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Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter 308 |
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PO Box 11725, Roanoke, VA 24022-1725
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PO Box 11725, Roanoke, VA 24022-1725 |
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ABOUT US ACTIVITIES FEATURES Other Links Virginia Stream Restoration Guide
| Click here for past archives. ARCHIVES Remember an article from the past and would like to look it up? Try below. As articles become dated, they or their links will be copied to this page. $$$ LETS MAKE SOME MONEY! $$$ ANNUAL FUNDRAISER - OCTOBER 18 - Now that the picnic is over, we need to turn our attention to the annual fundraiser. For those who may not be totally familiar with what I'm talking about, we need some way to make money to spend on such things as the picnic we had last Saturday, and all sorts of other fun things such as kids programs and conservation projects. The more money we have, the more we can do. Right? Anyway, our typical fund raising consists of raffling off all kinds of neat things that have been donated for the purpose. George Kessler is kicking it up a notch this year and has scoured the area for items for the major raffle, including purchasing some items for the event. Some of the items that have been secured or have George hot on their trail are: ·
A weekend of lodging and fishing at a
great getaway place in the mountains ·
A Remington hunting rifle ·
An
Orvis
fly rod and reel ·
A Dagger Blackwater recreational
Kayak ·
A
Winston fly rod with
reel (Vintage fiberglass rod - a treasure!) Tickets will be distributed to Chapter members and certain stores for sale at a later date. Any major raffle ticket may win any of the items listed above, and more. The raffle drawings will be held at the October meeting, so that's a fun one to attend. However, you do not have to be present to win. Being there just makes it a bigger kick to be able to smirk at the non-winners, or so I have been told. In addition to the major raffle, we also will conduct a smaller raffle (cheaper tickets) consisting of, yes you guessed it, smaller items. Books, flies, fishing accessories, and who knows what else will be included in this one. More fun, and lots of winners. Of course our first objective will be to assemble a terrific pile of great items for the raffles, but the main objective is to SELL LOTS OF TICKETS. We don't make money gathering raffle items, WE MAKE MONEY SELLING TICKETS. Of course, having lots of great stuff gives us a better chance of SELLING LOTS OF TICKETS. If you have an item to donate, know of someone who might donate an item, or have suggestions for the raffle, contact George Kesler at keslerfamily@cox.net. We need your help! It would be great if several of you could volunteer to help George. KEEP AN EYE ON THIS WEB SITE FOR FURTHER DETAILS. DONATE STUFF! SELL TICKETS! BUY TICKETS! FIND SPONSORS! CALL GEORGE! GROW OUR NEST EGG! THE PICNIC WAS GREAT! Lots of people came, the weather cooperated, there was plenty of food, Wysor Smith was once again a gracious host, and some nice trout were caught. What more could you ask? At this time we haven't been able to produce an accurate count, but my guess would be that we had about 45 people. In any event, it was definitely our biggest event ever. Thanks again Wysor! Thanks to Chip Young and Jack Ward for planning the event and doing the shopping. Great job! DIDYMO - Dick Taylor reports a heavy presence of Didymo in the special regs area of the Smith River. Have you seen any in other streams?MAY MEETING (WEDNESDAY, MAY 17) - Dan Genest was the featured speaker. ROANOKE RIVER STOCKING (MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006) - Twelve Chapter members were on hand to assist DGIF personnel with the last of the spring stockings for the Special Regulations areas of the Roanoke River. The stocking went very smoothly with such a large contingent of TU members. This stocking featured some of the largest fish we have seen since the inception of the Special Regs areas, and included some very large brookies. As usual, the people working the Green Hill area finished off the activity with a cleanup activity. Many thanks to Hans and Anke Loberg for facilitating that activity. DIDYMO - What is didymo? What is this new apparition that is making an appearance on the Smith River? Check out the following links. Thanks to Bob Jenkins for the info. http://www.epa.gov/region8/water/monitoring/didymosphenia.html http://www.tva.gov/river/neighbors/aug05/algae.htm KIWANIS KIDS FISHING RODEO - SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2006 MANY thanks to the Chapter members who helped out. Click here for full writeup. NAME THAT HOLE! Bob Jenkins came up with a marvelous idea in one of his fishing reports. A great convenience factor for precisely identifying a specific location when submitting a fishing report would be to "name the holes". We could name the holes, riffles, or other prominent fishing features in a stream and mark them on maps on this web site. What do you think? Want to start with the Roanoke River? Thanks to Bob for the suggestion. WE NEED YOU! Check out the new Chapter committee listing. HELP FROM LL BEAN - In response to a request for equipment for youth activities, the chapter has received three 7' 5 wt fly fishing outfits, including line and backing, two catch and release landing nets, and three fly tying kits. The equipment was donated by LL Bean, a strong supporter of TU youth activities. The equipment will be put to good use in Chapter 308 programs. Many thanks to LL bean! APRIL ISSUE OF CONSERVATION NEWS (National TU) - For features on the Roanoke River channelization and the Smith River recovery effort.KIDS FISHING DERBY AND TROUT HERITAGE DAY - APRIL 1, 2006 - For a description of Chapter participation at the annual event at Waid Recreation Area. Click here for full writeup. CLEAN VALLEY DAY ROANOKE RIVER CLEANUP - APRIL 1, 2006 - I will fill in this section as more information becomes available. PUBLIC LANDS - Click here for a national TU advisory and appeal on the issue of public lands. ROANOKE RIVER - We would like to make some definitely opinionated statements about the channelization of the Roanoke River. In observing the damage that has already been done, we are shocked at the final product. It's not what the sellers of the plan had described in advance. We can only equate it to a waterway equivalent of strip mining. The river is being destroyed! Why is there not an outcry about that action like the one about the sale of public lands! What you see is a 40 year old plan run amuck! The times have changed, but the plan has not. We sure do wish that a whole bunch of you out there could send in letters to the editor on that subject. SMITH RIVER PROGRESS?? Just in case you haven't caught Mark Taylor's article in the Sunday (March 5 Roanoke Times), click here to check out the latest on the ongoing Smith River story. Essentially, it states that, even though some of the old walls may be coming down, there are still obstacles in implementing sound and environmentally friendly river flow and management practices for the river. The ironic part is that the latest obstacle is a conservation issue - the Roanoke logperch. I think that's a hoot. A recovery plan for the most deliberately manipulated and abused water system in the area is delayed over an environmental issue! But, that's how it is. Remember, we hope to positively influence the environment, so sometimes we just have to wait a bit longer for process to run its course. At least things finally appear to be moving, but there's still a long road ahead. Kudos to the Smith River TU Chapter and other people in Martinsville and Henry County who have finally began to make some progress on this persistently tough business, environmental, and bureaucratic nightmare. Also, thanks to Mark Taylor for covering the action. Mark's condensation of the effects of the river flow manipulation is an explanation that we have heard before - a number of times. Just think how many Virginia Tech PHD candidates have presented that information at our Chapter meetings, yet we haven't gone any further. I think we've dropped the ball a bit. This needs to be a public issue. Groups like ours need to become more vocal. But one does begin to wonder - how many studies do we really need? FREE PARKING WHILE ATTENDING TU MEETINGS - The multi-level parking lot at the corner of Market and Church features free parking after 5pm. Why pay when a free space is available just a block away from the Center in the Square? CHAPTER 308 NEWSLETTER - The survey results indicate that the Newsletter is the most common means by which Chapter members learn about Chapter activities. You might assume that there is a significant cost attached to the printing and distribution of that publication. Yes, it is the single greatest expense our Chapter has incurred since its inception. However, since it is the primary method of communication within our group, there is no question that its publication must continue, and in fact, be distributed more frequently. We are looking for ways to reduce costs while keeping you informed of all Chapter activities. An e-mail version of the latest newsletter was just sent to many of you. That electronic mailing cost nothing. The regular hard copy publication will be mailed out to you shortly. Costs of that mailing include printing, mailing preparation, and postage. The cost advantages of the e-mail version are obvious. If you would prefer to receive the e-mail version only, thereby conserving the paper use and mailing costs, please contact Chip Davis at chipdavis1@cox.net. He will remove your name from the postal mailing list and send your copies by e-mail. If we control costs we can produce more issues of the Newsletter. Think about it! We are still trying to beat a technical bug in producing the newsletter on this web site. Thank you for your patience. - Check out all
the activity on the TU Trout in the Classroom program. Should we be
working on that? GREAT YOUTH PROGRAM - TROUT UNLIMITED CONSERVATION AND FISH CAMP - Marvelous opportunity for a unique nature experience - June 25 - June 30, 2006 HEY FOLKS! I NEED SOME INPUT FOR THE WEB - FISHING REPORTS, STORIES, PICTURES, ETC. SEND TO dickvipp@aol.com (National Trout Unlimited) - Note links to Roanoke Times article about the Chapter's role in the Roanoke River stocking and to the Martinsville Bulletin article about a classroom hatchery project. NEW ROANOKE RIVER STOCKING - JANUARY 30, 2006 - The stocking went very well, with an unusually large turnout. For a narrative of Mark Taylor's story in the Roanoke Times describing the event, click http://www.roanoke.com//outdoors/wb/50643 DAVID VECELLIO FEATURED IN SALEM TIMES REGISTER - Chapter 308 member David Vecellio was the subject of a full page feature story in the January 26 issue of the Salem Times~Register. The article features Dave in the familiar role of Roanoke River Special Regs fisherman, complete with pictures. NEW WEB PAGE - We have a new page on the web site - a "directions page", with directions to favorite (or maybe not so favorite) fishing holes. Please help us expand it with good directions (send to me at dickvipp@aol.com). Thanks to Hans Loberg for the suggestion. ROANOKE RIVER CLEANUP AT GREEN HILL PARK - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2005 - -
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