Stone Mountain Chapter - Trout Unlimited

Hope everyone has had a chance to hit the water for some fishing the last few weeks. The weather hasn’t been for the faint of heart, but it has been nice to see the rain and the streams are looking the best I have seen in some time. I hope this is the start of a better year as far as water flows are concerned as we have seen terribly low conditions for the last several years.

As the title would imply, this is the first entry of the new SMTU web-site. It took us awhile to get it going and will take more time to get up and running at full tilt, but we plan on making it one our chapter can be proud of as well as being functional. I feel our web designer has made us a tool that will not only give us the ability to keep you better informed but will be a tool for communication between all our members. Our recent meetings have been a mix of ideas and suggestions as to how we can create more participation from our members and one of the things we felt to be important for the future of our chapter was a web-site people could not only visit but be a part of. I hope you will enjoy what we have done here and be sure to use it as a tool for your cold water conservation and become more involved for the coming year.

As someone who has been fishing for many years and in some very cold weather I would like to take some time to caution everyone and give them some cold weather tips to help make their fishing more enjoyable. January can be a great time to catch fish on nymphs, and dry flies when the temps move up above the mid 40’s, but if you are miserable because of the cold it won’t matter. I have found that dressing in layers is the best way to hit the stream in winter months so adjustments can easily be made. The first layer should be thin, next can be the layer of fleece, and last but not least should be the layer that is not only warm but blocks the wind and rain if need be. Fleece is one of the warmest materials besides wool I have found, but does little to stop wind. I even layer the bottom half of my body adding layers for lower temps and while still using my breathable waders to stop the wind and of course keep out the water. By layering you can take off or add as the weather dictates. Being to warm and sweating can cause problems if the weather turns colder or as the sun goes down so again layering can help avoid this problem. One other thing many fly fishers forget is to stay hydrated in cold weather. If you drink several cups of coffee before you hit the stream be sure to drink an adequate amount of water too.