2014-2015 Meeting/Event Schedule
Tues 9 Sep: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Terry and Roxanne Wilson. "More and Bigger Bluegill"
Tues 14 Oct: 6:00 - 9:00pm
Annual Business Meeting, Elections, Updates from ODWC
Tues 11 Nov: 6:00pm - 9:00pm Gear swap, Yard Sale, Fly Tying
Sat 13 Dec: Fall Clean-up of the Lower Illinois River
Tues 13 Jan: Guest Speaker (more details to follow)
Tues 10 Feb: 6:00pm - 9:00pm Lou Barbaro Bamboo rod Making!
Sat 14 Mar: Annual Fund Raising Banquet and Auction
Cattlemen's Steakhouse
All Meetings will be held at
Rose State College - Tom Steed Learing Center.
6420 S.E. 15th Street.
Midwest City, OK 73110-270
Want to help? Want more information? Contact Chuck at chasbass62@yahoo.com or call him at (405)973-4571 or email Greg at gmann6@cox.net
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THE TESTAMENT OF A FISHERMAN
Robert Traver
I fish because I love to; Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; Because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; Because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; Because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; Because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don’t want to waste the trip; Because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; Because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; Because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; Because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; And, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant – and not nearly so much fun
HOT ISSUE!!!
89er Trout Unlimited Members we need your help to support the Trout Hatcheries that feed our Oklahoma Trout Waters. Once again funding for the mitigation hatcheries in Arkansas and other regions of the South/South Central United States is in jeopardy. Trout Unlimited Leaders at the national level are fully engaged in this issue but we as T.U. Members need to express our voice and support them. The text below is a proposed letter that we ask you to send to our Oklahoma Congressional and Senatorial Representatives asking them to engage on the funding issue.
Please copy and paste this letter, address it to the appropriate representative, input your name and in other information and send it to the address for the representative. The other option is to go to the individual representatives website and input the information via the contact form on the representatives websites. Either way is acceptable, the only stipulation is that you be respectful and understand that when you send your letter or electronic contact that you are not only representing yourself but you are also representing Trout Unlimited.
Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXX:
As a member of Trout Unlimited in Oklahoma, I am asking for your immediate help to maintain funding for the Greer’s Ferry and Norfolk Fish Hatcheries operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). We single out these two hatcheries as they supply the majority of the trout that supports our valuable Oklahoma trout fisheries. The situation this: based on verbiage in the FWS FY 15 budget proposal document and analysis done by the FWS on all of its hatcheries, it appears the mitigation hatcheries are to be excluded as budget line items and may not receive critical funding via the FWS in FY2015 budget.
You may not be aware that the Greer’s Ferry Hatchery is a "mitigation" hatchery and is the principal supplier of trout for our region. In Oklahoma, all trout for the Blue River, a seasonal trout fishery, as well as the Lower Illinois River, a year-around trout fishery, are supplied by the Greer’s Ferry Hatchery. In addition to these fisheries, winter trout stocking on the Lower Mountain Fork River near Broken Bow, OK is also sourced via the Greer’s Ferry Hatchery.
“Mitigation” hatcheries were established to provide trout to mitigate the loss of habitat caused by construction and operation of the various U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) dams, such as the Tenkiller Dam in Oklahoma. The FWS and USACE have an agreement in place, the terms of which compels the USACE to reimburse the FWS for most of the operating costs of mitigation hatcheries that supply fish to rivers where there are USACE dams. Unfortunately the agreement does not cover ALL of the costs, and that is where the threat to our Oklahoma fisheries occurs.
Any hatchery closures or reduced scope of operations due to lack of full funding will result in consequence to the state of Oklahoma. Specifically, Oklahoma waters will no longer receive the trout that the mitigation hatcheries have been providing. Based on history this averages to approximately 63,200 11 inch rainbow trout or approximately 34,170 pounds of fish annually.
I and my fellow Oklahoma TU members have worked extremely hard over the years, with the USACE, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and our elected officials to ensure that there is sufficient water and adequate water quality in the Lower Illinois River below the Tenkiller Dam to sustain the valuable fishery. You can imagine our frustrations as we consider the possibility that all of the work and progress to manage the river could be undermined by cutbacks at the National Fish Hatchery that supplies the fish.
I’d like to highlight that within Sequoyah County alone; studies indicated that trout fishing on the Lower Illinois River brings in over $5 million in tax revenue each year. Studies of the Broken Bow, OK area fisheries and the Lower Mountain Fork River fisheries have never been done to such a degree, but we are confident that the value of those fisheries would exceed the Lower Illinois numbers.
These, as well as all mitigation National Fish Hatcheries, deserve to be funded as promised by the mitigation agreements that took place when the dams were built. Funding for these programs should be done fully and permanently to avoid this reoccurring nightmare in the future.
The long and the short of this is simple: keeping these and all mitigation National Fish Hatchery System hatcheries open, operational and fully funded is good business. Good business for the states that hatcheries reside in and good business for the states that are in receipt of the fish that the hatcheries provide.
Therefore, in the short term, I urge you to work with the Appropriations committees to once again require the FWS to find the funds needed to keep all mitigation hatcheries open and functioning through FY2015. Longer term, I ask that you contact the US Army Corps of Engineers budget office and see to it that they work to fully reimburse the expenditures of the National Fish Hatchery System hatcheries within their regions.
Please keep me posted on your activities relative to this issue and with FY2015 rapidly approaching I respectfully ask for immediate action as Oklahoma trout fisheries cannot survive without resolution.
THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO!
Here's the Addresses for our Senate and Congressional Reps.
Congress
The Honorable Markwayne Mullin
1113 Longworth House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
https://mullin.house.gov/contact/email-me
The Honorable Jim Bridenstine
216 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
https://bridenstine.house.gov/contact/email-me
The Honorable Tom Cole
2458 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
https://coleforms.house.gov/contact/default.aspx
The Honorable James Lankford
228 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
https://lankford.house.gov/contact-me
The Honorable Frank Lucas
2311 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
https://lucas.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Senate
The Honorable Tom Coburn
172 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactsenatorcoburn
The Honorable Jim Inhofe
205 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/contact
Terry and Roxanne Wilson's articles about fly fishing for warmwater species have appeared in numerous national magazines in the past twenty-five years. They are regular contributors to Midwest Fly Fishing, the Federation of Fly Fishers' magazine, The Flyfisher, and staff writers for the St. Louis-based Outdoor Guide Magazine. Their first book, Bluegill Fly Fishing & Flies was published in 1999 and their second book, Largemouth Bass Fly Fishing: Beyond the Basics, appeared in fly shops and bookstores in 2001.
Their latest book, Crappie Fly Fishing: A Seasonal Approach, was released in early 2013.
Terry is currently President of the Missouri Outdoor Communicators, the state's professional outdoor writers' association.
The Wilsons are ProStaff members of Sage, Redington, Rio, and Whiting. They are happy to answer your questions about products of these fine companies. Email them through this website anytime and they'll help you find the right rod, reel, line, leader, tippet or feather to fit your needs.
Their latest book, Smallmouth Bass Fly Fishing: A Practical Guide, was released in May of 2007. Terry's original flies for bluegills, largemouth bass, and smallmouth bass have been featured in Fly Fishing and Tying Journal and Fly Fish America and were included in the Federation of Flyfishers Fly Pattern Encyclopedia and Innovative Flies and Techniques. Roxanne's photos appear in their magazine articles, books, and slide shows.
They are active life members of the Federation of Fly Fishers, members of the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance. In addition, they are members of Whiting’s Pro Team, Pacific Fly Group’s Fly Tyers, and their original patterns are distributed by Orvis.
