Volunteers STILL needed for this weekend's project

Members,

The fish habitat project set for this weekend is still in need of volunteers to help place rocks in- stream.  Without volunteer support, this project will be difficult to finish.  These types of projects are crucial to improving in- stream habitat for fish, their food, and the overall health of the stream.  Please contact Michael Harrington directly if you can help:

610-392-1428 (mobile)
tq3222@yahoo.com

Volunteers Needed for habitat project

In- stream rock habitat project

 A local landowner who owns property on a section of the Monocacy Creek near Altoonah Rd, has reached out to local conservation groups to help complete an in- stream fish habitat project.  He is looking for at least 6 volunteers (working in pairs) for both Saturday, Sept. 22nd and Sun., Sept. 23.  Volunteers will need to be able to lift large rocks, and then place them in the stream.  Due to limited parking space, please don’t volunteer if you cannot assist.  If we get more than 6 per day, we can work in two shifts.  The exact details still need to be ironed out (start time, parking, etc.). Michael Harrington will be the point person on this project, and you can get in touch with him directly (email or call) if you are  interested in helpping out:

Michael Harrington 610-392-1428 (mobile)
tq3222@yahoo.com

Stream Lines Fall-Winter 2018-2019

Upper Delaware Diesel Spill

Upper Delaware Diesel Spill

There was a spill of up to 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel from a train derailment  into the Upper Delaware River near Deposit, NY early Thursday morning.   For more info, click here.

If you are on the River and observe any impacts, please see below to report them.


Action item!

The NY Department of Environmental Conservation is asking everybody who spends time on or near the river to contact them if they see any evidence of impacts to wildife/habitat or fuel oil build-up, especially in the quiet eddies and pools near the riverbanks.  Look for a reddish/brownish sheen on the surface of the river that looks similar to brake fluid or transmission fluid.Please take a picture of any observed impacts with GPS coordinates and send them to info@fudr.org if you see negative impacts of the spill and we'll forward them to the NYSDEC. 

Caddisflies, Engineering a System

THE MONOCACY CREEK WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN

Compiled by Wildlands Conservancy, the following report was generated with the input of many volunteers, including members of the Monocacy Chapter. It outlines the issues that face our watershed, and provides ideas for mantaing and improving the quality of the natural habitat in and around the Creek.

A little PSA from Monocacy TU....

It's hot, REALLY hot...please consider giving the trout a break when temps are at their highest.  The stress of being caught coupled with higher water temps can lead to delayed deaths.  Just because they swim away in good shape does not mean they will survive.  If you still want to fish, there are plenty of non- trout options:  Smallmouth bass, Pickerel, panfish, carp, etc are all available close by.  Thanks and lets hope for cooler temps as the Trico hatch get started in July!

Chapter "Meeting" May 22nd

 As we wrap up the monthly membership meetings and take a break for the summer, the Monocacy Chapter invites you to our last "meeting" as we fish the evening Sulpher Hatch.  The fishing can be quite good, and the story telling is even better.
If you are new to fly fishing, would like some tips on fishing this hatch, or fishing the Monocacy Creek in general, this is the perfect opportunity. 

 Chapter members are always willing to show you their favorite spots, techniques, and patterns for catching the Monocacy's wild brown trout.  Meeting time is 6pm in the mail parking lot of Illick's Mill.  Fishing usually gets better later in the evening, so even if you can't make it at 6, try and stop by!  Hope to see you there, and enjoy your Summer!

Food for thought...

From troutbitten.com:

The Aquaculture Culture (from Dirt Roads and Blue Lines) 

This is too good to let pass. My friend, Chase Howard, restarted and rejuvenated his blog, Dirt Roads and Blue Lines. And recently, he penned a short commentaryon the state of the stocked vs wild trout situation in Pennsylvania.

Chase calls the stocked trout syndrome “The Aquaculture Culture,” and his choice of words is appropriate. There truly is an ingrained culture. Many Pennsylvanians have grown to expect (and feel they deserve) stocked trout in their local creeks, not because the creek can’t support wild trout and not because there isn’t already a wild trout population that would thrive if given a chance. No, the Aquaculture Culture expects and downright demands stocked trout in the creek because that’s the way it’s always been (in their lifetime).

As I’ve argued countless times here on Troutbitten, stocked trout do have a place in Pennsylvania. Our state hatcheries could continue to raise trout and stock them in streams that cannot and do not already support wild trout. I’m thankful for stocked trout. I caught my limit of stocked fish today — I gutted them, filleted them, breaded and fried them. And my sons and I had fresh trout for supper. The fish came from a put-and-take, local stream that becomes far too warm in the summers for a wild trout population to thrive.

But in Chase’s region of Northern PA, where the water is cold and the woods are wild, there are too many creeks stocked with hatchery trout simply to follow a historic precedent — and because the culture expects it.

As Chase writes . . .

Can you imagine the fishery we would have in the state of Pennsylvania if instead of spending in excess of $12 million annually on raising hatchery fish (a small percentage of which survive their first summer) the bulk of spending budget went toward habitat improvement, fish migration studies, and otherwise protecting, conserving, and enhancing our aquatic resources? Imagine all of the funds from the last 50 years improving the health of our rivers instead of the short-sighted perpetuity of put-and-take fisheries. What would the state of our rivers be?

It’s something to think about.

Read The Aquaculture Culture over at Dirt Roads and Blue Lines

Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com