Gone Fishing! Instead of a chapter meeting this month, Catskill Mountains Trout Unlimited with be meeting on the Esopus Creek.
Please join us. Open to members and non-members of all skill levels. It is a great chance to meet other members and most importantly fish. If you are interested, we will be meeting at the Phoenicia Diner on Route 28 at 6:30 PM on Wednesday June 20th.
Alexander Bradley of the Catskill Conservation Corps will be speaking to us about the CCC and the work it does in the Catskills, as well as opportunities for CMTU to partner with them on conservation projects. The Catskill Conservation Corps has done clean ups and trail maintenance all over the Catskills, including a lot of work keeping the Blue Hole clean. So come out to the meeting and learn about some of the conservation concerns in the Catskills and find out how CMTU can help.
The Women’s Initiative will be meeting before the chapter meeting, from 5:45-6;30 in the Courtyard Marriott Cafe. All women members and friends of the chapter are welcome!
Please read the April Newsletter!
Trout Unlimited is looking for volunteers to help plant trees for Earth Day.
In collaboration with the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program (AWSMP) the Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited is organizing a tree planting project on Bush Kill, along Watson Hollow Road in West Shokan on Saturday, April 21, the day before Earth Day, from 9:30-2:00.
When: Saturday April 21st
Time: 9:30AM – 2PM
Where: Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program office, 3130 Route 28, Shokan, NY 12481. (If you arrive after 10, please head straight to the planting site at 269 Watson Hollow Road, West Shokan, NY. There is limited parking at the site, though, so please try to arrive at the meeting site between 9:30 and 10:00.)
Contact #: 845-802-3861 (Andrew Higgins)
Please Register Online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/catskill-mountains-trout-unlimited-earth-day-tree-planting-tickets-44745475923
Meet at the AWSMP at 9:30 for sign in. We’ll car-pool to the site, where there’s limited parking.
CMTU and volunteers will be planting native trees and shrubs along Bush Kill in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. The goal of this project is to plant along critical coldwater streams in the Catskill Mountain Region. The planting will help stabilize the streambank along the creek to reduce erosion and provide shade to keep the water cold and clean!
This will be our largest volunteer event of the year for our chapter.
We are looking for at least a dozen volunteers to help. You are not required to be a member.
Jobs include: coordinating volunteers, planting trees, watering, registration table. Please consider taking one day out of the year to help fulfill the mission of Trout Unlimited.
Please join us and bring a friend.
For more information see the chapter web site www.cmtu.org OR contact: catskillmountaintu@gmail.com
Fly Fishing Film Festival: After the planting, come join us at the Fly Fishing Film Festival, sponsored by Esopus Creel and our friends at the Ashokan Pepacton Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Get your tickets here: http://catskillstrouttales.com/event/phoenicia-playhouse-if4-international-fly-fishing-film-festival/
Come to Keegan Ales for CMTU’s Tie-One-On event on Thursday, March 29th, 6:30-8:30. Several chapter members will be demonstrating the art of fly tying, while others demonstrate the fine art of drinking beer and socializing. Come on out and join us. It’s a great way to get ready for opening day.
Hope to see you there!
CANCELLED
The March meeting has been cancelled due to incoming snow storm.
Jeff Yates, National Director of Volunteer Operations for Trout Unlimited, will speak at our March meeting.
If you haven’t hear Jeff speak before, don’t miss this opportunity. Jeff is a passionate advocate for coldwater fisheries and Trout Unlimited. Come hear him speak about some of the great things TU chapters around the country are doing.
Please read this month’s newsletter to find out more about Jeff’s talk, read Ed Meyer’s proposal for a no-kill zone on Esopus Creek, find out about our Earth Day Tree Planting planned for April 21, and more.
Hope to see you at the meeting!
Trout season doesn’t open for a month and a half but CMTU is already busy. Our fly tying circle is underway each Sunday at Kenco. Ed Meyer will be teaching our fly tying classes starting at the end of the month, and soon after that our annual fly casting school, taught by Bob Sills, will get started. In addition, the Conservation Committee is busy planning projects for the coming year, and the Women’s Initiative, led by Liz Higgins and Anne Bloomfield, is planning a series of events.
On Wednesday the 21st we’ll have our first business meeting of the year. Find out what the Conservation Committee has planned for the upcoming season, hear about the chapter’s new Women’s Initiative, and let us know what you’d like to see the chapter do this year.
Following that chapter members are invited to tie flies for veterans. If you’re not a tier, come hang out, socialize, and see what other chapter members are tying up these days. If you are a tier, bring your vice and tie flies for the vets that we guide on the Willowemoc in May. It’s just another way for you to thank them for their service.
This area is not only the birthplace of fly fishing in America, it’s also the birthplace of fly tying in America. Join us to learn this craft.
This course teaches novice or beginner fly tying. You will learn how to tye well-proportioned and well-constructed flies for trout fishing. In addition, you’ll learn to tye some of the most effective flies for local streams and many of the basic tying techniques used on hundreds of flies.
Topics to be covered are:
Materials and supplies furnished. Equipment for beginners is available. If you have tying equipment, you are certainly welcome to bring yours.
Come and learn Fly Tying with our Patient, Helpful and Expert Instructors
No Experience Necessary!
When: Two hour classes meet Tuesday evenings from February 27th -March 27th, 6:00-8:00 PM
Where: Kingston Library
Cost? We furnish the materials and ask for a donation of $50 to help defray the cost and also support our conservation work on local streams.
To reserve a spot contact Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited by registering online at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/catskill-mountains-chapter-of-trout-unlimited-11101597989 , or emailing catskillmountaintu@gmail.com or call Ed Meyer at 845-339-3655.
Course run by the Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited is the premier national Coldwater Conservation organization dedicated to Conserving, Protecting and Restoring North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. Visit us at CMTU.org. Join us also at a meeting at Courtyard by Marriott on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 6:30 PM
CMTU is a 501c3 non-profit organization as determined by the IRS
Fly tying circle at Kenco in Kingston!
Our annual tying circle is starting this Sunday. Drop in from 12:30-3:30 to tie flies. We’ll be there every Sunday from now until the start of the season. We tie in the back room, so just ask the staff at Kenco, and they’ll tell you where we are.
Remember, Trout Unlimited members get a 10% discount at Kenco!
Our speaker this month will be Jeff Yates, national Director of Volunteer Operations for Trout Unlimited, on the Future of TU: Building Community Around Conservation & Fishing
TU has always been strong as an organization thanks to its collection of more than 400 local chapters and state councils working to improve local streams, educate local youth and engage local communities in our conservation mission.
Now more than ever, that model of thinking globally and acting locally is not only appealing to volunteers, but vital to the survival of wild and native trout in watersheds across the country.
Jeff, who lives across the Hudson River in Connecticut and has been a TU member since he was 11 years old, will discuss examples of how TU chapters like the Catskill Mountain Chapter are growing their impact and expanding their reach with a focus on building a community to protect local rivers.
Here is a link to this months newsletter. 2018.01 January Newsletter Final
The evening will have a pot luck buffet. We would encourage you to let Ron Urban know items you are bringing or plan to bring so we have a variety of delectable foods and desserts. The chapter will have breads, coffee and condiments. Contact Ron Urban by phone: 845-339-5938 or email at: Ronsgonefishing@aol.com.
As always, we are fortunate to have our guest Grand Master Chef, Fritz Sonnenschmidt, from the CIA presenting a culinary demonstration of his liking.
