Hemingway Chapter December, 2020 News and views from the Board: Greetings, all. We miss you, and we all miss each other. Patience. We’ll be back together soon if we stay safe over the holiday seasons (plural) – Thanksgiving and Christmas. My wife and I will enjoy both holidays here at home in Hailey. We cancelled our plans to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandkids over Thanksgiving and, frankly, doubt that we will visit them for Christmas as well. Over cautious perhaps, but better safe than sorry. And, if we have to be somewhere during this horrible pandemic, we can’t imagine a better place. We are all very lucky to live in paradise where we can step out into the Big Wood River for winter fishing, hop on our downhill or cross country skis (or both), or maybe just enjoy looking at the fresh falling snow. Our (virtual) membership meeting last month was fun, even though participation was rather small. (Everyone is tired of Zoom meetings so low attendance was not a surprise.) We heard about the Chapter’s fish rescue program. Now, the Ted Trueblood Chapter is very interested in what we’ve done. Earlier this month they invited Ed Northen and John Finnell to discuss our rescue efforts with their members. (See the link to their presentation below.) And there is a good chance we’ll get a short article in a future issue of Trout magazine. Nice publicity but more important a great way to get other similarly situated chapters, those in the west with irrigation canals, to think about how they too can save stranded fish. Chapter volunteers helped pour concrete to improve the Elkhorn Fish Ladder. A week later the “top” was put on the ladder, both to ensure the trout don’t jump out and people don’t fall in. (Photos of the concrete work and the metal top are below.). The hearing on the Flying Heart public access litigation we discussed last month has been postponed from just before Christmas to sometime (as yet to be determined) in January. We are following that very closely and looking for ways to participate in the process to ensure public access and parking at the trail heads is preserved. Two members, Carmen Northen and Jill Clark, recently volunteered to work with the Environmental Resource Council on testing the water quality in the Big Wood River. (See photos and report below.). We can use more volunteers. Let us know if you are interested. As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, we hope to alternate between virtual, Zoom, meetings and newsletters that pass along links to interesting videos focused, if possible, on the history and evolution of our sport as well as the evolution of fly fishing techniques and technologies. We’ve found a few videos you might enjoy and have provided links to them. You can enjoy them at your leisure. We plan to have a virtual meeting next month via Zoom. We will be hearing from Brian Small, talking about the redband trout. If you have ideas for future meetings or presentations, please let us know. Until then, stay safe, watch your drift and mend. Alan Richardson Hemingway TU Chapter President |
| Elkhorn Creek Fish Ladder Completed |
    10 years ago Bob Law, long time resident of Lane Ranch, envisioned a fish ladder allowing trout to climb over the small dam holding back the Lane Ranch pond along Elkhorn road. After several years of planning, fund raising and lots of volunteer hours, the ladder is operational and reconnecting the Big Wood with the spawning beds in Elkhorn Creek. This project was managed by Trout Unlimited National, supported by our local Hemingway Chapter of TU and local residents. The ladder became functional two weeks ago and the following day trout were spotted moving through the structure. Elkhorn Creek holds Rainbow, Redband, Brook and Brown trout.by Alex Klokke Educational Links for Your Enjoyment! Il Pescatore Completo | The Complete Fisherman https://youtu.be/GdXIHsGgIQM 5 Tips for Better Mending https://troutbitten.com/2020/11/18/fly-casting-five-tips-for-better-mending/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fly_casting_five_tips_for_better_mending&utm_term=2020-11-19 Tying the Serendipity https://youtu.be/oBd_5mCjSCM Joan Salvato Wulff- IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame https://youtu.be/tmTCDU5N3m8 Catch and Release Fishing Principles www.keepfishwet.org Book Recommendation: Feather Thief, by Kirk Johnson Interview with the author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlEVbVJ139s&t=4s Classic Pro Tip: How to tie the Perfection Loop https://vimeo.com/139365724 Mastering the Roll Cast https://youtu.be/rMUL0FN4HxA      Last month Jill Clark and I had the opportunity to take a class sponsored by the Environmental Research Center, that prepared us to be citizen scientists. The class was taught by Dr. Jim Elkins of University of Idaho who is a water educator. Jim taught this class for those interested in becoming an IDAH2O Master Water Steward. The goal of the class was to collect water quality data and enter the information into the IDAH2O database. Using this data, change in water quality over time can be monitored.We learned about land use practices and how they can affect a river, how to identify healthy riparian habitat and canopy cover, and the importance of monitoring fish populations, macro invertebrates, wildlife, and birds. We defined the stream substrate, cobble, boulders, silt, sand as well as the stream bank itself. We tested the Ph balance as well as dissolved oxygen levels. We measured water clarity and temperature. The reach of the river that we tested is the Big Wood River below Bow Bridge. The Big Wood passed these tests with flying colors by the way. Jill and I measured the width of the river from bank to bank in addition to the actual width of the in-wetted section. Next year at the same time of the month we will conduct this survey again. With this year being low water, it will be interesting to measure the change in the in-wetted sections. We also waded the river to note size of cobble, boulders and presence of aquatic plants. Since there is a USGS gauging station just upstream we didn’t measure stream flow in CFS but recorded it from that gauge. Each month we will test dissolved oxygen levels, Ph levels and clarity of the Big Wood River. A portion of our data set is listed below, in case you were curious. Date: November 5, 2020 In-wetted transect: 68 feet Substrate: large and small cobble primarily, very little silt, leaf mats present Maximum Depth: .56 meters Ph: 7 Dissolved Oxygen: 11 (High) Temperature: 41 degrees Flow: 151 cfs Primary Macroinvertebrates: very small mayfly nymphs, evidence of caddis, leaches, crane fly and damsel larvae, blood worms, small aquatic snails, scud, beetles, stonefly If you are interested in the Idah2O Master Water Stewards class you may contact Jim Ekins at jekins@uidaho.edu. Or for a more basic understanding of stream habitat assessment you may contact Trout Unlimited to order the book My Healthy Stream. Our chapter has a set of testing equipment that you may borrow to monitor your favorite section of the Big Wood. If you would like to volunteer to help monitor the Big Wood River, contact us at info.hemingwaytu@gmail.comby Carmen Northen Hemingway Chapter collaborates with the Ted Trueblood Chapter in a presentation on Fish Rescue On November 18th, Ed Northen and John Finnell shared a zoom presentation with 30 members of the Ted Trueblood chapter who were interested in the possibility of establishing a fish rescue program in their area. View the presentation video below. Watch Ed and John’s presentation prerecorded on zoom. https://youtu.be/37B9R9JeGEY  Dave Spaulding sharing his fly tying talents with David Garcia who is working with both Dave, and Bob Knoebel to complete his high school personal project on fly fishing.Photos by Bob Knoebel Join the Hemingway TU chapter by clicking on the link www.tu.org  Five Trout Unlimited volunteers fished with 7 members of the Outdoor Hispanic Leadership Club on Friday, October 23rd at Hayspur. Jill Clark ran the students through a casting clinic and then joined Ed Northen, Alan Richardson, Nick Miller and Bob Knoebel at Gaver’s Lagoon to help the young men catch their first trout on a fly rod.  Facebook Event https://www.facebook.com/events/675396026715160 Eventbrite Tickets https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-women-in-fly-fishing-virtual-expo-tickets-127513625687 A virtual event bringing together women fly fishing professionals. We have gathered together a diverse group of women professionals including: artists, business owners, instructors, guides & product designers. Our goal is to shine a spotlight on our talents of women in the fly fishing industry, our clothing, fly fishing education & gear designed for women by women!  Did you read and interact with our newsletter? Let’s find out!This month’s raffle item is a TU Ball Cap! In order to enter, take the 10 question quiz attached below. Type in your full name or email address as your username so that we can know who won and I can track you down to mail the cap to you. Each question is on a 20 second timer, the quiz is active until December 10. Link to the Quiz: https://kahoot.it/challenge/07235194?challenge-id=608c1f7e-44db-4fc1-b763-4c6d964c381b_1606262358513 May the odds be ever in your favor! Jill Clark |
