Rabun Rendezvous

WHEN:  Saturday, January 18, 2019.  Please note change of date from previous years.

WHERE:  The Dillard House Conference Center, located behind the Dillard House Restaurant in Dillard, GA.

WHO:  The more the better!  Everyone interested in conserving and protecting our cold-water resources, including their families, friends, and all who love cold streams, trout, and trout fishing.

SOCIAL:  Doors open at 3:00 pm.  Around 4:30 pm folks will start gathering to “pick the pig” and enjoy the rocking chairs on the porch of the Conference Center.  There will snack trays of chees, crackers, veggies with dip, and fruit.  Soft drinks and ice will available.  There will be a nice fire inside to warm your buns.  Please note the earlier start time from previous years.

The Foxfire Boys will again provide their ‘down home’ style of bluegrass picking and singing for your enjoyment from 5:00 to 6:30 pm.  CD’s will be available for purchase.

Raffle and silent auction items will be available for your chance of purchase.  We welcome donations of raffle and auction items!

DINNER:  Fish, chicken, beef, and pork with all the side dishes and desserts that have made the Dillard House famous will be served at 6:30 pm.  It is a serve yourself buffet and you will not leave hungry!

Please note there will be no guest speaker this year.   For this reason, we anticipate concluding the Rendezvous at an earlier time than previous years.

COST:  $35 for adults and $25 for youth age 15 and younger.  Cash, check, VISA or MasterCard are accepted.  Pay at the door when you arrive.

LODGING:  The Dillard House has set special rates for rooms starting at $79 (plus tax) for those that make reservation and say they are attending the Trout Unlimited Rabun Rendezvous.

The 2018 Rabun Rendezvous provided financial support for the following:  GA Council Youth Trout Camp; Sponsoring youth to attend Trout Camp; GA Department of Natural Resources Smithgall Woods Conservation Education Program; US Forest Service Kid’s Fishing Event at Tallulah River; Fly-Fishing 101 educational event; Helicopter stocking program; In-stream habitat improvement on a brook trout stream; Casting for Recovery; Fly Fishing for Vets; National TU’s Youth Education, First Cast, Embrace-A-Stream, Griffiths Circle, and Southeast Lands program; GA Council Conservation fund; and providing Trout magazine subscriptions to all Rabun County schools, public libraries, and Tallulah Gorge State Park.

December Meeting Thursday, 12/12..

Foothills December Meeting next Thursday, 12/12...
We hope to see everyone this Thursday. As usual, the public is always welcome to attend our monthly meetings. Invite a neighbor or even someone who fishes squirmies.

The social time is around 6:00 - 6:30 with the meeting starting up at 6:30.

Date: 12/12/19
Time: 6:30 P.M.
Location: United Community Bank, 468 W Louise Street, Clarkesville, GA 30523

We have a few new things to try out at our meetings going forward. We are going to start in December with having a door prize at our monthly meetings. We have purchased gift certificates good for ½ day of unguided fishing at Nacoochee Bend. Everyone who attends the meetings will be given an entry into the drawing each month. In addition, Foothills members who volunteer to help out at events will be given an extra ticket into drawing. You must be present to win. We are doing this in hopes of increasing attendance at the meetings and participation at club activities. We are also going to start having a raffle at the meetings to try to spice things up a little bit. We’ll start at the December meeting and build on it from there. So bring along a couple of bucks and see if your able to win something !

Program TBD (will update when details are provided)

2020 Dream Trip

2020 Trip Rules

FOOTHILLS OCTOBER MEETING

This month, we have an excellent presenter for our October meeting that you surely will not want to miss. This month we are having Dennis Smalley present on his recent Project Healing Waters Trip to the Freedom Ranch in Montana. Dennis is a regular at our Project Healing Waters meeting and he has a great presentation about his experience in Montana.  

We hope to see everyone this Thursday. As usual, the public is always welcome to attend our monthly meetings. Invite a neighbor or even someone who fishes squirmies.

The social time is around 6:00 - 6:30 with the meeting starting up at 6:30.

Date: 10/10/19

Time: 6:30 P.M.

Location: United Community Bank, 468 W Louise Street, Clarkesville, GA 30523

Program: Project Healing Waters @ the Freedom Ranch in Montana

August monthly meeting Thursday night, August 8th

Foothills August Monthly Meeting Thursday Night, August 8th in Clarksville, GA at the United Community Bank on Louise St.

Social time starts at 6pm with the meeting at 6:30pm with our program following. This months program will be facilitated by Jake Darling. The program will be on low and clear water top two bass flies. Jake will tie the flies step by step on the big screen.

Hope to see everyone there!

Farewell to Dredger

A farewell to Dredger. After 34 years serving with WRD's Fisheries Management Section, Jeff Durniak is trading in his uniform for a pair of waders to enjoy retirement.

Jeff's contribution to North Georgia fisheries is legendary. He and his team have enhanced North Georgia's sportfish opportunities, most notably Georgia's walleye fishery and delayed harvest trout streams. Jeff has also worked diligently to establish and nourish partnerships within the conservation community to continually move the needle in a positive direction.

In Georgia's fly fishing circles, he has achieved rock star status. His expert and timely fishing reports (signed, “Dredger”) have been used by thousands of anglers. Most importantly, his public outreach efforts have resulted in greater angler understanding and involvement in fisheries management. Many avid anglers and conservationists alike can trace their recruitment to Jeff.

Jeff leaves us with this quote: "Make some more memories soon. Have fun and then pass your love of fishing to our next generation of angler-conservationists. You’ll be glad you did. I know that I am."

His passion for anglers, angling, and fisheries management is rivaled by few. Help us in wishing Jeff a happy retirement and tight lines.

Read Jeff's last Georgia Fishing Report blog entry: http://bit.ly/2KhvS0a

Unicoi Outdoor Adventure Day (Saturday, Sept 28, 2019)

It's that time of the year again! Since I am retiring on August 1, interested volunteers should reply to our Gainesville secretary, Lauren Long, preferably by email (lauren.long@dnr.ga.gov) Office phone:770-535-5498 and fax 5953.

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Call for Vols

Please consider volunteering to help us at Unicoi State Park's Outdoor Adventure Day to celebrate National Hunting and Fishing Day on Saturday, 9/28/19. You don't have to be an expert outdoorsman or woman to play a vital role in the day's success. Can you help at registration or direct parking? There's a niche for everyone.

Unicoi State Park’s management company, Coral Hospitality, hosts us, WRD Game Management Supervisor Scott Bardenwerper will handle the budget, and my staff will handle event staffing. We (DNR) need a hundred or so volunteers to make this event happen. Many of you are OAD veterans, but the following info may help prospective volunteers to understand the roles they could play and to make the decision to join our ranks. To fill out my roster and to ensure good communications with all of you volunteers, I would like the following info from each volunteer:

===================================================
PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM

1) Your name : _______________
2) Your affiliation (if you'd like me to credit your group or club) :_________________
3) email address: ______________
4) phone number : ________________
5) first choice of venue : ______________
6) second choice of venue: ____________
7) are you willing to work anywhere I need somebody (y/n)? ____

======================================================

First come, first served. The majority of the event is held along the creek downstream from Unicoi Dam
(map: http://www.unicoilodge.com/ga-state-park/park-map/)

Below is the narrative from previous years' volunteer instructions to help you understand the duties at each venue. Thanks for your consideration. We can't pull off this event without an army of vols!

Venue Info:

• Registration tent. These workers will greet visitors and get signed liability release forms and pens back from them in exchange for raffle tickets. Detailed instructions will be provided to you on Saturday (9/28), as Kim trains you. Visitors will be given an arm band as proof of signing the release form (so they can shoot).

• Raffle tent. Visitors will put one copy of the raffle ticket into the raffle bucket of their choice and keep the other copy. The raffle will start at 1 PM for free prizes. We will have a small, separate work force assigned to the raffle. Volunteers on the roster are eligible for prizes, also!

• Parking. Lodge staff will guide visitor vehicles to orderly parking in the big field. Parks staff also have a plan for overflow parking, if needed. They may need a few helpers to direct traffic and explain the venue layout to arriving guests as they depart their vehicles.

• Archery. Hands-on. One-on-one instruction typically by WRD and Traditional Bowhunters Association. Note that this venue is on far side of Smith Creek, next to the laundry building. It can be reached by the road crossing up near the dam or by the footbridge over the creek to the group camp. Some of you may be asked to provide security. Just stand at edge of venue and prevent visitors from straying into the line of fire.

• Airgun. Hands on by WRD, 4-H Club, and other volunteers. Same as #4, and located next to it. Again, a few of you may secure the perimeter.

• Skeet. Handled mainly by well-trained DNR and USFS Rangers and Game Management Technicians. It's 500 yards downstream from the main event (safety, safety). A few of you may simply help at the sign-in tent and keep waiting guests a safe distance away from the shooting area (no experience needed).

• Fishing tent. This is where visitors can exchange a driver's license for a loaner fishing pole and bait. Biologists, fishing guides, TU'ers, and other fibbers can answer questions and give fishing tips. WRD Fisheries staff will need at least 6 helpers to stay at the tent to handle loaner rod untangling, knot-tying, bait distribution, and rod checkout. This is a busy, yet fun tent.

• Fly casting. Part of the field will be set aside for casting instruction. I suggest that volunteers bring a rod that they don't mind visitors tinkering with (DON'T BRING YOUR GOOD SAGE OR WINSTON!!!). If you tie, bring your tying stuff with you, too.

• Fly tying instruction. Bring your supplies and an extra vise if you have one. Let visitors sit down at the table and tie his/her own fly to take home. Variations of the woolly worm (W. bugger, Anytime/Anywhere, etc.) or San Juan worm have worked well for me in the past. Kids love a gold bead and a big, gaudy fly. Girls love pink flies. Beads from craft store, yarn from Wal Mart. Cheap, easy, and fun for visitor. Many visitors are shy, so you may have to speak up and encourage youngsters to come over and tie their own fly.

• Fishing -stream helpers. Grab a pocket fishing kit (hooks and shot) and some bait (corn) that WRD will supply and go help people fishing on stream. Search them out - look at stringers, tackle used, and forlorn faces. Find a kid and work with him/her for an hour or so on reading water, casting, setting hook, etc. Mentoring! Fishing is NOT restricted to kids only (parent has the driver's license, so they must be hooked, too). Feel free to bring some of your favorite baits to help your reputation as an awesome fishing guide. We will have
about 100 loaner poles available, but feel free to bring an extra Zebco outfit if you have one to loan to your "student," since we made more than 200 loans at our last event. Some of you can help WRD staff stock creek around 9:45AM. Get some kids to help too - we're bringing buckets to get them involved.

• Wildlife. The experts pretty much run their own shows. Volunteers here will mainly help WRD Wildlife Education Specialist Kathy Church with logistics needed by the demonstrators (tables, chairs, PR, food and water, etc).

Thanks for considering the donation of your Saturday to preserve the future of your sport! Please provide your information to Lauren if you are interested in helping DNR to promote outdoor recreation and plant some seeds of conservation.

Sincerely,
Short-timer

Jeff Durniak
Regional Fisheries Supervisor
Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
2150 Dawsonville Highway
Gainesville, GA 30501

Phone: 770.535.5498
Fax: 770.535.5953
email: Jeff.Durniak@dnr.ga.gov

Jeff Durniak
North Georgia Region Fisheries Supervisor

Wildlife Resources Division
(770) 535-5498

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GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

July Monthly Meeting TONIGHT July 11th

Foothills July Monthly Meeting Thursday Night, July 11th

Georgia Foothills chapter of Trout Unlimited meets the 2nd Thursday of every month in Clarksville, GA at the United Community Bank on Louise St.

Social time starts at 6pm with the meeting at 6:30pm with our program following, however, there will be no formal program this month. Our campers from this year's trout camp should be in attendance to tell us about their experiences.

Hope to see everyone there!

Unicoi Outfitters Silver Anniversary

Mark your calendars...

We will be celebrating 25 years of being apart of the north Georgia fly fishing community on Saturday September 7th. It’s going to be an awesome time so you won’t wanna miss out. Stayed tuned as we release more details as the event gets closer.

Rocket Roy Lowe

We are so saddened to hear of the passing of our good friend, Rocket Roy Lowe. Rocket was an avid volunteer for everything concerning clean, cold water and flyfishing. We never saw him when he wasn't just happy to be there. You will be missed, Rocket. Thank you for your life as a good example to the rest of us.

Below is his obituary from his daughter Susan:

"Roy Edward Lowe lost his battle with Parkinson’s and passed away on May 2, 2019 in Gainesville, Georgia. He was one of 9 children born to Luther and Sara “Dolly” Lowe. He was born in Atlanta on November 9, 1931 and shared his birthday with his twin brother, Ray.

Roy and Ray, along with their older brother Wade, grew up in Buckhead and were part of the Buckhead Boys as teenagers. The brothers fell in love with fast cars and parlayed that love into racing stock cars and dragsters in the 1950s. Roy decided after his racing days were over to learn how to fly an airplane. He owned several airplanes over the years and flew all over the country. He even built an experimental plane with one of his pilot buddies. During his retirement years he sold airplanes that had a modified engine in them called the Rocket 305 and that is why he was called “Rocket Roy” by his friends and family. As a teenager, Roy spent summers at a family fishing camp in Florida where he learned how to fly fish which he continued to enjoy until, at the age of 85, he finally hung up his rod and put away his flies. Roy was also a member of the United States Navy and served for 3 years during peacetime.

After he left the Navy, Roy graduated from Georgia State with an accounting degree and owned several successful businesses including Lowe Glass Atlanta and Bygone Era. He retired in 1999 and he and his wife, Patty, moved to Clarkesville, Georgia so they could be near the mountains and trout streams so Patty could hike and he could fish.

Roy became very active in several organizations in the North Georgia mountains and was a volunteer for the Foothills Chapter of Trout Unlimited and served on the board of the Soque River Watershed Organization. He was very passionate about protecting the local waterways and worked to help maintain the river banks and protect the water quality. He was known for his fly casting prowess and won numerous fly fishing accuracy contests around the country. He loved to teach new fishermen, especially kids, how to land a fly and catch a trout and spent many days fishing the rivers in North Georgia and North Carolina regardless of the weather.

When he wasn’t fishing he was busy restoring two historic buildings in Clarkesville. He lovingly restored a historic African American church, Dae’s Chapel as well as the Porter-York house. Both structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Roy is survived by his wife of 45 years, Patty Lowe, as well as his daughter Susan and her spouse Gwen Flaniken. He also leaves behind his brother Ray’s wife, Carol, and numerous nieces and nephews who he loved dearly.

A casual remembrance service for family and friends will be held on May 19th at 1:00 pm at the Sautee Nacoochee Community Center near Helen, GA.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Parkinson Foundation - Research Projects, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, Florida, 33131 or the Soque River Watershed Association atwww.soque.org."

WE HAVE GOT A TREAT FOR THE APRIL MONTHLY MEETING!!!

ATTENTION Foothills Membership....

After working so hard on planning for the Hoot On The Hooch, we're going fishing! We'll need to be at Unicoi Outfitters at 6:00 PM Thursday so please make sure everyone is aware of this. From there, we'll spread out over Nacoochee Bend and fish until 8:00 PM that evening. I think we all need this treat! See ya'll there!

Georgia's Hemlocks

Hello hemlock friends in Murray County and chapters of Trout Unlimited,

I want to let you know about an ambitious project on March 2 that I 
hope you'll be interested in.  In a joint effort of Save Georgia's 
Hemlocks, Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, and the U. S. 
Forest Service, we will be planting 60 large hemlocks on Mill Creek in 
Murray County to restore the shade canopy along the trout stream, and 
we need all the help we can get.

Please see the attached flyer and share it with your friends, work 
associates, your group members, and anyone else you think might be 
interested.  I hope you can come out and help; it will be a fun and 
very rewarding day!  If you can, please contact Chris Disser to 
register as shown on the flyer, and she'll send you a confirmation 
with additional details.

Cheers, and hope to see you on March 2!

Donna Shearer
Chairman, Save Georgia's Hemlocks
706-429-8010

To register, contact Chris Disser at

Basics of fly fishing

It's All in the Wrist: Fly Fishing

Foothills JANUARY monthly meeting this Thursday, January 10th

Foothills JANUARY monthly meeting Thursday, 1/10, at the United Community Bank in Clarkesville.
    468 W Louise St
    Clarkesville, GA 30523

The social time is around 6:00 - 6:30 with the program starting at 7:00

We have lots of "Dream Trip" tickets for sale... pick up some to sell and/or purchase yours. Don't miss out on a chance for a trip of a life time.

Our guest speaker for the January meeting of Foothills will be Steven Patrick. Steven, as many of you know, is the Extension Agent for Habersham County. But beyond his responsibilities there, Steven has a passion for introducing kids to fishing. He is the founder of the Southeastern Youth Kayak Fishing Club. Foothills TU has always been a strong advocate for youth education and angling so Steven's interests fit well with our mission. Join us Thursday evening for an update on Steven's projects which also include the Upper Chattahoochee Shoal Bass Project, a genetic tracking study to help build an information base for more protective regulations for this special species.