August 2005 Leader

Text Box: “CONSERVATION THROUGH EDUCATION & COOPERATION”
P.O. BOX 2252 LOWER BURRELL, PA 15068 Text Box: The Leader – August 2005

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CLUB OFFICERS: BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

President: Steve Hegedus 724-335-2679 hegedussj@upmc.edu Bryan Black 412-977-7614 black15@verizon.net

Vice-President: Don Stanko 724-337-1496 Donald.Stanko@alcoa.com Matt Feroce 412-818-5511 flyfishr@relymail.com

Secretary: Joe Mercurio 724-335-2980 songbird@libcom.com Max Fischer 412-371-6418 mfisc82502@aol.com

Treasurer: John Cobes 724-337-3842 John.Cobes@alcoa.com Frank Sparrow 724-444-6569 birdhse@connecttime.net

Garry Wiles 724-216-3196 wiles1@earthlink.net

Monthly Meeting Info:

The general membership meetings are held on the 2^nd Wednesday of each month, January through May, and September through December at Burrell Lake Community Park, Fisher Hall. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the meetings begin at 7:30 PM. Non-Members will be charged a $2 admission fee to regular meetings. Children under 12 years old will be admitted free.

Directions to TCTC Meetings: From Rt 28 take the Tarentum Exit toward Tarentum. Cross the Bridge. At 3rd traffic light (by Taco Bell) make a left turn onto Leechburg Rd. Continue straight until you cross Rt 56 onto Puckety Church Rd. Pass Burrell Jr & Sr High Schools, down hill past a small cemetery, at fork, go straight onto Delberta Rd. Follow signs to Burrell Lake Park. Fisher Hall is the last park building.

¨ September 14^th, 2005 Meeting: Doc Wally Myslewski on "Steelhead Biology and its Impact on Angler Success". Even a cursory understanding of steelhead biology can make a positive impact on angler success rates. Doc Wally is a retired surgeon with a marine biology background who is now a full-time guide and fly fisherman. He guides on both Elk and Walnut Creek. Mark your calendar, because the doctor will be “in” on Wednesday September 14^th and you don’t need an appointment.

¨ October 12^th, 2005 Meeting: To Be Announced.

¨ November 9^th, 2005 Meeting: Ted Fauceglia’s writing can frequently be found in magazines such as Fly Fisherman, American Angler, and Fly Tyer. However, it is Ted’s photographs that have really brought him notoriety. Simply put, Ted’s photos are incredible. If you aren’t familiar with his work, his favorite subjects aren’t pretty outdoor scenes or trophy fish, instead, Ted trains his lens on some of the more minute residents of the wild. His subjects are many of the insects that fly tiers attempt to imitate, such as mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies. His new book, “Mayflies” is packed full of the incredible photographs that he is known for. TCTC is proud to host Ted Fauceglia as our November 9th, 2005 guest speaker. Ted will give a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Mayflies”. It will give everyone a chance to see some of the best of more than 200,000 mayfly photos he took over several years to complete his book. Copies of his book, “Mayflies” will be available for purchase at the meeting at a discounted price with the proceeds going to TCTC.

¨ The TCTC Board’s goal is to provide high quality speakers on a variety of interesting topics. It continues to be a challenge to find affordable guest speakers. If you know of any fishing-related speaker or could give us any leads, please feel free to inform one of the board members. If you like the speakers we have had, please let a board member know. We appreciate your feedback. If you have a suggestion for a future speaker or a topic you would like to see addressed, please pass your idea along to one of the board members or drop it in the SUGGESTION BOX at the monthly meeting. If there is someone or something you think the rest of your fellow members would be interested in seeing, let us know, and the board will consider it.

Club Business:

¨ No Winner in the Yough Float Trip Raffle

The May 11^th 2005 evening PA daily lottery 3-digit number was 799. Unfortunately, that number belonged to an unsold ticket, so no one won the half-day guided smallmouth bass float trip on the Youghiogheny River. TCTC would like to thank guide Scott Loughner for volunteering to donate this great trip for our fundraiser. Thanks also go out to all of the members who sold or bought tickets. All proceeds from the ticket raffle benefit TCTC and our youth education programs. Thank you, club treasurer John Cobes, for keeping track of the ticket sales and to board members Bryan Black and Don Stanko, who put in a lot of work hand stamping and perforating the tickets.

¨ TCTC Kids Fishing Derby the Largest Ever!

The TCTC Burrell Lake Park Kids Fishing Derby, held on Saturday June 11^th this year, was an outstanding success. To say that it exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. We had a lot more promotion this year, and all of the local newspapers mentioned the fishing derby several times. Prior to the derby I was hopeful that we would have more than 50 kids participate, especially if we had good weather. Well, the weather was great, if not too sunny and humid (I am sure glad the derby didn’t go into the afternoon!). Incredibly, we had 113 kids register, easily shattering a past record of approximately 50 kids. All children who participated received a prize bag and lunch. Well, we must have miscounted or something, because at the end we were short a few prize grab bags, even though the American Legion Auxiliary ladies had put together 120 bags, so we had to put together a few more at the last minute. So, altogether, we had over 120 kids participate this year.

All of the TCTC volunteers did a wonderful job, especially with so many kids. We were a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. I want to thank everyone who helped; you really made this event a success. The City of Lower Burrell Parks and Recreation Committee helped make this all possible by giving us the facilities and advertising the event through flyers and the city newsletter. (Continued on next page)

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Burrell Lake Park steward Sam Febbraio handled the PA announcements, helped the kids fishing and measured fish. Park caretaker Dave Florek helped get the pavilion set up. The American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 868 volunteers put in a lot of work on the day of the event and had to put up with my spur of the moment instructions - they are very patient ladies! Lower Burrell City Councilman Frank Trozzi was kind enough to donate all of the buns for the hot dogs and even had his wife buy more once we realized how many kids we were going to have to feed. PA Fish and Boat Commission Aquatic Resources Program Specialist Denny Tubbs provided us with fun and educational materials from the PFBC that we used to stuff the prize bags. TCTC members who volunteered were Joe Shurina, Tressel Fundy, Joe Reskiewcz, Jim Grogno, Don Stanko, Bob Simko, Len Sarnoski, Dave Bayne, John Cobes, Max Fischer, Greg Murray, Ron Marsh, and special ice delivery service by Bryan Black.

In addition to prize grab bags for all of the kids, there were prizes awarded for the largest fish of each species caught. We gave away some great prizes, like fishing rod and reel combos, tackle boxes, lures and other fishing gear. The grand prize, awarded for the largest fish caught overall, included a tackle box loaded with lures and tackle, a spinning rod and reel combo and a complete fly fishing outfit. A complete breakdown of the prizewinners is below.

Local businesses Sam’s Pop & Beer donated all of the ice we needed; Allegheny Bait & Tackle donated bait and sold us fishing tackle at a discount for our prizes; Lock 3 Bait & Tackle sold us fishing tackle at a discount for prizes; International Angler fly shop donated a fly rod, reel and fly line combo as a prize; Pizza Hut donated cards for a free Personal Pan Pizza to go in all the prize grab bags. Shakespeare Fishing donated several kids rod and reel combos and practice casting weights. A list of these businesses, with phone numbers, is included below. Please patronize them often and let them know that you appreciate what they do for the community.

If I have forgotten to thank anyone, I apologize. Without the help of all of the volunteers, this event would not have been possible. You all have my sincere thanks.

The September issue of The Leader is the first to run an ad from our latest advertiser, Sam’s Pop and Beer Shop. They have been a supporter of the TCTC in the past by making donations for club events. Just recently they donated all of the ice that we needed for the Kids Fishing Derby. Sam’s is a longtime area business, located in nearby Arnold. Go see them when you need to buy beverages for your next fishing trip, sporting event or tailgate party. TCTC would like to thank Sam’s Pop and Beer Shop for their support. If you or a business you know would like to run an ad in this newsletter, please contact newsletter editor Steve Hegedus at 724-335-2679 or email him at hegedussj@upmc.edu.

The “net” we are referring to is the Internet. The Internet is a great source of knowledge if you know how to find it. Countless subjects are covered and angling is no exception. With that in mind, we will periodically provide you with some web sites that may be of interest to the angler.

This month’s guest speaker, Doc Wally, operates a guide service that works the Erie tribs. If you would like to find out more about this service and see photos of some fine-looking steelhead, try the following links.

I would not discount the other seasons. Each has its own values, sharp and positive and clear. But if fishing is the quiet sport of the contemplative man, then summer is the time of times for it, when the mind and body are relaxed and easy, the sun is warm and bright, the colors strong and the days long. A man should think when he is fishing, of all manner and shapes of things, flowing as easily through his mind as the light stream among its rocks. And the mind thinks best when the body is comfortable. All summer is not sunlight and the gray days and the stormy days may be the days when the fish rise best. But for me summer is low water and high sun, visible fish and difficult fish. And I know no lovelier time.

TCTC September Meeting – September 14^th. Doc Wally on Lake Erie Steelhead.

Deer and Bull Creek Delayed Harvest Trout Stocking – Wednesday October 5^th; Both streams.

TCTC November Meeting – November 9^th. Ted Fauceglia, author/photographer of Mayflies.

Fishing to me is not, as some of my critics have suggested, a way of life. But it is one of the keenest and best-wearing pleasures of life. There are deep and glowing things in even the simplest day on a river, and even more in the retrospect of such a day, which are worthy of honest examination.

Tri-County Trout Club

Newsletter Submissions: The deadline for submitting newsletter items is the 20^th of the month; items submitted by the 20^th will be considered for inclusion in the next month’s issue. If you are interested in submitting an item for the newsletter, please contact newsletter editor Steve Hegedus at 724-335-2679 or hegedussj@upmc.edu.