Editors Notes N. Loprire Neshannock TU Winter Meeting 2/21/2015 Jeff Kremis ATTENTION!!! You need to voice your opinions to the PFBC quickly. The Fish Commission is considering a significant change to the Delayed Harvest waters in ALL of Pa. They want to allow kids under 16 and mentors (dads and/or moms) to fish with bait in DHALO projects year round. They also want to change the date to keep fish from June 15th to the Saturday before Memorial Day, and reduce minimum size from 9 to 7 inches. This is being done to get more kids interested in fishing. Why not sponsor more “derbies” where fish are stocked for a set date and let kids fish for them a couple times a year vs. allowing high hooking mortality bait fishing in a DHALO area year round. Comments can be made to Eric Levis Plan to join us for our annual “Winter Meeting” at Munnel Run Farm, off Rt.58 just North of Mercer. We will be in the “Pig Barn” (just past our trout nursery). Call if you need directions (724 588 4378). Lunch will be provided and we hope to have a couple of interesting speakers. Tim Wilson, from the Linesville Hatchery will speak. A second speaker is in the works. The meeting will start at 10AM and go to about 1PM with lunch around noon. We will review what is happening with the chapter this year and give you a chance to meet with friends or make new ones. Tickets for the banquet and gun raffles will be available. 717-705-7806 or email him at [email protected]. Go to Fishing Tips N. Loprire http://www.fish.state.pa.us/ and look under “News and Notes” (center column). Pleas VOICE YOUR OPINION NOW or live with the decision made without you. This was taken from the late Gary LaFontaine’s book “Caddisflies. Steelhead fishing was hit or miss and for me, mostly misses. Certainly, we are not seeing the numbers of returning steelhead of 5-6 years ago. The worst part is that NO ONE can give a logical or reasonable answer as to why. Low returns are happening in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. It really has affected the fishing traffic to motels and restaurants in the area. I sure hope things get back to normal soon. I want the “good ole days”. “It is a familiar site to see a fly fisherman changing flies, trying one pattern after another. At the same time he never thinks to change his tactics. His faith that a different size, color, or silhouette of a dry fly alone can make trout begin striking is incredible. It is usually wiser to try a new techniquesomething that can show the fly in a different way or different place-than to continue in such an unthinking rut.” Feeling a little tight in your waders after the holidays? I know this from experience and the best resolution (at least for me) is to brave the weather and get out walking, and avoiding the leftover cookie tray. Christmas is a fun season but the aftermath can set you back in many ways. Sensible eating and some exercise will do wonders in the months to come GET READY to order your 2015 Spring Banquet tickets. Tickets are $35 each. YOU CAN find all the detailed info on our website www.neshannock-tu.org. If you th “There is a major rule for dry-fly fishing: if passive presentations are not working, don’t just change flies, change to an active method (and vice versa)”. buy Another paragraph grabbed me when Gary said, “there is a big difference between fly casting and fly fishing”. Many times we power straight line casts to the perfect place only to see river currents pull that fly away from the drift we actually wanted. Get some “S curves” in those casts.” MARCH 7 Munnell Run Trout Nursery Bill Stevenson & Crew your ticket by you will get two free bucket raffle tickets plus be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Visa gift card. The nursery crew reported that all is well with this years browns and especially the 35 or so goldens, some of 1 which are over 15 inches as of this writing. About 400 browns were released in Coolspring and Neshannock in November, as their fast growth made for crowded conditions in the hatchery. They will be waiting when weather allows. Middlesex, PA and from all chapter officers and directors. Additionally, they can be ordered by mailing a check payable to Trout Unlimited Chapter 216 and sent to 1092 Hadley Drive, Sharon, PA 16146 – include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want your ticket stubs sent to you. The complete prize list is below. DRAWING will be at the banquet. You do not need to be present to win. The browns will certainly be 11 inches, some bigger, by spring stocking. For more info on the nursery call Bill Stevenson at 724.342.0472, or email [email protected], or Ken Tarczy [email protected] at 724.662.5765. Call to arrange for a tour with your kids and to volunteer for stocking the fish. Great idea for the kids to see the fish being stocked. Our Updated Website N. Loprire You may encounter a few “bugs” on our new website but it is definitely getting better with much more usable information uploaded. You can view it at www.neshannock-tu.org. There you can find the newsletter “the Coolwater Gazette” and info on our Spring Banquet. 1st Ruger SR 1911 .45 ACP 2nd Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380 3rd Shooters Supply $150 Gun Gift Card 4th Shooters Supply $20 Ammo Gift Card 5th Seconds Count Firearms Training Plan to bid on a beautiful carving (Rainbow trout) from Bob Bellino. His brown trout carving last year was a huge hit. Meet Bob and if you don’t get the rainbow, you can talk to him about a future carving you have been wanting. 2015 Spring Banquet You can join TU, get a T-shirt to support TIC (Trout in the Classroom) and much more. Carol Jochman & Nick Loprire The 37th annual spring banquet is in the early planning stages. The date is MARCH 21st 2015. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. We are again at the Park Inn by Radisson, just off I-80. YOU MUST BUY your ticket ($35) by March 7th to get 2 free bucket raffle tickets and be entered for a chance at a $50 Visa gift card. PLEASE note that purchasing a “Sponsor” ticket for $90 will get you more bucket raffle tickets (Bucket, Meat, Rod) than you if you bought them on your own. It IS the best value. See website or call for more info on Corporate or Individual Sponsor tickets. Think about it remember... buy early or...You snooze you lose!! You know the food will be great and there will be numerous prizes from fly rods, custom Damascus knife, art, flies, reels, and more. Don’t miss out, you won’t find more quality items, food and fun this spring and feel great about supporting TU’s mission of coldwater conservation. Carol and I and all the board members hope to see you there. Please call (see website) if you have any questions. “Nip it in the Bud” N. Loprire Those of us with some gray hair might remember that line “Nip it in the Bud” from Deputy Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show. That phrase can be used too in many other situations, including help for us outdoor types. So how does that phrase relate to us? We will again have a great gun raffle. The first prize will be a Ruger SR 1911 in .45 ACP. However unlike last year, two handguns will be among the prizes, and your ticket will enter you into drawings for all five prizes rather than having to purchase separate tickets for each prize offered. Tickets will cost $5.oo each or $20.00 for five tickets. Tickets can be purchased at Shooters Supply in West Remember the problem you had last year with a piece of equipment on a late season fishing trip? Did you fix...er.nip it in the bud or will that 2 problem jump up and bite you (good pun) on opening day? Come on now, there aren’t too many of us that would be ready to go at a moments notice and be sure all our equipment would perform as needed. Here is a small list of some items to be reviewed, assessed, and made ready for the upcoming season.         Don’t be like Barney who had to ask Andy for a bullet, be bold and get ready for a successful spring fishing season. Gosh, that was a good show. I miss it!! Trout in the Classroom update 1-132015 Rods and Reels. Give them a look. o Clean your fly lines o Clean and lube reels Clean out that vest o What strange things are in there? An old PBJ from October? o Enough split shot? o Net need fixed? o Bought a NEW LICENSE? o Do fly or Lure boxes need attention?  Rusted or dull hooks  Out of “secret killer fly”? Leaders...enough...need changed, o Check tippet material  Need more?  Is it old? o Need line on your spinning reels? Waders...do they leak? o Wash or clean if needed o Fix or buy new o Wading boot laces in good shape?? Sunglasses, sun block, insect repellant, etc. Inventory and get right before spring Thinking about a wading staff...time to look for one now as well as any other items to round out you arsenal before the “battle of the fishes” is under way. Better deals now vs. the spring rush. Be sure to clean and wax the joints if you have a staff, Fly Tying Materials o Thread, hooks, hackle, dubbing, etc o Special tools Reg McClelland The 2014 - 2015 Trout In The Classroom session is in full swing and everyone is reporting fry that are “swimming up” to feed. Luke Rust from the Mercer School District has sent me a good report saying that they have had a very good year thus far with few casualties but as the feed increases the water quality starts to drop and they expect to lose some fish when that happens. This seems to happen with most all schools. Jan Abernethy from East School in Greenville has had to take a health sabbatical until April and has had to turn the trout tank over to Chad Gongaware. All of us at the Neshannock Chapter of TU wish Jan all the best and hope she is feeling well soon. I have been in contact with Chad and have supplied him with some information and contacts to help with his transition to head trout raiser at Greenville. Since he has had no training, I commend him for taking this project on. From what I have learned from him he is very committed to see the trout and students succeed. I wish him lots of luck. As of this writing he has some “swim up” feeding fish but is experiencing some deaths and wants very badly to figure out why. Rick Stephens from the Hermitage school District is reporting a good but not great year. He has said that like other schools they received about half as many eggs as they have in years past. Although they didn’t experience the dreaded “December die off” as some of the teachers on the PA Trout In The Classroom Google Group are calling it, but his live fish numbers have been slipping down Trip Planning o Get with your Buds and start planning o Get a room or campsite reserved. o Check with shops in the area you want to fish as your trip nears. 3 recently. He and his students also are trying to figure out why. John Buchan Rick also told me that since they received fewer eggs this year that Amidea Daniel from the PA Fish and Boat is actually going to ship him some of their fry. And as of January 14 Rick and his students received about 90 fry that were shipped from Bellefonte by Amidea and her crew. Rick said that it has made for some very happy students. They are also going to do this for a number of other schools. It will be interesting to see how this works out. The girls that run this program for PA Fish & Boat and PATU do a fantastic job. Karl Rupert from the Farrell School district is reporting another good year. They started out with 227 live eggs and have somewhere between 150 and 175 swimming fingerlings. He states that “they are very hard to count”. I bet they are. Karl and his students have had some really great success with this program, although the Neshannock Chapter did not fund their program we are happy to have them be a part of it and to keep us informed with their successes. TIC T-shirts are still available for purchase. As a joint initiative by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited, all proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to directly benefit the Trout in the Classroom program, such as providing additional equipment to classrooms, funds for release days and field trips, educational materials, and more. PATU is accepting Tshirt orders on continuing bases. You can find out more information on ordering a TIC T-shirts at PATU’s website, http://www.patrout.org/ Thanks for helping this great program to be a continuing success. “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” 4