State of the Chapter Report

A fiscal summary of activity from October 2015 thru September 2017.

Financial : In solid order as the closing bank balance of

Sept. 30, 2017 was $ 13,834 as compared to Sept. 30, 2015 of

$ 10,146 and Sept. 30, 2016 of $ 8,359.

Initiatives : We have endowed several programs of education in watershed stewardship, trout life-cycle and habitat, fly tying and casting. Among those are Trout In the Classroom (TIC), Casting for Recovery (CfR), Reel Recovery (RR), the Otter Creek Fund at Camp Pio-mingo, and contribute to the fly fishing museum in North Carolina.

We have added initiatives such as TU Youth in Western Kentucky and TU Women to broad-en the scope of our chapter’s outreach.

Louisville TU Members have participated in several exhibit venues teaching fly fishing and

Leaders & Tippets

Lee Squires, Editor

bonsaiman@twc.com

November– December 2017

President’s Corner Mike Lubeach, President

TU Members have volunteered and actively participated in TIC, RR, CfR, Clean Up Day at Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area along the creek side and picnic area.

A sign has been erected at the New Hatchery Creek at Lake Cumberland’s Wolf Creek Hatch-ery denoting 100 trees donated and planted along its banks by TU volunteers to curb erosion and enhance this watershed.

Membership : During this summary period, our Chapter Membership has grown from about 300 to over 400 paid members.

We have had many quality programs at Chapter Meetings featuring noted speakers. Our An-nual Banquet/Fundraiser has had record-breaking attendance and more quality prizes than before. The Chapter Annual Picnics and December Holiday Meeting/Parties have been lots of

fun with good eats.

Louisville TU has taken a firm stand of opposition to the United Stated Environmental Protec-tion Agency’s commitment to weaken or repeal the Clean Water Act, the Clean Water Rule, and the Antiquities Act. We have partnered with TU National and dozens of chapters across America to oppose actions that endanger watersheds and public lands.

Like a Well-Oiled Machine

As your Chapter President, I have, for nearly the past two years, been blessed by having a cohesive Board of Directors that worked together diligently and collectively like a well-oiled machine. Without their dedication to TU, we might not have been as effective in developing several initiatives that we now have in place to enrich watershed education and trout preservation. Here are some of those initiatives :

With our first venture into teaching children the aspects of “Trout In the Classroom”, a hands-on experience throughout the school year, we have imparted the fundamentals of hatching, raising, and caring for trout fry in an environment duplicating a natural cold water habitat.

We created a designated fund, through Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to teach a course in trout life-cycle and habitat at Camp Piomingo at Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area. In the first year, 2500 young campers learned to use microscopes and lab supplies to chronicle trout life-cycle development and the watershed they live in. This fund, simply called ‘The Otter Creek Fund”, is also designated for stream or stream-side improvement and enhancement.

Our TU Youth Program, with the help of Sydney Abbott in the western part of Kentucky, has expanded our outreach to students learning fly fishing , fly tying, and stewardship of our watersheds.

TU Women Program, while in its infancy, expands our desire to reach this segment of our population. Women fly fishers’ numbers are steadily growing rapidly throughout America.

I wish to thank the following TU Officers and Board Members for all they have done

to make Louisville TU a continuing “Work in Progress”.

Vice President John Spence

Secretary Roger Shott

Treasurer Paul Vitello

Board Members Linda Squires

Roy Weeks

Bill Remaks

Frank Elsen

The following are retiring from the Board at the end of this year. They have served as volunteers to our Chapter for many years and I wish them well. They have been treasured assets to the Board :

Roger Shott, Bill Remaks, Frank Elsen, and Linda Squires.

I wish to also commend Lee Squires , our current State Council Chairman, for his dedication to our chapter and constant support in so many ways.

A new State Council Representative, John Spence, will be joining Bill Remaks and Ed Allgeier already on the Council.

Our newly elected 2018 – 2019 Officers & Board of Directors include the following :

President Mike Lubeach

Vice President John Spence

Secretary Roy Weeks

Treasurer Paul Vitello

Board Members Dan Jackman

Lee Squires

Tyler Winger

Ken McQuiston

I look forward to working with our new Board of Directors and am confident they will steer our chapter to greatness in the coming years. I plan on keeping the machine well oiled !

One of the initiatives I plan to promote in the near future is TU Military, an outreach program for active, retired, and disabled mili-tary men and women. TU Military is widely incorporated by many chapters throughout America and teaches the fundamentals of fly fishing to those men & women.

Mike Lubeach, President

Louisville TU Chapter # 476

(502) 494-9791

ANNUAL FUNDRAISING BANQUET HELD ON SEPTEMBER 5th

Our banquet this year was a rousing success and the Chapter had more income than in the past years. The reason for this financial success was two-fold: we collected and had do-nated a great array of interesting prizes and auction items and we accepted credit card pur-chases. The prizes created purchasing interest and the credit card purchase made it a lot easier to leave the K of C Hall with some worthwhile items. Many thanks to Paul Vitello for procuring the credit card machine and to Susan Vitello for running that part of the checkout procedure.

Susan Vitello and Joe Bobrowski ran the checkout table and Joe sold bucket raffle tickets like a champ as he always does. Thanks to you both.

Attendance was pushing 80 and we nearly maxed out the K of C Hall seating arrange-ment. Sheriff Aubrey was glad that we had a full house !

Linda Squires was in charge of decorations and she did her usual superb job in making the décor perfect in every way. She always adds a special touch to her table arrangements.

A big thank you again to all of our donors and committee members that helped out in every way.

Susan & Joe were prepared for any and all checkout problems

Paul arranged for a traffic control officer to be on hand at the entrance to the Hall on River Rd. to stop traffic

as attendees walked across the road to the parking lot. This was a great idea and it made our departure

much safer as drivers tend to speed along River Rd. Thanks Paul !!!

The Hall was decorated, Mike Lubeach made some opening remarks and Lee & Linda were ready for the festivities

Brandon Cox, teacher at Heartstern

Elementary, told the group about the

fun and education his 4th grade class

got from participating in Trout in the

Classroom last school year when he

taught at the Maupin School

Sydney Abbott, our TU Youth member

and advocate from Western Ky., de-

scribed her experiences with the TU

Youth Summit sponsored by TU

National

The door prize table welcomed

attendees along with a helium filled

trout balloon.

Bill Remaks and Lee examined a

hunting knife donated by Roger Shott

for a possible bidding war

MYSTERY FLY FOR CANCER REEL RECOVERY KY/IN FUNDRAISER

SATURDAY, November 18, 2017

Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area

850 Otter Creek Park Road, Brandenburg, KY 40108

Registration/Rules: 8 AM - Fishing 9 AM to 1 PM Pre-Registration (by Nov

17th): $40; Day of Event: $50 Entry fee includes one fly, coffee, doughnuts

and lunch

Pre-Register and Pay ONLINE at Derbycityflyfishers.com

“Mulligan” flies - $5 each, KY Fishing License Required

100% of all proceeds will go to the KY/IN Reel Recovery Retreat.

Reel Recovery is a 501 C (3) non-profit group that provides FREE Fly

Fishing Retreats for men living with cancer.

If you have questions, please email Ruby Gordon at rsgandrbg@gmail.com or

George Tipker at derbycityflyfishers.com

WHAT’S HAPPENING ……….

Lee Squires

FLY TYING ….. Tuesday, November 28th at 6:00 at Cabela’s

HOLIDAY PARTY….. Wednesday, December 13th at 6:30 at Commonwealth Bank, Hubbard’s Ln.

Please find more info elsewhere in this issue

BRISTOL BAY / PEBBLE MINE ISSUE….. Please find more info on this on the SaveBristolBay.org website

Contact Eric Booton at 907-770-1776

Or: ebooton@tu.org

COAL MINING RECLAMATION BILL….. Please find more info on this from Kate Miller at TU

Kmiller@tu.org

NEW YORK TIMES GLOBAL WARMING ARTICLE….. Refer to this article on the NYT website

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/climate/us-climate-report.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM….. Please see the most recent progress in an article elsewhere in this issue

Several months ago, Tom Fitzgerald made a presentation to our TU chapter to bring us up to date on the state of the State environmentally and KRC's efforts toward protecting and improving Kentucky's natural resources. He did not ask for nor did he receive any compensation. However, KRC does exist only by donor generosity. It is Kentucky's only environmental advocacy organization and its primary mission is to protect Kentucky's natural resources. Registered as a 501(c) (3) corporation, it accepts neither corpo-rate nor government funding.

Several of us have known Tom and have been long-time KRC contributors. Roger Shott, who currently sits on KRC's board, and Frank Elsen and I were in attendance at his annual meeting this weekend, where Tom and others laid out in plain language the many obstacles currently encountered in the systematic unravel-ing of previous environmental gains at both the Federal and State levels. I'm sure the three of us give an-nually, but I am bringing this to the chapter's attention to encourage any who would also like to donate to KRC's cause individually to make it your cause. Go on line to Kentucky Resources Council to donate.

KENTUCKY RESOURCES COUNCIL

Ed Allgeier

TROUT UNLIMITED, CHAPTER 476

ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13th at 6:30 PM

COMMONWEALTH BANK, HUBBARDS LANE

THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF FOOD AND DRINKS

PLEASE BRING A FOOD ITEM, OR

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK TO SHARE

IN ADDITION WE WILL HAVE GAMES AND DOOR PRIZES!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

GIFT EXCHANGE PLEASE BRING

A $10.00 TO $15.00 GIFT

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE, THAT’S OK, JUST PLAN TO COME

AND ENJOY THE EVENING WITH NEW AND OLD FRIENDS AND SHARE 2017

MEMORIES

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

From the Editor …………………………Lee Squires

Linda and I made our way down to the Cumberland River on October 27th to try to get in some late Fall fishing. It was rainy and in the 40’s so we opted out of boat fishing and decided to try our luck at Hatchery Creek.

We fished first on Sunday that weekend and the weather was a bit cool and overcast but not bad. The worst part about the day was the 30 + fisherman we had to dodge on the stream. I guess the weekend day off from work added more fishing spot competitors to the list of other Hatchery Creek issues.

We saw Brad Redmon on the stream and he was guiding clients. Brad did pretty well with his hookups and catches. He was telling me that two weeks prior many trout had moved up into the creek to start the spawning cycle. The water began to warm earlier in the week and today it was 65 degrees. Consequently, the fish don’t like that warm water for spawning so they headed back down to the river. There were a few determined breeders still in the creek as we fished our way along the creek but most had headed back down the fish ladders.

I had other reports from friends that had been fishing lately and they were telling the same story of low, warm water. No rain = no generation from the dam and low water results. I talked with a lady with the Wolf Creek Hatchery at the headquarters building and she said that the water they are drawing out of Lake Cumberland now is 63 degrees from the bottom of the lake. The lake is “turning over” as it does every Fall and the cool water from the bottom and warm water from the top change places. She said that soon they-will start to draw from their mid-depth pipes to get some cooler water. Generation from the Wolf Creek Dam has the same results with 63 degree water coming through the dam from the bottom of the lake.This is the main problem with the temperature at this time and is also why sluice gates are being run to help keep up the oxygen levels. Downstream at Spearman Island and below you will see temperatures in the high 60’s or lower 70’s. Warm air temperatures are also a factor in creating this warm water condition.

Linda and I went back to the creek on Monday when most nimrods were back at work. She and I and another fellow were the only fisherman on the creek. There were a lot of smaller trout in the water in the 5-6” range. Either spawning was great last year or some fish had escaped from the catch & keep section. After questioning the hatchery rep, she did say that some smaller fish had escaped from the upper section earlier in the week because they had a blockage and overflow into Lower Hatchery Creek and some fish escaped. That seemed a bit strange to me.

Continued on page 15…..

Hatchery Creek Temperatures

TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM REVS UP FOR 2017-2018

Lee Squires

On November 3rd Ed Allgeier and myself headed to Lexington to pick up trout eggs to deliver to our three

TIC classrooms: Westport Middle School (Natalie Butcher, teacher) & Hartstern Elementary (Brandon Cox,

teacher) in Jefferson Co. and Freedom Elementary (Natasha Kremer, teacher, photo not available) in Bullitt

Co. We met Sandy Broughman and Bill Davig from the Bluegrass Chapter who had just returned from a trip

to the Wolf Creek Hatchery to pick up eggs and food. There were several teachers from other schools pre-

sent and Gene Slusher, TU National Leadership Council rep, was there to pick up eggs for a school near his

home.

We got our three bags of eggs and food. The eggs (approximately 100) are transported in plastic bags set

on two layers of bubble wrap on a bed of ice in a cooler. This keeps them cool without making them too frig-

id with ice contact. All eggs were delivered safely and on time to all schools. They should hatch in a couple of

weeks.

Of course, there are always potential problems and issues with fish, aquariums and the equipment need-

ed. Natalie had a poor connection on the outflow tubing from her chiller and there was a potential for ma-

jor leakage onto the floor; bad, bad, bad at 3:00 in the morning ! I called Mike Lubeach on November 7th

and together, we solved the prob-

lem with a trip to Lowe’s.

Natalie, Lee & Brandon with

their bags of fertile trout eggs

Mike tightens the newly designed and

expertly engineered connection and

solves the leakage problem

We continued fishing and managed to catch a few smaller fish but the larger ones had been hard to hook.

The water was murky, almost muddy but we could still see a flash or two from the bottom dwellers. The

lunkers were shooting the bird at my caddis pupa fraud so I switched both of our flies to an interesting

pattern lurking in my Box no. 6. I landed a good size potential breeding rainbow and Linda had hits almost

immediately on her fly. The fishing equation: a different fly + continued casts = fish on the hook.

Fishing should get better as the lake turns over , the water cools down some and the air temperature

drops. Try your luck, change flies if you’re not hooking up in 20-30 minutes and look forward to some late

Fall fishing.

On his website (cumberlandbottomticklers.com ) see guide, Greg Williams’, article on his take on the

dam’s generation schedule from this past Summer: Cumberland River Fishing Report—Vital info about

water release schedule, report from 8-29-17.