President’s Message:
Dear Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited Members,
Our next meeting will be November 7th in the meeting room on the second floor of the Conley Street Hy-Vee in Columbia. As usual, social hour starts at 6:00 PM and the business meeting with elections at 7:00 PM. At this point there is no program planned but it might be a good time to have a report of the recent TU national meeting in Spokane if we have any attendees present.
We have very good minutes from the October meeting which are included in the newsletter. Please read them.
This month is the usual trout stocking at Bethel CoMo lake. It is most likely to occur on November 1st. As has been the Chapter’s practice in recent years, some of us plan to meet at the lake at 10:00 AM on Saturday November 4th. We will have some fly fishing gear to loan out to passers-by that would like to try fly-fishing. It would be great if some folks would come and demonstrate fly-tying as well as fly-fishing. If you are going to tie flies and need a table, let me know so I know to get one to the event. For more information send an email or call me. If you are going to call me and I don’t answer leave a voicemail. I don’t generally return calls if I don’t see the number in my phone contacts or a voicemail.
I recently stumbled on a YouTube video of Chris Wood’s presentation, “The State of Trout Unlimited”. Here is the link https://youtu.be/Fk-Ent8TQQI?si=g4uHjHV4z7GJLNfD. The video is about what Trout Unlimited is accomplishing. Even though you may never fish out side of the Ozarks what TU is doing elsewhere is important and we are a part of it. Someone recently pointed out to me that he didn’t know where his descendants might want to fish. That is one reason that we care about cold water fisheries conservation. In this video Chris Wood points out a few more reasons.
Upcoming planned events are:
November 7 – Chapter Elections (need a short program)
December 5 – Holiday Celebration and photo Contest
January 2 – (need a program)
January 27 - 10:00 AM at the Ragtag Theater in Columbia
February 6 – Mike Siepker, Iowa DNR Fisheries Biologist
February 23 – Chapter Banquet at the Stoney Creek Inn
March 5 – (need a program)
April 2 – (need a program)
May 7 – (need a program)
June 4 – Hot Dog Burn
Hope to see you at the meeting!
Doug Grove
douggrove@yahoo.com
September Minutes:
The Mid-Missouri Chapter of Trout Unlimited met on October 3 at HyVee east. There was excellent attendance with roughly 17 members and guests. President Doug Grove presided over the business meeting. Ty Figg presented a Treasurers report, noting no activities since the last meeting.
Items of discussion during the business meeting included the Fly Fishing Film Tour scheduled for the last Saturday of January at RagTag. An FFFT subcommittee, of Travis Figg, Ty Figg and Bill Lamberson have largely completed plans for the event to be held on January 27. Contracts have been signed for the 2024 films and with Ragtag. RagTag will advertise the event. Food and drinks will be available from Uprise. There was approval of a motion for offering sponsorships of $500, $250 and $100.
Bill Lamberson provided a fundraising banquet report. The banquet will be February 23, 2024 at Stoney Creek Inn. Ticket sales will be handled on-line through a TU associated vendor and will commence January 1. An MC has been identified and an auctioneer tentatively identified. There was discussion of an offer of a week’s lodging in the Bahamas as a banquet prize. Other trips and auction items are being sought. Curt Morgret and Bill Lamberson are serving as banquet co-chairs.
Chapter officer elections will be held at the November meeting. A nominating committee of John Wenzlick, Mike Kruse and Bill Lamberson will be seeking to identify candidates for each office (see the newsletter for a list of offices and committees). If you are interested in serving as an officer or committee chair, please contact a member of the nominating committee.
John Wenzlick provided a Stream Team report. John believes he has been successful in identifying an alternative sampling location near Vida Slab. A sampling will take place in November.
Jim Washabaugh reported that he has completed his book, “Fishing Missouri Trout Parks”, and it is broadly available locally.
Jeff Holzem offered cakes of beeswax provided by a local beekeeper, Dale Brown 573 619-8345.
Lynn Kleopfer distributed a handout describing how to tie the Double Davy knot. They can be found at https://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/double-davy-knot.
That concluded the business meeting.
Elections will be held next month. A program has not yet been identified.
The meeting was adjourned by Doug Grove, President.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Lamberson, Interim Secretary
Advocacy Opportunities:
TU and many other groups, such as Earth Justice, are pushing to remove dams on the Snake River. Please sign a quick petition. By the way, Lindsay Slater, Steve Moyer’s replacement as TU’s VP of Government Affairs worked for Idaho Representative Mike Simpson. They fought to remove the dams so salmon and steelhead could once again thrive.
Here is a survey on potential development at Eleven Point. It is a chance to have a say in what will be built at the park. The survey is open until November 3rd.
TU and Climate News:
Doug included a link to Chris' Wood message on the state of trout. He spoke at TU's national meeting in Spokane. I watched the video and TU has done amazing work to protect and restore trout. It is very encouraging and well worth watching. I look forward to fishing some of the restored and protected streams.
The NLC Climate Change Workgroup also had a panel discussion at CX3 hosted by Russ Collins, who is the other Co-Chair of the workgroup. (His chapter in Pennsylvania has more active stream projects, well over a million dollars, more than any other.) There were four excellent speakers: Helen Neville, TU’s chief scientist; Lindsay Slater, who replaced Steve Moyer as the head of Government Affairs; Bob Inglis, a former South Carolina representative, who changed from being a climate denier to becoming an advocate for climate action, especially carbon pricing; and Drew Eyerly, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Conservative Outreach Director.
Helen provided a scientific perspective on how climate change is impacting trout and what TU is already doing, stream work to stabilize banks, provide cover, cool the water and plant trees, which also sequester carbon. The third items is to advocate for policies that reduce emissions. Adaptation helps coldwater species to survive until we can slow down emissions, which are heat the atmosphere.
As Jeff Witten mentioned at a meeting this summer, Lindsay was the legislative assistance for Idaho Rep Mike Simpson. They fought to remove the Snake River dams to assure the survival of salmon and steelhead in the watershed. Lindsay listed his team’s objectives, which by the way, the Climate Change Workgroup also supports. They are:
Advocate for policies that reduce emissions, such as carbon pricing and other policies that help transition to renewable energy.
Reform permitting for electric transmission lines to take advantage of cheap wind and solar.
Making sure we have access to energy saving benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Keeping trout and salmon resilient as the climate warms.
Helping to prevent building more refineries and coal plants are in poor areas whose residents cannot afford to move.
Bob said the same thing Chris said about renewables. If there is a change to an energy source, such as closing a coal plant or removing a dam, those who depended on it must get something to replace what they lost.
Drew served two terms in middle East wars. He saw the loss of life and expense in wars for oil. That moved him from being a climate denier to encouraging us to switch to renewable energy.
I recently attended a presentation on plastics. The amount of plastic in our water is staggering. It is getting into the entire food chain. Much of it is dumped into the ocean, but here is news close to home. In two recent papers, Saint Louis University researchers report finding high concentrations of microplastics present in a Missouri cave system that had been closed to human visitors for 30 years. https://www.slu.edu/news/2023/september/microplastics-research-missouri-cave-systems.php
The ground water is getting saltier. What that means for ecosystems and our health. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1004949
Fishing Tips:
If you do not get the TU emails, here are a couple things that I can certainly use:
Tip – Nymph Fishing Basics - Trout Unlimited. https://www.tu.org/magazine/fishing/tip-nymph-fishing-basics/?utm_source=informz&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=none&_zs=hW5wb&_zl=Cidm3
Our chapter is great! Keep enjoying fishing and sending articles and pictures for the newsletter.
Jeff Holzem
Newsletter Editor
Ozark Council Climate Change Coordinator
NLC Climate Change Workgroup Co-chair
President
Doug Grove
Vice President
Travis Figg
Past President
John Wenzlick
Secretary
Bill Lamberson
Interim Treasurer
Ty Figg
Interim Banquet Chairs
Curt Morgret
Alternative Funding Committee
Travis Figg
Education Director
John Wenzlick
Membership
Curt Morgret
Conservancy
Bill Lamberson
Conservancy
Sam Potter
e-Newsletter
Jeff Holzem
Web Master
Ty Figg
Facebook editor
Ben Moore
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