chapter

TROUT UNLIMITED
HIWASSEE CHAPTER (#640)
[ about us | join | activities | calendar | newsletters ]
[ bylaws | officers & board | meetings | donate ]
[ Hiwassee.Net Archives | TU TN council | TU national ]
About us:

For 5 decades, the members of Trout Unlimited have dedicated themselves to conserving, protecting, and restoring North America’s cold water fisheries, and their watersheds.

Whether they are planning and building stream improvement projects, working with government to secure fish-friendly legislation, or teaching young people the importance of protecting fish and their habitat, TU’s members and chapters are actively engaged in the effort to protect our precious trout and salmon resources.

THE HIWASSEE CHAPTER of TROUT UNLIMITED works to preserve the clean water of the Hiwassee River, and its trout fishery. It's our home waters.

YOU CAN HELP

And in the process, you can learn a lot about the river, water, and/or trout fishing. Our vision is to leave a watershed that our children and their children can enjoy as much as we do. If you would like to know more about us, or donate to our cause, contact our Chapter President:

Don Denney



Visitors are always welcome at our monthly meetings.

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If you would like to donate to the Hiwassee Chapter General Treasury, please mail a check payable to

"Trout Unlimited Hiwassee Chapter"

to the following address:

Trout Unlimited Hiwassee Chapter


You may also make donations via Paypal.

Trout Unlimited is a non-profit 501(c)(3) conservation organization, and donations are tax deductable as provided by law. Thanks for your help.

email us for more info.

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Meetings:
Our local chapter, The Hiwassee Chapter (640), meets the 3rd Thursday of the month from September or so through May or so. Our regular meetings are held at 7:30 pm downstairs at the back of the Mars Hill Presbyterian Church in Athens, TN. A map is shown below. We have an annual banquet in December, and usually do not have full meetings in the summer. On the 2nd Saturday of each month (unless there is a schedule conflict) we have a "newbie" meeting at Reliance Fly & Tackle. Reliance Fly & Tackle is where Adams Fly Shop used to be on the road to the powerhouse. We usually have casting instruction at 10, bug sampling at 11, fly tying demos during lunch, then split into groups to show newbies around the river, all free of charge, you just have to provide your own lunch.



email us for more info.

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Officers and Board of Directors:
president:

Don Denney 







vice president:

Kevin Lane 





secretary treasurer:

Paul Ketron   





newsletter editor:

Kevin Lane 




webmaster:

Don Denney   







directors:



Dan Falls, 



Paul Ketron, 



Fred Wicht,

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To join Trout Unlimited:

If you would like to join Trout Unlimited, you can do so here.
Trout Unlimited will usually assign you to a chapter initially based on your zip code, but will change your membership to our chapter (Hiwassee, #640) on request. To request a change, call customer service at 1-800-834-2419, or email membership@tu.org.
Membership includes a one year subscription to our quarterly Trout magazine, a calendar, address labels, a personalized membership card and other benefits.

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Activities:
[ education | conservation | advocacy | fundraising ]
Education:


The best way to get people involved in protecting and preserving our natural resources is to create users of the resources.

Each year, our chapter assists with the "Kid's Fishing Day" held at the Athens Regional Park.

We have a vigorous communications program to make the general public aware of our mission, and we hold monthly meetings and distribute a newsletter to inform our membership regarding conservation and fishery issues.
 
We partner with Boy Scouts of America and their "Flyfishing Merit Badge" program,
...and work with several area high schools supporting extra-curricular "First Cast" programs to teach flyfishing and conservation,
...and participate in other educational activities.

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Conservation:


We participate in an annual river cleanup campaign, and we have a program to monitor the rivers "vital statistics" to insure the health of our fishery, and our clean water supply.

We worked with TVA to establish baseline data for sedimentation in the Hiwassee watershed, and are now involved in a program to monitor water quality so we can identify and address any problems that may occur.

Want to learn the hatches on the Hiwassee? Help us with our "macroinvertebrate sampling" program. As it turns out, the same bugs we imitate with our flies are good indicators of water quality. In fact, monitoring bug types and numbers is one of the standard methods the Environmental Protection Agency uses to protect the quality of our water supplies. Click for more info about our bug sampling program.

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Advocacy:


Each year we attend meetings and participate with various agencies involved in the management of our fishery, such as TVA, TWRA, and the National Forest Service, in a cooperative effort to improve our cold water fisheries. We "speak up" on behalf of the fishery, and the watershed.

From time to time there are issues that can impact our fishery and/or watershed, and we post alerts about these on our forum. The best site I have found for contacting legislators and administrators about such issues is the Izaak Walton League site. You are encouraged to use this site to make your views known.

An organization that monitors state issues closely is the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.

Activities in Polk County, where our fishery is located, can also have an impact. Contact info for the Polk County Commission is here.

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Fundraising:


Each year we have programs such as our Annual Banquet to raise funds to support our other programs. If you would like to donate, click here .

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There is more info about our activities in a welcome letter that we send to new members.

If you would like to learn more about participating in these activities, email us.

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Calendar:
This is general , for specific dates, check our newsletter.
January:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
? - Coldwater/TN Council TU Meetings
February:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
March:
? - Tellico River Cleanup, bug sampling may be there
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
? - Hiwassee River Cleanup
? - brown trout stocking
April:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
? - Athens Kids Fishing Derby
? - Casting class, free for new members
? - TU Southeast Rally
May:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
June:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
July:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
? - Chapter Planning Meeting
? - Coldwater/TN Council TU Meetings
August:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
? - brook trout restoration sampling
September:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting, annual report, election
October:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
? - TN Council TU Meeting
November:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
3rd Thursday - Chapter Meeting
? - brown trout stocking
December:
2nd Saturday- Fishing Day, at Reliance Fly & Tackle,
casting 10 am, bug sampling 11, lunch noon, fishing 12:30
? - Hiwassee Chapter Annual Banquet

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