Please note that unless otherwise indicated, all monthly chapter meetings are held in Rm 130 in the Research Services building on the OARDC/Ohio State University campus, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster OH. Chapter meetings are held the second Monday of the month from September through May, starting at 7:15 PM. Doors open at 6:45 PM, so come early and meet up with friends and catch up on what’s new.

Room 130, Research Services Building, OSU/OARDC, Wooster campus.

The Research Service building is the first building to the left of the main entrance to the campus. There is parking on the south and east sides of the building.

Event: October Fly Fishing Classes for novice anglers

Dates: October 9 and 16, 6-8 p.m. Ohio Division of Wildlife, 912 Portage Lakes, Akron

October 19 and 26, 9 a.m. until noon, Grosjean Park, Wooster

Details: These classes are intended for novice anglers, youth 12-15 and for adults. There are 4 meeting dates, two in Akron and two in Wooster. This is a joint program of the CFRTU chapter and the Ohio Division of Wildlife. For more information and to sign up for the classes, go to the following link to the program under “Learn to Fly-FISH Course (Northeast Ohio). NOTE: THE CLASS HAS FILLED ALL OPENINGS. THERE IS STILL A NEED FOR MEMBERS TO VOLUNTEER AS INSTRUCTORS.

http://apps.ohiodnr.gov/wildlife/education/registration/

A 17-inch rainbow brings on a big smile.

Event: October 2019 Chapter Meeting and Annual Meeting.

Date: 10/14/19 Time: 7:15-9:00 p.m.

Details: The meeting will start with business followed by an election of new officers and Three new board members.

The speaker will be L.R. “Skip” Nault whose topic is “An entomologist’s Perspective: insects as trout food and models for fly tying and fishing.” Nault is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University and has served as President of the Entomological Society of America. His expertise was with terrestrial insect pests of crops but has expanded to aquatic insects since taking up fly fishing 20 years ago. Trout feed on many more insects than caddisflies, mayflies and stoneflies, including beetles, ants, grasshoppers and many more species that fly fishers can imitate with their fly patterns.

The monthly raffle will include a number of fly fishing items including a new Temple Forks Outfitter fly rod and matching fly reel valued at over $200.

Caddisfly nymph

Event: October stocking of Apple Creek at Grosjean Park in Wooster

Date: 10/19/19, Saturday Time: 10 a.m. until noon.

Come prepared to wade Apple Creek and stock rainbow and brown trout over a one mile stretch of the stream in Wooster’s Grosjean Park. We will meet a little before 10a.m. at the Grosjean Park kiosk. In addition to transporting trout to the stream we will pick up litter from the stream and surrounding area. Bring along family members and friends. It’s a lot of fun watching the trout swim off to their new home in the stream.

Event: Wounded Warriors Fly Fishing

Date: 11/8/19 Time: Noon until 3 p.m.

Each fall we call upon 15 members to assist providing fly fishing lessons for the Wounded Warriors organization, veterans of conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the middle east who have suffered physical injuries and mental stress. The lessons are given at the Ohio Division of Wildlife hatchery at Castalia, on Cold Creek.

October 10, 2017, CFRTU members instructed Wounded Warriors to fly fish on Castalia’s Cold Creek.

Event: November 2019 Chapter Meeting

Date: 11/11/19 Time: 7:15-9:00 p.m.

The featured speaker will be Smithville’s Dan Rice, a retired zoologist from the Division of Natural areas and preserves in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, who will speak on “Ohio’s Native Fish and Clean Water Act of 1972.” Dan spent over 25 years working with both amateur and professional biologists surveying for and studying rare fish species and other animals living in various Ohio habitats. Dan is coauthor of three books: “The Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas” (1991), “Native Fishes of Ohio”(2014), and “A naturalist’s Guide to the Fishes of Ohio” (2019).

It has been 38 years since the 1981 revision of Milton Trautman’s 1951 classic book, “The fishes of Ohio.” Much has changed in those 38 years. The passage and subsequent implementation of the Clean Water Act in 1972 has led to major improvements in the water quality and habitat conditions found in many of Ohio’s rivers and streams. Populations of many of Ohio’s native fish, long depressed by deteriorating habitat conditions, have witnessed some remarkable expansions over the last quarter century. Using his recently published book, “A Naturalist’s Guide to the Fishes of Ohio,” Dan will illustrate some of these success stories, as well as look at some of those species for which improvements came too late. A number of non-native species like the round goby and Asian carp, which found their way into Ohio water in recent years, will also be examined. Dan will highlight the important components comprising aquatic habitats and how they relate to Ohio’s fish communities.

Event: November stocking of Apple Creek

Date: 11/16/19 Time: 10:00a.m. until noon

Place: Grosjean Park in Wooster

This will be the second fall stocking of Apple Creek. Approximately 400-500 good sized rainbow and and brown trout will be stocked in Apple Creek.

A net full of trout emptied into transport buckets.

Event: December 2019 Chapter Meeting

Date: 12/9/19 Time: 7:15-9:00 p.m.

Our featured speaker is Dan Herms, from Davey Tree Expert Company, whose topic is “Climate Change and Arboriculture: As the Earth Warms, Trees Feel the Heat.” The discussion following Herms presentation will include impact of global warming on cold water fisheries.

Herms retired from the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University as professor and chair of the department in 2018 to assume the position of Vice President for Research and Development for Davey Tree Expert Company. He has conducted pioneering studies on the ecology of tree pests including the Emerald Ash Borer, an introduced beetle that is quickly killing Ash trees in the Eastern U.S. His studies also focused on interactions between trees and insects, and he was a member of the OSU Climate Change Outreach Team. He now heads all research and development for Davey Tree, the world’s largest full service tree care company.

The earth has warmed markedly since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Most of this warming has occurred over the last 40 years with impacts on flora and fauna that are already apparent and are predicted to intensify. This discussion will examine patterns and causes of this warming, climate change projections for the rest of this century, and impacts on biodiversity including distribution and abundance of trees, insects, and other species.

Dan Herms with his first trout caught on a fly.

The CFRTU Chapter is always looking for speakers for our monthly meetings. Please Contact Us for suggestions for speakers on fly fishing, conservation of aquatic resources and related topics.