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I really don’t need to tell anybody because we all realize that we’re living through a strange time. Everybody has been adversely affected by the current coronavirus pandemic. At the least, things have been inconvenient. At the worst, a friend or loved one has been lost. Nobody knows when or if things will return to normal or what “normal” might look like.
In the grand scheme of things, Trout Unlimited and the Madmen Chapter’s situations really do seem insignificant. But this is the newsletter for the Chapter, so I need to address them.
As you all know, in March we had to cancel our first ever Mad River Gala after months of planning. We don’t know when it will be safe or even allowable to schedule a gathering of 100 or so people for such an event; so as of yet, we have not set a new date. We canceled the first of our scheduled stream water quality monitoring sessions in April. After starting to hold regular quarterly Chapter meetings last year, we’ve been shut down after just two; the summer quarterly meeting that would have been in June is not going to happen. The Ohio State Council of TU held their bi-annual meeting online with limited effect; votes on items that were discussed are being delayed until the Fall meeting (assuming that it will take place) when we can meet in person. TU National has canceled all regional and national events for the foreseeable future and all officers and employees are working remotely. They’ve also relaxed their requirements for Chapters holding their Annual Meetings and submitting their annual reports.
Anyway…enough of the doom and gloom. As I write this, there is a move afoot to reopen the country. How this will play out is anybody’s guess. Hopefully, the rules in place for social distancing, face covering requirements, limiting the size of groups gathering, etc. will keep the pandemic in check until such time that an effective vaccine can be perfected and distributed world-wide.
For whatever reasons, the Madmen Chapter has seen a surge in its membership this year. At last count, there have been over 130 new members added to the roster since January. Several new members have come our way due to TU National’s program to grant a free one year membership to First Responders and Essential Workers. A very big “Thank You!” goes out to all who have joined us under that program. And a very big welcome to all of our new members. Hopefully, we will all have a chance to get to know each other as things return to some semblance of normalcy.
We might not have an actual meeting soon, but some of our volunteer efforts may start up in earnest again. Trail-clearing and stream water quality monitoring, etc. are things that can be done safely in small groups. We will try to keep everyone current as to when those activities will be scheduled by including them on the calendar on our website and/or by emailing notifications out to members. We still haven’t established a formal “Adopt-A-Bridge” program yet; but as always, take a trash bag with you when you go out to fish and help us clean up the parking areas and river access points.
The State never did shut down fishing, so many of you have been out on the water. With the good weather here to stay for a while, fishing activity is certain to pick up. The Mad River has been fishing well as of late, and the smallmouth are on the move in ponds and lakes and the warm water creeks and rivers. When you’re out and about (especially on the Mad) and you run into another fly fisher, please introduce yourself as a Madmen member. If you run into someone who says that they’ve just joined, give them a hearty welcome, just don’t give them a hearty handshake. Strange times indeed.
Please stay safe, maintain a safe distance and wash your hands.
Tight lines everybody!
Rick Hurni, President
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Thanks to all the TU Madmen Chapter members and other volunteers for their hard work and donating 3475 hours of their time! Here is a link to the Madmen Chapter 2019/2020 Accomplishment Report
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Our Women's Outreach Coordinator, Katie Johnstone is the co-founder of a local group, Ohio Women on the Fly. They are hosting monthly meetups throughout the Summer in the Columbus area. Despite the pandemic, they were able to responsibly recreate and held an outing in May. View the event calendar here.
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Stream Monitoring
No stream monitoring sessions have been scheduled. Unfortunately, our days of stream monitoring like we did last Fall, pictured above, won't be happening until we can figure out a way to do so safely. We'll revisit scheduling as soon as we can do so safely and responsibly.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic it has been difficult to get work done on Mad River including trails, in-stream habitat improvement and cleanups. Thanks to Mike Palatas and Dave Dailey we were able to do an initial trail clearing on the east side of the river below State Route 29 to the Urbana wellfield. Of course, we practiced safe physical distancing while working. The yellow and green lines in the aerial photo below indicate the boundary of State property. The orange circle is the location of the logjam removal. It is also near the location where the trail ends. The green area is the newly acquired property. There are additional plans being developed for the this area, including an ODNR public access sign and improvements for launching watercraft. Work will continue soon to complete the trail at Pimtown and we are working with ODNR on potential in-stream habitat improvement projects, where logjams have been removed below State Route 29 and downstream of the Pimtown Road bridge. We will be asking for volunteers to help with these projects in the near future, as long as we can do so safely. Last, since we have not been able to have organized group cleanups, please help with removing litter, especially around bridge and public access areas. Litter control will be a very important aspect of the ADOPT-A-BRIDGE/STREAM WATCH program being developed and coordinated by Joe Penry. Thanks again to all of the volunteers for your hard work and dedication.
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PHWFF has had to cancel all of our events until further notice. This is very unfortunate since we had just started this year’s rod building classes with 6 veterans who are building their first fly rod! Since things have gotten shut down we have done 2 virtual fly tying sessions through our Instagram page at www.instagram.com/phwffcolumbusoh check there or our Facebook page for future program updates! |
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Everything else in our lives may be turned upside down, but the fishing has been great! My husband, Tom, our friend, Kevin Ramsey and I have been able to get out and fish locally making sure we kept our distance from others and had the least impact we could on the local communities. While on one of our outings, we had the pleasure of meeting fellow TU Madmen member Steve Kennedy as he was leaving the river. Although awkward, it wasn't hard to keep a safe physical distance, even when meeting someone new. We had luck catching browns on both the Mad and Clearfork using the flies pictured above. One was a yellow crane fly and the other one Kevin called a "wired wet" fly. Here's a link to a video of him tying the wet fly. Here’s what Trout Unlimited recommends for responsible fishing, given what we know about the threats posed by the coronavirus outbreak and the COVID-19 disease:
1. Practice good social distancing on the water. The Centers for Disease Control recommends staying six feet apart from others. We’re taking it a step farther — we’re asking anglers to stay a rod’s length apart from their fishing partners whenever possible. The standard fly rod is nine feet long.
2. Wear a multi-layered face covering when in the vicinity of other anglers. Even a double-layered cloth mask can help slow the spread of the virus.
3. Avoid fishing from a boat with someone you haven’t been in lock-down with. In other words, if they’re not family, don’t fish from a boat with them — it’s just not possible to practice social distancing while in a drift boat.
4. Drive to the river separately to get to the angling destination.
5. Stay local, if at all possible, to limit exposure to others, and limit others’ exposure to you.
Fishing, when done correctly, can be a great way to get outside safely, but doing so wisely. We're all in this together. Show us how you're practicing #ResponsibleRecreation while enjoying the places you love, and you might win a new fly rod from @troutunlimited. https://www.tu.org/blog/share-your-responsiblerecreation-posts-and-win-a-fly-rod/
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The weather is warming up and so is fishing for bluegill! This simple fly recipe is sure to bring you success this Summer.
Click here for a step-by-step guide and a video for tying the Bully Bluegill Spider.
Materials for this fly include:
Hook: Standard wet-fly hook, sizes 10 or 12
Thread: UT 140 Chartreuse
Weight: .015 lead wire
Body: Fluorescent Yellow Chenille - small
Other color options: Black, green, red, white (Experiment with colors!)
Legs: Black round-rubber legs are most common. Again, play around with colors.
Head: Tying thread.
Head cement can be used, but is not necessary.
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NOTHING SCHEDULED AT THIS TIME
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Articles Needed!! I could use your help with future newsletters. If you've been on a fishing trip, or have something else you'd like to share, like a fly recipe, we'd love to hear about it. Write an article and send pictures to me at pamallen@tumadmen.org; it's that easy :) |
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