President's Message
The end of this very strange year on planet earth is rapidly approaching. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on our lives and basically upended everything everywhere. The news of late has been both horrifying, with the exponential growth of reported cases and deaths, as well as uplifting, with news of several effective vaccines possibly being issued in the next few months.
Hopefully, we can all stay safe and hang on for a few more months at which time things may return to normal. With any luck we should be able to resume our quarterly meetings, regular stream monitoring and clean-up activities, complete the next phase of habitat restoration, and finally have that Mad River Gala Annual Meeting and Banquet.
As of this writing, it has been three full weeks since the election. The results are clear but the final outcome is still very much in doubt. My hope is that our system of government holds up to the assault and the new, more environmentally-friendly administration takes over. We are, after all, a conservation organization.
Regardless of politics, I can assume that all of our members really care about conserving the environment or else you wouldn’t be a member. Keep your fingers crossed and hope that the next few years result in the beginning of a reversal of the disastrous environmental policies of the past four years.
I implore all of you to write your senators and congressmen and insist that they all put their petty partisan bickering aside and begin to work together to right the ship. We need to be adamant about this. The status quo must not be allowed to continue.
As 2020 draws to a close, I sincerely hope that you and yours have weathered the storm. I wish everyone a happy holiday season and a new year MUCH brighter than this current one has been. Stay positive. Stay safe. And stay hopeful.
Tight lines everybody!
Rick
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Fewer schools in the Mad River watershed are participating in the Trout in the Classroom Program this year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Benjamin Logan Elementary, Benjamin Logan Middle School, Miami Valley Career Technology Center and Graham Elementary School received brown trout eggs on November 20th.
Some schools are opting to receive rainbow eggs in January. For some this will give them more time to prepare to rear the trout; for others, who will be receiving both browns and rainbows, it will allow them to compare the growth and behavioral differences between the two species. Those on board for rainbows this year (so far) are Benjamin Logan High School, Northwestern Middle School, Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Upper Valley Career Center, and Fairbanks High School. Normally 13 schools in our watershed participate in the Program.
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Spencer Reames, the outstanding science teacher at Benjamin Logan High School, is known for offering advanced courses in the sciences. Not surprisingly, he was the first Trout in the Classroom teacher in the Mad River Watershed. Recently he wrote a grant to study the DNA of stream fishes and aquatic macroinvertebrates in the Mad River. The grant was funded and recently his students extracted DNA from several fish and conducted PCR analysis to verify their identification of the fish species. The PCR technique (or polymerase chain reaction) amplifies the DNA, making it available for sequencing. The experiments were all a success and the sequences verify their identification of three native fish: the Central Stoneroller (Campastornia nomalum), the Redside Dace (Clinostomas elongatus) and the Common Shiner (Laxilus cornutus). They are currently working on DNA analysis of some aquatic insects.
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Conservation Corner
Take care of the stream and the fishing will take care of itself
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Pimtown Road Habitat Improvement
In the Fall of 2018 the TU Madmen Chapter, with assistance from members of MVFF, COFF, BUFF and Ohio Trophy Trout Hunter, completed 300 feet of in-stream habitat improvement in section 2 of the Pimtown Rd. project. Unfortunately, we ran out of materials to complete the project. This Fall, thanks to Mike Palatas, Jeff Lange, Randy Kirchner, Kevin Ramsey, Tom Allen, Bo Ward, and Dave and Maddie Dailey, the remaining 50+ feet of the project was completed. We are currently in the planning stages of section 3, to continue the work downstream.
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Importance of the Riparian Zone
A riparian zone is the area of land directly adjacent to a waterway (stream, river, or wetlands). A healthy riparian zone helps to stabilize streambanks, mitigate flood impacts, provide shade to keep water cold, and helps to filter pollutants that might otherwise run directly into the waterway.
Over the past few years, historic storm events in the Mad River watershed have resulted in flooding and substantial bank erosion. Those of us who fish the Mad frequently have noticed much less bank erosion in the areas with substantial riparian zones that include mature trees.
Although we have had to address many more down trees and logjams, the mature trees in a healthy riparian zone are so important to the overall quality of the stream and watershed and are so much more important than just lessening bank erosion. The following diagrams help show the importance of a healthy riparian zone.
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For the future of the watershed, sustaining the existing riparian zones and restoring the impacted areas on the mainstem and tributaries is an especially important issue to address. It is going to take a long term, coordinated effort and it begins by working with the landowners; as a part of building collaboration and cooperation, there must be respect and understanding of their needs with a variety of options to encourage them to protect and restore these areas. Also, we will need to have cooperation and collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies, groups and organizations, elected officials, community and local business leaders. The following article is a reprint of the September 2020 issue of Nature Talks with Nancy Bain, a publication of the B-W Greenway Community Land Trust. B-W Greenway is an organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of wetlands and woodlands. This is one of the organizations doing work in the watershed that will be helpful to include in our efforts. We will be including articles about other organizations in future issues of the Mad River Drift newsletter.
Water or Not / by Nancy Bain
Believe it or not, there’s research going on to determine if human beings can live without water. No doubt this will inform future choices about expanding human populations beyond Earth’s atmosphere. For now, though, we’re creatures living inside watery skin bags, solely dependent upon water. So, today's decision making must be about protecting this precious ubiquitous and protean chemical.
That’s why organizations such as B-W Greenway exist—to help educate all citizens about water stewardship. One of B-WG’s board members, Dr. Abinash Agrawal, does just that. Born in India, he came to the United States with his parents, who, he said were of “modest background.” His father did not finish high school. But for their son, for him to excel in life, Abinash’s parents emphasized the values of self-motivation and education. In school, he found chemistry to be easy. “I didn’t have to study much,” he said, although he’s spent his life studying and researching many aspects of chemistry.
His PhD is from the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill. He’s worked the petroliferous basins of India, studied at universities across the US and one in Canada, and is on a couple of lists identifying global experts in environmental sciences. He’s established his expertise in ground water remediation as a WSU professor in the Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences consulting with the City of Dayton on contamination in the aquifer. He advocates low cost, ecological treatments. A 2014 research project resulted in a patent for (briefly stated) an “Upward Flow Constructed Wetland…” He’s proudest of one of his earliest papers (et alia) putting forward, uh, “groundbreaking research” on how to destroy environmental pollutants that are difficult to degrade naturally. The research has drawn 800 citations. That paper came out in the mid-1990s, when the world didn’t realize how dangerous industrial chemicals were in the water. Abinash referred to the movies A Civil Action (1998) and Erin Brockovich (2000) that brought to light the issues of pervasive, cancer-causing pollutants in our waters.
Abinash noted that storm events across the world cause considerable overload of fertilizers and pesticides. Reflecting on his service with B-WG and the Little Miami Watershed Network, he said he would like more education done to further the understanding of the dangers of water pollution. “There are simple ways to deal with those threats. In restoration, you identify the problem and address it.”
As for Erin Brockovich, the real Erin has just released a book on the continuing challenges communities have with water contamination. In promoting Superman’s Not Coming, she emphasizes that citizens cannot assume governments or corporations will be there to solve the problems. Citizens must be vigilant. B-WG membership helps expand citizen vigilance. But mostly it’s one of the best ways to educate yourself about the area’s complex watersheds. At least for now, we need our water.
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After spending 21 years in the military traveling all over the country and the world, I had settled back in Ohio. I would fish once a year for walleye or perch with my father and brothers at Lake Orion or Lake St. Clair in Michigan and Lake Erie, or in my pond for bluegill and bass. Fishing has always been a way of clearing my mind and enjoying the outdoors for me. Over the last few years, my brother Dan has talked about his annual trip to Colorado to fly fish for trout with his buddy Dave. It always sounded like a great trip. Two years ago he gave me my first fly rod and reel -- I’ve been hooked ever since. I have caught perch, small and largemouth bass, white bass, saugeye, etc., but never had any luck on the Mad, Mac-o-Chee or Clear Fork with trout. About a year ago they started planning a trip to Montana and asked me to come along; the timing was right so I said yes.
The first night we arrived, we stayed at a place called Yorkshire Farm Tent Camping outside of Vista da Serr along Trout Creek (yes, that’s the name). The campsite was a let-down because it was misrepresented when we rented it online. We made the best of it, set up camp in the horse pasture and hit the creek. It rained a little bit which didn’t dampen our spirits; both Dan and Dave caught a couple of small trout, I was skunked. It didn’t matter to me, I was back in the mountains and just in awe of the beauty around me.
The next morning we got up and headed out to find a different campsite. We ended up finding a perfect little state campsite along Wolf Creek (home to much of the movie A River Runs Through It) and a defunct railroad. From this site over the next three days we punched out to fish Wolf Creek, the lower and upper Prickly Pear, the Missouri River and Boulder River.
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My brother and I paid for a guide out of the Wolf Creek Angler Fly Shop for one day. The guide that met us and spent the day with us on the Missouri River was great. Once we all found out the three of us were veterans, the fun began. He kept us on trout all day. Floating down the Missouri, I found myself staring at the views so many times I know I missed some hits on my line. I wish we would have had a couple of days with him, he taught us so much and kept us laughing.
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Our final day we hit Boulder River on our way to the hotel in Belgrade. An absolutely beautiful river, a great way to end our first trip to Montana.
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As winter approaches, here is a fly to add to your box. This is a good anchor fly to fish in combination with an unweighted nymph. It is also a very good fish catcher, fished by itself. It has a lot of movement which definitely gets the trout's attention:
Hook: Jig hook, size 10
Thread: Fluorescent Orange 70 denier UTC thread
Bead: Tungsten 3 mm (copper and black are good colors)
Tag: Fluorescent orange 70 denier UTC thread
Tail: Grizzley Micro Legs, Rootbeer
Rib: Midge Diamond Braid, Rootbeer
Body: Squirrel Dubbing (brown, tan, gray and olive)
Collar: Squirrel (same color as body) spun in a dubbing loop, sparse
Legs: Grizzley Micro Legs, Rootbeer
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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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