PA Trout Season Now OPEN

Well, this seems to have come out of no where, but...

 

PA Fish & Boat Commission has OPENED Trout Season statewide as of 8:00 AM TODAY, Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

PFBC warns that, "Anglers and boaters must abide by social distancing guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Governor Tom Wolf’s Stay-at-Home Order regarding COVID-19."

For more information, you can read the announcement from PFBC by clicking here.

 

LLTU Meetings Suspended and 2020 Trout Opening Day Changes

In light of current health concerns and state restrictions on non-essential activity, the LLTU board is suspending future meetings until further notice.

Also, please note that The PA Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) has announced that this year's April 4 regional trout season opening in designated counties will be combined with the statewide opening on April 18. Likewise, there will be only one statewide mentored youth day, and it will be on April 11. PFBC has made these changes in response to directions from the PA Dept of Health and the CDC in light of the COVID-19 emergency. For more information, you can read the announcement from PFBC by clicking here.

 

CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19:  Annual Spring Event

Master Watershed Steward TapTalk: Drowning In Plastic

Plastic has become a major part of our lives. It wraps our food, it’s in our clothing. But how does plastic effect our waterways? This Master Watershed Steward TapTalk - Drowning in Plastic will discuss the concerns that surround microplastics, how they effect our environment, and what is being done to combat this current issue.
 

At this TapTalk, participants will learn about protecting our environment from plastic waste. Penn State Drinking Water and Pond Water Test Kits will be made available for participants.

 

When: Thursday, February 6, 2020 – 6:30PM to 8:00PM

 

Where: Funk Brewing Company, 19 S 6th Street, Emmaus, PA 18049

 

Parking: Funk is located in the town of Emmaus. The brewery itself does not have a parking lot. Parking is available along the streets and there are some spaces along the railroad tracks just past the brewery.

 

News Update  - 01/06/2020

As we mentioned last month, our normal first-Wednesday of the month meeting for January was changed from January 1 to January 8. So this is a reminder that our regular monthly chapter meeting for January is this Wednesday, January 8, at 7:00 PM. As usual, we will be meeting in the Wildlands Conservancy’s classroom building.
 
We will open up our chapter meeting with the drawing of the winning tickets for LLTU’s Fall Raffle. Raffle tickets were mailed to all members at the beginning of December, and anyone purchasing tickets should have mailed in the tickets stubs for any tickets purchased along with payment. The raffle is open to anyone. If you are interested in purchasing raffle tickets and did not receive any in the mail, or if you received tickets but didn't mail in your stubs and payment, it’s not too late. Just attend this week’s chapter meeting to drop off your check and the raffle ticket stubs. You can’t win if you don’t play! Proceeds from the raffle will help to fund out Trout in the Classroom activities as well as future conservation projects.
 
Our guest speakers for this Wednesday’s meeting will be Caitlin Mercier, Watershed Specialist, and Jolie Chylack, Environmental Educator, both from the Lehigh County Conservation District. Caitlyn and Jolie will be speaking to us about how the Conservation District works to protect water quality in the county’s streams. They will also discuss potential opportunities for LLTU to partner with the Conservation District on future conservation projects. This should be a very informative presentation. We hope you will come out to listen.

News Update  - 12/09/2019

Our December chapter meeting will be held neither on the usual date nor at the usual location. So please take note! We will not have our regular monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of the month (Dec. 4). Instead, the Fall Event, which is the annual Joint get together of the Lehigh Valley TU Chapters, is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10 with doors opening at 6:00 PM. All are welcome.

 

Location of the Fall Event is East Bath Rod and Gun Club, located at 7905 Township Line Rd, in Bath, PA. To get to the Club, drive 3.3 miles north on Rt. 512 from Rt. 22. Turn right just past Philips Pet Supply onto Silver Crest Road and continue 0.8 miles to the stop sign at Township Line Road. Then turn left. Club will be on your left in 0.1 mile. There will be raffle tickets and 50/50 tickets. Guest speaker comes on at 7:00 PM.

 

The Guest Speaker for the Fall Event will be fly fishing author Tom Gilmore. Tom has written a number of books, including Flyfisher's Guide to Pennsylvania, Flyfisher's Guide to the Big Apple, and Flyfisher's Guide to Eastern Trophy Tailwaters.

 

Tom has been an ardent fly fisherman for more than 45 years, and has landed over 12,000 game fish on a fly -- everything from trout to tuna and bonefish to billfish. When he is not fishing he spends time with his family. He has been an outdoor writer for the last 15 years, having published five books and numerous articles. Tom currently writes feature stories for Eastern Fly Fishing and American Angler.
We hope you will join us for the Fall Event next week and to hear Tom Gilmore.

 

And just a quick reminder that our January chapter meeting will also be held at an alternative time, primarily because we didn't want to pull you all away from your friends and family on Wednesday, January 1. So we will have our January chapter meeting on Wednesday, January 8, at 7:00 PM, at Wildlands Conservancy. Our annual Raffle fundraiser kicks off shortly. Tickets should be mailed to everyone by next week. The drawing for the raffle will be at our January 8 chapter meeting. That will be a great excuse to show up and swap fish stories.


We hope to see you all at both events! Again, all are welcome!

News Update  - 11/01/2019

Please plan on joining LLTU for our November chapter meeting, on Wednesday, November 6, 2019. As usual, we will be meeting at 7:00 PM at the Wildlands Conservancy's classroom building. 3701 Orchid Place, Emmaus, PA.

We are happy to welcome as our guest speaker Erin Frederick of the Penn State Extension office. Erin is the Statewide Master Watershed Steward Coordinator. She works to expand and enhance the Master Watershed Steward program throughout the state. This program trains volunteer watershed stewards to provide community outreach and to assist local environmental organizations with on-the-ground restoration projects. Erin has a degree from Penn State in Environmental Resource Management. We are looking forward to hearing from Erin about how we may be able to partner with the watershed stewards on some of our conservation projects in the future.  We hope you can make it. Be sure to bring a friend!

A couple of additional announcements...

1.  Our December chapter meeting will be neither the usual date nor the usual location. So please take note!  The Fall Event, which is the annual Joint get together of the Lehigh Valley TU Chapters is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10 with doors opening at 6:00 PM. Location is East Bath Rod and Gun Club, located at 7905 Township Line Rd, in Bath, PA. This location is 3.3 miles north on Rt. 512 from Rt. 22. Turn right just past Philips Pet Supply onto Silver Crest Road and continue 0.8 miles to stop sign at Township Line Road. Then turn left. Club will be on your left in 0.1 mile. There will be raffle tickets and 50/50 tickets. Guest speaker comes on at 7:00 PM. We will send out another email blast during the first week of December, but please mark this event on your calendar for Dec. 10.  And please remember, the Dec. 10 event will be instead of the usual first-Wednesday chapter meeting at Wildlands Conservancy.

 
2.  Our January 2020 monthly chapter meeting is also getting bumped by one week. Why?  Because we didn't want to drag anyone away from family or football on the first Wednesday of January, which is New Years Day. So instead, we will hold our January Chapter meeting at Wildlands Conservancy on Wednesday, January 8 at 7:00 PM. Please mark this one-time date change on your calendar.
 
3.  Finally, be on the lookout for a mailing from LLTU with our annual Fall raffle tickets. The mailing should go out to all members sometime next week. The drawing for this raffle will be at our January 8, 2020, chapter meeting.
 
Thank you very much. We hope to see you all soon!
 
 

Lower Macungie Bike Day and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

On Wednesday, September 18th, 2019 there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first section of Lower Macungie Township's Greenway trail at Spring Ridge Park. LLTU Chapter President Scott Alderfer will be saying a few words during the event. This trail will improve fishing access to the stream, particularly as future sections are completed. We hope to see you there!

September 2019 Monthly Chapter Meeting Announcement

Our monthly chapter meeting will be WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2019, at 7:00 PM. As usual, we will meet at the Wildlands Conservancy in their Education Building. We’ll give you an overview of some of the programs we have planned for this year.

 

Our guest speaker for this meeting may be a familiar face for many of you. It’s our chapter secretary, Eric Wilby. Eric will be presenting about salmon and steelhead fishing in and in the vicinity of Salmon River in Pulaski, New York. Eric has been fishing the Fall run of salmon in this river for nearly 15 years. He has also made separate journeys to Salmon River to fish for steelhead from late Fall through early Spring. Eric typically heads up to Pulaski three or more times each Fall for the salmon run.

 

We hope to see you at Wednesday night’s meeting, and feel free to bring a friend. We will have pizza and soft drinks available, so don’t worry about trying to eat dinner before you come to the meeting.

 

Stream Cleanup on Little Lehigh as Chapter's Spring Conservation Project: April 27, 2019

9:00 am Start time

 LLTU's Spring Conservation Project this year will be a stream cleanup on the upper Fly Fishing Only section on the Little Lehigh.

 

Meet up location will be at Macungie Road and Krick Lane (see map), in Lower Macungie.  This area is within the Millbrook Farms Development, which is under the control of a Home Owners Association. The HOA allows anglers access to their property to fish on the Little Lehigh, so LLTU is including the Millbrook Farms section of the Little Lehigh in our cleanup to show our appreciation.

 

When we meet up, we will be splitting our group into two cleanup crews. One crew will work on the Millbrook Farms area, and the second crew will deploy a short distance upstream to the start of the upper Fly Fishing Only area at the Wild Cherry Lane bridge. Please meet at 9 AM at the Macungie Road bridge (at Krick Lane) so we can discuss safety, hand out garbage bags, and get a head count. We expect to be finished by noon.

 

Lower Macungie Township has agreed to haul away the trash that we pick up, and we are grateful for their assistance.

 WCO Travis Miller

Featured Speaker at        April 2019 Chapter Meeting 

 Waterways Conservation Officer Travis Miller was our featured speaker for our April chapter meeting.

 

WCO Miller covers Lehigh County for the PA Fish & Boat Commission. He spoke about enforcement issues, water pollution issues, stocking, and conservation projects. He also answered specific questions from attendees.

 

We look forward to having WCO Miller speak at one of our meetings again next year.

"Fishing the Yellowstone Area"                    presented by Dave Roth

March 6, 2019, Chapter Meeting

Our March 2019 chapter meeting featured LLTU's vice president, Dave Roth, as our guest speaker. Dave's home water is Cedar Creek in Allentown. But he frequently heads to bigger waters such Lehigh River, Upper Delaware River, Salmon River, NY, San Juan River, NM, and the many fine trout waters in and around Yellowstone National Park.  Dave shared his experiences with us of the Yellowstone area and offered tips for anyone planning a trip to that destination.

Lehigh Valley TU Chapters' FALL EVENT Dec. 4, 2018

Hosted by LLTU along with the Monocacy, Hokendauqua, and Forks of the Delaware Chapters

The four Lehigh Valley TU chapters partned once again to present our annual Fall Event on December 4, 2018. 

 

Our guest speaker this year was Don Baylor speaking about fly fishing in the Pocono Region. This program will discuss fishing in the major drainages of the Poconos, including major streams and small headwater wild trout waters. Don is a highly regarded aquatic biologist,angler, educator, and artist. The event also featured several raffle prizes and door prizes.

 

April 2018 Chapter Meeting

Featured Barry Dobil

After having had to cancel our February and March chapter meetings due to snow, we were able to hold our scheduled April chapter meeting on April 4, 2018. Rescheduled from both of the previously cancelled meetings, LLTU member Barry Dobil was our guest speaker.

 

Barry reminisced about the history of fly fishing and the evolution of the fly rod. He is a connoisseur of bamboo fly rods, both antique ones and ones he has built himself.

 

He has shared video of his workshop, which is equipped to machine the very specific and precise tapers necessary to turn raw bamboo into a fine tool for casting a fly. And not just any bamboo. The best bamboo fly rods are made from Tonkin cane, from the Tonkin region of northern Viet Nam.

 

Barry showed off some of his vintage fly rods and reels as well as providing refreshments.

 

If anyone would like to share some of their fly fishing anecdotes or techniques or fishing related stories as a guest speaker at one of our upcoming chapter meetings, please contact us at info@LLTU.org.

2018 Spring Event

Featuring Dave Rothrock

The Forks of the Delaware, Hokendauqua, Little Lehigh and Monocacy Chapters of Trout Unlimited will be holding their annual 2018 Spring Event on March 10, 2018.

 

Renown author, guide and fly fishing instructor Dave Rothrock will be presenting "Fly Fishing North Central Pennsylvania". 

 

Admission is free, a continental breakfast will be served and we'll be raffing off some great fly fishing gear!

 

Where: East Bath Rod & Gun Club, 7905 Township Line Rd, Bath PA

When: March 10, 2018, 9:00 a.m. - noon 

2017 Fall Event Was a Success

If you weren't able to join us for our annual multi-chapter fall fly fishing event on December 12, we hope you'll try to make next year's event. We heard positive comments about our featured speaker, Adam Nidoh of A&G Outfitters. His presentation was titled, "Fly Fishing the Lackawanna River for Big Browns".

 

Keep your eyes open for news about our joint Spring Event, coming up in March. The Spring Event will also be jointly hosted by LLTU along with the Monocacy, Forks of the Delaware, and Hokendauqua Chapters.

 

2017 Fall Raffle Results

November Chapter Meeting feratured Guest Speaker Don Baylor

We had the drawing for our 2017 Fall Raffle at the November 1 meeting, and we are pleased to announce those winners:

1st prize - Orvis Clearwater rod/reel combo - Eric Voltos
2nd prize - Orvis sling pack - Ed Huzzy
3rd prize - $50 Cabela's gift card - John Tunney

 

We also drew tickets for door prize winners for two LLTU fly boxes, each with half a dozen flies tied by Mike Detamore. Those winners were Eric Wilby and Gary Huzzy.

 

Congratulations to our winners! The chapter raised $900 that will be used to support our Trout in the Classroom outreach program. Thanks to all who participated for a very successful raffle this year.

 

Our Nov. 1 meeting also featured guest speaker Don Baylor talking about Eastern hatches. Don is a well known entomologist, fly fisher, and fish/landscape artist (http://d-baylor-flyfish-art.com/index.html). Thanks to his decades of experience assessing aquatic macroinvertebrates professionally, and decades of appplying that knowledge fly fishing,

Don provided some great insight into insect hatches and how trout react to them. Thanks, Don!

October 2017 Chapter Meeting

Fishing Little Lehigh River


Our October Chapter Meeting on October 4 featured guest speaker Mike Kalb. Mike is a longtime fly fisherman on the Little Lehigh, and he fished the stream with well known names such as Al Miller (creator of the popular Al’s Rat fly). Mike took us down memory lane with Little Lehigh fishing stories. He also gave us some insight to fishing conditions on the Little Lehigh prior to the suburbanization of the Lower Macungie area. As a show & tell bonus, Mike showed off the fly rod & reel that belonged to notable local fly angler Jim Leisenring, which is believed to date to the 1930s.

2017 Youth Fly Fishing Camp


LLTU held a Fly Fishing Youth Camp on the Jordan Creek (a Little Lehigh tributary) on Saturday, June 3. Due to heavy rains early in the day, our attendance was lower than the number of youth who had signed up. 


Nonetheless, the youth who braved the rains learned about how fly fishing differs from other methods of fishing and then received hands-on instruction in knots & rigging, reading the water, entomology, fly casting, and fly tying. Fortunately, the weather cleared by lunchtime.

 

After lunch the kids had an opportunity to try out their new skills on the water with our members serving as guides. 

 

Thanks to the Lehigh Valley Chapter of Safari Club International for a generous educational grant that we used to purchase lunch and beverages for the Youth Camp attendees and volunteers.
 

Little Lehigh Creek Riparian Buffer Restoration Project - Phase 2 is Complete

117 Trees & Shrubs Planted Along the Little Lehigh on Saturday, May 14, 2016

 

In April LLTU learned that we were awarded a $5,000 grant from the Rettew Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Rettew Associates, Inc. This grant was used to complete a second phase of our Riparian Buffer Restoration Project along the Little Lehigh adjacent to Spring Creek Road in Lower Macungie Township.  The Phase 2 area overlaps slightly with and extends about 500 feet up stream from our Phase 1 project locaiton that we completed in April as part of our Coldwater Heritage Partnership grant.  Clink on this link to see a MAP OF THE PROJECT LOCATION.

 

LLTU completed the Phase 2 field work on Saturday, May 14, planting 117 native trees and shrubs appropriate for a riparian environment. This work would not have been possible without the generous assistance of approximately 45 volunteers, including Girl Scout Troop 6937, Boy Scout Troop 131, Rettew employees, and some interested members of the community.   And thanks once again to Lower Macungie Township's Public Works Department for augering the planting holes for us in advance of the planting day.  We are looking forward to watching these trees and shrubs grow to maturity over the next several years so that they can intercept stormwater runoff and aid in protecting water quality in the Little Lehigh Creek.  Photos from this event can be found in our Photo Gallery.

 

Little Lehigh Creek Riparian Buffer Restoration Project - Phase 1 is Complete

164 Trees & Shrubs Planted Along the Little Lehigh on Saturday, April 9, 2016

As we announced previously, in February LLTU was awarded a $7,000 grant for a riparian buffer restoration project from the Coldwater Heritage Partnership. This entity is a partnership between the PA Council of TU, PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources, PA Fish & Boat Commission, and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. LLTU is proud to have had our riparian buffer project proposal selected for the maximum funding level from this grant opportunity.

 

We completed the field work for this project on Saturday, April 9 with the help of approximately 40 volunteers who braved the cold weather that developed into wet snow. For photos of the work, check out this link from the Morning Call.  Additional photos can be found at our Photo Gallery page for this event.

 

Our project location was on the north side of the Little Lehigh Creek in Lower Macungie Township. We planted a total of 164 native trees and shrubs along a 1,200-foot long section between the creek and Spring Creek Road. This section of the Little Lehigh is susceptible to stormwater runoff from Spring Creek Road and from the residential subdivision on the north side of the road. This section also has limited shade canopy to buffer the stream from the hot summer sun. These riparian plantings will help to mitigate stormwater effects on the creek in this area and will help to provide habitat for macroinvertebrates that spend part of their life cycles in the creek.

 

Thanks to Lower Macungie Township's Public Works Dept. for augering the planting holes ahead of time and for delivering mulch to the project site. Many thanks everyone who helped with the planting, including the scouts and parents of Boy Scout Troop 131 of Wescosville, members of LLTU, and several members of the community. And many thanks to the Coldwater Heritage Partnership for funding this important work.

 

 

Trout in the Classroom

Getting Ready to Recieve Trout Eggs!!

LLTU is excited to announce that we will be sponsoring an additional school this year in the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program.

 

We welcome Hillside School in Macungie to the fold. This makes a total of four TIC school that LLTU is sponsoring.

 

Our current schools are:
Seven Generations Charter School, Emmaus
St. John Vianney Regional School, Allentown 
Willow Lane Elementary School, Lower Macungie
Hillside School, Lower Macungie

 

We're looking forward to each of our school receiving their shipment of brook trout eggs in early November.

 

LL Bean Donates to LLTU

Fly Rod Combos Donated for Youth Outreach

 

LLTU would like to thank LL Bean for their generous donation to our chapter in June of four complete fly rod outfits.  This is the second consecutive year that we have been the beneficiary of fly rod combos as part of LL Bean's educational outreach program.

 

LL Bean is a big supporter of TU nationally and often makes donations like this to TU chapters for use in youth or veteran outreach programs.  LLTU will be using these two outfits along with the two we received from them last year in our next Fly Fishing Youth Camp.  We run these Youth Camps every odd-numbered year.

 

If you are interested in volunteering to help instruct youth in fly fishing at this free event in the future, please email us at:  info@LLTU.org.  

 

Our Meetings

All meetings are held the first Wednesday of the Month at the Wildlands Conservancy, 3701 Orchid Place, Emmaus, PA. (However, we do not meet in June, July, or August) If anyone has any suggestions on what sort of programs or guest speakers you would enjoy seeing, please email us at info@LLTU.org. Tight Lines!

 

"The best way to a fisherman's heart is through his fly."  ~ Author Unknown

Helpful Quick Links

Learn about our Trout in the Classroom Program.

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Contact Information:

Little Lehigh Trout Unlimited

PO Box 51

East Texas, PA 18046

info@lltu.org

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