The Little Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Volume 1, Issue 6
Trout Lines
Message From President, Mike Beachy
In the words of a Bob Dylan
song “the times are a chang-
ing” and so it goes for the Little
Elkhart Chapter of T.U. During
the course of this past year our
T.U. Chapter has begun to
define ourselves. What are our
objectives and how can we
achieve our goals have been
the focus of many discussions
and frustrations. In this issue of
Trout Lines I wish to bring our
chapter members up to speed
on our projects, give you an
idea of what we have been
working on and possibly stir up
some volunteers.
One major accomplishment
has been this newsletter. It has
allowed our organization to
communicate with our widely
scattered membership. My
thanks go out to our Commu-
nication Chairman, Chris Miller
who has put in hours of work
producing and distributing this
publication. Chris is still work-
ing out the bugs in the system
and fighting the cost of mailing
the newsletter to those with
no e-mail address.
December Meeting Guest Speaker
Guest speaker David Arring-
ton Ph.D.
Dave is Senior Wildlife Ecolo-
gist and President of LGL Natu-
ral Resources Associates. LGL
Natural Resources has been
contracted through LaGrange
County Soil and Water Conser-
The more newsletters we can
send out electronically the
more control we have over
printing and postage costs. If
you have an e-mail address yet
receive this newsletter by way
of the U.S. Postal Service,
please register your e-mail
with T.U. Go to the T.U. web
site and update your personal
information to include your e-
mail address. Presently costs
incurred through printing and
mailing of this newsletter is by
far our greatest overhead ex-
pense. This money could be
utilized in other more effective
ways.
I wish to invite the member-
ship to submit articles to be
included in this publication.
Have you been trout fishing
lately? If so send us a fishing
report. Do you have a spe-
cial fly that has brought
you success? Send us a rec-
ipe and photo to share
with others. Any story fo-
cusing on trout and salmon
that you feel is interesting
vation District to formulate
and implement a Watershed
Management Plan for the Lit-
tle Elkhart River drainage sys-
tem.
Dave’s study and focus is on
water quality. He and his team
are now to the implementa-
November 2007
Inside this issue:
would be welcome. Presidents Message 1
Safety Warning
Photographs always make a
story or article more interest-
ing. At the Little Elkhart Chap- Fence Stile Crossing 2
ter’s October meeting a bylaw Project
was passed to more closely
follow the photographic guide-
Willow Creek Project 2
lines used by Trout Unlimited
Magazine in our newsletter.
The bylaw reads as follows: It
shall be the policy of the Little Hot Fly 3
Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlim-
ited to publish only images
that portray responsible fishing Brown Trout Stocking 4
practices. Fish photos shall be
limited to trout and salmon
that could be returned to the
Stream Improvement 5
water alive, with a reasonable
Project
expectation of survival.
Trout Lines will accept photo- Advertisements 6
graphs for publication pro-
vided that they fall under the
guidelines outlined above.
Some photos in the past have Special points of inter-
fallen outside these guidelines. est:
In the spirit of conservation we
are attempting to improve. • Presidents Message
Michael Beachy • Hot Fly for the Lil’ Elkhart
Little Elkhart Chapter President
• New Officer Elections
• Chris Miller’s Last Newsletter
- Wahoo!
tion stage of “best management
practices” in an effort to protect
the river from contaminates.
Dave’s work fits with our chap-
ter’s efforts. Water quality im-
provement is essential to provid-
ing trout survival and habitat
Volume 1, Issue 6 Page 2

Fence Stile Crossing Project

The fence stile-crossing project is off
and running however it still has a long
way to go. Stile crossings are very con-
venient for fishermen needing to cross
a barbwire fence while decked out in
waders. Farmers appreciate the stile
crossings as well because it prevents
stretching of fence wire and eliminates
their fear of a gate being accidentally
left open. Each stile is stenciled with
the wording PROVIDED BY LITTLE ELK-
HART TROUT UNLIMITED, which pro-
motes our organization to each fisher-
man using it.
Our thanks go out to Bob Roth for the
stile design and fabrication and to Ace
Hardware of Middlebury for donating
the lumber and hardware.
Stiles are still available for placement.
If you know of a place that could use
a fence crossing please consult the
property owner and see if he would
be open to the idea then let Mike
Beachy know where the spot is lo-
cated. We will do our best to con-
struct a crossing where our members
would like to have one. It is a win-win
situation for everyone.

Little Elkhart Chapter Involved in Willow Creek Project

Chapter members Mike Beachy and Mike Gibbs volunteered to assist
St. Joe River Valley Fly Fishers in an initial clean up project on Willow
Creek in eastern St. Joseph County. Willow Creek is a small tributary
to the St. Joe River yet has suitable water temperature and habitat to
support brown trout.
SJRVFF is entering into a 100-year lease agreement with A.E.P.
Power Company for exclusive fishing rights on several miles of the
creek owned by A.E.P. The club will be granted fishing privileges in
exchange for stream restoration, improvements and maintenance.
The initial clean up project included rearrangement of logjams and
general trash removal. Logjams were cut open and the debris was
placed along the banks to enhance habitat and prevent bank ero-
sion.
Beachy and Gibbs work on a crew with John Law, co-chairman of
SJRVFF’s conservation committee. John is very experienced in this
type of stream work and was willing to share his knowledge. A clean
up similar to this project is being planned for the Little Elkhart River
this spring.
Volume 1, Issue 6 Page 3

Hot Fly For The Little Elkhart—Mike’s Maggot by Mike Gibbs

When asked at our last T.U. meeting to come up with this issues fly, I
went into a panic of wide-eyed wonderment of which possible pat-
tern could I teach. After all, everyone knows the wrapping of the
wooly-bugger,the laymanship of the egg sucking leach, the ease of
the egg pattern, and various other well known popular patterns. So,
again, what should I share?
The answer came a week or so ago. I was out doing some steel-
heading with (heaven forbid) my spinning rod. It was a spur of the
moment trip after work as the wife had other plans. Arriving at the
stream, I realized, in my haste to peace and tranquility, I forgot to
pick up some wax worms, a favorite tipping to flies. After throwing
several usual patterns to no avail, I scoured my fly box and spied an
old personal tried and true personal favorite. "Mike's Maggot" A few
casts later, a hit. No fish, but, a hit at least. I picked up several more
hits, but, no hook-ups. As I made my way home, I knew what I would
choose to pass along.
"Mike's Maggot", was something I came up with after a brief chastis-
ing for "CHEATING" by my friend Jim Phillips. He had just conveyed
his opinion on the spin fishing thing for steelhead versus the "right
and only proper -fly rod method" And that even though I was drift
fishing FLIES with my rod, it wasn't the same. And that "tipping" my
fly with wax worms was wrong in that it defeated the purpose of
using a fiy due to the baiting of the hook.
After I retreated from the telephone, I realized he had a
point, Not about the rod of choice, but about the fly issue.
That got my ire up like an Irishman at an English Ball. How
could I possibly give up using wax worms? They have been
a staple in my success for years. And not just steelhead, but,
rainbows, browns, bluegills, large mouths, walleye...
When I finally came to my senses, I realized there was only
one thing left to do. Since suicide is to messy, and there are
too many fish I wish to catch, I better come up with a fly
pattern replacement. Searching book after book to no avail,
Dr. Frankenstein decided to go to work and create one him-
self. After several unsuccessful attempts, "life" was given to
the form in my fingers, and my uprising inside stilled to a
quiet calm. I had transformed material to maggot form.
This fly can be weighted to a variety of weights, depend-
ing on how deep you want to go.
Mike Gibbs

Hook: 10 - 12 (long or short shank, depending on the size you

want)
Thread: Dark or Light Brown (Golden Tan works well)
Weight: .10 - .15 (weighted to preference)
Ribbing: Fine Copper/Gold Wire
Body: Cream/White dubbing (cotton like)
Head: Brown thread built up (dubbing may be substituted for lar-
ger ties
Volume 1, Issue 6
Brown Trout Jumpstart Stocking Project
Brown Trout Jumpstart Stocking Project
The Little Elkhart Chapter is looking into
raising money to purchase hatchery
brown trout and stock the catch and
release section with 8 to 10 inch fish.
The number of trout for stocking will be
dependent on the money available.
Essentially what we want to do is jump-
start the brown trout population.
Recently all of the Little Elkhart River’s
brown trout come from the Elkhart Con-
servation Club. The ECC purchases eggs
and hatches them in their private cold
water hatchery. The trout are released
as small fry. Unfortunately natural attri-
Little Elkhart River Fishing Guide Project
The Little Elkhart Chapter is presently working
on a “Guide to Trout Fishing the Little Elkhart
River”. We realize that the majority of our
chapter members do not live conveniently
close to the Little Elkhart River and may not be
familiar with it. We want our members to have
a favorable experience while exploring our
home waters. The guide will provide the unfa-
miliar fisherman with vital information when
making the trek to Elkhart and LaGrange
Counties to try out the Little Elkhart River. We
intend to have a map of the river including
near by county roads and directions to access
sites. The guide will also include a short de-
scription about the river at each access so a
first timer can plan out an outing with some
November Meeting Minutes
Members nominated chapter officers for the
year 2008 at the November meeting of the
Little Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The
election will be held at our December meet-
ing, with new terms beginning in January,
2008.
The nominees:
President: Mike Beachy (incumbent)
V P: Leonard Gustin (incumbent)
Secretary: Lee Troyer
Treasurer: Chris Miller
tion is high on these small trout yet
some do survive and grow to be nice
sized trout. We are very appreciative of
the Elkhart Conservation Club’s efforts
and wish for those stockings to con-
tinue.
Historically the state of Indiana stocked
brown trout of a larger size. In those
“days of old” fishermen realized a bet-
ter brown trout fishery with bigger
brown trout reported.
The conditions of the Little Elkhart
River are adequate for brown trout
survival. The catch and release regula-
tions will protect the brown trout
population from harvest. We want to
sort of direction.
There are several public fishing areas
such as city or county parks. The city
of Middlebury owns a large section
of the catch and release waters and
these areas are open to fishermen
without permission however the
majority of the Little Elkhart River
flows through private property.
We realize that by popularizing this
river we run the risk of elevating
problems between fishermen and
the property owners. We plan to
continue to work closely with the
property owners to maintain as
Conservation Chair: Mike Beachy
Communication Chair: Brandon Ra-
sler
Note: Members can nominate a
different candidate for any office
prior to the vote at our December
meeting.
-- President Mike Beachy reported
environmental consultant Dave Ar-
rington will present an update on
The Little Elkhart Watershed Man-
agement Plan at our next meeting.
This issue is key to our future trout
Page 4
jumpstart the process by once again
stocking larger browns. Initially we
consider this to be a one-time event
and then to evaluate the project’s suc-
cess. Future stockings may be needed
to maintain an optimal population
however that is not in the plans at this
point.
The project is presently stalled with the
Indiana DNR. A stocking permit is re-
quired before we can go ahead with
any such stocking of brown trout. They
want to determine if this project has
merit and if the water can support
more trout. We are continuing to work
with the DNR and eagerly await the
Departments evaluation
much open trout fishing along the river
as possible. Fishermen play a large role
in these potential conflicts. We ask that
you be good stewards of our sport and
respect the properties along the river, it
can go a long way towards good prop-
erty owner-fisherman relations. Please
be mindful that while fishing most of
the Little Elkhart River you are the
“guest” of the owner who is permitting
you to fish on their land. Under Indiana
law the water is owned by the state
however the ground under the water
belongs to the property owner. Asking
for permission to fish is always a good
idea prior to entering the stream
fishing, and members are encouraged
to attend.
-- Members Brandon Rasler and Jim
Phillips said work on a LECTU guide
to trout fishing on the Little Elkhart
River was near completion.
-- Member Jim Phillips was directed to
pursue further negotiations with the
state for permission to stock eight-to-
ten inch brown trout this spring in
the lower catch-and-release section of
the Little Elkhart. Our initial request
was denied.
Volume 1, Issue 6
Stream Habitat Improvement Project
The habitat improvement project has
been stalled for quite some time. We
have attempted to get assistance from
several different sources however each
time it looks like we are making headway
it never seems to materialize.
Recently we have joined forces with the
St. Joe River Valley Fly Fishers club based
out of Mishawaka. They have expressed
interest in helping us out. Their conserva-
tion committee has experience in this
area and has a good reputation with the
Indiana Department of Natural Re-
sources. Stream habitat improvement
projects require careful planning which
Members in Action
Page 5
need to be reviewed and accepted by ing on for clarification. At the very least
the DNR, Indiana Department of Environ- we will be doing some river clean up of
mental Management and sometimes the logjams this spring and summer.
Army Corp of Engineers prior to issuing
of specialized permits. Grant monies need
to be applied for and accepted for any In order for these types of projects to be
matching funding. This all takes time and successful we will need volunteers- lots of
expertise. volunteers. We will need manpower to
accomplish the needed result and your
assistance will be welcomed
If all goes as planned the Little Elkhart
Chapter could very well have a permitted
project for the Little Elkhart River in the
near future. There are a lot of hoops to
jump through but it looks like we are
finally on the right track. There are some
improvements that can be done without
permits and those are areas we are work-
An example of a
river section in need
of cleaning out to
improve flow and
stop erosion.
Volume 1, Issue 6 Page 6

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The Little Elkhart Chapter of
Trout Unlimited Mission
Trout Unlimited’s mission is to
conserve, protect and restore
North America’s trout and
salmon fisheries and their
watersheds.
The Little Elkhart Chapter of Trout Unlimited
13777 C.R. 8 Middlebury, IN 46540
Phone: 574-825-4467
Email: chrism@gdc-corp.com

Next Meeting
Dec. 12th
Mark your calendars:

December 12th next Little Elkhart meeting

Meeting Notice
The Little Elkhart Chapter
Meets the second Wednesday
of every month at 7:00 P.M. at
the Middlebury Public Library