Outfitters, Guides & Business eNewsletter - Winter 2011

Hello Members,

Trout Unlimited is collaborating with the University of Massachusetts and several other partners to develop a community science program that examines impacts of climate change on the phenology of trout streams and their riparian areas. Capitalizing on the observational skills that anglers already practice, volunteers will record observations of temperature, streamflow, and seasonal aquatic insect, fish and riparian plants. The resulting records will yield a database of ecosystem health, allowing us to develop "fishability" indices and incorporate this into TU climate change outreach campaigns at the chapter, council and national levels.

If we were to start collecting phenology data today, it may take decades to construct a chronological record long enough to establish with confidence a link between climate change and the shifting natural calendars of any river system. However, there exists a rich trove of information in historical angling journals, records of fly shops and guides, and in the angling literature. Depending on the river system, observations documented by recreational anglers may provide a baseline of fishing reports and hatch emergence dates allowing more recent records to be compared to those dating back decades, to a century or more.

With this in mind, we need your help determining the degree to which such records have been kept. Please take a few minutes to fill out the following survey. The results of the survey will help us determine what type of information might be available for different river systems around the country. At this point, please do not send in any specific angling records.

Complete the survey and find out more information on the River's Calendar project.

Thanks for your help,

Jack Williams, Senior Scientist, Trout Unlimited

Jerry Schoen, Water Resources Research Center, University of Massachusetts

TU Trains Alaskan Youth as Fly Fishing Guides The salmon-rich Nushagak River in southwest Alaska became a classroom to a group of Bristol Bay young people this summer who converged there to learn how to be fly fishing guides. TU helped sponsor the academy, located in the Alaska Native village of Ekwok. (Photo credit: Nick Hall) » Check out the audio slideshow

OGB SPOTLIGHT OGB Spotlight: Jim Greene of Waterwisp® Jim Greene is the owner of Outfitter, Guide, and Business, Waterwisp®. The company engineers flies that appear to be tied backwards and upside down. Waterwisp flies look uncannily like an insect lighting on the water - presenting quite the convincing natural profile. Many years ago, Jim joined the Potomac-Patuxent chapter of TU to learn where to fish locally. Through the chapter, Jim met Joan and Art Stoliar, who spoke passionately about the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program they had founded in New York. TIC grabbed Jim's attention in a way that no other project had as a way to promote the future of both conservation and trout fishing. With the backing of his TU chapter, Jim started TIC programs in over 30 schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia. As part of the program, Jim and other volunteers accompany youth to local rivers and streams to release the trout they have been raising throughout the winter and spring months. While at the stream, volunteers work with kids to test the health of the water, check the stream flow and learn what bugs live in the watershed. The volunteers at many release programs include both a fly tier and a fly casting instructor. When students bring over a bug they have found, the fly tier creates a replica for the student. The amazement on the kids faces as the fly tier uses feathers, hook and thread to recreate a nymph to perfection also motivates the volunteers.  As a business owner, grandparent, father and husband, Jim admits it's difficult to find time for all of his activities.  But, when it comes to volunteering he says, "It's like cardio. You build it into your routine and you do it." And for those projects Jim can't find time to help with, he joined as an Outfitter, Guide and Business member.  To Jim, contributing to the OGB program is a way of supporting some of TU's most important projects. For that, we thank Jim and Waterwisp®.