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Potomac-Patuxent Chapter Trout Unlimited |
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Every Thursday evening, from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM, PPCTU volunteers meet with the wounded warriors to share their knowledge of fly tying, casting, knot tying, and trout fishing. This spring, PPCTU sponsored a PHW outing for our warriors to Burba Lake at Fort Meade. Our wounded warriors enjoyed catching bluegills and bass on flies they had tied. Laughs and shouts of encouragement were heard all around the lake. After fishing, the warriors and volunteers enjoyed a shore lunch of grilled burgers and hot dogs.
I believe I can speak for all the volunteers when I say this program has been a very rewarding experience. I cannot remember ever feeling so good about giving a little time, and what a great way for us to be able to thank those who have given so much for us. This is the least we can do to say thanks, and it is personally very rewarding. Thanks to all of the warriors who serve our country. Larry Vawter John Hopkins Outdoor Club Outing 9/2009
On Sunday, September 26, 2009, we had arranged to take the Johns Hopkins Outdoors Club fly fishing in the Potomac for smallmouth. I spent most of Saturday checking the USGS flow gauge, since it was raining heavily. The weather reports didn't look very promising either; several predicted thunderstorms and 20+ mph winds. Things looked a bit better when I got up on Sunday, the river hadn't risen, and the weather prediction now said 20% chance of light showers. Still, driving to the river in a constant "light shower", I wondered if anyone else was going to show up. I was pleasantlty surprised to see when I got there (ten minutes before our scheduled meeting time) that eight Hopkins students were already there, along with Carl Smolka and Grant Faller. With the addition of my son and myself, we had a one-to-two ratio of PPTU people to students, which worked out nicely. It also stopped raining, which was also nice. The river was LOW. In spite of a day of rains, it was flowing at about 1500 cfs, considerably lower than the 2800 cfs we experienced last year, and it was low then. After some preilimary cast instruction and practice, we hit the river. Wading was very easy; I never got my belt wet, and I pretty much waded from bank to bank. None of the students had any problems wading. Carl didn't even get his camera wet. That was the good part of the low flow. The bad part was that the heavily weighted flies we had come prepared with were just about useless. Above the bridge, where we spent the morning, the weed beds extended across the whole river, and from top to bottom. The poppers I tied proved to be a bit too wind resistant for the five weight rods we had given the students to use, so no body was catching any fish. I did manage one sunfish from a weed free hole three quarters of the way across the river. A flock of spin fishermen immediately rushed for the spot when they saw me with a fish. (Notice I said "sunfish", not bluegill. The native sunfish of the Potomac is actually the red-breasted sunfish, and I'm trying to not label all sunnies "bluegills".) About this point, it started to rain again, and we decided it would be a good time to break for lunch. It had stopped raining by the time we reached shore, though, but it was time to rethink our strategy. Grant came up with some small, unweighted woolly buggers, and I got out some small poppers and foam spiders. After lunch, most of us went downstream a quarter mile or so to a shaded spot that I knew from experience would have some bluegills, er sunfish, in it. The students started catching pumkin seeds and red-breasts and seemed to be having a blast. We didn't quite kill 'em, but I think only two students went fishless. When we at last waded back upstream, the two guys that hadn't come down with us reported catching four small bass, so ended up with at least some of the fish we came after in the first place. All told, about twenty fish were caught between the twelve of us. It turned out to be a very pleasant day, with water temps about 70 and the air about 75, and only a few sprinkles. We'll do it again next year, although I hope the river is just a little higher. Bob Dietz DIDYMO
What is Didymo? CHECK: CLEAN: DRY: WHIRLING DISEASEWhat is Whirling Disease? Therein lies the gravity of the whirling disease problem. M. cerebralis is virtually indestructible -- the spore can withstand freezing and desiccation, and can survive in a stream for 20 to 30 years. Whirling disease is most infective to rainbow and cutthroat trout, but can infect all salmonid species, including brook trout. Is there anything anglers and boaters can do to help prevent further spread? Conservation ActivitiesPPTU is a conservation organization dedicated to the preservation of coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. As such, we see it as an obligation, and an honor, to be active in this mission. If we are to succeed as a TU chapter, we need all of us working together! We need your suggestions and ideas on what we should be doing, how we cold improve on what we are already doing, and how we can make this organization more meaningful to you. Let us know what kinds of projects you think PPTU should be sinking its human and financial resources into, and what kinds of projects you would like to get involved in. How can we be more involved in coldwater conservation activities that would merit your interest and involvement? Any and all ideas or suggestions are welcome, and very much appreciated! Your opinions are instrumental in helping to formulate what we are going to do as a chapter. Please, take a few moments to help the chapter by sending your suggestions via e-mail to mail@pptu.org. The next Outing will be September 25-27 to the Savage River. Go to the Outings page for details and for information about other upcoming outings. The first page of the latest Chapter Publication, "The Conservationist" for September, is available by using the Chapter Publication Link. |
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© Potomac-Patuxent Chapter of Trout Unlimited 1999-2010 P.O. Box 2865 Wheaton, MD 20915 This document last modified 08/25/10 |
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