Little Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Meeting Minutes – June 12, 2019

Meeting Attendees

     Tom Vanderputten   Glen Bixler  Keith Loutzenhiser  Nick Christofeno   Jim Philips   Mike Beachy

Meeting Minutes

• The meeting minutes for May 8, 2019 were approved.

Fishing Reports

• CR 43 area of the Little Elkhart is fishing very well. Mike reported being there and catching 12 rainbows and 5 browns. Nick reported fishing at the Meadow and catching 8 rainbows and 4 browns. Tom also fished both areas and reported catching a mix of both rainbows and browns as well.

 Treasurer’s Report

• Keith Loutzenhiser did not have the financial summary for May 2019.
• LECTU did receive an additional $ 10 raffle ticket and $ 10 for 2 river guides.
• LECTU also received another $ 100 from Dr. Burns.

Communications

• Brandon will send a LECTU communications notice with the summer work day schedule.
• Peter Mavrelis, Ogen Dunes, and Aaron Springer of Fort Wayne requested the Little Elkhart river fishing guides.

Brown Trout Stocking

• 500 browns were planted on May 17th. The browns were all in the 7” range and fat/healthy.
• 150 went in the Well Field and 350 went in at the Meadow (Yoder Farm). None were stocked at the Hoover Woods as it was too muddy for the truck.
• Indiana (stocking program) will plant browns at CR 43.
• LECTU shared the delivery costs with the Isaac Walton League since they stocked Judy Creek.
• LECTU will stock another 500 browns in the Little Elkhart this fall (2019).

Corson County Park

• Mike spoke with Rhonda DeCaire of the Elkhart Parks about some issues that need to be addressed.
• There is flooding of the property from the heavy rains. This is pooling water since the river did not go over the banks.
• Larry Koza indicated his preference to stock a large quantity of rainbows at the new park. Similar to the stocking at Bonneyville Mill.
• Mike is waiting on a call back from Rhonda DeCaire before contacting the homeowners.

Advanced Fly Casting

• Charlie Ray held this class. Bill and Penny Myers, Tim Pote, and Keith attended.
• Keith reported that it was a great class. Lots of new techniques and a good time.

River Fest

• The Middlebury Parks event will be August 24 at Riverbend Park

• LECTU will have a booth at this event.
• Nick Christofeno is the LECTU person for this event.

Middlebury Parks Fishing Derby

• This event will be held in August and the town of Middlebury has requested assistance from LECTU.
• The date is August 10th. LECTU volunteers would serve as judges.

LECTU Summer Workdays

• LECTU will cut the trail on June 15th. Nick, Tom and Jim Mock have volunteered. Mark Holcomb and his son Caleb will also help.
• The following will be the work days for the stream restoration and preservation work. These are all Saturdays. July 13th, 27th. August 3rd, 17th. September 7th.
• LECTU will complete The Meadow Project. Adding kickers and deflectors.

Youth Outing

• Subsequent to our meeting Cheryl Mast contacted Keith and told him that due to timing issues the Camp Amigo fly fishing class was cancelled for this year.

Cub Scouts

• Matt Miller scout master has a fence style crossing project and has requested assistance from LECTU.

Conner Flora (IU Fly Fishing Club)

• Conner is interning this summer with Dee Dargan and wants to study the Little Elkhart brown trout. This includes capturing the trout and doing a stomach pump to analyze the eating habits.

Next Meeting – July 10, 2019 at 7:00 PM at the Middlebury Library

Tom Vanderputten - Secretary