TROUT CAMP!

Rabun Chapter of Trout Unlimited

 
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For more about Trout Camp see the July 2008 Issue of Tight Lines.   Rabun TU - TIGHT LINES 2008-07.doc

Want to mentor at the 2009 camp?  We need your background check permission form.... Look for the link in Spring 2009 

You must be a member of TU - it's easy to join!  Just check the home page.

Trout Camp Daily Schedule 2008

2008 Schedule for Campers short version pdf form

2008 Brochure

 

 

The Call to Camp! 

 

 Trout Camp 2008

Well, we did it!!  Once again the Georgia Trout Camp had a very successful camp and prepared 24 young anglers (20 boys and 4 girls) for a future in fly-fishing and water conservation. They learned to cast, read the water, be courteous to other anglers, protect our environment, identify bugs, tie knots, tie flies, maintain their equipment and catch fish!!  The weather was hot, very hot and dry but we didn't have hailstorms or high water as in past years.  Fishing is an outdoor sport so weather is just part of it.

A lot of folks do a lot of work to make this camp go and everyone is important. This is truly a statewide camp with campers from all 12 chapters and volunteer mentors from 10 of the 12 chapters (39 mentors total, including 16 from the Rabun Chapter). As always Shelia Humphrey at Smithgall Woods got the kids excited about bugs and good, clean water.  The DNR guys, Leon Brotherton and Lee Keefer, along with Mike Brod from USFS, instructed the campers in stream ecology, electro-shocking and stream structure construction.  The eight interns working through funding by Trout Unlimited added to the conservation experience of the boys and girls.  Perry Thompson, head of the stocking program at the Burton Hatchery, and his team helped the kids load the fish on the stocking truck and distribute them in the streams.  Knowing where to fish was explained by Jimmy Harris using a unique underwater video.  Jeff Durniak gave an award winning performance of how "not to act on a stream" with Doug Adams receiving several Oscar nominations for his supporting role.  How Doug caught a 16" Rainbow during the performance is beyond me, but he's good at that.       

TU National was supportive in the background checks (thanks to Andy Snyder - the new Sally Armstrong), literature, goody bags, and provided a free membership for all campers.                 

Once again our "Young Mentors" (TU members who have attended camp previously and are 15 years old) added much needed help.  Gavin Carson, Elizabeth Farquharson, Ian Farquharson, Kevin Lash, and Austin Sims all gave of their time to pass on what they learned just a couple of years ago.  They paint a bright future for TU.   

      
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School provides us with a near perfect facility to run the program that we do.  They help make our camp successful and add much to our comfort.  We are truly grateful.  With guys like Garland Stewart and Frank Tolbert, we leave the school in better shape than we found it.          

I can't imagine the hours that Mack Martin and Bob Foster spend getting all the equipment ready for the kids and for fly tying.  And it is great to have a professional seamstress like Emmilyn Rivers to sew on the trout camp patches.  I do know the time Kathy spends getting all this organized and it just would not work without all this effort.  At this time of year we think about what we need to change for next year and would appreciate any suggestions from you.  We want to just get better and better so let me know your ideas.     


Charlie Breithaupt
Trout Camp Coordinator

Below is a list of the men and women who helped with Trout Camp 2008. Thank you; thank you!!!

Doug  Adams  Eedee Adams  Dick Albertelli  Vic Aloisio  Josh Barnett  Pat Bradley  Charlie Breithaupt  Kathy Breithaupt
Gavin Carson  Elizabeth Farquharson  Ian Farquharson  Bob Foster  Ron Fry  Ray Gentry  Jimmy Harris  David Humphrey
Ray Kearns  Jim Kidd  Kevin Lash  Dick Luscher  Doug Mansfield  Shelia Mansfield  Sonny Marshall  Mack Martin
Jim Nixon  Bob Parker  Charles Pollard  Doug Reid  Lea Richmond  Terry Rivers  Deborah Scott   Austin Sims
Garland Stewart  Frank Tolbert  Larry Vigil  Fritz Vinson  Larry Walker  Alex Watson  Jimmy Whiten

      

A BIG Thank You to the 22 Donors and Sponsors of the 2008 Georgia Trout Camp

Cabela’s – Sidney, NE  Fishpond - Lenexa, KS  Frog Hair - Pittsburgh, PA  Loon Outdoors - Boise, ID             The Fish Hawk – Atlanta, GA  Unicoi Outfitters – Helen, GA  Scientific Anglers - St. Paul, MN  Costa Del Mar - Ormond Beach, FL  Temple Fork Outfitters - Dallas, TX  Fly Box Outfitters – Kennesaw, GA Bass Pro Shops - Lawrenceville, GA  Targus Fly & Feather - Woodland, WA Atlanta Fly Fishing Club - Smyrna, GA  Mountain Heritage Bank – Clayton, GA  Fly Fishing Benefactors – Winston, GA  R L Winston Rod Co - Twin Bridges, MT  Atlanta Fly Fishing School - Cumming, GA Georgia Women Fly Fishers – Talking Rock, GA  William Stephens Memorial Fund – Gainesville, GA  Georgia Wildlife Resources Division of GA DNR – Clarkesville, GA  Georgia Parks Division (Smithgall Woods) of GA DNR – Helen, GA  USDA Forest Service, Chattooga River Ranger District - Clayton, GA

 

Trout Camp Graduates

2004

    

2005

 

 

     

                  

     

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