Little Elkhart Chapter’s Spring Outing 2010

This year’s Outing promises to be bigger and more diversified compared to years past. We intend to continue the stream access tours and the guided fishing instructions as we have in the past for those who missed out in years past.

During the “Stream Access Tour” you will be chauffeured along the Little Elkhart River and shown the major access sites. Your driver will be available to answer questions about the stream and what to expect in each section. This tour is a great way to become familiar with the river and the lay of the land especially for someone from out of town and any first timers to this area.

During the “Guided Fishing Instruction” we will act as your guide to assist you, the angler, in some of the techniques that we use to catch trout on the Little Elkhart River. This mini session is designed to provide you with information and answer any questions you may have on what works. There is no substitute for experience and we would like to give the beginning angler a place to start. This year we want to include spin fishermen and fly fishermen in these demonstrations. If you want to take part you will need to bring your trout fishing gear with you. Waders, rod/reel and tackle along with an Indiana fishing license including trout stamp are a must.

Tom Park from Go 2 Flies will be giving a fly tying demonstration. Tom specializes in beautiful soft hackle flies. Tom will be tying his flies and will give instructions and information on how to tie these flies and how, where and when to fish them. Fly tiers will want to take note of Tom’s ability to simplify the art of wrapping soft hackles. Tom might even have some of his hand tied flies for sale if you are interested.

Jeff Stanifer will be giving an instructional class on European Nymph Techniques. Jeff will cover the types of flies to use and how to rig them. Jeff intends to then give an in the water demonstration on how to fish this technique. Jeff has a vast knowledge and experience from fly fishing competitions. This is a demonstration that you will not want to miss if you wish to expand your fly fishing horizons.

We are planning a casting course and casting competition for both fly fishermen and spin casters. The course will be laid out much the same as a golf course with casting stations and hula hoop targets to cast to and through. Score cards will be utilized to keep track of your scores and prizes will be awarded to the winners in each category. The course will be available for practice prior to the actual competition. Bring your favorite rod and reel and join in the fun.

A cook out luncheon will be served around noon for a nominal fee of $5.

After lunch LECTU will hold our famous “pick of the table” raffle. This year our prize list includes:

9ft.9wt. Redington fly rod and reel with Rio Line

8FT. 4wt. Custom built fly rod with Orvis Reel

8ft.6wt. LL Bean fly rod and reel, with line complete outfit

8ft.4wt. St. Croix fly rod

LL Bean Tech Vest

Various assorted items in addition

LECTU will then hold our Adopt-A-Trout raffle drawing. These ticket sales are dedicated to raising monies for stocking brown trout into the catch and release section of the river. The prize this year is a Winston WT 8’6” 5wt. with an Orvis Battenkill LAIII Reel. This prize is valued at over $1000. The winner need not be present to win.

The Little Elkhart Chapter has opted for a Spring Outing as our yearly fundraiser as opposed to the more conventional banquet. It was felt that this type of gathering is much more in tune with our membership and what a true fisherman would enjoy. Our goal is to be as informative as possible to our members both concerning the fishing and what our goals are. We want to get as many members involved as possible and the best way to do that is to show off our biggest asset, the Little Elkhart River.

We encourage you to attend this outing to learn as much about the river and your chapter of Trout Unlimited as possible. It is fine, if you wish, to invite a friend along even if they are not a member. We will have T.U. applications available and perhaps once a non-member sees our stream and hears our goals we can encourage them to join us in our efforts.

Tentative Schedule of Events

8:30 am Registration & Welcome Raffle ticket sales begin Lunch ticket sales begin Sign-up for River Access Tour Sign-up for Fishing Technique, guided fishing 9:00 am River Access Tour Guided Fishing Technique Casting Range Open for Practice 9:30 am Fly Tying Demonstration Casting Contest Begins LECTU slide show question / answers 10:30 am Jeff Stanifer European Nymph Techniques

11:30am President’s Address 12:00 noon Lunch 1:00 pm Pick of the Table Raffle Drawing Adopt-A-Trout Raffle Drawing After Drawing Fish the Little Elkhart River if you wish