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Welcome! We are an active community of fly fishers
whose goal is to promote our sport in a variety of ways. Click
Here to find out more! |
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Check out this month's MTFF Newsletter here! Keep up with important meeting, event, and outing updates below! February Meeting
Don Kirk has been a full time writer/editor for parts of five decades. He has written several books, been the start up editor on dozens of magazines, hosted television and radio shows, been a consultant and published over 10,000 articles on fishing and hunting. A native of east Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains, Don is the best known fly fishing expert in the country on southern waters, especially the trout streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His fishing guide books to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have sold over 100,000 copies. Also an accomplished hunter, Don has hunted around the world for everything from polar bear and geese, to lions and whitetail deer. He also is regarded as one of the country’s leading experts in antique fishing tackle. Don currently resides in Montevallo, Alabama with this wife Leah and two of his five children, Adam and Loryn. An old fun-loving child of the 1960s, Don admits that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. January Meeting The 2012 MTFF Outings and Events Schedule is now available! Outings Education Conservation Other Events 2012 Dues and Membership Renewals 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. February Outing
Our members are asked to show up for duty by 8:30 am on Saturday morning, and most of the time we’re all through and ready to fish before noon. Garbage bags are provided, but be sure to bring a good pair of gloves and wear a long-sleeve shirt. The clean-up is always followed by a fun afternoon of fishing. Members can choose to come down for the day, the full weekend or just for a few hours. We are looking forward to to seeing you all there! This Introduction to Fly Fishing Class (see right) will be held in conjuction with the Saturday morning river clean-up. We will be looking for MTFF members to assist with the casting portion of the class, and to be river helpersafter the clean-up. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Joel Dean. The Elk River, near Winchester,
TN, is an important Middle Tennessee trout river. Below Tims Ford
Dam on Rt. 50 about 10 miles west of Winchester, the cold tail
waters support rainbow and brown trout for more than 15 miles
downstream of the dam. January Outing
This year we shouldn't really have called it a "Freeze-out". It was a very mild New Year's Day for middle Tennessee with temperatures in the 50s. It was, however, very windy duirg the morning hours, and the dam was still releasing heavy flows to alieviate the lake of the recent rainfalls. So, no one really came to fish. With the mild tempratures, the twenty-some who attended chose to hang around enjoy the company instead. Hmmm? Funny...when on those cold New Year's Days we always had trouble getting people to stick around very long after the meal. It was a pleasant change. The "Freeze-Out" traditionally consists of a chili cookout or burgers and hot dogs and all the fixin's, last year we kicked it up a notch. We had a good 'ole fashioned low country shrimp boil. Well, this was a huge hit so we fired up the pots and served up the boil again this year. The club provided the drinks and the desserts. The desserts were prepared by a few the club's cast iron chefs. We meet at the picnic pavilion at Long Branch Campground (At the base of the Center Hill Dam) around 10:00am and lunch is typically served around 11:30am. The event is always rain or shine, and will only cancelled due to bad winter driving conditions. Long Branch Campground Map (Pavilion is located by the Basketball &Volleyball area). Additional information for the Caney Fork River and Long Branch Campground is also available on the Caney Fork Outing Resources page. **Attention MTFF Members** 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.
2011: A Year in Review In May 2011, Senator Jim Cooper hosted a Veterans' workshop. MTFF-PHWFF was able to interact with hundreds of veterans' and numerous military service providers at this workshop. Among those service providers in attendance was an organization called Operation Stand-down. Visit their website at www.osdnashville.org. Roger and Tony stayed in contact with Operation Stand-down and because of their efforts, MTFF has been presenting fly fishing classes to their organizations. On the morning of Saturday, July 16, 2011, the first class was hosted at the local facility. This class was simply a beginner education class. The participants were invited back to a second class on August 18, which included fly casting, references for 'self-study' education, some water-time at Nashville's Shelby Park and much more. On September 15, MTFF also held a fly tying session at this facility where nine veterans learned to tie a few wooley buggers. This class lasted about two hours and all of the veterans seemed really enjoyed it and seemed eager to learn more. We held several other classes throughout the remainder of 2011 and have several more planned for 2012. If you would like to help with the Operation Stand-down classes please plan to sign up at the next MTFF monthly meeting or contact Roger Cooper, Tony Mitchell, or Bill Coyne.. We will have additional volunteer opportunities at the Murfreesboro and Nashville locations in 2012, and now we have added Fort Campbell. The first class at Fort Cambell was held Saturday, August 6, 2011. Everyone who participated in this event said it was a quite an experience and they could not wait to go back. For details and information on 2012 Fort Campbell classes and activities, please contact Roger Cooper or Tony Mitchell. At the MTFF October outing to the Caney Fork River, we invited nine wounded warriors to join us from three regional “Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing” (PHWFF) groups around Tennessee and Kentucky. They joined us for two great days on the river and in the campground. Words cannot express what an honor it was to be able to give back to these brave men and women that are in-part responsible for the freedoms we enjoy and the ability to be outdoors when we want to be. Fly fishing gives recovering soldiers and veterans a chance to forget about their challenges and enjoy life’s little pleasures surrounded by nature. Several local guides and MTFF members volunteered to float the warriors in their drift boats while other members assisted a few while wading the upper section of the river. We all had a wonderful weekend teaching the newer PHWFF members how to cast a fly rod and working with each of them on the water. As always, we camped at the Long Branch Campground below Center Hill Dam – mostly in the GLOO Loop and the north end of LBRA Loop. The PHWFF service men lodged at Edgar Evans State Park. MTFF members cooked incredible breakfasts and dinners fit for a king. We also enjoyed two relaxing evenings around the campfires. Songwriter and PHWFF national spokesperson, Sam Tate, even sang a few of his songs for the group on Saturday night. Needless to say, we can't wait to host another great event like this! Plans are under way to hold a special outing just for these soldiers in June 2012. 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... MTFF is now on Facebook! FFF Southeastern Council confirms their 22nd Annual Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival Congratulations to our very own Jeff Barrett! |
MTFF Meeting MTFF Conservation MTFF Education Introduction to Fly Fishing MTFF Outing July Caney Fork River Outing Update! (below, left) MTFF Membership Project Healing Waters Fly Of The Month Tim's Trout Candy Introduction to Fly Tying/ We have combined out basic fly tyin gclass with our Elk River outing workshop. This gives students the opportunity to learn the types of flies used on waters like the Elk and Caney Fork Rivers while learning fishing metthods common to these waters. It also gives those who planning to attend the Elk River Outing and Clean-up a little insight on what to expect from the river if they have not yet fished it. The morning fly tying portion of this class will cover the basic tools and materials and teach the basic fly tying skills needed to get started tying your own flies. Students will learn to tie a few of the common flies used on the Elk River. We will break for lunch, then the afternoon session will cover Elk River fishing techniques. This will included a description of the Elk River, how to read the water, fishing techniques, fish species, and common hatches and flies used. 9:00am to 4:00pm Please pre-register here. We will also have a sign-up sheet at the February 1 meeting. Class size is limited. Those needing tools need to pre-register as earliy as possible in order to allow time to aquire the appropriate number of tools. If you have any questions, please email Joel Dean at j.dean@mtff.org. Introduction to Fly Fishing This class is for anyone interested in learning to fish with a fly rod. The classs covers all of the basics and is geared toward preparing those who are just starting out in the sport. There will be instruction on the basic equipment, knots, basic entomolgy, and hands-on fly casting. If time allows, hopefully there will be some on-stream fishing time with an MTFF member on the Elk River. We are holding this session a little earlier in the year than we have in the past. It may be a little cool this time of year, but the idea is to get one class in before spring. Fish activity really steps up a notch in the spring months as the insects begin hatch on local waters. You will really want to try out your new skills during thsi time! Bring your own equipment if you have it. MTFF will provide the major equipment for those who do not have their own (waders, rods, reels, etc.). Each student will also receive the following accesssories as part of the class: Leader, tippet, zingers, leader straightener, floatants, forceps, nippers, and a few flies. Coffee and donuts will be provided in the morning and MTFF will grill burgers and hotdogs for lunch. Tims Ford State Park Fee: $60 Please pre register here. We will also have a sign-up sheet at the February meeting. This class is limited to 20 students. If you have any questions, please email Joel Dean at j.dean@mtff.org. This class will coincide with the Elk River Clean-up. After the clean-up, we will be looking for MTFF members and to assist with the casting portion of the class, and to be river helpers. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Joel Dean. "We ask a simple question and that is all we wish: Are fishermen all liars? Or do only liars fish?" William Sherwood Fox, Silken Lines and Silver Hooks, 1954
Our brochure
contains lots of club information in one place. It tells about
membership, outings, classes, contacts, and has a map with directions
to the meetings!
MTFF is an affiliate club of the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF). Check out the FFF membership benefits by clicking on the logo above. You will also find a links to FFF and the FFF South Eastern Council by following the "Resources" tab in the menu at the top of the page. The FFF is a 46 year old international non-profit organization dedicated to the betterment of the sport of fly fishing through Conservation, Restoration and Education. The FFF and its Councils are the only organized advocate for fly fishers on a national and regional level. You can find the latest  MTFF is now on Facebook! |
Don Kirk will talk about fly fishing for trout and bass in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in North Carolina and Tennessee. He will cover the natural history and bio-diversity of the park, its game fish, each of its thirteen major watersheds, and how to fish these waters. He will also touch on the colorful history of fly fishing in the region, and how some local fly patterns appear to have come into being. .JPG)
The first few months stay the same as last year with the Annual Caney Fork "Freeze-out on New Year's Day, the Elk River in late February with the annual clean-up on a that Saturday, and we plan to go back to the North River in March. April will be slightly different this year with a trip back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is earlier than previous trips to the park. In May we once again head to Cherokee, NC. For the last couple of years, has worked out very well so we chose to keep that trip on the calendar. The Watauga and South Holston watersheds had to be rescheduled from April to June last year and it was one of the best trips to that location to date, so we confirmed another trip this June. In July, we return closer to home with the big Caney Fork River outing that includes the always popular Cast Iron Cooking class cookout. August brings a return to the Elk River, with another Caney Fork River visit in September. The White River in Arkansas has been hit and miss the last few when scheduled for Septembers. Last year we had to reschedule for mid October. Why hadn't we don this before?! The fishing was incredible, giving us every reason to go back the same time this year. The Tellico Watershed will once again be the last outing in November. For further information follow the "Outings" tab in the menu above..JPG)
The education class schedule was presented by our Education director, Joel Dean. Joel hit the ground running as our new director in 2011 with a very busy education program. He introduced the idea of monthly workshops to coincide with our outings and added several new tying classes. This year we will once again hold the Introduction to Fly Fishing class (possibly twice), Introduction to Fly Tying, Entomology, along with the monthly outing workshops. We will be trying something new this year. A few of our these classes will be held during monthly outings. Joel also added Winter Gear Maintenance as an option for those members who want to know how to care for and store their gear for the winter months. As always, we will be seeking help from the membership to assisted the students in many of our classes. We would love to see everyone in MTFF get involved in our education efforts. If you would like to assist Joel in one of the classes this year please contact him and let him know. Please follow the "Classes" tab in the menu above for class descriptions and this year's class schedule..jpg)
Conservation efforts were also discussed. MTFF Conservation Director, RJ Tazelaar, has done an excellent job keeping our conservation program headed in the right direction. We will once again do our annual Elk River Clean-up project at the February Elk River outing. Plans are also under way to get the Caney Fork adopted by MTFF under the Federation of Fly Fishers. There will be at least four events scheduled each year in order to help achieve this goal. The first event for 2012 will be a Caney Fork River clean-up on Saturday, January 28th. As with education, we would like to see everyone in MTFF get involved in our conservation program. RJ will looking for volunteers throughout the year to assist him. After all, conservation is one of the great ways MTFF promotes the sport of fly fishing.
The primary focus of our Elk River Outing is not actually fishing, but the Conservation Project we include in it. Each year our members (and always a a guest or two) show up below Tim’s Ford Lake bright and early, with gloves in hand, to clean the river banks up from near the dam down to the first bend in the river. We bag up leftover debris and try to leave the area as clean as possible. 
The "Freeze-Out" is the Club's first official outing of the year and a great way to kick off the New Year. We get together with family and friends and cook a big lunch for everyone along our home waters, the Caney Fork River. Those that really want to brave the cold, come prepared to wet a fly or two. It is also a great place to show off all that new fishing gear that was under the 
