costs:
E-Mail edadams1@alltel.net
RABUN TROUT UNLIMITED CHAPTER
PO BOX 65
RABUN GAP, GA 30568-0065