The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

tenkara, conservation, communications, politics

Key grip and trout wrangler at the Middle River Group, LLC. Playing Doc Holliday to the Wyatt Earps of the fish and wildlife conservation world. Deputy Director, Marine Fish Conservation Network. Guide and instructor, Mossy Creek Fly Fishing. Freelance outdoor writer.

Water is my business

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As a fly fishing guide,  a member of the board of directors of the America Fly Fishing Trade Association and president of the Massanutten Chapter of Trout Unlimited, I spend a lot of time thinking about water. The fact is, I make part of my living in water and without it much of what I hold dear would be lost.

Lately I have found myself drawn back into conversations about clean water and the need to protect it. EPA has a rule making underway and there are some who would like to undermine that effort. In looking around the inter webs recently, I came across an excellent report from Trout Unlimited. Rising to the Challenge shows just how important small, seasonal and headwater streams are and why they need to be protected.

TU shares a pretty simple equation (not unlike one you see often on this blog) and points out three things that make a healthy stream.

  • Cold, clean water
  • Habitat for juvenile fish to hide, and for big fish to grown and spawn
  • Sensible rules that protect streams from development

Pretty simple Venn diagram if you ask me.

The report shows “the connection between seasonal streams that may run dry at certain times of the year (i.e., “intermittent and ephemeral” streams) and historic trout and salmon habitat.”

There are maps for 14 states, including Virginia below:

TU VA WOTUS Map

 

Download the report and learn how you can make water your business too.

If you want to learn more about EPA’s rule making here is a link > http://www2.epa.gov/uswaters

Here is some information from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership > http://www.trcp.org/issues/wetlands/cleanwateract#.VDHMnr51qaF

 

 

Celebrating the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture

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One of the more enjoyable aspects of more than 30 years in the lobbying business is the chance to look back on the projects you took on, not because you were going to make a pile of money from it, but because deep down in your heart and soul you knew that it was important.

What became the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture is the one I am most proud to have been part of. It started, back more than 12 years ago, when a small group of us got together to sketch out a plan to protect, restore and enhance brook trout and their habitats across their historic native range.

Recently I had the honor to be invited to speak at the opening of  the 10th Anniversary EBTJV partners meeting. I told them how the EBTJV came to get started and that the EBTJV was a success because of the courage, and in some cases arrogance, of the original steering committee. I have likened the EBTJV to the Rolling Stones (a tribute to the time Mick Jagger was confronted while relieving himself on the side of a gas station and said “We are the Rolling Stones, we piss anywhere.”) At the time, the National Fish Habitat Initiative, later known as the National Fish Habitat Partnership was just getting started. While the NFHI was a good idea, we were concerned that “process” might get in the way of progress. The folks managing the Action Plan wanted to build a program first. We wanted to put our time, money and energy into “on the ground” projects. And that was what we planned to do.

The steering committee shared an incredible, lifelong, visceral passion for the brook trout, did not feel compelled to color inside the lines and were willing to put regional and state boundaries behind them for the greater good of the brookie. We channeled that passion and went directly to the fish and game departments in the 17 states that encompassed the Eastern Brook Trout’s native range. We got buy-in to our ideas for the joint venture and, at a meeting a year later, the EBTJV became a reality.

At the time, the original co-conspirators could not have imagined how successful they would be. In the last 10 years the accomplishments are truly impressive.

2004-2014 EBTJV Infographic Final_11x17

 

The highlight of the meeting for me was receiving a gorgeous rendering of a brook trout, by the renowned artist James Prosek, in recognition of my “dedication to the EBTJV and its cause.”

This beautiful signed print now graces our living room and is a treasured gift from my friends at the EBTJV. I’ve nicknamed the brookie “Mick.”

10th Anniversary Meeting_Tom's Print
Nat Gillespie (L), “Mick”, me, Doug Besler (R) Photo credit Callie McMunigal

If you care about these iconic fish and what to learn more or even better lend a hand, then follow this link to the EBTJV website.

OWAA’s Statement on the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed directive for commercial filming in wilderness

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From OWAA News
September 25, 2014
MISSOULA, Mont. – The Outdoor Writers Association of America today strongly criticized a U.S. Forest Service proposal that would require media outlets to pay for special-use permits before they film or take photos in federally designated wilderness areas, thereby severely hampering researching and reporting abilities by the media.“The Outdoor Writers Association of America is concerned and disturbed that the U.S. Forest Service would use the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act to ratchet up its attempts to control what information is reported about wilderness areas and by whom,” said OWAA President Mark Freeman, outdoors columnist for the Mail Tribune in Medford, Oregon.“Allowing forest supervisors to decide which journalists get to report in wilderness areas and what stories they can or can’t tell smacks of censorship and prior restraint. Restraining journalists and their reports was not intended to be part of the act’s restriction of commercialization of wilderness areas.”“Five decades ago, outdoor journalists’ articles chronicling what was left of the country’s wild areas were precisely what created the groundswell of public support for the Wilderness Act to pass in 1964,” said OWAA Executive Director Tom Sadler. “It would be a major step backward for the Forest Service to make it harder for the public to have virtual access to these wilderness areas that are, after all, public.”

Contact:

OWAA President Mark Freeman: 541-840-9477
OWAA Executive Director Tom Sadler: 406-552-4049
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OWAA encourages our members to read the proposed directive and provide comments before the Dec. 3, 2014, deadline. (Read and comment via this link: https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-21093)

Tenkara Jam!

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Come and get it!
The registration for the Tenkara Jam is open!!!
Thanks to Jason Sparks and Lance Milks we will have Tenkara in the Appalachians!
Saturday October 11th 11:00AM – 8:00PM
Sunday October 12th 9:00AM – 6:00PM

Just click on this link to the Tenkara Jam Registration page.
The cost per person:
1 day $30.00 this can be for either day for those that cannot attend both days.
2 day $48.00 this is for both days and covers all expenses.
Sessions will be held at Foscoe/ Grandfather Community Center (http://www.foscoecommunitycenter.com/default.php)

And there are a pile of vendors bringing their toys to the party!

Wait there’s more, a Kebari swap too!

More Details from the Tenkara Jam website:

Tenkara Community gathering in Foscoe, NC.
There will be presentations on the tenkara style of fly fishing covering topics such as:
1. Overview: Rods, Lines, Flies
2. Kebari History and current patterns
3. Big Fish Wrangling
4. Small Stream Techniques
and more…

Special Guest presentations by:
Lance Milks
Robert Worthing
Tom Sadler
Al Alborn
Bob Ivins
and more…

Day One: Big screen presentations and live demonstrations inside
Day Two: Casting Clinics, Technique Tutorials, Stream-side Classroom, Small Group Guides

We have set Day One to begin presentations at 12:00pm. This is to accommodate travel for people needing to come in Saturday Morning. We will still have a full day of content going into the evening. The Foscoe Community Center will be holding/ serving (independently) a fund raising breakfast at the Center that morning. For $8 you will get all the country breakfast fixin’s you can stomach.

For those coming in Friday evening I will be providing maps to local waters should you want to get wet that evening. Hit up the breakfast Saturday morning and go back out for a few more hours on Saturday morning. There is plenty of fishing to be had.

There is a campground on site (next door) that has tent pads, RV space and Cabin Rentals

Lodging:
Right next door to our facility is Grandfather Campground
Tents, RV space and Cabin rentals available.
http://www.grandfatherrv.com/grandfathermtn3.htm

STFU it’s just fly fishing…

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Now and again the tenkara world gets it’s knickers in a twist about what is and is not tenkara and then the fly fishing community chimes in about tenkara in general and everyone gets butt hurt and sulks.

Well, one of my favorite commentators on current events is the very talented Erika Napoletano, a featured speaker at the upcoming AFFTA Dealer Summit.

She recently graced the pages of the ever entertaining Moldy Chum in  So you’re bitching about Tenkara. Worth watching, listen and learn but be warned, she is NSFW!

UPDATE: The Moldy Chum link is 404, but you can hear Erika’s awesome wisdom on her blog at For Everyone Bitching About Mike Jeffries of Abercrombie and Fitch

Tenkara Rod Round Up

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Three years ago Tenkara USA bravely stepped into the industry spotlight and brought tenkara to the fly fishing industry’s annual trade show, IFTD. Since then a number of rods have appeared on the market and this year Tenkara USA, Patagonia and Tenkara Rod company all had space at IFTD.

When I started guiding tenkara trips the number of tenkara rods available in the US was pretty limited. Today, not so much.

Mostly because my clients regularly ask the question, “How many tenkara rods are there on the market?” I decided to pull a list together of the various tenkara rods currently available in the U.S. that I am aware of.

As I get a chance to try different rods, I’ll post a review.

In all likelihood I will miss someone, if I do please let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

Here is my current list (Mark 1, Mod 3 087614):

26AUG14 1030:  Thanks to Rick for pointing out the links snafu!!!