11 Foothills Meeting: Helen to Hardman Heritage Trail

18 Reed Creek Stream Restoration - Rabun County

8 Foothills Meeting: Clarkesville Library - TBD

Due to rain and high stream flows the previously-scheduled stream project on Reed Creek was cancelled. That project has now been rescheduled for Thursday, May 18. As before, we will me at the Double Bit Dispersed campsite, just off Burrells Ford Road, at 8:30 am. All work should be completed by noon.

Directions to the work project:

From Clayton, GA take Warwoman Road (next to Ingles) approximately 13 miles to the intersection with GA Hwy 28.

Turn right onto GA Hwy 28 and go approximately 1.7 to Burrells Ford Road (FS Road 646) on your left.

Turn left onto Burrells Ford Road. This road is a fairly well-maintained gravel road. Go approximately 5 miles to a woods road on your left. This road will be marked with a TU sign.

Turn left onto this woods road and go 100 yards to the parking area. This woods road is rough and there is a shallow ford in the road. You may also park on the Burrells Ford Road and walk to the work project along the woods road.

Contact Steve Perry, Conservation Team Leader at [email protected] if you need more information.

On May 2nd, Governor Kemp signed into law SB 115 which affirms anglers right to fish on all Georgia’s navigable streams; it will take effect on July 1^st. SB 115 removes confusion and firmly establishes in law that a flowing, navigable river is open for fishing regardless of who owns the land adjacent or under it.

Attached is a summary from Mike Worley of the Georgia Wildlife Federation and Governor Kemp’s signing statement; and more details can be found through the Georgia Wildlife Federation, Camo Coalition: https://gwf.org/camocoalition/#/

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 2022, 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.

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.

May is just one of those times of year where our dry fly hatch really "takes off". Just about everything on the menu is launching and that "dark-thirty" can really be a factor especially as the days warm up more. We got kind of lucky (depending on your perspective) with some cooler April temperatures as March seemed like we were just going to forgo Spring and slip into Summer. Recent rains have kept our streams at decent levels and fish have been hungry.

We are coming to the end of our "second season" known as delayed harvest (DH) for Georgia will close on May 14th. This doesn't mean you can't keep fishing there, you will just have some company on May 15th as trout can now be fished with bait and other standard tactics. Most of our DH streams become a bit warm in the summer months and won't hold many if any trout, but a couple will still fish very well in May. You still have some time in North Carolina as their DH season's last day is June 2.

I hit up one of our trophy streams and forced myself to fish it dry fly only recently and did very well on Elk Hair Caddis during the day and picked up a bit more on mayfly imitations like a Klinkhammer when the sun dropped a bit. Undercut banks and soft seams were the ticket for fishing looking up for their food. I fought temptation to nymph the deep holes as I knew big fish were down there, but I really wanted to get fish on top that day.

All our standard stocker streams should be teeming with fish ready to put a bend in that rod. The DNR keeps a weekly stocking report on their website. Flashy "junk" flies will work on the freshly stocked fish and as time goes on, they'll start to key in on more natural available food sources. Check out: https://georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Trout for stocking reports and other great info about trout fishing in our state. You may also want to follow the Rock Creek Fish Hatchery on Facebook as they also post stocking from their side of the world.

To continue the trend from last month of having caddis pattern featured, I bring you a nice little gem called the Neversink Caddis. If you get frustrated having to add floatant every third cast or just want something that's easier to see on the water, this is a great fly to have. You can play with all sorts of color/sizes to get what you want, plus this fly makes a great dry drop fly if you like to use some heavier droppers.

For tying instructions:

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.