Leonard Gustin called the meeting to order.

Meeting Attendees
Leonard Gustin – Bob Hagin – Brandon Rasler
Bob Roth – Lee Troyer – Wayne Andrews
Don Fiwek – Bill Myers – Penny Myers
Tom Cripe – Court Walker

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the March meeting will be addressed at the May meeting.

Fishing Reports
Mike Beachy caught 7 browns and 1 steelhead and 12 trout on Oliver.
Wayne Andrews caught 5 browns.
Sandy Troyer caught an 18” brown on the Little Elkhart.

Treasurer’s Report
Current balance is $9,641.71

Adopt-A-Trout
Sales are slow. We have raised $820 thus far not counting money turned this evening.

Orvis Trout Days
Traffic was slow. We sold 2 adopt-a-trout raffle tickets and 1 river guide.

LECTU Brown Trout Stocking
Testing has been completed by the hatchery and the results, expected by April 7, have not yet been received. Once those results are received, Mike Beachy will be notified and he will then apply for the stocking permit. Currently we plan on stocking the second week of May but that is flexible based on the testing results and the permit process.

NEITA is getting their brown trout from West Virginia this year.

Communications
Brandon reported that the newsletter is at the printer.

Spring Outing
Cabela’s will be donating some reels. FlyMasters will be putting our outing on their web site and also sending us some merchandise. We purchased 3 rods and reels from Temple Fork at a deep discount. Total cost is $410. The check for the gaming license has cleared, which the application was submitted on March 25th. Mike Beachy will follow up when he returns from Colorado. Lee requested a check for $297.46 for Hoogie’s Sports for the hats and the jacket for Chris Wood.

The assignments for the outing are basically the same as last year.

There was a discussion about publicity for our May outing, especially since Chris Wood will attend. Brandon will write a press release for the newspapers. Some of the members will contact other fly fishing clubs.

May Meeting
The program will be Dave Arrington, rescheduled from the March meeting.

Next Meeting – May 11, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Lee Troyer – Secretary

Mike Beachy called the meeting to order.

Meeting Attendees
Mike Beachy – Leonard Gustin – Bob Hagin – Doug Moore
Brandon Rasler – Bob Roth – Lee Troyer – Don Fiwek
Wayne Anderson – Chris Miller – Wyatt Miller – Bill Myers
Penny Myers

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the February meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike Beachy caught 5 browns and 1 rainbow on 13 February and caught 1 brown on the 19th.

Treasurer’s Report
Total Assets as of March 09, 2011 is $9,283.64. Received a rebate from Trout Unlimited in the amount of $490.50. No report of the BY-Laws, reviewing the current By-Laws to confirm that they conform to the TU national template

Adopt-A-Trout
Indianapolis Fly Casters donated $250 to LECTU to support our brown trout stocking program. To date have sold 64 tickets will need to push the sale of these tickets at the next SJRVFF meeting. Since the Elkhart Conservation Club stocks the Little Elkhart with brown trout each year, there was a discussion about a possible donation from LECTU to support their stocking program. This will be dependent as to how well we do on our Adopt-A-Trout raffle this year.

LECTU Brown Trout Stocking
All the necessary permits have been filed. However, the permits will not be approved and finalized until the final test results are completed from our trout supplier, Cedar Brook Farms and submitted. Testing results should be available in April. Ordered 400 Browns 7 – 9 inch but will be charged for 8 – 10 inch.

Communications
The newsletter for April will be short, will drop the feature fly and just publicizes the Spring Outing add the location, time and the schedule of events and raffle items (to be completed by Mike B.) and to promote the feature speaker: Chris Wood CEO and President of Trout Unlimited. Mike Beachy to complete the ‘Flyer’ for the Spring Outing to include the schedule of events and raffle items and provide this information to Brandon to be incorporated into the April newsletter.

Spring Outing
Donations for raffle items are being received from the individuals and companies who received the letter seeking donations except for FlyMasters of Indianapolis. Discussed breaking out the high dollar items and holding a separate venue for these items – bucket table, will discuss at the April in more detail. We need to get someone to demonstrate fly tying. Suggestions were to ask Eric Wroblewski or John Mangona. Chris Miller donated a Sage TCX Model 590-4 with a 3850 CF reel for the outing Mike suggested that more emphasis be put into the casting course participation this year. No fishing guiding this year will be done. The river access tours have always been popular and we will continue to offer them this year. Mike Beachy will consider putting on a talk, similar to what he does at other clubs.
Chris Wood CEO and President of Trout Unlimited will be the featured speaker. Everyone committed to the same responsibilities as last year. Next year when having the Adopt-A-Trout raffle tickets printed add the Location – Riverbend Park, Middlebury, IN Lee Troyer will order 20 caps for the outing in red with a contrasting color for the logo. Caps are $10/each. To have just the logo applied to a garment the cost would be $5.00. Lee also suggested that we have a jacket with our logo as a gift for Chris Wood when he attends our outing.

Cabelas Spring Days
Bob H and Leonard were their on Saturday, March 5; Mike B, Don F and Bob H were their on Sunday, March 6. A total of nine (9) tickets were sold in the two (2) day event and a few guides. Lunch was provided by Cabela’s Raffle License The ‘Qualification Application’ for a raffle license has been submitted to the state for approval. The ‘Annual Raffle License Application’ has been completed and waiting for the ‘Qualification Application’ to be accepted and then the ‘Annual Raffle License Application’ will be submitted.

Fly Casting Lessons
Discussed Charlie Ray doing a fly casting clinic 4 hour beginning clinic; time 10-2 1 ½ hour advance clinic after the beginning clinic Subjected dates are June 4 and June 18, which are both Saturdays.

Middlebury Parks River Fest
Mike Beachy and Lee Troyer are part of the River Fest committee. The River Fest is scheduled for July 16th, time 8 am -2 pm. They want to create a scale map of the Little Elkhart. Daragh Deegan will do a stream shocking demonstration. Nancy Brown will talk on aquatic insects. A number of other activities are also being worked on.

NEITA Meeting
Mike will be attending this meeting at 7 pm on the 18th March in Ft Wayne at the St Joe Athletic Club. This club is not a catch and release club. Found a new source for Brown ‘s

Gary Borger Chapter of TU
Scott Foster wants us to put on a program for their chapter. They are located on the North side of Chicago and primarily focus their fishing on Wisconsin.

April Meeting
Leonard G to preside over the meeting This meeting will be used to finalize the plans / responsibilities for the Spring Outing.

May Meeting
The program will be Dave Arrington presentation.

New Business
Mike to order 1,000 copies of the ‘River Guide’

Next Meeting – April 13, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Bob Hagin – Minutes Recorder for the March 2011 meeting (by default).

Meeting adjourned at 8:27 pm

Mike Beachy called the meeting to order.

Meeting Attendees:
Mike Beachy, Leonard Gustin, Bob Hagin, Doug Moore, Brandon Rasler, Bob Roth, Lee Troyer

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the January meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike Beachy caught 5 browns on Super Bowl Sunday, with three fish measuring 16”, 17” and 19”.

Treasurer’s Report
No report as Don Fiwek is on vacation.

Adopt-A-Trout
SJRVFF donated $500 to LECTU to support our brown trout stocking program.

Since the Elkhart Conservation Club stocks the Little Elkhart with brown trout each year, there was a discussion about a possible donation from LECTU to support their stocking program. This will be dependent as to how well we do on our Adopt-A-Trout raffle this year.

Wayne Andrews completed most of the application for the gaming permit application from the state. Don Fiwek needs to finish it up. They also are asking for a copy of our meeting minutes from the last five years. Lee will get those to Mike B.

LECTU Brown Trout Stocking
All the necessary permits have been filed. However, the permits will not be approved and finalized until they gat the testing results from our trout supplier, which is Cedar Brook Farms. Testing results should be available in April.

Communications
Mike reported that the newsletter is ready for publishing.

Spring Outing
Letters have been sent out seeking donations for raffle items.
We need to get someone to demonstrate fly tying. Suggestions were to ask Eric Wroblewski or John Mangona.
Mike suggested that more emphasis be put into the casting course participation this year.
We will not be doing any fishing guiding this year.
The river access tours have always been popular and we will continue to offer them this year.
There was a discussion about offering casting lessons/pointers. Charlie Ray would be a good resource for that.
Mike Beachy will consider putting on a talk, similar to what he does at other clubs.
Chris Wood will be the featured speaker.
Mike asked if everyone can commit to the same responsibilities as last year.

Cabelas Spring Days
Bob Hagin and Leonard will attend on Saturday, March 5.
Mike B and Bob Hagin will attend on Sunday, March 6.
Mike B will call Steve Mack to find out the hours that we will need to be there.

Middlebury Parks River Fest
Mike Beachy and Lee Troyer are part of the River Fest committee. The River Fest is scheduled for July 13th. They want to create a scale map of the Little Elkhart. Daragh Deegan will do a stream shocking demonstration. A number of other activities are also being worked on.

Gary Borger Chapter of TU
Scott Foster wants us to put on a program for their chapter. They are located on the North side of Chicago and primarily focus their fishing on Wisconsin.

March Meeting
The program will be Dave Arrington.
Lee Troyer will not be able to attend this meeting and someone else will need to take meeting minutes.

New Business
Lee Troyer reported that we can get our logo put on apparel at Hoogie’s in Goshen. Brandon will get our logo to them. Caps are $10/each. Lee will order 20 caps for our outing. The color will be red with contrasting colors for the logo.

Lee also suggested that we have a jacket with our logo as a gift for Chris Wood when he attends our outing.

Next Meeting – March 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Lee Troyer – Secretary

Mike Beachy called the meeting to order.

Meeting Attendees

Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Wayne Andrews, Dolle Bloss, Bob Hagin, Bill Myers, Penny Myers, Brandon Rasler, Lee Troyer

Meeting Minutes

The minutes from the December meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports

Mike Beachy reported that the Little Elkhart has been fishing well with a number of browns caught in December.

Treasurer’s Report

Don Fiewk reported a balance of $8,297.14.

Indiana on the Fly

The LECTU chapter set up and manned a booth this past weekend at the Indianapolis Fairgrounds for the Indiana on the Fly event.  This is the second year our chapter has participated in this event.  We had more visitors to our booth than last year, which may be somewhat due to our location being next door to Joe Humphreys.  We sold $520 in Adopt-A-Trout tickets, 3 hats and $35 in river guides.

Mike suggested that we have some business cards printed for our chapter.  Mike gave out quite a few of his personal cards this year.

By-Law Revision

Don Fiwek is working on our by-law revisions in his spare time.

LECTU Brown Trout Stocking

Mike Beachy will start the process for obtaining the necessary permits for our trout stocking this year.

Adopt-A-Trout

Mike had tickets available for club members to start selling.  As stated above, we got a good start on sales at Indiana on the Fly, selling $520 in tickets.  We were reminded that we are not allowed to sell tickets inter-state over the web or through mail solicitation.

Wayne Andrews will work on the application for a gaming license from the state for our raffle.  The application has a $50 fee associated.  First, you need to be a qualified organization and need to fill out an application to become qualified.  Once qualified, you then need to fill out an application for a one-day gaming permit.  After the event, you need to provide financial information to the state.  They will then use that information to determine your fee structure the following year.  Thank you Wayne for taking on this task.

Communications

Brandon will work on a winter newsletter.  We need to promote Adopt-A-Trout as well as the date for our spring outing.  Brandon will also do a fly-of-the-month article for the newsletter.

Spring Outing

Fly tying demonstration – Mike will see if Tim Scott or Jeff Stanifer are available.

Raffles:                Cabelas (Steve Mack)

Temple Fork Outfitters (John Bueter) – Mike Beachy will contact

FlyMasters (Ian Anderson) – Bob Hagin will contact

Brookhaven Lake – Mike Beachy will contact

Orvis – Mike Beachy will contact

The Indiana Fly Casters club told us last weekend that they will promote our spring outing in their newsletter if we send them the information.

Christmas Hams

The hams have been delivered and were well received.

Cabela’s Spring Days

Cabela’s wants us to participate in their spring days this year.  It is scheduled for March 5 – 6.  Bob Hagin and Leonard Gustin will attend on Saturday.  Mike will attend on Sunday and put on a program.  We will sell our Adopt-A-Trout tickets, river guides, and have a raffle consisting of items donated by Cabela’s.

Middlebury Parks River Fest

LECTU has been contacted by the Middlebury Parks Dept. asking us to not only participate in their second annual River Fest this year, but to also possibly take a larger roll going forward.  The Park Dept. is interested in leveraging the Little Elkhart as a trout stream, which is a fairly rare resource for the State of Indiana.  We have been invited to attend an organizational meeting on Thursday, January 13 at 7:00 PM.  Lee and Mike will attend.

New Business

There was some discussion about an effort to open a portion of the Little Elkhart for canoeing.  This would require some log jam removal, which if done improperly, could be detrimental to the stream.  We believe we need to stay close to this inititive so that we can have input to any stream activity.

Next Meeting – February 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library

Lee Troyer – Secretary

Mike Beachy called the meeting to order.

Meeting Attendees

Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Wayne Andrews, Doug Moore, David Witt, Greg Witt, Lee Troyer

Meeting Minutes

The minutes from the November meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports

Mike Beachy assisted the Elkhart Conservation Club in releasing their brown trout in area streams on November 27^th.  ECC kept their trout longer this year, thus they were larger than in past years.  Approximately 6,000 trout were released in the Little Elkhart, Rowe Eden and Solomon Creek.

Treasurer’s Report

Don Fiewk reported a balance of $8,225.43.  Don also reported that he paid for the Accident Insurance through TU that was discussed at a prior meeting.

By-Law Revision

Don Fiwek stated that he reviewed the new by-laws from Trout Unlimited which clarifies a number of items.  Don will use these as a reference to revise our chapter by-laws and present it for a vote at a future meeting.

LECTU Brown Trout Stocking

Mike Beachy reported that he has ordered trout for this year’s stocking.  He ordered 400 7 – 9 inch and 100 11 – 13 inch trout.

Adopt-A-Trout

Tickets have been printed and are the same format as last year.  Mike has also purchased an Abel reel to go with the Winston rod that he won last year and is donating back for this raffle.

Mike received a communication from Beverly Lane of TU National cautioning us not to sell raffle tickets out of state through either mail or Internet solicitation because of federal issues.  It was also questioned whether we need a state gaming license for our raffle.  Wayne stated that their DU Chapter went through the process and will try and get details.  Mike will also check the IN.GOV web site.

Indiana on the Fly

We will again have a booth this year at Indiana on the Fly in Indianapolis.  Mike received the booth agreement from Patti Beasley.  The booth cost is $200.  The event is January 8^th at the Indianapolis Fairgrounds.  Mike built a 9’ 6 wt. Forecast fly rod to donate for a silent auction.  We also have a new display board donated by Cabela’s.

We will again sell our hats and T-shirts as well as our guides and Adopt-A-Trout tickets.

Planned attendees are Don Fiwek,  Bob Hagin, Leonard Gustin, Mike Beachy and Lee Troyer.  Mike will reserve rooms.

Spring Outing

The date is May 7^th.   Chris Wood (President of National TU) has expressed an interest in attending our spring outing this year if he can fit it into his schedule.

We need to start thinking about who we can get for demonstrations, speakers, etc. for our spring outing.  Last year we had Jeff Stanifer doing European nymphing techniques and Tom Park tying soft hackle flies.

Kalamazoo Valley TU Chapter

Mike Beachy and Chris Miller attended a meeting at the Kalamazoo Valley TU chapter recently featuring Chris Wood, President of Trout Unlimited.  Mike presented him with a LECTU hat and T-shirt and discussed our chapter.  He expressed interest in attending our spring outing this year if he can work it in his schedule.

Christmas Hams

The hams have been purchased.  Mike will deliver them to the Little Elkhart land owners.

Daragh Deegan

Daragh stated that they are doing a fish barrier inventory on the Little Elkhart.  They will then do a study to determine whether it would beneficial or detrimental to remove those barriers.

New Business

No new business

Next Meeting – January 12, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library

Lee Troyer – Secretary

President Mike Beachy called meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Members in attendance: Wayne Andrews, Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Bob Hagen, Eric Wroblewski

Meeting minutes from September 8, 2010 were approved as submitted by Secretary Lee Troyer.

Fishing Reports: Special Guest Neil Ledet, Indiana DNR Regional Fisheries Biologist was on hand to join in on the Fishing Report discussion. Mike Beachy reported catching many small brown trout in the four to five inch range this year and spotting spawning redds this fall. Photos were shown as evidence of natural reproduction. Neil was in agreement that there is more than likely some natural reproduction of brown trout in the Little Elkhart. Neil was given a copy of our trout fishing statistics from 2008 and 2010. Neil relayed that it is okay to continue with LECTU’s brown trout stocking program without submission of any type of formal proposal. Neil also suggested that the State may be taking another look at its trout hatchery program to possibly including brown trout rearing in addition to the rainbow trout and will keep us posted on this issue. Neil commended LECTU on our brown trout stocking program. He suggested that we stay with 500 browns annually for the catch and release area because of length of this section.

Neil then fielded questions on Indiana Fisheries. Discussions included budget cuts, staffing issues, steelhead and salmon runs, Asian carp, boat launches and other miscellaneous issues.

Solomon Creek Project: Mike Beachy reported that on Friday September 10^th he removed a small log jam from Marilyn Hodgson’s property on Solomon Creek as she had requested and installed two metal Catch and Release signs at the County Road 33 Bridge. The plastic C&R signs that the State provided had been torn down and the local DNR Conservation Officers had requested that we install metal signage replacements.

Youth Education: On October 5^th Mike Beachy put on a fly fishing program for the Elkhart County 4-H Youth Fishing Club. Charlie Ray provided a teaching outline and material hand-outs. Contacts were made with the Clubs leaders and they requested LECTU be on hand at the Clubs summer farm pond outing next year to allow the 4-H members an opportunity for some hands on fly fishing.

Indianapolis Fly Casters: On October 13^th Lee Troyer and Mike Beachy represented LECTU in presenting a program to the Indianapolis Fly Casters FFF Club on LECTU and the Little Elkhart River. The Fly Casters were really interested in the history of the Catch and Release waters. They wanted to know how it was accomplished and what it has done for the trout fishery. $60 dollars were raised through the sales of “Fishing Guides” and the IFC donated $200 towards our Brown Trout stocking fund in return for the presentation.

Indiana on the Fly: Saturday January 8, 2011 is the date for Indiana on the Fly fly fishing show in Indianapolis. LECTU once again will be traveling to Indy to have a booth. Patty Beasley has agreed to give LECTU a discounted rate provided we contribute to the program. The suggestion of providing youth casting instructions during the show by our members with the assistance of Charlie Ray is being looked at.

Communications: The summer/fall issue of Trout Lines went out however Brandon Rasler reported having trouble with the Trout Unlimited e mail service getting to all our members.

Treasurers Report: Treasurer Don Fiwek and President Mike Beachy have completed the Annual Financial Report for T.U. National. Don reported that he also has filed the IRS form required for not for profit status. Don reports that at the end of our fiscal year LECTU brought in $672.55 over expenses and presently has a balance of $8075.

Bylaws: T.U. National has requested that all T.U. Chapters revise their bylaws to conform to the national template. Don Fiwek had revised our bylaws last year utilizing the national template therefore we should be okay however Don will review our bylaws compared to the information sent by National to make sure we comply.

Insurance: National T.U. has offered accident insurance to local chapters and requests that if the chapter does not have insurance coverage presently to get some. The cost for the T.U. insurance is $110 per year. Don Fiwek made the motion that LECTU purchase the insurance through the National T.U. and Bob Hagen seconded it. With little discussion the motion passed. Don will fill out the paperwork, submit the form and mail in the premium.

Annual Spring Outing: May 7^th is the date for the LECTU Annual Spring Outing. Brandon Rasler will contact Middlebury Parks Department to reserve Riverbend Park for the event.

Adopt-A-Trout Fund Raising: President Mike Beachy is going to donate last year’s Adopt-A-Trout Winston fly rod back to LECTU to use again this year as the Adopt-A-Trout raffle prize. The rod was retained, unused since last year’s drawing specifically for this purpose. Beachy was the winner of the drawing. A new Able reel has been ordered to accompany the rod for this year. Mike will have raffle tickets printed in time for the January Indiana on the Fly show.

Christmas Ham Donation: Christmas Hams will be ordered again this year by Wayne Andrews, as an offering to the property owners along the catch and release section of the Little Elkhart River. We are at the mercy of these property owners for access to the stream and we want to show our appreciation to them for allowing fishermen access. Good relations with property owners can never go far enough. The C&R section of the Little “E” is the heart and soul of our fishery and LECTU has to do everything it can to assure access is provided to our membership.