Seneca Valley Trout Unlimited

Wednesdays meeting is the annual meeting where we take care of the business of electing officers and board members for this year, 2007. We have volunteers for almost all positions, names who will be familiar to those of you have been active over the last year, including many of those responsible for our conservation activities, organization execution of a very successful picnic and auction, and an outstanding series of programs for the membership meetings to name a few. We still have room on the board and I will make sure someone nominates you from the floor if you are interested in serving.

We have also worked this Fall to draft a new set of By-Laws for the Chapter (attached) and the membership, you, will be asked to approve them a this meeting. The changes made bring the By-Laws into line with the requirements of TU National and modernize some of the procedures to acknowledge the use of the internet in addition to written paper communications and the phone. There will be opportunity for discussion at the meeting and we will ask for your approval subject to any changes that may be made and agreed to at the meeting.

Finally, as an encouragement to you to attend, we are raffling off a Temple Fork Outfitters Lefty Kreh Finnese fly rod, a 7′ 9″ 4 piece rod that is perfect for the small to medium streams of this area like Hunting Creek , the Gunpowder or the Savage River, and would, I think even be a perfect fit to fish the Green on those windless days when the snow is falling ant the BWOs are hatching or you need to pinpoint cast a PMD cripple to a more than selective rainbow on the Henry’s Fork. Chances should be good as tickets will only be available at the meeting. Tickets will be $20 each.

Midges are about the only, consistent, game in town for dull gray days of winter in the Mid-Atlantic States. Jim Greco, a well known local fly fisherman and fly tier will give us a presentation that will introduce midges, imitation of midges and what is needed to fish those imitations on local streams to best effect. Jim, fly tying instructor for the Potomac Patuxent Chapter fly tying class each year, will also demonstrate tying some midge patterns and will leave us a pattern sheet to take home. Midge imitations are both simple and difficult to tie. They are simple flies and a good place to learn fly tying techniques, especially using small amounts of material and only a few turns of thread. On the other hand, they are tied on small hooks in the 20 to 26 and even smaller range. You will most certainly learn a lot about tying and get a leg-up on midge fishing, a practice that you will find useful year round.

Doug Hutzell is planning a work day on Beaver Creek for October 28. Start time is 8:00 AM. There will be trees to plant, stake removal, and installation of bark protectors, seeding and general clean up. Some of you helped with flood damage control after the flood at the end of June and this will continue this work and make sure the restored section is in tip-top form for the winter. Some continued maintenance is required to ensure that all the plantings get off to a good start and the restored area thrives. Hope to see you there.

Jay Sheppard will go over dozens of tactics and tackle tips to help improve your fishing success, the size and number of fish you catch and the quality of your fishing experience.  A wide range of topics will be covered:  From knots and leader systems to stalking trout and wading effectively, as well as fly lines, strike indicators, and floatant for flies.  Handouts will be used to give attendees some notes to take home and study further.  This will be a very informal discussion and cover a wide range of subjects of interest to every fly fisher, beginner to expert.  Jay has been fishing for over 60 years, starting in Ohio and living in Alaska, Oregon, and California before moving to Maryland in 1972.  He has been active in the Potomac-Patuxent Chapter and the Mid-Atlantic Counsel of TU for more than 25 years.  A Maryland Guide and inventor of the Patuxent Special, Jay writes a column about Tackle and Tactic Tips for the PPTU Conservationist and has championed the Patuxent River for that Chapter for many years.  He is a retired biologist for the US Fish & Wildlife Service and lives in Laurel.