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Well, we did it!! Once again the Georgia Trout Camp had a very successful camp and prepared 24 young anglers (20 boys and 4 girls) for a future in fly fishing and water conservation. They learned to cast, read the water, be courteous to other anglers, protect our environment, identify bugs, tie knots, tie flies, maintain their equipment and catch fish!! The weather was hot, very hot and dry but we didn't have hail storms or high water as in past years. Fishing is an outdoor sport so weather is just part of it.
A lot of folks do a lot of work to make this camp go and everyone is important. This is truly a state-wide camp with campers from all 12 chapters and volunteer mentors from 10 of the 12 chapters. As always Shelia Humphrey at Smithgall Woods got the kids excited about bugs and good, clean water.The DNR guys, Leon Brotherton and Lee Keefer, along with Mike Brod from USFS, instructed the campers in stream ecology, electro-shocking and stream structure construction. The eight interns working through funding by Trout Unlimited added to the conservation experience of the boys and girls. Perry Thompson, head of the stocking program at the Burton Hatchery, and his team helped the kids load the fish on the stocking truck and distribute them in the streams. Knowing where to fish was explained by Jimmy Harris using a unique underwater film. Jeff Durniak gave an award winning performance of how "not to act on a stream" with Doug Adams receiving several Oscar nominations for his supporting role. How Doug caught an 18" Rainbow during the performance is beyond me but he's good at that. TU National was supportive in the background checks, (thanks to Andy Snyder - the new Sally Armstrong) literature goody bags, and provided a free membership for all campers. Once again our "Young Mentors"( TU members who have attended camp previously and are 15 years old) added much needed help. Gavin Carson, Elizabeth Farquharson, Ian Farquharson, Kevin Lash, and Austin Sims all gave of their time to pass on what they learned just a couple of years ago. Theypaint a bright future for TU.
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School provides us with a near perfect facility to run the program that we do. They help make our camp successful and add much to our comfort. We are truly grateful. With guys like Garland Stewart and Frank Tolbert, we leave the school in better shape than we found it.
I can't imagine the hours that Mack Martin and Bob Foster spend getting all the equipment ready for the kids and for fly tying. And it is great to have a professional seamstress like Emmilyn Rivers to sew on the trout camp patches. I do know the time Kathy spends getting all this organized and it just would not work without all this effort. At this time of year we think about what we need to change for next year and would appreciate any suggestions from you. We want to just get better and better so let me know your ideas.
Charlie
Below is a list of the men and women who helped with Trout Camp 2008. Thank you; thank you!!!
Doug Adams Eedee Adams Dick Albertelli Vic Aloisia Josh Barnett Pat Bradley Charlie Breithaupt Kathy Breithaupt Gavin Carson
Elizabeth Farquharson Ian Farquharson Bob Foster Ron Fry Ray Gentry Jimmy Harris David Humphrey Ray Kearns Jim Kidd
Kevin Lash Dick Luscher Doug Mansfield Shelia Mansfield Sonny Marshall Mack Martin Jim Nixon Bob Parker Charles Pollard
Doug Reid Lea Richmond Terry Rivers Deborah Scott Austin Sims Garland Stewart Frank Tolbert Larry Vigil Fritz Vinson
Larry Walker Alex Watson Jimmy Whiten
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