President’s Message:
Dear Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited Members,
Summer is mostly over and so it is time for us to resume meeting again. I see this as the beginning of a new year for Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited. Officially the Trout Unlimited calendar starts in April; but, September is when this chapter typically starts considering what we are going to do for the upcoming year. So in the next few weeks, before the next meeting, I would like us to consider what we would like to accomplish. We will have a discussion about it at our next meeting.
A few things to consider:
Most of us, I think, would like to have our annual banquet this year. We have not had one since the start of the pandemic. So far no one has volunteered to be the banquet chair. We are also looking for members for the committee. We would also like to sell the tickets online this year. If you have any ideas about how we could do that at a reasonable cost please let us know.
The banquet is our main fundraising event. We have also benefited from some generous donations. But these don’t have to be our only means of raising funds. If you have an idea how we could improve our fundraising for cold water fisheries conservation please let us know.
In the past we have taken some of our chapter’s rods, reels, etc to Cosmo-Bethel park the first weekend in November to see if we can interest people in trying fly fishing. This is also a good way to make the community more aware of our existence. The first of November is when the Department of Conservation stocks the lake with trout. If you would like to help with the chapter’s outreach effort please let us know. We will be looking for someone to organize the outing. If we get started planning early enough maybe we can get it publicized.
Last year we were thinking that it would be good to get back to the North Fork of the White River at Patrick Bridge and check on the trees we planted in 2020, and replace the ones that have died. Considering the droughts we have had, it is unlikely they all survived. If someone finds themselves there anytime soon please get us a picture so we can see how much work there is to do. Of course this would also be a fishing outing.
Our chapter has a Missouri Stream Team. This team is committed to Little Piney River water quality sampling which will require one visit in the Fall and one in the Spring. We would like to have a larger pool of volunteers for this work so if our Stream Team activities interest you and you have not participated in the past please come join us. We usually go fishing when we are done.
This year we had a great time in the Wisconsin Driftless Area fishing as a group. It would be terrific if someone would take on the task of making something like that happen again this year.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday September 6 at the Flickin Shelter. Social time starts at 6:00 PM, a business meeting starts at 7:00 and we will have a presentation after that. I hope to see you then.
Doug Grove
Commando Trout Fishing in Wisconsin:
Gentlemen: Something I wrote up about my last day of fishing, June 11. Don't know if it is good enough for the next newsletter, but you can decide that. I did confirm the saying, "There is no fool like an old fool.”
I am standing in Coon Cooley in the rain surrounded by clouds of mosquitoes and blackflies. I have already caught 2 brown trout so the fever is on. One is too many and a thousand aren’t enough. I need to put new tippet on the line and I make the mistake of stepping into silt between the main channel and the bank. I am stuck in mud up to my knees. Even though the bank and the rocky center of the stream are only four feet away, I cannot move. I try for 20 minutes to move but I cannot move forward or backward due to the suction of the mud. I fall in the water twice trying to move. Now, I notice my gravel guards are slipping up and my boots are filling with mud and becoming heavier with each attempt to pull my feet out. I contemplate calling 911 for assistance as my cell phone is water resistant and functioning. Then I notice a tree root sticking out of the bank. If I can only move two feet, I can grab it and possibly pull myself out. Summoning what remaining strength an elderly male can muster, I move 2 feet towards the bank. Salvation, I am able to pull myself to the bank with the root and get out of the stream on my rear. I rested for 30 minutes, cleaned mud out of my boots, got some water, and returned to the stream. Avoiding anything that looked like silt, I went downstream no more than ½ mile and caught 28 more wild brown trout. None were monsters but all were fun. My best brown trout day ever.
At my age, a treadmill is usually suggested to check for angina. I had mine trying to get out of the mud. No chest pain so I am good to go for another year or two.
Wisconsin in high summer is the most strenuous fly fishing I have ever done (Commando). Even more demanding than walking 6 miles a day chasing bones on Andros. The geography with high vertical mud banks, 6 foot tall vegetation on top of the banks, and very narrow casting lanes humbles me. Then add tons of poison ivy and thistles on the banks and nightmares are formed. You have to look closely before grabbing any vegetation. Multiple times, the only way for me to get out of a stream was on my rear, grabbing vegetation with my arms and pushing with my feet.
Will I go back again? Yes, but it will be the first or second week in April during the catch and release season. If I am lucky, there will still be some snow on the ground, the days will be overcast with rain or snow, and the vegetation will not have grown at all. No mosquitoes or blackflies to deal with either.
I now have a great story to tell the grandkids, and another thank you to TU for organizing the trip.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Kleopfer, Mid-Mo TU member.
Conservation Items:
Water Quality Monitoring Training:
The Introduction to Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring is the entry level of monitoring. This includes training for watershed mapping, site selection, stream discharge, and biological monitoring (for stream macroinvertebrates). Starting in 2021, this workshop consists of a 2-part virtual learning and field training. After completion of the virtual learning, volunteers are eligible to attend the field training to become certified as a water quality monitor. Certified Introductory monitors will receive equipment for measuring stream flow and biological monitoring.
Level 1: Volunteers who have successfully completed the Introductory training and have submitted required data are eligible to attend a Level 1 workshop. This training covers physical assessment, chemical monitoring and reviews biological monitoring. Certified Level 1 monitors will receive equipment for chemical monitoring.
Here is the link to register for the Intro and Level 1 classes: https://mostreamteam.org/assets/intro_level1_schedule.pdf the videos are here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBQMlfy_cD4DQe07cir0nipWVrbQ2np
Virtual trainings Part A 8/23 & 8/25
Part B 8/30 & 9/1
Field Certification
Jefferson City 9/10
Read how historic climate bill will help preserve trout: https://www.tu.org/press-releases/landmark-climate-act-advances-key-trout-unlimited-priorities/
TU National Meeting:
TU recorded the Climate Change Workgroup session during the July National Meeting in Portland. It is divided into three parts: TU's lead scientist discussing what TU is doing, the Government Affairs VP discussing the situation in DC and a presentation of the En-Roads Climate Simulation Model.
https://troutunlimited.zoom.us/rec/share/vN2prEF0pDst-tCxXDoM-iUHAQdNHi1Vcg9wiY6QGYJcwmo0OxNMSKt2c8TVazWk.XR4QGfAFH6qX6hgC?startTime=1658496341000
Passcode: !rtuQ7db The actual presentation will start about 6 minutes or so in.
Energy Efficiency:
If you listen to KBIA or watch PBS, you may have caught a Paul Pepper session with James Owen of Renew Missouri. He said Missouri is a leader in energy efficiency.
"Making clean energy accessible to all Missourians" https://www.kbia.org/september-2021-august-2022/2022-07-18/paul-pepper-james-owen-renew-missouri-making-clean-energy-accessible-to-all-missourians
Jeff Holzem
Newsletter editor
Council Climate Change Coordinator
NLC Climate Change Workgroup Co-chair
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