Check out this month's MTFF Newsletter here!

May Meeting
May 2, 2012 - The History of Fishing Tackle in the United States - Gibby Gibson.

Gibby Gibson joined us for the May meeting to give his presentation on the history of fishing tackle in the US. He brought several of his antique fishing tackle to us to look at, including rods, reels and lures. Some of his equipment dates back to the 1840's. Members were encouraged to bring old tackle in for a free appraisal. Gibby stressed that the best value of any collectable is its sentimental value to the collector.

I was raised in a fishing family in Maryville, TN with my Grandfather having a floating cabin on Fontana Lake and a permanent camp on Santeelah Lake. My mother's brother (Gordon) was a great fly fisherman and often carried me to the many streams that the Smoky Mountains had to offer. I have won a Field and Stream national award with an 8 lb. 4 oz. German brown trout out of Abrams Creek in Cades Cove. At the age of 16 I was guiding float trips on the Little Tennessee River and fishing all over Tellico and Citico area. In 1967  I worked in Yellowstone and experienced the pleasures of the Madison, Firehole, and Snake. I moved to the Nashville area in 1969 and began guiding a few of years later out of Four Corners on Percy  Priest. Started fishing tournaments earned a sponsorship fishing B.A.S.S. and represented Silvertrol Trolling Motors and Jim Rogers Bait Co.

In the early 1980's began active collecting old fishing as I had accumulated lots of old tackle from my Grandfather's friends. Join the NFLCC shortly there after and began hosting a show here in Nashville. I was then elected to the Board of Directors where I spent 8 years on the board and eventually was elected National President where I served two terms. Then I served as an advisor to the President for another two terms. Through those many years I continued to be an active fisherman and a regional and nation show host for my collecting club. I have be fortunate enough to fish from the flats of Belize to the far reaches of Alaska. I enjoy all kinds of fishing and the blessings that our Maker has made for us to enjoy and especially all the friends I have made along the way. - Gibby Gibson

April Meeting
April 4, 2012 - Warm Water Options for the Trout Fisherman - Mike Kingston and Jeff Barrett

We have had an unusually warm spring here in Middle Tennessee. The bass, crappie and bream are all moving in a little sooner than normal so this couldn't have been a more perfect time for MTFF members, Mike Kingston and Jeff Barrett, to present their program on spring fly fishing opportunities in Middle Tennessee.  This program was organized and geared toward warm water options for the trout fisherman in Middle Tennessee. Mike and Jeff covered several local lakes, streams and rivers that they frequent this time of year. They talked about the equipment they recomend, how they like to fish these waters, and the species they usually go after.... which is anything that will take a fly.

Mike Kingston has been fly fishing for over 50 years and tying flies for more than 40 years.  His friends in the west think of him as a trout guy but his new friends in Tennessee are positive he is a warm water guy.  He just likes to fly fish and enjoys tying flies for himself and his friends.  Mike has been a member of the Middle Tennessee Fly Fishers since 2006 and enjoys helping its members improve their fishing and tying skills.

Jeff is a fly fishing guide with over 15 years of fly fishing experience.  He has been fishing his whole life.  Jeff caught the fly fishing bug while living in Pennsylvania and his love for the sport intensified after moving to Nashville. In 2004 Jeff graduated from Yellowstone Outfitters & Guide Academy at the Orvis Endorsed Hubbard’s Yellowstone Lodge. He continued to build on that experience by starting his own fly fishing guide service, JLB Outfitters.  Jeff has fished Western streams, rivers, and spring creeks; Eastern & Southern tail-waters; as well as mountain streams in East Tennessee, Northern Georgia and Pennsylvania.  JLB Outfitters focuses on the beginning fly fisher and offers beginning casting lessons as well as beginning fly fishing classes.  JLB Outfitters offers guided trips on the Elk or Caney Fork Rivers.

The MTFF club meets at the TWRA Region II building at Ellington Agricultural Center. The doors open at 5:30PM for the tying session and the meeting comes to order at 7:00PM. For directions, click here.

May Outing
Cherokee, NC - May 16-20, 2012

The Cherokee Indian Reservation offers a variety of fishing opportunities for the trout fisherman with regularly stocked streams, trophy waters and three trout ponds. The nearby Oconoluftee River flows out of the Smoky Mountains National Park through beautiful historic Cherokee N.C., home to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

Whether you are fly fishing for native brook trout in a cold mountain stream, smallmouth or largemouth bass in beautiful Fontana Lake or rainbow or brown trout in one of the many stocked streams, Swain County hosts one of the most diverse fishing habitats in the world.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Nantahala National Forest offer hundreds of miles of spectacularly clear streams. Just a few minutes from Bryson City, the sparkling waters of Deep Creek are ripe for fly fishing, and many anglers enjoy the Nantahala River just west of town, particularly the section above the powerhouse on Wayah Road.

Several memebers will be staying at the River Valley Campgrounds outside of Cherokee, NC. (See "UPDATE (March 24, 20012)" below)

For more information please refer to our Cherokee, NC Outing Resources page. If you have any further questions, please contact Roger Cooper.

April Outing
Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Elkmont) - April 18-22, 2012

In April, MTFF members once again headed to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. This spring has been incredible for dry fly fishing the mountain streams. With the warmer weather and warm spring rains, several of the primary spring hatches are occurring earlier than normal.

The group reported having exceptional weather and good hatches of insects the first couple of days. However, a cold font moved through on Thursday which slowed the fishing considerably. Along with the cold front came some light showers Saturday evening into Sunday morning. The majority of the group stayed at Elkmont Campground group campsite GP01. Saturday night the group gathered for burgers and hotdogs at the group campsite.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has approximately 2,115 miles of streams within its boundaries, and protects one of the last wild trout habitats in the eastern United States. The park offers a wide variety of angling experiences from remote, headwater trout streams to large, cool water smallmouth bass streams. Most streams remain at or near their carrying capacity of fish and offer a great opportunity to catch these species throughout the year. - nps.gov

**Attention MTFF Members**

UPDATE (March 24, 2012) - River Valley Campground in Cherokee, NC is now open for reservations for the dates of our May outing. RESERVATIONS ARE BY PHONE ONLY. This campground is booking fast so please call and make your reservations. Please refer to the Cherokee, NC Outing Resources page for campground information and a map. Cost per night is $30. A $30 deposit must be received no less than two weeks prior to your reservation dates. Sites A1-A11 and B1-B15 are on the river (18 of them are tent sites). We are aware that this may be graduation weekend for many families.

UPDATE (January 20, 2012) - Reservations for Longbranch Campground at the Caney For River Outing July 18-22, 2012 are now open through Recreation.gov!

At many of our outing locations, online reservation are possible through www.recreation.gov. You may reserve most campsites up to six months prior to your arrival date. We are finding that some may be available even sooner. All Tennessee State Park locations there are no reservations and are on a first come first serve basis only. Please refer to the "MTFF 2011 Events Calendar" in the right hand column, or go to the MTFF Outings page. Do not hesitate to contact the outing leaders if you have any questions.

Our June PHWFF outing is getting some help!
Fly South and Grand Cru have teamed up to hold a Scotch Tasting to benefit PHWFF. Mark your calendars for May 16th! Proceeds from this event will go toward the purchase of equipment for the vets attending our June PHWFF outing on the Caney Fork River. What a generous offer, and MTFF/PHWFF thanks you!

Congratulations to two MTFF Member vets!
Randy Gerdes and Tommy Hogan have been invited to be guests of retired U.S. Army Colonel, Lawrence Wilkerson and his family, to fish the South Holston River June 4th-10th. They will be staying at the Holston Castways.

June PHWFF Outing
A June PHWFF event is in the works for June 23th - 24th on the Caney Fork River. This event will be open to all vets at Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox, KY, and the Murfreesboro VA. We will be camping at Long Branch Campground below Center Hill Dam. Volunteers are needed for this event. If anyone is interested in volunteering, please contact Tommy Hogan.
Notice! - Planning is under way for our June PHWFF outing. We need to know who already has a site to share with a soldier and how many sites PHWFF will need to reserve. Please contact Tommy Hogan if you have a campsite reserved at Long Branch Campground for this event.

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.  You can find out more about PHWFF at www.projecthealingwaters.org.

From the Board...

Seeking nominations for the office of Treasurer
Larry Rollins has decided to step down as our treasurer. We want to thank Larry for the work he has done and the ideas he has implemented in updating the system by which we manage our finances. If anyone is interested, or know of any member that would have an interest in holding the office of Treasurer, please submit all nominations to a MTFF Board Member.

MTFF E-newsletter
In an effort to cut the cost of the monthly newsletter, we are working toward sending out our newsletter via e-mail. We need your help! Please contact us and let us know whether you would like to get the newsletter electronically and/or continue to receive a hardcopy by mail.  Contact Rick Wooten at r.wooten@mtff.org or Scott Dukeshier at sdukeshier@mtff.org with your complete contact information. Once we have an accurate roster, we can complete our transition to a more efficient and cost effective newsletter system. Joel Dean will also be presenting a copy of the current club roster at each general meeting and will be asking members to please check and verify their information. This information will be used for MTFF announcements, newsletters, and internal statistical purposes only.

Join MTFF Now!

MTFF Meeting
June 6, 2012

MTFF Outings
Cherokee, NC
May 16-20, 2012

Watauga & South Holston Rivers
June 6-10, 2012

Updates! - Project Healing Waters (PHWFF Section - below, left)

Project Healing Waters
Keep up with important local PHWFF news and updates in the new PHWFF Fishin' Forum!

Fly Of The Month
May 2012

Wulff Patterns


For more information, check out the Fly Tying Fishin' Forum.

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Troutfest 2012
Troutfest is a Fly Fishing Exposition and Fundraiser held in Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. Proceeds from this event are donated to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fisheries Department, Friends of the Smokies Fisheries Scholarship Endowment or other youth educational conservation projects. The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited sponsors this event as our major fundraiser and annual festival. This year the event will be one of the largest venues for fly anglers in the Southeast United States.

May 18 at 6:00 pm - Banquet
May 19 & 20 - Exposition
Townsend, TN

Attention FFF members going to Troutfest!

The FFF South Eastern Council will be having an information booth/table at TroutFest on Sat-Sun, 19-20 May in Townsend, TN.  Our plans for the booth include Flyfisher magazines for distribution, hopefully a few raffle items (money would go to an FFF SEC program such as scholarships), free casting lesson from a CCI or MCI with paid first-time FFF membership, actively promote benefits of FFF, direct new members to a local club (if any), etc.  Volunteers will be scheduled according to their time constraints.  We would like volunteers to help for at least one hour.  CCI/MCI folks are encouraged to attend and help.

Caney Fork River Clean-up
April 28, 2012

This was the first of four Caney Fork River projects scheduled this year. After several members met early for breakfast, we all regrouped at the Buffalo Valley boat ramp parking lot at 8:30am Saturday morning for an all-day river clean-up/ fishing outing. There were members who brought their kayaks, canoes, and boats to do a floating clean-up while they fished. Others broke up into groups and hit the different river accesses and landing areas before hitting their favorite wading areas to fish the rest of the afternoon. Overall, it was a great turnout and we gathered several large bags of trash, tires and other debris along our local tailwater. We look forward to our next clean-up on the Caney Fork River.

William Sherwood Fox, Silken Lines and Silver Hooks, 1954

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