Streamside on Line

In this issue:

  Articles, news and fly tying tips are gratefully accepted. Please e-mail them to Roy Cubbler. Thank you.

By this time, most DJL members have heard about the Project Healing Waters. Inspired by the Casting for Recovery program for cancer survivors, Project Healing Waters is a joint activity of Trout Unlimited and the Federation of Fly Fishers. The program offers wounded military personnel from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center opportunities to learn, or enhance, fly fishing and fly tying skills, and to use and enjoy those skills on fishing outings. 

At the recent FFF MAC banquet, Dame Juliana League Fly Fishers provided a table for three patients and two dependents from Project Healing Waters. Those individuals wrote letters of appreciation which appeared in the Winter 2006 edition of the Mid-Atlantic Flyfisher. A featured speaker at the banquet was Lt. Eivind Forseth from the Project Healing Waters outreach of FFF MAC. 

The three patients were Army SFC Diane Cochran, Army Sgt Russell Martin, and ex-Marine Cpl. William Johnson. Bill Johnson lost both legs in a land mine blast in Vietnam. Diane Cochran received a spinal wound when the vehicle she was in was in was hit by an IED in Afghanistan. Russell Martin was injured when the bus he was riding in overturned in Kuwait. His left arm and hand were badly damaged. 

In her letter of thanks, Diane points out that, “Never have I felt less control of my life as I did when I arrived at Walter Reed with wounds and injuries sustained in Afghanistan. It is through events such as a day on the river fly fishing that has allowed me to regain some control over my life and limbs.” That comment alone makes it clear what our donation of a table means to these brave military heroes.

FFF MAC went out of its way in the publication to express appreciation to DJL for our generosity, but when wounded veterans find some degree of solace through our beloved sport, the need for expressed thanks is erased. It is we who should be giving thanks that we could help in some small way to provide a degree of normalcy to those brave men and women. Additional information on Healing Waters Project may be found at the following website: http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/. 

Over the past six months I have been working with Bob Bonney, our local Waterways Conservation Officer, and Glade Squires, President of the West Chester Fish & Game Association, to set up a meeting with local, southeastern Pennsylvania Angling Clubs. This effort was initiated by Bob last spring on the premise that sharing information among clubs, regardless of terminal tackle or target species, could enhance each club’s membership and other activities, and provide examples of best practices. Bob was especially interested in trying to recruit more youth to fishing. His efforts finally culminated in a meeting on November 18 with representatives from eleven angling organizations attending a four-hour meeting at the Green Valleys Association’s facility. Trout (including nurseries), fly fishing, bass, and muskie clubs were all present.

Needless to say, Bob, Glade and I were pleasantly surprised by the outcome and the energy in the room, the spirit of cooperation (even frivolity) and the tremendous amount of information that was shared. In fact, it was agreed that additional meetings should be held and one is now scheduled for February. Moreover, there was a proposal to create a “Coalition of Southeastern PA Angling Organizations” (or something like that). Since that meeting Bob has come back too me and asked if I would Chair the group for two years. Dieter Scheel of Muskies Inc., Chapter 50 will be Vice-Chair So here I go again, hopping from the frying pan (i.e.- GVA Board and MACFFF VP) into the fire. More to come on this because it is definitely a first for PA and a lot of us are very excited about it.

By the way, Bob and Glade have established a fishing club in the Downingtown East High School. If this catches on (no pun intended) other schools may want to do the same thing. 

The PA Youth Fishing License proposal is receiving a lot of attention. Pete Goodman, of VFTU, sent me a letter from a TU member expressing his views on the proposal and Roy is reprinting it in this newsletter, with the author’s permission, so our members can understand some of the issues. Obviously, the PFBC needs additional funds to operate their programs and this is one way to obtain them. In any case, if you want to weigh in with your thoughts on the youth license proposal, the Commission would like to hear from you. More information can be found on their website which is on the Links page of our website.

Usually I try to attend the fall banquet held by the Federation of Fly Fishers Mid-Atlantic Council, because our club sponsors a table. Unfortunately, this year a family conflict arose and no one from the club could attend. Thus, we donated the table to FFF MAC for their use. I was more than pleased with the outcome as the eight seats were used by several disabled war veterans and their families. These vets were invited under the auspices of a program called Project Healing Waters which is jointly sponsored and manned by FFF and TU volunteers, many being vets themselves. It is aimed at rehabilitating vets that have had serious injuries, especially to their hands and limbs, by fly tying and fly fishing. Our club should be incredibly proud that, in a very small way, we are making a difference in bringing some sort of normalcy, joy, and support to lives that have been greatly altered in doing a very difficult and dangerous job.

I wish you all the best for a great year of fishing in 2007! I hear the Tullie and the Gunpowder have been fishing superbly…Tight lines…Bob

 

Obviously, I am opposed to a youth fishing license, but what concerns me most is that this will slip through the legislature late one night like the pay raises, pension hikes and slot machine gambling bills. I believe this proposal should have a loud public airing, even put it on the ballot, and if citizens of PA think it is a good idea, then so be it. Because once it is in place, it will be the new law of the land forever, with no turning back!

As a general comment, the youth of today are turning away from outdoor activities. The web page for the Fish Commission shows youth fishing peaking in 1995 at 41% and declining to 35% in 2000 (see  http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/promo/initiatives/jrlicense/00junior.htm ). 

A recent article in the Boston Globe reported that attendance at National Park facilities in the Northeast is down 25% since 2000. The Boy Scouts has seen declining enrollment each year since 2000. Something is going on (video games perhaps?) and it is a national trend.

Obviously, the last thing we sportsmen want to see is a decline in the popularity of our sport, and the subsequent loss of support for it. Check out the history of license sales over the last 87 years at: http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/licsal2.htmEvery time resident fees are increased, sales decline. Bottom line: fewer fishermen, paying more money, for the same or less services. Establishing youth licenses to increase revenue is a finger in the dike. The Commission should break the old mold and look for new ways to encourage the sport. AND the same trends are in place for the Game Commission. What does the end of this decline look like? Obviously, reductions in staff and consolidations are in the future, so why not start implementing them now?

These are just some things for your members to ponder and express their opinions on. I look forward to the debate!

---Fletcher Swanson---

Ed’s note: Want to express an opinion? The E-mail reprinted was received with a request that it be included in our club’s newsletter. The author of the letter, Fletcher Swanson, is presenting his opinion on the proposed Youth Fishing License. After you have read it, you may want to support his opinion or challenge it. Feel free to do so by sending your response to Roy Cubbler at cubblers@aol.com. I invite Mr. Swanson’s attention to an article which appeared in the DJL Newsletter in the Fall of 2004 concerning the sagging interest in fly fishing. He may access the newsletter on line at http://www.djlflyfishers.org/  The information contained there may provide him with additional food for thought. 

An organization survives only through the influx of new members. With that in mind, we welcome the following fishers to our club: Bruce Baker, Brian Baker, Tex Camden, Dallas and Ryder Defibaugh, David Hamilton, Ray Horwitz, James Mud, Chris Perillo, Joseph and Meredith Scelsa, Ian Shumaker, James Smith, and Todd Wall.

When you hit the stream on the first day of trout season this year, you might want to make positive that you are standing in the right county. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has determined that, because of differences in the state’s climate, trout season will start about two weeks early in the southeastern and south central sections of the state. Warm weather comes a bit earlier in the designated areas, and thus prime fishing will begin and end early in Adams, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and York Counties. The potential for fish to move from where they are stocked and the fact that some fish perish between stocking and the first day of the season were also noted as reasons for the change. Opening day for those 18 counties named above will be Saturday, March 31. The remainder of the state’s counties will open the season on Saturday, April 14. The commission’s Executive Director, Doug Austen noted that trout stocked in 2007 will be 30% larger, but 20% fewer will be released into the state’s trout streams. The average fish stocked in previous years was seven ounces and ten inches in length. This year, the average climbs to ten ounces and eleven inches in length.

Readers may recall a classic movie entitled “The Quiet Man” starring John Wayne. The title of that movie would also describe our Outreach Committee chair, Ted Nawalinski. Ted is simply the epitome of quiet efficiency. He does his job well, but with little fanfare. Ted and his wife, Jiji, parents of two adult children, Tom and Larissa, live in Downingtown. Ted met Jiji while involved in the Peace Corps. The couple have two grandchildren. Ted is spending some of his retirement time substituting in the Downingtown District. He teaches Tai Chi at various venues. He also does some substitute teaching in Downingtown. He is retired from Smith Kline Animal Health Products where he was employed for 19 years. He taught biology at Delaware County Community College. When we list his education, Ted has more letters after his name than he has in it. He earned a B.S. in biology from LaSalle, a Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, his PhD from Johns Hopkins, and an executive MBA from Wharton. 

His hobbies include fishing, of course, but he also has years of experience involved in martial arts. His favorite fishing area is the Brandywine Creek from the up stream area down to the Brandywine Museum. He hopes that 2007 will involve mostly bass fishing. A fly tier, Ted has been a member of DJL for six years. He hopes to lend his expertise to assisting with a new fishing club being formed at Downingtown East High School.

In answer to the question, “Just what are the responsibilities involved in ‘outreach,’” Ted answers that it is “the serendipitous interaction with people” at which time he has the opportunity to explain the benefits of membership in DJL. He expands those opportunities by manning DJL tables at gatherings which may attract fishers. He regularly mans the DJL table at Orvis Days in Downingtown, and at the Warwick Park Earth Day celebration.

We thank this fine man for all of his efforts on behalf of our club, and we are proud to turn our spotlight on our hardworking Outreach Chairman, Ted Nawalinski.