President’s Message:
Dear Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited Members,
Our next meeting will be Tuesday May 2nd at the Conley Street Hy-Vee in Columbia. The meeting room is on the second floor above the restaurant. The address is 25 Conley Rd, Columbia, MO 65201. This is in the strip mall just north of East Broadway near US 63 exit to East Broadway. The May meeting topic will be the upcoming trips to the Wisconsin Driftless Region on May 18th to the 21st and The Flat Top wilderness in August.
The June 6th meeting will be the annual hot dog burn at the Collins Shelter from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM. The park's web page is here: https://www.como.gov/parks/stephens-lake-park/. The address for the entrance closest to the Collins Shelter is: 2001 Broadway, Columbia. The club provides hot dogs, paper plates, cups, plastic ware. Please come with a dish and beverage to share. More details will be provided in the May newsletter. If you would like to bring some fishing related items that you want to give away, trade or sell please bring them.
At our April meeting Neal Miller brought a couple of his bamboo fly rods and gave a presentation on how to balance bamboo fly rods. Thank you Neal.
As reported last month, the Wisconsin Driftless trip will be from May 18th to May 21st and it will again be at Jerome’s Campground. Basically you just show up when you want, leave when you want and you can come earlier or leave later. You just pay Jerome for the days you want to stay. You can find more information about the trip and a review of last years trip at https://www.midmotu.org/post/announcing-our-2nd-annual-driftless-trip. Travis Figg is the contact for this trip.
Also as reported last month the chapter is also planning a trip to the Flat Top Wilderness near Yampa Colorado from August 14th to August 18th. This is will be a largely unstructured trip like the Wisconsin trip. Everyone will be arranging transportation individually and there will be a number of folks traveling together. Many of us will be glad to have additional passengers to share the expense so please come join us. Mike Kruse will be the contact for this trip. A few of us plan to backpack for one to two days and if you would like to join us please contact Curt Morgret. If you don’t have backpacking gear we can probably help you arrange to borrow some.
We had a discussion about a project at Bennett Springs to help upgrade handicap access with funds we received from a former member who has passed away. I have the agreement of our member’s widow and his fishing buddy that this is something he would agree was a good use of the donation. MMTU has agreed that we would contribute financially to this project after it has been engineered. No amount was agreed to. We would like to see the plans first. I have notified the Hatchery Manager of our intensions.
In keeping with TU’s intention to work with other organizations that support cold water fisheries, I bring the Mayfly Project to your attention. While this does not directly support cold water fisheries, encouraging a lifetime of fly fishing will lead to folks that care about like trout like we do.
As extracted, Greg Curtin’s Presidents message from the Capital City Fly Fishers March newsletter:
“MISSION
The Mayfly Project is a 501(c)(3) organization that uses fly fishing as a catalyst to mentor children in foster care. Our mission is to support children in foster care through fly fishing and introduce them to their local water ecosystems, with a hope that connecting them to a rewarding hobby will provide an opportunity for foster children to have fun, feel supported, and develop a meaningful connection with the outdoors.
Sarah and Ben Havens started the Missouri chapter of the Mayfly Project at Bennett Spring in 2020. Along with many others, Mike and Karen Jaegers, who are longtime members of CCFF, are helping as mentors of the project. Their continued hard work helps to build more recognition for the program and draws in more help around the state. Dates will be announced as to when you could help as well. There will be meetings once a month for the next few months to tie flies for the kids.”
If you would like to tie flies for the project and can not attend the onsite meeting you can can get the flies to me or one of the other people mentioned and we will see that they get donated to the project. I believe Nymph patterns are not recommended as they can be challenging for new fly fishers to work with. Ben Havens is the Hatchery Manager at Bennett Springs.
Hope to see you at the next MMTU meeting.
Doug Grove
douggrove@yahoo.com or 573-999-5114
Water Quality Monitoring Training Opportunities
No Level 1 field training is available this spring, but the videos are excellent. Check them out!. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBQMlfy_cD4DQe07cir0nipWVrbQ2npVy
Certification Opportunity
Level 2 and Validation trainings are combined starting Summer 2022. Monitors attending Level 2 for the first time will complete an online training prior to attending the in-person certification. A link to online training will be emailed after registration.
Level 2
The focus of the VWQM Level 2 training will be Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures to improve the quality of volunteer data. At this training, water samples will be analyzed in the classroom by monitors using their program-issued equipment. Attendees will also improve aquatic invertebrate identification skills.
PREREQUISITES TO ATTEND LEVEL 2: Completion of VWQM Level 1 and submission of two seasons of data including biological, water chemistry, visual survey, and stream discharge. Greg and Doug have completed the prerequisites and are eligible to register.
The closest training will be Jefferson City August 6 and this is the link to register https://www.mostreamteam.org/assets/level2_schedule.pdfhttps://www.mostreamteam.org/assets/level2_schedule.pdf with Event Passcode DE59.
2023 CFM Resolutions
Our chapter is a CFM affiliate and our treasurer is a former CFM Executive Director. During the March meeting John mentioned the latest resolutions and this provides more information.
The Conservation Federation of Missouri's membership voted upon ten resolutions during the General Assembly meeting at CFM's Annual Convention. All ten resolutions were approved and will be sent to the intended recipients. You can view the final versions of the resolutions by visiting our website https://confedmo.org/listed-resolutions-through-the-years/. Thank you to all the resolution authors and everyone who came to our General Assembly meeting to voice their opinions on the resolutions. #2023-2 is to reduce CO2 emissions in Missouri.
Message from Gateway TU
Evan is the Gateway Facebook editor and I met him during the egg planting that Mike and I participated in. He is interested in activities with other chapters, so he sent this to me and Chris Selle of MoKan. (Chris helped with the North Fork of the White tree planting project). Evan sent a picture of the Meramac Spring pavilion.
Evan is checking on the success of the egg planting and will let us know.
Hey guys!
Just wanted to pass along that GTU will be down at Maramec Spring working on the new pavilion we funded with James Foundation this Saturday the 22nd. Basic landscaping, putting together picnic tables, etc.
The following Saturday, the 29th we will be down there for BBQ/music at the pavilion. Hoping to get a nice group together to hang out, fish a bit and discuss some projects in 2023.
If either are of interest to your groups, the more the merrier! We are planning on food for 150 (assuming we will get quite a few random park goers stopping by for food)- we can up that total if you think there is any interest from your groups.
Thanks!
Evan
TU Western Regional Rendezvous
Doug and I will miss the Wisconsin trip because we will attend the Western regional conference in Taos, NM, May 18-21. There will be several interesting sessions including an in person presentation by TU’s lead scientist, Helen Neville, Trout and Climate Change and How You Can Help. She is down to earth, but an extremely knowledgeable speaker. Helen highlights the tremendous stream side work TU does to adapt to changing conditions. As John can tell you an added bonus is fishing with the locals. Shelley and I will drive out and we could take a couple more. Let me know if you have questions or would like to ride out with us. You can find more information and register at https://www.tu.org/get-involved/volunteer-tacklebox/volunteer-leader-trainings-events/annual-meetings-regional-rendezvous/regional-rendezvous/western-regional/
Hope you are getting some quality time on the water.
Jeff Holzem
Newsletter Editor
Ozark Council Climate Change Coordinator
President
Doug Grove
Vice President
Travis Figg
Past President
John Wenzlick
Secretary
Nathan McLeod
Treasurer
Brandon Butler
Banquet Chairs
Alternative Funding Committee
Travis Figg
Education Director
John Wenzlick
Membership
Curt Morgret
Conservancy
Bill Lamberson
Conservancy
Sam Potter
e-Newsletter
Jeff Holzem
Web Master
Ty Figg
Facebook editor
Ben Moore