Meeting Minutes

Meeting Attendees
Leonard Gustin, Brandon Rasler, Lee Troyer, Court Walker, Pete Lehman, Tom Cripe, Bob Hagin, Don Fiwek, Jeff Stauffer

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the March meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike caught 14 brown on 3/31
Court caught two browns
Brandon caught one brown
Leonard caught 2 browns

Treasurer’s Report
Our current balance is $10,543.30.

Communications
The newsletter that we snail mail should go out as soon as it gets printed and mailed.  The web site has up-to-date information for our Spring Outing.

CR 43 Project
The project is all set and awaiting word from John Law.  Tentative date for the project is June 16th.

Fly Casting Class
Charlie Ray has very few dates available for a fly casting class.  It is either June 9th or some time in September.  Five members (Don, Bob, Court, Brandon and Lee) would be interested in an advanced fly casting class and would like to do it June 9th.

Casting for Recovery
Don will check when we last donated to CFR.

RiverFest
Leonard reported that they had another meeting but they have not finalized very much.  LECTU will basically have the same involvement as last year.  We will donate at least $50 and maybe more, depending on the results of our fund raisers.

LECTU Decals
The decals have arrived and were distributed to the members at the meeting.  We will distribute them to those that sign in at the spring outing.

LECTU River Work Days
It was decided that we will have work days on July 28, August 11 and September 15.

Brown Trout Stocking
We are still waiting on the hatchery test results.  We would like to stock the browns the Tuesday after the spring outing.  We would like to stock two places at Wilbur’s; one being straight in from the lane and the other by the steel bridge by the woods.  Also at the well field and at Spring Street.

Annual Spring Outing
The date for the 2012 event will be May 5th.    Mike provided a list of items for the raffles.  He also provided a list of assignments for the outing.  Items resolved are as follows:

• Brandon will provide a projector screen.
• Lee will either secure a fly tying volunteer or else do it himself.
• We need flies tied for the fly boxes.  Leonard will supply some.  Lee will also if he has time.
• Tour volunteer – We need a volunteer for the tours.  No one volunteered.  The discussion centered around if we need to do this every year.  Maybe we should simply document what routes Chris does on his tour so we have it available for the future.  Maybe a walking tour could be substituted some years.
• TFO Rods – We will have 4 of our TFO rods.  We will put a 6, 8 and 12 weight in the raffle.  We will put the 12’ 12 wt in the silent auction.
• Court will bring the soda and water.
• Court will help Charlie Ray set up.
• Ticket pricing will be same as last year.

Next Meeting –May 9, 2012 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Lee Troyer – Secretary

The minutes from our last meeting are available on line at the following location: https://docs.google.com/open?id=1CbPZuyeV0JWzhbon6f8-7KpwDyKt9oAU4s3M0jijAjVw6uecyJNREGZo92ix

The minutes from our last meeting are available on line at the following location: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g5dTTnKOL89pGP0f3JW9VygPiJhFQYjBavtXB9da2N8/edit

Meeting Attendees
Wayne Andrews, Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Bob Hagin, Brandon Rasler, Lee Troyer, Carlisle Roose, Doyle Bloss

Meeting Attendees
Wayne Andrews, Leonard Gustin, Brandon Rasler, Mike Beachy, Bob Hagin, Bob Roth, Tom Cripe, Joseph King, Lee Troyer, Don Fiwek, Chris Miller, Court Walker, Guest: Mike Oesch

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the November meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike was the only one that had been out since the last meeting. He reported catching 5 browns in a 3
hour trip.

Treasurer’s Report
Don reported a balance of $8,924.63.

Communication
The winter newsletter was sent out yesterday by Brandon.

CR 43 Project
Public notices will go out to landowners on Saturday, December 17th.

Indiana on the Fly
The date for the event in 2012 is Saturday, January 7th. Lee, Mike, Don and Bob Hagin plan to attend.

Indiana Gaming Commission
We have received our one-day license to hold our spring rafle.

Adopt-A-Trout
Mike announced that Adopt-A-Trout tickets are available for club members to sell.

Elkhart Conservation Club Brown Trout
Mike will try and schedule Ed Evans for a February or March meeting to present his vision where he
wants to take their brown trout stocking program.

Annual Spring Outing
The date for the 2012 event will be May 5th. We are still looking for a headliner, being either a speaker
or a demonstration.

Habitat Access Maintenance (HAM)
The smoked hams will be delivered to the landowners this Saturday.

Upper Midwest Trout Unlimited Regional Meeting
There has been no further communication on this proposed meeting.

Brown Trout Stocking Program
Mike will contact the Crystal Springs Hatchery the end of this month. They do their testing in January
and the results go in with their permit application.

Program
Dave Arrington made a presentation on the work his company has been doing on the Little Elkhart river
watershed. This is a program resulting from concerns about the water quality of the Great Lakes and
the drainage that comes into the Great Lakes from rivers and streams. Dave has been working with
grant monies available to reduce the amount of sediment, nitrates, E Coli and other harmful runoff
from entering the stream. He has worked with farmers to create vegetation along the waterways and
constructing alternatives to cattle being in the waterways. Results have shown that harmful effluents
have reduced dramatically including the reduction of hundreds of tons of silt yearly. He has been
working on this for eight years and Suggests another six years of work to be done.

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

Meeting Attendees
Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Tom Cripe, Court Walker, Lee Troyer

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the October meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike reported catching 14 browns in two trips in the well field area during October. Several browns were approximately 4 inches, indicating natural reproduction. Mike reported seeing a few redds where browns were spawning.

Treasurer’s Report
Don reported a balance of $8,915.01.

Accident Insurance
Mike stated that we received the accident insurance policy. The Secretary will keep it on file.

Communications
Mike would like to get the winter newsletter out in December. Items to include are as follows:

• Indiana on the Fly
• Tie-A-Thon – Beneficiary this year is Casting for Recovery
• Trout catch rate statistics – Maybe Brandon can put a report together
• The President’s letter is ready to go
• Brandon has an article about the Little Elkhart that could be included
• Lee will do the Featured Fly
• Court will do a write-up on the Hoosier River Watch project
• Adopt-A-Trout

Stream Improvement
The work that was completed from Tornado Bend past the C&R downstream boundary in the park is really turning out well. It has created holes with gravel bottoms and the structures are holding up well.

CR 43 Project
John Law informed us that we will need to get a permit from the DNR for the project. There is no hearing scheduled and it is our understanding that none will be necessary. Mike has the public notices prepared for delivery to the landowners. We will need to send a $200 check with the application once the public notices have been delivered.

Indiana on the Fly
The date for the event in 2012 is Saturday, January 7th. Thus far, Lee, Mike, Don and Leonard plan to attend. Lee is in the process of ordering hats to sell and also for the Spring Outing.

Indiana Gaming Commission
We do not need to re-qualify for a gaming permit to sell raffle tickets. The application is already sent in.

Adopt-A-Trout
The rod and reel for the raffle arrived. Mike printed 1,000 tickets. Members need to get out and sell the tickets.

Elkhart Conservation Club Brown Trout
The trout are scheduled to be released next week. It is anticipated that the Little Elkhart will get a substantial number. Ed Evans wants to discuss with us his ideas for their trout program. He mentioned keeping the trout for two years, thus raising substantially larger trout before they are released.

Annual Spring Outing
The date for the 2012 event will be May 5th. Mike has reserved the pavilion. We need to come up with a featured speaker for the event.

Middlebury Parks/Hoosier River Watch
Thanks to Court Walker and Brandon Rasler for assisting with testing on the Little Elkhart. Court reported that he does not have the results yet from Tom Enright.

Habitat Access Maintenance (HAM)
We will again be giving out smoked hams to the Little Elkhart landowners. Lee will get the hams from Old Hoosier Meats and Lee and Mike will distribute them as follows: Schwartz 3, Yoder 1, Oesch 1, Hoover 1 and Adam 1. These are approximately 5 lb hams that will run approximately $230.

Trout Unlimited Resolution
Mike reported in our October meeting that TU passed a resolution that TU Chapters are not to participate in hatchery trout stocking of non-native species in waters that hold native populations of trout. Apparently this has generated quite a bit of controversy within TU. However, it does not affect our chapter as our waters are not home to native trout populations.

December Meeting Program
Dave Arrington will be the speaker at our December meeting.

New Business

• TU 2012 Film Tour – Mike received communication about the TU 2012 Film Tour. The club would have to pay $800 but TU would do the advertising. This probably needs to be hosted in a larger metropolitan area than we have available to our chapter.
• Regional TU Meeting – There is an effort to organize an Upper Midwest Regional TU Meeting. There will be further details coming.
• GLC/FFF Fly Tying Expo – This will be held at Holt High School on December 3. Lee and Mike plan to attend.

Next Meeting – December 14, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Lee Troyer – Secretary

Meeting Attendees
Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Brandon Rasler, Carlisle Roose, Lee Troyer, Court Walker, Joseph King, Jim Phillips

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the September meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike reported catching 12 browns on three different trips during late September and early October. The Pine Cone fly worked well. Lee hooked two kings and his wife hooked one at Leper Park on October 6th.

Treasurer’s Report
Don reported a balance of $9,599.20. We netted $1,523.77 during our fiscal year. Mike gave Don an invoice for $110 for our accident insurance.

Communications
The fall newsletter went out.

Habitat Project
Work was completed from Tornado Bend past the C&R downstream boundary in the park.

CR 43 Project
All paperwork has been submitted by John Law. John tells us that there is a chance that we will not even need a permit because it is not a major project. We are waiting that determination.

Indiana on the Fly
The date for the event in 2012 is Saturday, January 7th. Our registration and fee has been sent in and accepted. LECTU is on the show poster. There was a discussion as to whether we should sell hats at the show. Mike said we only have 4 in inventory. Lee will order a dozen hats. The preferred color is olive or beige, preferably with the underside of the bill being black to enhance visibility. Don suggested that we try and get a higher quality hat this time. There is no need to order any more T-shirts.

Indiana Gaming Commission
The qualification application has been sent in. We need to allow 8 weeks for the process. Once qualified, Mike will fill out the application and send a check.

Adopt-A-Trout
Mike reported that the Hardy reel has been received to go with the Winston WT 9’ 5 wt rod.

Annual Spring Outing
The date for the 2012 event will be May 5th. The date was needed so that we can put it on the Adopt-A-Trout tickets.

Middlebury Parks/Hoosier River Watch
This is a structured program to measure and monitor water quality and bug life on streams. LECTU volunteers (Court Walker and Brandon Rasler) participated with the first sampling on October 6th. Tom Enright will share the findings with LECTU. The program calls for a minimum of 8 assessments in 24 months but Tom Enright wants to do it more frequently.

Trout Unlimited Resolution
TU passed a resolution that TU Chapters are not to participate in hatchery trout stocking of non-native species in waters that hold native populations of trout. This does not affect the Little Elkhart as trout are not native in the Little Elkhart.

Trout Stocking
Crystal Springs hatchery has been cleared by the State of Indiana to bring trout into the state for 2012. Mike reported that they will not have the 7 – 9” browns available as they are that size already. However, the trout will be less expensive than those we purchased from Cedar Brook. Last year we spent $2,000 for the browns. The browns from Crystal Springs will cost $2.50 each with the transportation cost of between $150 and $300, depending if we can share costs. Lee moved we get our browns this year from Crystal Springs. Past experience is that they supply a higher quality product. Motion was seconded by Don. The motion was passed.

Christmas Habitat Support Project
Don moved that we continue the project of buying hams for the landowners that allow us access to the Little Elkhart. Lee seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Valparaiso University Lecture Series
Valparaiso University is conducting a series of lectures on Healthy Rivers. Mike passed out a flyer with the dates and speakers.

New Business
Lee suggested that we try again to get Dave Arrington to put on a program for LECTU this fall. Mike will try and contact him.

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

Meeting Attendees
Mike Beachy,Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Bob Hagin, Bill Myers, Penny Myers, Brandon Rasler, Carlisle Roose, Lee Troyer, Court Walker, Tim Magnuson, Joseph King

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the August meeting were approved as amended.

Fishing Reports
Mike reported catching 4 browns and 1 rainbow on August 16.  He used a size 16 Madam X.  He also caught 6 rainbows on September 1 at SR 120 at Bristol.

Leonard caught some brookies on the Black River up to 12+ inches.

Bill and Penny Myers did well on their western trip.

Don Fiewk fished the Eagle River at Avon Park in Colorado.

Treasurer’s Report
Don reported a balance of $9,749.64.

By-Laws
Don did some work on our by-laws in response to the Trout Unlimited initiative and presented the revised by-laws for approval.  Lee suggested that instead of eliminating written approval of expenditures of $200 or more that we include approval of $200 or more and that email approval by the President is sufficient.  Don made a motion to approve and it was seconded by Leonard.  It motion was approved.

Communications
Brandon will prepare and send the fall newsletter shortly.  Mike will submit the featured fly as well as a write-up on stream work, Riverfest , Youth fishing and the President’s message.  Court will do a write-up on the beginning fly fishing class.

Habitat Project
There is a work day this Saturday which will be our last work day of the year.  We will start at Spring Street and work downstream to the steel bridge.  Workers are to meet at Riverbend Park at 8:00 AM.

CR 43 Project
Mike has been working with John Law on the planning for improving the stretch downstream from the CR 43 bridge.  John Law has experience in laying out this type of project and the permitting process.  John has written up the various documents required for the permits, etc.  Landowners will also need to be contacted about the proposed project.  The permit fee is $200.  However, there is the chance that the regulatory agencies may give approval after an on-site walk-thru of the proposed project.  After approval, we have two years to get the project started.

Beginning Fly Fishing Class
A beginning fly fishing class was conducted by Charlie Ray on August 27^th.  The participants reported that it was well done and that they learned a lot.  The only snafu was that another group had rented the pavilion at Riverbend Park.  There is interest in repeating this class next year.  We will need to make sure that we reserve the pavilion.

Casting for Recovery
Penny thanked the club for their donation.  Penny stated that there were 120 women applied for this year’s retreat.  There is only space for 14 women to attend.

Indiana on the Fly
The date for the event in 2012 is Saturday, January 7^th.  Mike Beachy will get us registered for the event.  He has the application ready to send in.

Indiana Gaming Commission
The qualification application is ready to send in.  Mike will take care of this.

Adopt-A-Trout
After discussion, it was decided that we will get a Winston 9’ 5 wt rod along with a Hardy reel for this year’s raffle.

GLC of FFF
This was brought up at our August meeting and tabled until our September meeting for action.  It was decided that we not contribute to the Au Sable and Manistee River studies at this time.

Clean Air Defense Letter
Mike received a letter from G. Richard Mode of the National Wildlife Federation soliciting supporting signatures to defend the continuation of the Clean Air Act.  The letter stated that there are initiatives in government to eliminate all or portions of the act.  The club decided to take no action at this time.

Officer Elections
The following slate of officers was presented:

President – Mike Beachy
Vice President – Leonard Gustin
Secretary – Lee Troyer
Treasurer – Don Fiwek
Board of Director (3yr) – Court Walker

Leonard moved to adopt the slate as presented.  Bill seconded.  Motion was passed.

Wayne Andrews will have 1 more year as a director. Bob Roth will have 2 more years as a director.

Trout Stocking
It was decided that we will continue to stock 7 – 9” browns going forward for the foreseeable future.  Stocking the same size each year will give us a better baseline for determining growth rates and survival rates.

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

Lee Troyer – Secretary

Meeting Attendees

Wayne Andrews, Mike Beachy, Tom Cripe, Leonard Gustin, Brandon Rasler, Carlisle Roose, Lee Troyer, Court Walker

Meeting Minutes

The minutes from the July meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports

Tom Cripe reported catching a 15” rainbow at Tornado Bend on June 22nd.
Mike B. caught 4 browns and 2 rainbows on July 29 downstream from Chris Miller’s place.
July 31, Mike caught 1 rainbow on the Rowe Eden and 4 browns and 2 rainbows on the Little Elkhart.
Mile and Chris spoke with a bait fisherman at CR 35 who said he had just caught and killed his 163rd
trout of the season.

Fish Shocking

Daragh Deegan did some shocking on the Little Elkhart upstream of SR 120. That resulted in 2 browns
from 10” – 12” and 6 rainbows ranging from 11 1/2 “ to 14+”.

Treasurer’s Report

There was no Treasurer’s report as Don Fiwek was not in attendance.

Communications

It was decided that we publish a fall newsletter in late September, prior to the deer hunting season.
There is a lot of deer hunting that takes place along the Little Elkhart corridor and anglers need to be
reminded to be cautious.

Beginning Fly Casting Class

A beginner fly fishing class will be held on August 27th and will be limited to 5 participants. Charlie Ray
will be the instructor. Cost will be $10. It will start at 9:00 AM and end at 11:00 AM. We still have room
for one more participant.

River Fest Report

LECTU participated with the Middlebury Parks Dept in the planning and running of the Middlebury River
Fest held on July 16th. It was estimated that 250 people attended. LECTU had a booth, demonstrated
fly tying and also fly casting. While LECTU did not have a lot of traffic, we did make several worthwhile
contacts. In addition, it was a good community program for our club to support.

Youth Fishing Derby

Middlebury is having their Youth Fishing Derby at the Essebhaus ponds on Saturday, August 13th from 9

– 11AM. Our club has helped in the past and we will help again this year. Court, Brandon, Mike and Lee
will help to measure and count fish. Volunteers are to be there at 8:30 AM.

River Work Days

We have had 3 work days thus far. In previous work days, we cleaned out from Tornado Bend to
Rassler’s Run. Last Saturday, we removed tree tops and built wing dams below Rassler’s Run. We will
have a work day on September 17 and the goal will be to complete the work to the steel bridge.

Indiana on the Fly

The date for the event in 2012 is Saturday, January 7th. Mike Beachy will get us registered for the event.

Indiana Gaming Commission

The Indiana Gaming Commission is having a seminar on gaming permits in South Bend on August 26th
from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM on the process of gaming permits. We applied and received a gaming permit
for our raffle for this year’s spring outing.

Stream Improvement Planning

Mike Beachy and John Law of the SJRVFF did a walk through from CR 43 to the Schwartz’s property. A
large extent of this stretch is loaded with sand with very little habitat. John suggested that our best
approach in improving the habitat in this stretch is to cut some trees that are leaning over the river in
such a way that it will push water to the other side to create holes for habitat. In addition, rocks placed
along the banks would protect and stabilize the banks. This work would be done in concert with the
landowner. John will write up his plans and work on getting the required permits.

GLC of FFF

The Great Lakes Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers is conducting a study on the effects on pre-
fracking on the Au Sable and Manistee rivers. They are raising funds for this. Lee suggested that
possibly LECTU would do a matching fund deal up to a certain pre-defined limit. This will be tabled until
the next meeting when our Treasurer will be in attendance.

Correspondence

John Legg of Fort Wayne inquired about fishing the Little Elkhart. Mike Beachy responded by giving him
some guidance.

Officer Elections

The officer elections for LECTU will be held at the September meeting. Jim Phillips term as a director will
be up and will be replaced by a director for a 3 year term. Court Walker has announced that he will run
for that position.

Trout Stocking

There was considerable discussion about our trout stocking plans for 2012. The discussion centered
around whether we should stock larger browns or smaller browns. Leonard suggested that this would
be a good time to determine as a club what our long term stocking goals should be and what we are
trying to achieve long term.

Next Meeting

September 14, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Lee Troyer – Secretary

Meeting Attendees
Mike Beachy, Don Fiwek, Leonard Gustin, Bob Hagin, Jim Phillips, Justin Phillips, Brandon Rasler, Carlisle Roose, Lee Troyer, Court Walker

Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the June meeting were approved.

Fishing Reports
Mike reported fishing for 9 hours on Sunday, June 10th and catching 11 browns and 11 rainbows. Water
temperature in the Little Elkhart was 68 degrees and 63 degrees in the Rowe Eden. Mike also found a
dead 16” brown in the meadow that looked like it had been stabbed by a heron.

Treasurer’s Report
The balance is $9,714.96. There are currently no payables outstanding.
Don reported that the 12 month CD has rolled over.

Thank You Letter
Don reported that he had received a thank you letter from Mary Smith for our donation to Reel Women
– Reel Men.

Indiana Gaming Commission
Form CG-22 due by August 15th. There was a question whether we had already filed this report or not.
Mike and Don will follow up.

Beginning Fly Casting Class
A beginner fly fishing class will be held on August 27th and will be limited to 5 participants. Charlie Ray
will be the instructor. Court Walker, Carlisle Roose, Bob Hagin and Don Fiwek signed up for the class.
There is still one opening. Don will be the host of the event, which will be at Riverbend Park.

Web Site
Brandon reported that there are a number of new updates to the web site. The newsletter went out
within the last couple of days.

Indiana on the Fly
The date for the event in 2012 is Saturday, January 7th. We have been asked again to be a supporter.
There is no fee for this but it puts our name on the official supporter list. Booth rental for non-profit
organizations is $200. The headliner this year is Beau Beasley.

Middlebury RiverFest
The Middlebury RiverFest will be Saturday, July 16th from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Riverbend Park.
We will be putting up a canopy with a display. Lee will bring several casting hoops and yarn flies.
Volunteers are to bring waders and nets to assist in the flotilla event to catch the toy boats drifting
down the river. Lee, Brandon, Mike and Bob H. will be there.

Youth Fishing Contest
The youth fishing contest will be at The Essenhaus on August 13th. LECTU volunteers are Brandon, Mike and Lee.

River Work Days
The first work date is July 23rd. We will meet at Riverbend Park at 8:00 AM. We will reschedule the
August 13th work day to August 6th due to the Youth Fishing event. In addition, we will have a work day on September 17.

Thank You Letters
Mike sent out thank you letters to the Spring Outing donors.

Adopt-A-Trout
There was a discussion on the prize for the Adopt-A-Trout raffle for 2012. Among items discussed was
another rod and reel or possibly a guided trip. Justin stated that he can get 40% off Sage. TU gets
discounts on Winston and Orvis. Mike will check on some pricing.

Trout Catch Reporting
Jim Phillips spoke about our catch rates per hour declining 20% for brown trout based on data between
2008 and 2010 and referenced a book on trout biology and studies of trout in streams and the impact
of stocking trout in streams where wild trout are established. He states that we need to feed the fish
in the Little Elkhart catch and release section to provide both the stocked trout and the resident trout
with necessary nutrients during times of competitive stress, to increase the chances of mutual survival.
Discussion followed concerning stocking methodology and feeding issues.

Brandon Rasler quoted some statistics from our catch rate database for 2011, which shows a catch rate
per hour for brown trout increase of 65% for 2011 over 2010.

No further action was taken.

Next Meeting – August 10, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library.
Lee Troyer – Secretary