President’s Message:
Dear Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited Members,
Our next chapter meeting will be Tuesday October 1. The meeting will be held at the Fickling Shelter at Bethel Como Park. The address is 4500 Bethel Street Columbia. For more information about this venue and directions go to the following link: https://www.como.gv/contacts/j-w-ficklin-shelter/. Our meetings start with a social hour beginning at 6:00 PM, followed by a short business meeting and a presentation.
This month's presentation will be a display of the photos from the Colorado trip that many of us took together in August.
Unfortunately, I was not able to attended the last meeting where Jeff Thiele gave a presentation on how to extend the life of old fly lines. Thank you Jeff I wish I could have been there.
Since the last chapter meeting there has been an initial meeting of the banquet committee. The banquet will be the evening of Friday February 28 at the Stoney Creek Inn. We are off to a good start but need more people to work on the committee. Since that meeting we have had two people volunteer to join the committee but we are looking for more. If you would like to help with this effort please let me know.
There is a simultaneous effort to get the Fly Fishing Film Tour again and we are targeting the last Saturday of January; but, that date and location have not been finalized. We would like to have some volunteers to help at the event.
There will be a youth event at Bethel Lake on November 2 from noon to 3:00 pm. We will need to have someone who will be there to get the clubs the fly fishing gear from me before the event. Unfortunately, I will not be there due to a prior commitment. The event is the first Saturday after the annual trout stocking.
A spring trip by chapter members, friends and family to the Driftless area was discussed favorably. No location has been selected.
We'll hope to see you at the next chapter meeting, if not sooner.
Doug Grove
September Minutes:
The Mid-Missouri Chapter of Trout Unlimited met on September 3rd at Fickling Shelter at Bethel Park. Fourteen members and guests attended. After a social hour, the meeting was called to order at 6:50 by Vice-president Travis Figg.
Items of discussion during the business meeting included:
2025 conservation banquet committee:
Doug Grove, Chair
Eric Cunningham
Travis Figg
Bill Lamberson
Curt Morgret
The committee will meet on September 12. We hope to have the banquet on February 28 at Stoney Creek Inn, but details are yet to be confirmed.
There was favorable discussion of once again hosting the Fly Fishing Film Fest, with scheduling similar to last year.
There will be an activity for youth on November 2 at Bethel Lake, (noon – 3:00 pm), to coincide with the annual trout stocking.
Members reported favorably on the recent fishing trip to the Colorado Flattops Wilderness. Eleven members and friends participated. Fishing was pretty darned good, with several catching the cycle of brookie, cutt, rainbow and brown.
There was favorable discussion of a spring trip to the driftless area, with location to be determined.
Representatives are needed for the Trout Unlimited National Leadership Council, Embrace-a-Stream Committee and chapter diversity committee. Jeff Holzem has indicated interest in running for NLC.
Jeff Thiele presented an informative program on forming loops and repairing fly lines by welding with a heat gun and heat-shrink tubing. Jeff used a scale to demonstrate the excellent strength of the loops. Tools needed include heat-shrink tubing (clear if available), a heat gun (digital temperature control preferred), and a sharp knife or seam ripper.
Globalflyfisher.com has instructions.
Steinel makes an excellent heat gun, available from Amazon.
Pacific Fly Fishers (pacificflyfishers.com) sells line and heat shrink tubing.
Lost Creek Fly Shop (360 978-4059) also sells tubing at a very good price.
The next meeting will be October 1, tentatively scheduled again at Fickling Shelter of Cosmo Bethel Park. Vice-president Figg adjourned the meeting at 8:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Lamberson
Secretary
Help Famous Anglers Video Advocate for Trout:
Check out their video https://www.hatchmag.com/articles/50-million-anglers/7715985?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly and call your members of congress.
Watch to see if you recognize them or read about them first.
Last year (2023) was the hottest year on record, https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-analysis-confirms-2023-as-warmest-year-on-record/ while 2024 looks poised to take over that title https://apnews.com/article/heat-climate-change-record-broiling-hot-699026b8e57cc8404bc73d20e223500e in a little over three months. The summer of 2024, which just wrapped up, was the hottest summer ever recorded.We’re seeing the huge fires and ferocious storms that have become the hallmark of a rapidly warming world, along with all the negative impacts — think problematic water temps, nasty smoke, and hellacious heat domes — that shut down fisheries and make life miserable for anyone hoping to wet a line.Some of the nation's most prominent fly anglers are paying attention to the threat. They’re also asking their fellow fly fishers to get engaged and stand up for our fisheries.
Conservation Hawks, https://www.conservationhawks.org/. a nonprofit organization made up of “hunters & anglers defending our future,” just released a short public service announcement featuring several of the biggest names in fly fishing. The 94 second video showcases Craig Mathews, Tom Rosenbauer, Hilary Hutcheson, Kirk Deeter and Todd Tanner sharing their views on human-caused climate change, https://whatweknow.aaas.org/whatweknow.html
Craig is the author and angler who invented the Sparkle Dun and X-Caddis fly patterns, and founded Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana.
Tom is the longtime face of Orvis fly fishing. (You could also make the case that he’s the most well-known and highly-respected fly fisher on the planet.)
Hilary, a supremely talented guide and writer, was the longtime host of Trout TV and now owns and runs an iconic fly shop — Lary’s Fly & Supply https://www.larysflyandsupply.com— in Columbia Falls, Montana.
Kirk is the author, conservationist and media savant who edits TROUT magazine and, along with Tim Romano, heads Angling Trade and the new online fly fishing platform FlyLab.
Todd runs both the School of Trout and Conservation Hawks, and has been writing about fly fishing on 8a national level for more than 30 years.
Bear Spray by Doug Grove:
I was recently fishing a small tail-water stream in the Routt National Forest in Colorado. I was fishing alone and I thought it would be a good idea to bring some bear spray. In this narrow overgrown stream it would be easy to round a bend in the stream and encounter a bear.
The stream wasn’t very deep and even though I was dry fly fishing I occasionally got my fly stuck in the rocks in the stream. At one point I bent-over to retrieve my fly out of the rocks and I heard a loud hissing. Somehow my motion had simultaneously removed the safety and depressed the trigger on the bear spray canister and discharged some bear spray. Fortunately I didn’t get any spray in my eyes; but, a lot of foam did get on my shirt and pants near where the spray hung off my belt.
Well not only is bear spray irritating to the eyes it is corrosive. Sprayed directly into the eyes permanent blindness is a possibility. At this point I considered myself fortunate and I still do. After all I was not blinded.
I quickly retreated back towards my vehicle which was about 100 yards downstream and up a hill. Along the way I started to feel a burning sensation. Anyone who has taken a chemistry course probably remembers that the usual approach when sprayed with chemicals is to strip off clothing and step into a safety shower with fast running cold water for 15 minutes. As you might expect there were no safety showers along the creek. I attempted what I thought was the next best thing. I rinsed as much of the bear spray out of my clothing as possible with water cupped in my hand.
Well that was not a great plan as the now diluted bear spray spread to other tissue including some very sensitive tissue that is unique to the male anatomy. So now my side was not burning so much but I was in increasing discomfort.
I quickly got back my vehicle and after removing some clothing, I made a mad dash back to camp. Two chapter members observed me driving down the road at a rapid rate of speed, as if I was on fire. I wasn’t on fire but I was burning.
Fortunately I had brought my RV on the trip so I had access to a shower. When I got back to the RV I showered with cold water. After a few more hours of discomfort eventually the burning subsided. Fortunately there were no chemical burns or even prolonged redness.
I hope you found my story amusing. Please bring bear spray when it is appropriate, but be careful.
Everyone, Keep sending me information to share with our chapter and enjoying fishing,
Jeff Holzem
MMTU Newsletter Editor
MMTU Advocacy Coordinators
Ozark Council Climate Change Coordinator
NLC Climate Change Workgroup Co-Chair
Past President
John Wenzlick
Secretary
Bill Lamberson
Treasurer
Ty Figg
Financial Reviewer
Curt Morgret
At Large Board Members
Lynn Kleopfer, Eric Cunningham
Banquet Chairs
Curt Morgret
Alternative Funding Committee
Chalen Jackson
Education Director
John Wenzlick
Stream Team
John Wenzlick
Membership
Curt Morgret
Conservancy
Bill Lamberson
Conservancy
Sam Potter
e-Newsletter
Jeff Holzem
Web Master
Ty Figg
Facebook editor
Ben Moore
Event Planning
Doug Grove
Advocacy
Jeff Holzem
Diversity
Open
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