11 Foothills Meeting: Clarkesville Library - 178 E. Green Street

25 Hoot on the Hooch (Yes, really) - Helendorf Inn, Helen GA

13 Foothills Meeting: Clarkesville Library - 178 E. Green Street

Not much to say about this. You know.

Our goal is to sell at least 2,000 tickets = $20,000.  Each Chapter will receive $3.00 per ticket sold.

The Project Healing Waters group usually meets the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays, 2nd & 4th Tuesdays and virtual meetings 1st & 3rd Saturday of each month at the American Legion Post #7 in Gainesville, Georgia.(2343 Riverside Drive, Gainesville, GA 30501).

As the weather warms and the rains hopefully fall, they will start offering some fishing opportunities. They have a great group and good time at their meetings. All Veterans are invited.

This program could not be offered to our Veterans without the support of the Foothills TU Chapter, the Gold Rush TU Chapter and Unicoi Outfitters. They have really began to grow in numbers and programs because of all of the hard work by the volunteers who are TU members.

For more info: contact Deborah Scott

https://www.facebook.com/deborah.scott.391

Dear Bruce, Foothills Trout Unlimited Board of Directors and Chapter Members:

As you can imagine, the past few years have been challenging years for Casting for Recovery Georgia. Due to Covid-19, CfR Nationwide made the difficult decision to cancel all retreats in 2020. In 2021, with lots of safety precautions put into place, the Georgia program was successfully able to hold one retreat last November. In May of this year, we were able to hold another retreat for any woman with any diagnosis of breast cancer. All of the women who attended those retreats told us how important and meaningful their retreat experience was, especially after so much isolation due to the pandemic. They were grateful to be able to share their experiences and seek advice from other women with breast cancer diagnoses, as well as our wellness team, including oncologists, social workers and a registered dietician, all experienced in working with breast cancer survivors. We are so grateful for all of our dedicated volunteers & supporters who helped make these retreats happen.

Now we are actively preparing to hold our last retreat of the year and our 1st retreat for women with a diagnosis of metastatic stage IV breast cancer since 2019. CfR Georgia started hosting 2 retreats per year in 2016 but due to Covid vulnerability, the decision was made to postpone metastatic specific retreats. Casting for Recovery now has a National medical advisory board, responsible for keeping us with all things Covid and making recommendations for retreat safety.

There is no cure for breast cancer. Women with a metastatic stage IV breast cancer diagnosis know that their time is limited but they don't know what that time frame is or what their health will be during that time. They want the opportunity to experience a week-end, free of the day-to-day challenges of balancing family & work and still finding time for themselves.

Costs for our retreats are increasing each year, especially for lodging and food services. We have been limited in our fundraising efforts over the past few years since we have not been able to hold any person-to-person events. We are relying on our generous donors and supporters to help us fund our retreats.

The Foothills Chapter of Trout Unlimited has been a generous donor in years past and we ask again this year, that you give consideration to making a donation to Casting for Recovery Georgia's program to provide FREE week-end retreats for more women. Donations can be made at www.castingforrecovery.org or by sending a check to our National office at the Bozeman, MT address below. Please be sure to specify "Georgia" in your donation.

If you would like additional information about Casting for Recovery, you can go to the website: www.castingforrecovery.org or feel free to contact me. Also, please feel free to share this information with the other members of the Foothills Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

We sincerely appreciate your consideration in supporting Casting for Recovery Georgia.

Beverly

Beverly Booth

Co-Program Coordinator, Casting for Recovery - Georgia

M 678.480.8052

PO Box 535, McCaysville, GA 30555-0535

National Office:

109 E. Oak St., Ste 1G

Bozeman, Montana 59715

888.553.3500

The Upper Chattahoochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited's project on Crayfish Creek may reach it's goal by the end of the year, but they are not there yet. Numerous hours of volunteers have been logged to remove two old culverts and cleanup of both invasive plants and debris have occurred.

A contractor has been selected to cleani up the degraded banks, but additional funds are needed to get to that remaining estimated cost budget. As of right now $180,000 of the estimated $200,000 has been raised. The finish line is right there and they are so close, so we hope you'll consider donating.

But wait, there's more. There are going to be some volunteer opportunities this fall to assist with the project, so please also consider donating some of those incredible muscles you built up during the COVID shutdown.

One more thing, spread the word about this wonderful grassroots project. This project is but a small example of what this country's foundation has been built on. It's the small ideas put on by the people that get traction from the smallest places and builds into some of the greatest things you've ever been part of. Please spread the message about the wonderful effort to save and protect one of the few spawning areas for brown trout along the Chattahoochee River.

We got this message from our good friend Dredger (aka Jeff) who now takes all the good spots on the streams during the week, but its for good reasons so you get get the most up to date fishing reports.

Are you new to town? New to fishing? A terrible fisher?

Fear not, help is available thanks to the Georgia DNR.

Below are a few links to get you started on your way to becoming a professional fisherman or fisherwoman.

Fishing Report: https://georgiawildlife.wordpress.com/category/fishing/

Reservoirs:

Trout:

Follow GA DNR:

You can also check out NGTO for Dredgers Weekly Fishing Report"

The DH stocking schedule in North Carolina. Remember to check the regulations before you go.

Nothing says spring is here like hacking up a pollen filled lung or washing your car to have it turn yellow by the time you pull into your driveway. Spring is upon us and has been warmer than normal these last few days. This time last year, I was still skiing up in North Carolina, but that was not in the cards this year. Bugs are hatching and fish are feeding. For some of the topside fishers, the dry fly action is going to be heating up. Sure, there is a threat of some "cool" weather coming up, but I stand by my statement from last month that winter is over. Cast aside those thermals and hit the waters.

Fishing will continue to get better as the fish move out of those wintering holes and into better feeding lanes. On the wilder side, fish are starting to transition out of the egg pattern as the in spawners move off the redds and start to feast. I've still been able to fool a couple big ones on the small egg patterns on 6x, but I'll soon focus on more on bug like protein offerings.

DH and hatchery fish will be good this month. Look for the DNR reports to start hitting your email inbox as the hatchery truck starts to fill up some of our lower elevations and easier access spots. While we don't have that traditional opening day of trout season anymore as all our trout streams are year round, look for the stocking still to hit around that same timeframe into late spring. Best bets early on are flashy junkier flies or reactionary flies and then transition to more natural presentations as the trout become accustomed to non-pellet forage.

With all the fancy flies on the market guaranteed to catch fish or the latest social media video of tying a complex 2-hour fly in 47 seconds, I like to reach back a bit to a fly showed to me by Jeff Durniak on the fabled banks of Dukes Creek. That fly was the Mohair Leech. While skeptical at the time of this lint laden hook Jeff had bestowed upon me, it has become a main staple in my fly box and probably my all time favorite fly. I've been lucky and unlucky enough to travel to a majority of the states in our country (44) and almost every place I have cast this fly (minus Florida), it has caught fish for me. From warm water to cold water, this little morsel of shaggy headed goodness has become my confidence fly. Strip it, sink it or snoopy pool it (let it sit there like you're a 3 year old), it catches fish. Change up some beads or no bead at all. I find the spooky fish heavily pressured fish will take this without a bead and dead drifted. Don't be afraid to pull some fuzz out with a brush.

If you haven't looked at the website lately, check it out. It is up to date and packed full of new information. Check us out. It's where we post all of our information and updates about chapter meetings, projects, fishing outings and any other items pertaining to Foothills.

Also, for even more up to date information, check out our Facebook page. Our Facebook page editor, Ted Jones, does an excellent job at adding new information almost every day. Be sure to "Like" it and share with your friends.

Thank you for your interest in the Georgia Foothill Chapter of Trout Unlimited. We are always looking for new members from the area to join us, so please tell a friend and have them join us at our next meeting.