Latest News

Stocking Report, Green Hill Park, Monday, Jan 30, 2012, 9:00am - With an exceptional turnout of volunteers the stocking was completed in less than an hour under ideal weather and water conditions! Too many... ?? One time, several years ago, it was Anke. me and some help from a bystander that we recruited. We can have too few, -but never too many! Your participation is very much appreciated! A big thanks to John Loope for installing the second TU Adopt-a-Stream sign at the beginning of the Greenway - Hans

I may have missed some, but here’s my listing of TU volunteers- Anke Loberg, Hans Loberg, Barry Whitt, Bill Bainter, Dan Phlegar, David Vecellio, Dick Cole, Dick Taylor, Don Butler, Isaac Coffey, Jack Ward, Joe Nawrocki, John Loope, John Parker, Judy Parker, Jon Wilson, Joy Tarta, John Tarta, Ken Seagle, Ken Yopp, Larry Bowers, Rand Bowden, Robert Marek, Roger DeLapp, Steve Minnix. "pictures coming soon"

Another great story written by our famous writer Dick Taylor. Click here to read.

Chapter Two Fly Event - February 4, 2012 We will attempt our first Two Fly Event for the Chapter on February 4, 2012. This event will be held in the Delayed Harvest Sections at Green Hill Park and the Colorado Street Section (Both Sections will be stocked prior to the event so there will be plenty of trout). There will be a $20.00 entry fee per team with all proceeds going to the chapter. Find a partner, dig out your long johns and lets have some fun with this event. Click on the following links for additional information and entry form: Two Fly Rules - Two Fly Entry Form - Two Fly Scoring Form

January 18, 2012 Meeting - Hi Folks - Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Roanoke TU Meeting - January 18, 2012 We have a Roanoke Valley TU meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 18th at Hollins University. We will meet in the Moody Student Center in the Goodwin Room at 7:00pm. Presentation - Our speaker for the evening will be Dan Gracia. Dan is a member of Roanoke TU and has been employed by Orvis for 25 years. For about 10 years Dan taught and coordinated Orvis's Fly Fishing Schools on the West Coast. Dan has also taught Fly Fishing Schools up in Manchester and locally at Hot Springs. Dan has worked for Orvis in various other roles including managing the Rod and Tackle department. Dan has an extensive knowledge of fly fishing. His topic for the evening will be Strategies and Techniques for fishing Spring Creeks. Chapter Two Fly Event - February 4, 2012 We will attempt our first Two Fly Event for the Chapter on February 4, 2012. This event will be held in the Delayed Harvest Sections at Green Hill Park and the Colorado Street Section. There will be a $20.00 entry fee per team with all proceeds going to the chapter. The rules for this event along with an entry form will be posted to our web site soon. Find a partner, dig out your long johns and lets have some fun with this event. Raffle Tickets By now you should have received Raffle Tickets in the mail for our 2012 Raffle. This is our primary fund raiser for the year and I hope that all of you will support this initiative. We have a number of great items sponsored by Orvis. Prizes also include a custom fly box by Hans Loberg, a stay at Meadow Lane Lodge, a guided fishing trip on the South Holston and a set of golf clubs in case you get tired for fishing. The drawings for the raffle will be held at the February 15th meeting. Additional tickets will be available at the January and February meeting. You do not have to be present to win. Stay tuned for more details about the raffle. Volunteer Opportunities We have a need for a Secretary and a Membership Chairman. If you have an interest in serving in either of these roles, please give me a call. Thanks for your continued support. Bill Bainter, President Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited, (540) 989-5249

Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter 308 Raffle - Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Please mail your tickets back as soon as possible. Tickets are $5.00 each or 5 for $20. Mail your ticket stubs and donations in the enclosed envelope ASAP. Must be received by Monday February 13, 2012 or bring your tickets to the February meeting, Drawing will be at the general meeting at Hollins University, Wednesday Feb. 15 th at 7:00 PM. Thank you for your generous support to continue our work in stream restorations, conservation and educational projects. Click here to view prizes donated for the raffle. Also please make sure you thank and support our sponsors! For more tickets or questions concerning the raffle, please contact Bill Bainter, President.

Hello Roanoke TU Members
I keep hearing that of some of our members are having some great fall fishing. Hope you are as well. We will not have a Roanoke TU meeting in December. Our next meeting will be January 18, 2012. We did some good things in 2011: 25 Schools in the TIC Program TIC releases in Roaring Run, Little Stoney at the Peaks and North Creek, Kids Kiwanis Fishing Day in Salem, Kids Fishing Event at Buchanan, Kids Fishing Derby at Franklin County, Celebrate Catawba Event, Two Cleanups in Green Hill Park, Assist DGIF with stocking DH sections at GHP and Colorado Street, Cleanup and Stocking on Catawba Creek, Roanoke Outdoor Circus, Support for Project Healing Waters at the Salem VAMC, eColi Sampling on Glade Creek. Thanks for all your support and participation in these chapter activities. I look forward to working with you in 2012. Best Wishes for a safe and happy holiday season. Bill Bainter, President Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited

Our regularly scheduled TU meeting will be Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 pm at Hollins University - Moody Student Center - Goodwin Room. Our speaker for the meeting will be Bruce Ingram. Bruce has been an outdoor writer since 1983. Bruce spends much of his time fishing, hunting, birding and enjoying the outdoors. He as written four books: Fly and Spinfishing for River Smallmouths James River Guide New River Guide Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers Guide We look forward to having Bruce present at our October meeting. http://www. bruceingramoutdoors.com/ Historically we have held our annual raffle in October. Due to workload for our many projects, TIC and other events, the raffle has been delayed to later this year. If you would like to assist with the raffle this year, please give me a call. Hope to see you Wednesday night. Bill Bainter, President

In spite of the gloomy weather we had a record turnout for the stocking at Green Hill Park. On Monday the black top on first parking lot was being resealed and the Greenway was closed for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for further resaling. Fortunately the rain suspended the sealing operation and John Loope secured permission from the county to access both the parking lot and the Greenway. Andy brought us a nice combination of browns, some good size ones, from the Paint Bank hatchery. We had a light rain on and off and were done in record time at 9:40am. Excellent job by the volunteers- Al Scanlan, Molly Scanlan, Barry Whitt, Bayes Wilson (sub), Bill Bainter, Broaddus Fitzpatrick, David Vecellio, Dick Taylor, Don Kreh, Hans Loberg, Jack Ward, Jeff Culbertson, John Loope, John Parker, Judy Parker, Ken Ziegler, Marvin Huffman, Steve Minnix, Ted Creighton. Thanks, Hans

Had a really great turn out for the stocking with maybe as many as 15 folks there. Probably did it in record time of about 45 minutes I believe. Hans should have a report about and I believe he signed up all the participants as well if you need the names. Thank goodness we got some more then much needed rain last two days and the river was up considerably from Tuesday. Hopefully there will still be some left by tomorrow! Actually, only saw one person walking up the greenway with a spinning outfit as I left and believe there's no problem as I seen him there before and talked to him. Thanks, Dick Click here to view pictures

They had about 125 kids registered for the fishing rodeo according to the folks that were conducting the program. Unfortunately, the set up doesen't leave a lot of time for visits to our set up except for the kids that tried their hand at casting and then registered for the compleye fly fishing outfit that we offered as a prize. There was also two fly tying outfits in a nice wooden box for prizes. Photos of the three winners are included in the accompanying shots. Believe the biggest trourt was almost a tie between two 21 1/4" rainbows one of which weighed in at 3.88 lbs and the other about 3.55 lbs. Looked like we would be a little light in the TU Chapter participation for a while with Dick Cole, Bill Bainter and Dick Taylor there early on; but, later joined by Art Lewis, David Vecellio, Judy & John Parker & Wes Jargosky representing the clean water folks and seining the river for aquative species. Click here for pictures.

Greetings to Roanoke Valley TU Members - We have a regularly scheduled TU meeting set for September 21st: Meeting Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Time: 7:00pmPlace: Hollins University Building: Moody Student Center - Goodwin Room - 1st Floor Our speaker for the evening will be Pete Eshelman. Pete is the Director of Outdoor Branding for the Roanoke Regional Partnership. He will give us an update regarding Outdoor Branding for the Roanoke Region and discuss the upcoming Roanoke Outdoor Circus. Below are a couple of related web sites to visit prior to the meeting: http://www.roanokeoutside.com/ http://www.theoutdoorcircus.com/ In addition to Pete's presentation, we will have a called vote on the model By-Laws. The old and new By-laws are posted on our web site for you to review. This is an important piece of business for our chapter and I hope we can have a good turnout to vote on this action. Hope to see you Wednesday night. Bill Bainter President Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited

The fall cleanup “social” at Green Hill Park went very well with a record turnout. Coffee and doughnuts by Vipperman and homemade cookies by Anke kept us “shooting the breeze” at the picnic shelter for some time. The cleanup resulted in the usual trash consisting of cans, bottles, shoes and socks, other pieces of clothing, plastic bags, etc. along with a tire and a 3’ x 8’ section of curled up sheet metal. The cleanup was completed in about one hour with the following participants- Anke Loberg, Hans Loberg, Bill Bainter, Bob Crawshaw, Dan Phlegar, David Vecellio, Dick Taylor, Dick Vipperman, Jack Ward, John Parker, Judy Parker, Jon Wilson, Ken Yopp, Roger Delapp, Wes Jargosky.

Celebrate Catawba - Saturday 8-13-2011, Click here to read story and view pictures.

Click here to read "A REUNION OF SOULS" another fantastic story by our famous writer, Dick Taylor

Meeting Date: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - Time: 7:00pm - Place: Hollins University - Building: Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center (NOTE - this is a different building across the street from Moody Center) Lecture Hall: #119. Due to some new student activities, our meeting location for August is changed to the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center. Room #119. This building is across the parking lot from the Moody Student Center where we normally meet. Our speaker for the August meeting will be Shawn Hash. Shawn is the owner/operator for Tangent Outfitters - Pembroke, VA. Tangent offers a variety of fishing opportunities on the New River as well as trout streams in that area. Shawn and his associates will give an update on smallmouth fishing on the New River and the services they offer. I hear the New River is really HOT right now. Come out, cool off in the A/C and hear about fishing opportunities in the New River Valley.

The Roanoke TU Annual Picnic was held Saturday, July 23rd at Wysor Smiths property in Craig County.

The day was hot but still had a few breezes. Water was about 69 or a little less so it was decided not to stress the fish and we didn't fling any flies. Had some great food and not enough folks to eat it. They have done some work on the fishing area and Wysor has created some new small pools below the lower dam. They are also working on the upper dam and looks like they're adding some stronger back up stone and cement works to the top of the dam behind the walkway. He also said they had problems with muskrats and had to add some fill material (clay and maybe something else?) to repair holes where they were tunneling under the dam. Dick

The Roanoke TU Chapter will participate in the Celebrate Catawba 2011 event. Celebrate Catawba is a community sponsored event intended
to showcase the, land, resources and talents residing within the Catawba Valley. Our chapter has been looking at various reaches of
Catawba Creek for potential riparian projects. Similar to past years, we will set up our tent and offer conservation, membership and other information to the public. We will also offer fly casting and fly tying. If you would like to volunteer to assist this year, please contact Bill Bainter at: billb@roanoketu.org or (540) 989-5249 Come out and help showcase our chapter activities. Event Time And Location Date: Saturday, August 13, 2011 Location: Catawba Community Center just off 311 Time: 10:00am till 3:00pm Setup Time: 9:00am
Web Site: www.celebratecatawba.com.

Fall Waterways Cleanup, Saturday, October 1st, 2011 - 8:30AM to 11:30AM, Contact Hans for Details.

A Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at Hollins University at 7:00pm. We will meet in the Moody Student Center in the Goodwin Room. In the Spring of 2010 a number of you participated in the Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study or VTSSS. This study, managed by UVA, has been on going since 1987. It is designed to monitor the impact of acid rains on Virginia Trout Streams. Our program for Wednesday evening will consist of a presentation of the VTSSS data by Rick Webb the Project Coordinator. Monitoring the impact of acid rain has been an important environmental initiative for all TU chapters across the state.
Come out and join your TU friends for this informative evening. Bill Bainter Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited

Location: Fairgrounds at Buchanan on the banks of the James River TU members will offer fly casting instruction, fly tying and offer conservation and other information about Trout Unlimited membership. We will be giving away a youth fly rod/reel outfit at the end of the event. Free lunch will be available. This event is organized by Shannon Smith, DGIF Protection Officer. We need members to assist kids with fly casting, fly tying and man our tent to provide information to the public. Come out for a fun morning.

Location: Meet at Gate #3 at Roanoke Cement Plant on Catawba Road . Roanoke Cement will conduct a cleanup along Catawba Creek and Catawba Road Saturday, June 4th. Coffee, donuts, water, gloves and bags will be provided. Roanoke Cement has been a generous contributor to our TIC program and allowing TU members to fish Catawba Creek. Come out and show your appreciation by helping with the cleanup. If you plan to volunteer for either of these events, please contact Bill Bainter at:

Click here to view flyer for the Kiwanis Kids’ Fishing Day is Saturday, May 21, 2011 at HopeTree Family Services (formerly Virginia Baptist Children’s Home) from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

A Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18 at Hollins University at 7:00pm. We will meet in the Moody Student Center in the Goodwin Room. Whit Ellerman has arranged a very interesting program for Wednesday's meeting. First we will watch a short movie called "Eastern Rises". This film is about fishing the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia. Our guest speaker will be John Parrish who will speak about his experience with the Kamchatka Steelhead Project wherein fishermen work with scientists in Russia to catch, tag and study steelhead. Mr. Parrish is also a builder of custom bamboo fly rods. He will display and discuss the rods he builds. Come out and enjoy the evening with your TU friends. Refreshments to be served. We will also raffle a custom fly box crafted by Hans Loberg. Bill Bainter, Roanoke Valley Trout Unlimited

Short story by our own famous writer, Dick Taylor - May 9, 2011 - Click here to read.

Youth education is an important part of our mission. The Roanoke TU Chapter will be participating in two kid’s events this summer.

Location: Hope Tree in Salem (formerly Virginia Baptist Children’s Home) TU members will serve as guides baiting hooks, removing fish and assisting with tackle.This is not fly fishing but it is trout fishing in a pond. Kids are allowed to keep what they catch. We need members to serve as guides and to help man a fish cleaning station. A picnic lunch will be provided around noon. This is a fun event. We need your help to make this event a success.

Location: Fairgrounds at Buchanan on the banks of the James River TU members will offer fly casting instruction, fly tying and offer conservation and other information about Trout Unlimited membership. We will be giving away a youth fly rod/reel outfit at the end of the event. Free food will be available. This event is organized by Shannon Smith, DGIF Protection Officer. We need members to assist kids with fly casting, fly tying and man our tent to provide information to the public. Come out for a fun morning. If you would like to volunteer for either of these events, please contact Bill Bainter at: billb@roanoketu.org OR phone (540)989-5249

As a member of Roanoke Valley Chapter #308 you are granted the privilege to access this private stocked stream. For more details please contact Bill Bainter, President or Jack Ward for more details and how to sign up and permit needed. This is only for chapter members.

We have an exceptional presentation scheduled for our regular meeting on Wednesday, April 20th. Please join us for an Introduction to Tenkara Fly Fishing, by local TU member Kevin Kelleher, author of "Tenkara: Radically Simple Ultralight Fly Fishing", recently published by Lyons Press/Globe Pequot. This inexpensive and easy to learn fly fishing method is great for beginners and liberating for the experienced, and is especially suited for small streams and the backpacking angler. In addition to some brief audiovisuals, Kevin will bring a sampling of tenkara rods and examples of the traditional Japanese flies. Take a look at the Youtube Video links below. Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 Location: Hollins University - Moody Student Center - Goodwin Rm - 1st Floor Time: 7:00pm www.youtube.com/watch?v=bufZHI7u-z8

Click here to for more past archives.

Fly Fishing Flies
Discount & Wholesale

Click here to for more past archives.

Fly Fishing Flies Discount & Wholesale

Fly Fishing Flies
Discount & Wholesale