The results are in....

Election results:

President : Erik Broesicke
VP:  Open
Treasurer: Dr. Ed Hart
Secretary: Bob Signorello

New Board Members:

Jose deJesus
Mike Recine
Mike Bradley

A big thank you to those of you accepting new leadership roles in the Chapter, and to everyone who attended the meeting.

Meeting reminder for Oct 22nd...Election day.

Just a reminder that this coming Tuesday October 22nd we will be having our annual elections.  If you have any interest in running for a position on either the executive board, or the board of directors, please plan on attending this meeting.  After the elections we will be discussing the development of a strategic plan to help guide the Chapter as we move forward.

Radioactive Wastewater From Fracking Is Found in a Pennsylvania Stream | Surprising Science

Radioactive Wastewater From Fracking Is Found in a Pennsylvania Stream | Surprising Science

From TROUT magazine

A great article about handling fish for pictures or otherwise:

At What Price Glory?

Update on Lehigh River From LCFA

The latest Newsletter from the Lehigh Coldwater Fisheries Alliance.

CLICK ME

Tell Pennsylvania Legislators to Protect Wild Trout

Please take a moment to let your legislator know that you, as a trout fisherman and TU member, are opposed to the passing of House Bills  HB1576/SB1047.  These Bills will severely limit the Fish and Game Commissions ability to operate in an independent manner.  It is very easy to send a message to your State Representatives, as TU has already drafted a letter and will send it to the appropriate place.  Just click the link below, fill out your info, and click send message, it's that easy:

LINK to LETTER OPPOSING HOUSE BILLS HB1576/SB1047

For more information on these Bill's click HERE for a brief overview provided by TU, and why they are not a good idea.

Meetings resume...

Our monthly meetings will resume on Tuesday, September 24th @ 7pm. 

The agenda for this months meetings will be:
1.  Review of the City's removal of the dam at Johnson Park, including pictures and video.  Also overview of next potential project.
2.  Discussion of residential and commercial developments.
3.  Discussion of upcoming programing.
4.  Review of NE regional meeting.
5.  Chapter operations; financial, organizational , etc.
6.  Announcements/ opportunities/ questions etc.

Hope to see you there.

The dam is gone.

The Johnson dam was all but gone by Thursday of this past week, and the rest of the work will focus on distributing about 500 tons of rock to protect the stone walls.  There will also be a small amount of in- stream work  consisting of random boulders.  You can see a few of them below where the dam was in the following pictures.  The stream was also narrowed in this area to direct the channel more towards the center of the stream.

Johnson Dam Breached...now with video!

At about 9:30am this morning, construction crews from Flyway Excavating began the job of dismantling the Johnson Park Dam in the City of Bethlehem.  The project is being overseen by CPS of Harrisburg.  In order to start the draw- down of water from behind the dam, an excavator with a pneumatic hammer was used to break through the top layer of concrete, creating a notch about 6' wide.  At this point the force of the water flowing through the breach moved many of the stacked stones on the lower level of the dam.  After the
water receded a few few feet,  the hammer was replaced with a bucket and the excavator moved around behind the dam where the operator made the hole larger still.  This process will continue, with the excavator making a pathway of sorts with crushed stone out into the stream, so he can reach the far side of the dam. (CLICK READ MORE BELOW FOR MORE PICTURES and a short video!)

Begining of the end....

Looks like he small dam @ Johnson Park ( where Musikfest flooded a few years ago) is finally coming down!  A source at the City Parks Department confirmed that all of the contracts were signed and that equipment should be arriving Friday the 30th for work to begin this Tuesday September 3rd.  Well the equipment is on site so hopefully the work can begin on Tuesday.  Stay tuned for any updates and pictures as the project progresses.

Northeast Regional Meeting Recap

In late July, President Erik Broesicke and Treasurer Dr. Ed Hart attended the TU Northeast Regional Meeting at the Windham Resort in New York.  The two day event included topics ranging from stream restoration to membership engagement.  All of the topics were extremely timely and relevant to issues our Chapter ( and all Chapters) are facing.  Some major points:

1.  TU will be pushing the recruitment of women on a national level, which will include a FREE membership for women. (LINK)  This will be a major push over the next few years, and represents a largely untapped demographic.  LINK to TU Women's Initiative presentation. 

2.  Building a cohesive unified message, while still maintaining the benefits of  a localized, grassroots organization.

3.  The importance of strengthening Chapters by recruiting new members, developing leaders and cultivating volunteers.    

DIDYMO: A Video Diary; by Jason du Pont

Didymo: A Video Diary from Jason du Pont on Vimeo.

Why Do we Fish?

TU Members help middle school students explore nature

Bob Signorello shows the proper technique

For 3 days at the end of May, East Hills Middle School students got a chance to explore the Housenick Memorial Park in Bethlehem Township.  The event was planned by member Vicky Bastidas, who not only did the planning but also funded the trip with grant money she received.
You can read more about the event from the Lehigh Valley Live Article  here: LINK
Monocacy TU members Erik Broesicke and Bob Signorello also volunteered on one of the days to help with the in-stream portion of the day.  Nets were used to sample a small riffle section, and the captured specimens were placed in containers for the students to identify and observe.  After a brief discussion about what was collected, the students were given the chance to do some sampling of their own.  The amount of life that was collected in one 30' riffle was rather astounding.  Some of what was found:

1.  LOTS of caddisfly larva, and some emerging caddisfly pupa
2.  Cranefly larva
3.  Several sculpins
4.  1 or two species of crayfish

Bucket full of stuff

5.  several species of mayfly nymphs
6.  a few salamanders
7.  isopods
8.  scuds
9.  small minnows
10.  Midge larva

This was a great event, and the students really enjoyed sampling the stream.  

May 28th "meeting" recap

On May 28th, a few hardy anglers gathered for the final "meeting" before we take a brake for summer.  The weather was rainy and overcast most of the day, but cleared up nicely as the group met around 6pm at Illick's Mill Park.  After swapping some stories and ideas about how to fish the evening hatch, we set out for the creek to see if the fish were interested in an evening snack.  By the time it was to dark to see our flies, we had all caught at least a few fish, and we left them rising as we made our way back to the parking lot.  A great ending to the spring portion of our programing schedule.  Enjoy your summer, hopefully we'll see you this fall.