The summer is half over but there is a lot of time left to enjoy our favorite outdoor events. Many members have gone on great fishing vacations out west while others continue to enjoy fishing in North Central Pennsylvania. Many opportunities remain and because of the rain we have had, many of the streams are higher than normal creating pockets of cool water for the trout.
Others are enjoying fishing for bluegills, panfish, and bass among other species. No matter what kind of fishing you do and enjoy, keep doing it. We are fortunate to have great year round fishing in our area and the fish always present a challenge to us. It is also a great time to be outdoors and enjoying the beautiful weather (although it has been hot).
Please plan on attending the September meeting as we are planning a family picnic and fishing. We are still working out details but we have been offered an area to use that has picnic facilities and a great pond. This event is for the entire family and we hope that you will be able to come out and enjoy this great activity. We will have people on hand to help out with fishing skills and casting instruction if needed and this would be a great place to try out those newly tied flies from the fly tying class’s if you haven’t already tried them. We will be giving more information on this in the very near future.
Project Healing Waters continues with great success. Everyone involved is having a great time and tying many neat, and interesting flies. Some of the participants are adding their own unique touches to the flies and trying new things. There has been no set schedule of flies to tie and has been at the request of the participant or group consensus. Everything from the green weenie, adams, bead head hairs nymph, many woolly buggers, and foam poppers have been tied so far.. This program has exceeded our expectations and we want to thank everyone who has, or is, taking the class and all of the instructors. Everyone involved has come away friends and with a new appreciation of this craft as well as hearing, and sharing, in great fishing stories.
Work continues on sorting the newly donated items from Ken Beane (E. Hille). Words can not describe the amount and variety of material that Ken donated. We are very appreciative of Ken and all of the individuals who have donated items to the Chapter. We have been having discussions on how to market these items that would benefit the Chapter best and are hopeful there will be an Outdoor Expo in 2016. There remains to be a great deal of work to do in sorting and inventorying everything that we have and if you can help, please call Dave Craig at 570-971-4744. We would all welcome and appreciate any help or ideas that you have.
Finally, now that fishing has been underway for a few months now, you may have found some broken items (rods, reels, lures, etc). Please keep the Chapter in mind if you do have broken items.. We do not want you to throw these items away and would like them donated to the Chapter. We hope to build an inventory of used parts, etc to be able to fix anything that we may find broken or offer these items to others to fix their broken gear. As an example, rods can be stripped and the guides kept as spares or the rods can be repurposed into ice fishing rods and jigging sticks. There are many creative ways to use broken or damaged items; rod sections can be matched with others to make a complete rod. You can contact Bob Baker at 570-337-1279 for more information.
In closing, thanks to everyone who has helped our Chapter. Every little bit of help we get, no matter if a few minutes, to a few hours, or on a regular basis, helps. This is your Chapter and we want it to be the best Chapter and the Chapter that gives you what you want. We hope you continue to have a safe and enjoyable summer and please send us your pictures and stories to share. You do have to submit your name but will keep your name anonymous when being published if you wish.
Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited 