Welcome to our Friends...

We welcome all of our local friends, as well as visitors to the Finger Lakes region to our Home Page.  The Leon Chandler Chapter of Trout Unlimited is 1 of 450 Trout Unlimited chapters nationwide.  Like our national organization, our mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.  We accomplish our mission on a local level with an extensive and dedicated volunteer network.

We extend an open invitation to visit our local chapter meetings. Meetings are typically held the 2nd Tuesday of each month from September to June on the TC3 Campus in Dryden, New York.

You can receive our Chapter Newsletter, Swift Currents and other Chapter information by email. Sign up here. We also send the Newsletter out in hard copy by US Mail two times a year. If you would like to receive the hard copy please send us your address.

New! - A Tribute to Leon Chandler!

Please join our conservation efforts in 2010!

Trout Unlimited News Releases!

Deadline June 5th - NY TU Special Raffle Form

Upcoming Events . . .

Date:     June 8, 2010
Topic:    Fly Rodding for Bass with Kirk Klingensmith
Location: Badger Creek Fly Fishing in Freeville)
Time:     7:00 PM

Synopsis:  Kirk is an avid fly fisher of trout, but also fishes warm water and saltwater.
Over the last few years he has found that the majority of his fishing time is being spent pursuing smallmouth and largemouth bass. His talk will cover bass behavior, techniques, fly selection, and successful approaches. He will point out helpful adjustments to adapt trout skills to bass. He will highlight smallmouth opportunities (particularly in the Chemung River basin), via both wade-fishing and from a canoe or personal watercraft. He will also cover largemouth techniques and local hotspots.

Volunteer Opportunities . . .

As Spring moves into Summer, and the school year nears an end, it is time for the Trout in the Classroom Programs to begin releasing their fish into the local streams. This is a great activity for the classrooms, and also a wonderful opportunity for those of you who have the time, and interest, to volunteer.

Here are the dates of the upcoming releases:

May 17 - Newfield 7th graders will do their Trout Release on the W. Branch of the Cayuga Inlet, along with stream sampling, art and a hike and anything else we can think of. We'll be doing a morning session for about 50 kids, and an afternoon session. Michelle Henrys, who leads the Newfield-area Cayuga Inlet Volunteer Monitoring Team is helping, and we'll really be focusing on evaluating water quality, habitat and diversity (of macro-invertebrates). Two sessions: 8:30 - 11:00 and 11:30 - 2:00, roughly.

May 19 - Lansing H.S. will release their trout behind the school in Salmon Creek. Jeremy Dietrich will lead a program....

May 25 - Cayuga Heights Elementary 2nd Grade releases trout to Salmon Creek at Myers Point. Morning... three classes, stream study, art. Fun! 9:00-11:00am.

May 28 - Morning- Northeast 5th grade will release their trout to Fall Creek at Monkey Run, between about 9:00am and 11:00am. General stream exploration, fly casting, etc. Should be fun. Fall Creek Watershed Committee will be involved, also...

May 28 - Afternoon (tentative... may also be in June.)- Caroline Elementary Trout Release to 6-Mile Creek behind the school.

June 7 - Enfield trout release at Lower Treman Park- in the morning. General stream study, art and the park staff help out, also.

June10 - South Hill 4th Graders release trout to Buttermilk Creek as Lower Buttermilk State Park. same general deal... 3 classes, multiple activities.

Some time in June... Belle Sherman will release trout to 6-Mile Creek at the wildflower preserve... or visit Caroline. Still working on it!

If you can help out, contact:

Bill Foster
Trout In the Classroom Coordinator
(607)-272-7256
parsifal@twcny.rr.com

Thanks,
Michael

Fishing News . . .

April began with some challenging conditions for those of us who managed to get out on the water. There were slightly cold temperatures and run-off that seemed to slow things up. That began changing after a few days and it seemed that things rapidly got better. Recent reports that I have read and received (as well as my own experiences) have been positive.
The mostly warm weather of April has led to the start of hatches this season. Caddis flies, March Browns, Stone flies and Hendrickson’s are all present on local streams. Added to this mix are the ever present midge hatches. May should only see our fishing conditions improve as we add pre- and post- spawn bass to the mix.
Additionally, the Lake Ontario tribs have been fishing very well this past month. If you have time, get up there while there are still aggressive, large, steelheads around.

If you have any 2010 pictures, send them to:  Roy Owens

Our Chapter is located in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  Our members live throughout Cortland and Tompkins County. We have the opportunity to fish a variety of lakes, ponds, streams, rivers and tributaries.  We fish for trout, salmon, bass, pike and just about any other fish that can be caught in our local waters. Check out our local fisheries.