We`re Back!!! - Clear Fork River Chapter

April, 2010 Issue
The Official Newsletter of the Clear Fork Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Inside this issue:
We’re Back!!!
We’re Back
1
President’s Message
not telling!!!)
Contacts
1
Clear Fork River
2
Steelhead Alley
2
Youth Flyfishing
3
Apple Creek Fishery
3
Welcome back to the Clear
Water Journal! It’s been some
time since we’ve been able to
get a newsletter out to everyone, but we are back! Although
email and the website will remain our primary means of
communication, we are going
to have a minimum of 2 annual
newsletters in the future.
Wounded Warriors
3
In addition to our monthly
meetings, we continue with
two popular programs. The
Apple Creek stocking, led by
Skip Nault, is a very popular
program that brings trout fishing to the Wooster community…and a surprising number
of people come in from out of
town to enjoy this program.
We get quite a number of participants from the Cleveland
area.
New Members
4
Fly-Tyers Bench
4
Upcoming Events Chapter Meetings - *
April 12 - 7:15 p.m. Ron
Guttu, SGS Maps, Pres. on
Cattaraugus Creek, NY
May 10 - 7:15 p.m.George
Douglas from Kype Magazine:
Fly Fishing Videos
June 14 - 7:15 p.m.CFRTU
Member Jimmy Accord,
Leather Artist
July 12 - 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Annual fly casting clinic and
competition at Schelin Park
Pond in Wooster. Members
will be on hand to teach beginners how to cast a fly line.
Member also will compete for
prizes for casting accuracy and
long distance casting.
Apple Creek Stocking March 27 - 10am -Noon
Meet at Kiosk at Grosjean Park.
See Page 2 for more details.
If you haven’t had an opportunity, please make it a point to
attend an upcoming meeting.
Since we are a geographically
large chapter, I know the drive
can be quite long for some
members, but it’s a great opportunity to meet fellow fly
fishermen, win a great raffle
prize or even get inside information from our presenters.
For instance...if you were at the
February meeting you would
know what Ohio Steelhead
stream has the highest catch
rate for each month (and I’m
Ron Thompson is also working hard on the Castalia adult
and youth school programs
once again. This program is a
true win-win for the “gillies”…
good fishing, good food, and
most importantly the chance to
introduce this great sport to a
new group of anglers!
We are always looking for help
at CFRTU…if you have an
event you would like to organ-
The Clear Fork River passes under
the covered bridge in the Mohican
State Park. Brown trout are
stocked nearby.
ize, have an idea for a meeting presenter or have any
other way that you can help,
please let us know! As always, we look forward to
seeing you at the next meeting!
A very big, special thanks to
Nick Wisda who stepped
forward to volunteer to edit
and publish this newsletter.
Jeff Miller, Pres.
Contacts
Secretary -
President Jeff Miller
5786 Arlyne Ln
Medina, OH 44256
[email protected]
Vice-President Phil Russo
4050 Colonial Ct.
Medina, OH 44256
[email protected]
Randy Rowe
Directors -
1239 Kieffer Street
Harry Hoitink
Mike Dull
Wooster, OH 44691
Ron Thompson
Bob McFarland
[email protected]
Steve Gossage
Jerry Polen
Treasurer Randy Geib
Newsletter Publisher/Editor -
7249 Saratoga Hills Dr. NE
Nick Wisda
Canton, OH 44721
2196 Township Highway 55
[email protected]
Executive Officer -
Nevada, OH 44849
[email protected]
Skip Nault
_________________________________
2722 Taylor Drive
Mission Statement - “To conserve,
protect and restore Ohio’s coldwater
fisheries and their watersheds.”
Wooster, OH 44691
[email protected]
Page 2
April, 2010 Issue
Clear Fork River
Greg Elefterin with a nice Clear
Fork brown trout. The fish was
over 12-inches long, but like most
fly fishers, he released the fish to be
enjoyed by the next fly fisher!
The Clear Fork Chapter of
Trout Unlimited was formed
not long after the Ohio Department of Natural Resources,
Division of Wildlife, began
stocking brown trout in the
Clear Fork River. In the fall of
each year, the DOW stocks the
Clear Fork with several thousand, 7-8 inch long, yearling
brown trout. The stretch of
river that flows through Mohican State Park is stocked as
well as upstream from Pleasant
Hill Lake where the river meanders through the villages of
Butler and Bellville and nearby
farmland.
The Clear Fork River is designated by the state as a putgrow and take fishery. Any
fish caught that is under 12
inches long must be released
back into the stream unharmed. No more than two
fish, 12-inches or longer, may
be harvested on any day. The
stream is open all year to fish-
ermen and women with the
best fishing in the spring and
fall.
Most successful fly fishing is
done with streamers or drifting
the bottom with beadhead
nymphs under a strike indicator. But there are also plenty
of caddis fly, mayfly and midge
hatches to satisfy the dry fly
fishers. For more information
and maps, visit the CFRTU
website.
Steelhead Alley
A big colorful 8 pound buck from
Steelhead Alley. Note the orange
sucker spawn in the corner of his
mouth.
Caught by Harry Hoitink
Looking Ahead
Apple Creek Stocking
March 27 - 10 am - Noon
Meet at the Kiosk at Grosjean
Park. Bring your waders or hipboots. Dress appropriately for
rain or cold weather. We will
a
l
s
o
b
e
picking up litter from the
stream and park. If heavy rains
and
high waters in Apple
Creek precede stocking date,
check CFRTU web-site for
reschedule date."
The best steelhead fishing in
the world can be found an
hours drive away from most of
our homes. The tributary rivers that feed Lake Erie are
stocked with over 2 million
steelhead smolt each spring by
the fish and game commissions
of the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.
Stocked smolt migrate from
the tributaries to Lake Erie
where they grow rapidly from
6-7 inches to steelhead weigh-
ing 3-6 pounds in less than two
years. The fish migrate each fall
and spring from Lake Erie to
the tributaries to spawn.
Those that survive their first
spawn, return to the lake, grow
bigger, and return again to
spawn. Second time spawners
can weigh 6-9 pounds and
third time spawners 10 pounds
and more.
Spin and fly fishermen can
enjoy the steelhead fishery
from late September till early
May. The best months are
March and April. For fly fishermen, swinging streamers or
drifting egg patterns and bead
head nymphs are the most
effective ways to get hook-ups.
For more information on
Steelhead Alley read articles on
the web (www.cfrtu.org), Steelheading 101 by Randy Rowe
and Steelhead Biology in Lake
Erie by Kevin Kayle.
Raffle
A happy Jack Gravo receives
the Echo Ion fly rod from
CFRTU president Jeff Miller
that he won at the raffle held
during the February chapter
meeting.
The raffle raised
nearly $400! Raffle proceedings
are used to support the chapter’s programs such as the
Youth Fly Fishing Clinic and
the stocking of trout in Apple
Creek. Each month the chapter raffles fly rods, fly reels and
other fly fishing equipment
and supplies.
April, 2010 Issue
Page 3
Youth Fly Fishing Clinic
For the past five years, the
Chapter has co-sponsored a
Youth Fly Fishing Clinic with
the Ohio Division of Natural
Resources (ODNR) at the Division of Wildlife Trout Hatchery near Castalia. The 2010
clinic will be held Friday, June
18. Boys and girls 15 or
younger can participate. Applicants are chosen by a lottery
conducted by the ODNR.
Fifteen students are invited
to attend a morning session
and another 15 an afternoon
session. They learn the basics
of fly fishing, especially how to
cast a fly line, tie essential
knots and about the flies they
use.
Each student is paired up
with a chapter member (gilley)
to fish Cold Creek to test their
newly learned fly fishing skills.
The creek is heavily stocked
with very large rainbow trout!
With the help of a gilley, students learn how to cast flies,
hook and play the fish, and if
all goes well, land the fish.
They can keep and take home
three rainbows each. Also, they
are shown how to clean and
prepare trout for the frying pan
or grill.
The ODNR supplies students with a fly rod and reel to
borrow, or they can bring their
own. Chapter members tie
flies (usually wooly buggers)
that the kids take home with
them.
If you are interested in serving as a gilley, please contact
Ron Thompson by email at
[email protected]. If
you know of a young person
who would like to apply for the
lottery, they should go to
ohiodnr.com on the web.
Her first Trout caught on a fly .
A happy first time fly fisher at the
Youth Fly Fishing Clinic.
Apple Creek Trout Fishery
A trout fishery has been created in
Wayne County at Apple Creek.
The program is a joint effort between CFRTU and the Parks and
Recreation Department of the City
of Wooster. Beginning in the
spring of 2005, the portion of
Apple Creek that passes through
Grosjean Park has been stocked
with over 7,000 rainbow and
brown trout at the coast of
$28,000.
the Emerald Necklace Chapter of
TU, the TU state council and
other donors. Trout ranging in
size from 10 inches to over 20
inches and weighing three pounds
have been stocked. Fishermen
from all over Ohio have been
coming to fish this surprisingly
beautiful “urban” stream. The
best news is that trout are surviving in the stream all year long. It’s
a 12-month long fishery!
The funding for stocking has
come from Wooster City, CFRTU,
Those fishing the stream are encouraged to practice proper catch
and release, and use only flies and
artificial lures. This is the only
way to sustain this new fishery.
Fly and spin fishers are encouraged to post their fishing experience on the “On-line fishing surv e y ” o n ou r w e b s it e at
www.cfrtu.org under the Apple
Creek heading. Before fishing
Apple Creek, check the “Fishing
survey results” for the latest on
what flies are working and other
helpful hints.
CFRTU members, friends and family gather for the fall 2009 stocking
of Apple Creek at the Grosjean Park
Kiosk.
Wounded Warriors
On October 23 of last year,
Chapter members met with
eight Wounded Warriors to
teach them fly fishing on Cold
Creek at the ODNR fish
hatchery at Castalia. The mission of the Wounded Warriors
Project is to honor and empower seriously wounded U.S.
servicemen who served in Iraq
and Afghanistan and else-
where. The WWP provides
programs and services to meet
the needs, both physical and
mental, of recovering service
men and women. This includes having fun!
The event was organized by
Dan Longnecker, the owner of
Little Pickerel Creek Trout
Hatchery. The program was a
tremendous success; all eight
wounded warriors caught
plenty of trout on the fly rods
they borrowed. Thanks to
CFRTU members Ron
Thompson, Bob McFarland,
Terry Moore, Greg Elefterin
and Chris Ranger for their
help.
Wounded warriors on Cold
Creek
Clearfork Chapter—Trout
Unlimited - New Members
-WELCOME Donald Battig, Wooster
Monty Bradley, Sunbury
Shawn Campbell, Magnolia
William Cochran, Wadsworth
Gordon Crawford, Utica
Michael Dzurko, Massillon
James Edbrooke, Johnstown
The Fisher-Renkert Foundation, Canton
William Hardie, Akron
David Joecken, Spencer
Benny Karaulic, Wadsworth
Ray Kennedy, Medina
Ronald Kuhl, Canal Fulton
Gary Marshall, East Rochester
Alex Nagy, Youngstown
Floyd Schanbacher, Wooster
Peter Trumpower, Akron
Paul Valvoda, Cleveland
Gerald Wood, Mansfield
John Wujek, Alexandria
Visit us on the Web at www.cfrtu.org
FLY TIER’S BENCH
Santa’s Helper
Hook: #12, #14 scud hook.
Bead: 1/8” gold or copper colored brass.
Rib:
small red wire.
Body:
chartreuse Spirit River depth advantage dubbing.
Collar: peacock herl or synthetic peacock dubbing.
About this fly: This easy to tie steelhead pattern was designed by
Ohio guide, Mark Kasubick. The aluminum fiber is easy to dub on
the tying thread and the weight of the dubbing and brass bead gets the
fly down to the bottom of the stream in a hurry. The fly resembles
the green rockworm caddis found in Lake Erie tributary streams.
- Submitted by Skip Nault
E-Mail Updates
Although we will be sending out
this newsletter twice a year, our
main method of communication
is email! If you see the message
“No valid email address on file”
above your name, we do not
have a valid email address on
file for you.
information with CFRTU.
You will need your member ID to log on, which
can be found next to your
name on the address label
of this newsletter. After
logging on, you will see a
link on the left side of the
page that says “Email SetThere are two ways to update tings”. At that point just
your email address. One, you update your email address
can log onto www.tu.org to up- and exit.
date with TU National. By updating on www.tu.org, you will
receive emails from TU Na* For directions to
tional, the Ohio TU Council the Chapter meetings,
and CFRTU.
they can be found under
Your other option is to log onto the “meetings” tab at
www.cfrtu.org, and update your www.cfrtu.com .