CONNESTEE FALLS FISHING CLUB
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Club members put their money where their hearts are
Club
members are responding with generosity to support two initiatives we've focused
on in recent times: spreading goodwill and good sportsmanship by hosting outside
groups at our lakes with our Outreach program and enhancing our fishery by
building fish hides.
When some members asked if they could donate for those
causes, the Club's Executive Committee decided in March to give them a
structured chance. It included two check-off opportunities to enclose donations
with their annual membership application fee.
"We were amazed and delighted at the response," said Club
President Rick Hybil in early May. "The donations came pouring in. We have
several hundred dollars already and they're still coming in," he said, "and I
think the Club can be proud of its members' generous response."
One beneficiary is the organization's Outreach program,
headed this season by Mike Rothman and Bill Roehrich. It fosters goodwill and
sportsmanship by hosting small groups -- mostly children, senior citizens and
handicapped persons -- for half-day fishing sessions at Lake Atagahi. Program
volunteers teach casting and other fishing techniques and even bait hooks with
worms for the squeamish. Occasionally, they have gone off the property to
supervise groups at other lakes.
The other check-off was for the Club's Fishery Management
Committee project to place fish hides on the bottom of our lakes to enhance the
food chain. They do that by growing algae, attracting aquatic insects and
providing refuge for bait fish. That, in turn, attracts larger game fish.
The Outreach program will use its donations to buy new
equipment, mostly rods and reels. "Much of the equipment we've been using was
donated and some of it was old, and now much is out-dated and worn," said Rick.
"Now we can purchase some new things that will be easier for children and
novices to use and have a more trouble-free and enjoyable free fishing
experiences."
Outreach regularly incurs expenses buying the bait it
provides to everyone participating in its sessions, Rick said, and the new
donations will help there, too.
Outreach has already started its seasonal bookings. On May 5
it hosted a group of Transylvania County Special Olympics participants and a
group from The Kingsbridge House, a nursing care facility in Brevard, was
scheduled to be here May 10. In June, Outreach will handle a large crowd of
children at the Club's Fish-A-Rama and later, youngsters from a program at the
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute will be here.
In July, Outreach has children coming on two different dates
from the Boys & Girls Club of Transylvania County and another time seniors from
the Brian Center, another care facility in Brevard.
The money for the fish hides will be spent on materials. Club
volunteers are building hides out of five-gallon buckets, partially filled with
concrete. Plastic pipes or tubes are placed in the concrete. The completed hide
looks similar to a small tree and when submerged provides additional structure,
similar to the Christmas trees the Club has placed in the past.
"We're concentrating on Lake Wanteska right now," said Rick,
"because we hope to improve the bass fishery there."
First 2012 Lunker Award
The first Lunker Award of the year was reported April 9 and it was a story with
a twist.
Don Fleming, a Trout Contest tagged-fish winner just a week
or so before (see item below) was out fishing on Lake Ticoa that day with a fly
rod and casting a brown beetle fly. Suddenly he had a fish on... and it bent the
rod into a U. "This is a big fish!" he exclaimed to fishing buddy Bill Hudson as
he began easing the fish in towards the boat.
After a 20-minute battle, he netted a six-pound, 24-inch
rainbow. As he was taking it out of the net he noticed it had bent the tiny fly
hook almost straight. "A little while longer and I would have lost the fish," he
said later.
And that wasn't the only fish tale to be told from the trip.
Bill Hudson had one, too.
Bill was casting a Rapala lure when he hooked "the strangest
trout I've ever caught." The rainbow had almost no tail section!
It was more than two and half pounds -- a nice weight -- but it was only 15 inches
long. The stunted body looked as if the tail was surgically attached to the main
body, with no gradual slimming in between. Bill speculated that it was the
result of some sort of genetic aberration.
See:
Lunker Award Page
Another lunker from another place!
Our Fishing Club anglers occasionally fish elsewhere, and come up with lunkers
there, too. Take former Club President Steve Seelinger, for instance. He was
on an April vacation in Sarasota, Florida on the Gulf coast, fishing with light
spinning gear and 15-pound test line, when he landed a hefty 35-pound redfish.
It was night fishing, about 1 a.m., from a guide's boat, near dock lights, using
live shrimp.
Steve released the fish unharmed, according to Florida
angling regulations. But he caught a bunch of smaller redfish and snook.
Stocking
We held our most recent stocking of our lakes March 19, when we put in nearly
800 rainbow trout in the 1 1/2-pound range. Thirty of them carried green tags in
their dorsal fins for the Club's Trout Contest.
The cost was $2,500. That consisted of $1,000 from the
Property Owners Association's stocking allocation and a $1,500 contribution from
the Club.
As usual, the lakes were stocked according to their size,
with the largest getting the most fish:
Lake Atagahi 278, including 10 tagged
Lake Ticoa 255, including 9 tagged
Lake Wanteska 151, including 6 tagged
Lake Tiaroga 111, including 5 tagged
In our Trout Contest, which is open to Club members only,
rainbows with plastic tags are stocked once a year. Green is the new 2012 color
tag, but if you catch a trout with any color tag you get $50 in Club Cash for
the Carolina Room restaurant in our Clubhouse. Contest rules allow for only one
award per color per Club membership. Only the tag is necessary to win, but it
must be turned in to Ray Tuers, 877 5572 (see item below for more on the
contest).
The Club's Fishery Management Committee oversees stocking
operations. It purchased the March 19 fish from
Fawn's Trout Hatchery in the Lake Toxaway
area.
The first stocking of the year was held Jan. 25. Then, the
Committee took the occasion to put extra fish - some 750 pounds - in Lake Ticoa
to make up for being unable to put fish in it during an October stocking because
the lake was down then for maintenance.
In addition to that, it conducted a normal trout stocking in
all four lakes consisting of nearly 2,400 pounds.
The October stocking was the last for 2011. Then, more than
1,500 rainbows were put in Atagahi, Tiaroga and Wanteska.
Trout Contest winners
Congratulations to the newest winners in the Club's Trout Contest, all of whom
caught rainbows with this year's green tags:
The most recent was Mike Rothman, of Middle Connestee
Trail, co-chair of the Club's Outreach Program, who caught an 18-inch, two-pound
fish in Lake Ticoa May 7 using Power Bait.
A week before, Bill Hudson, of Anv Court, caught a 15-inch,
two-pounder in Ticoa using a Rapala lure.
On April 1 Clyde Miller, Echota Lane, caught one in Ticoa
using Power Bait. The day before, when Clyde was fishing in Ticoa with Ken
Stark, of Usdasdi Drive, Ken caught one, also using Power Bait.
About the same time, Don Fleming, of Vdali Ct., landed one in
Ticoa using a Rapala lure.
The first tagged fish of the year was caught by Lois Hennen,
of Catatoga Path, who on March 29 landed a 15 1/2-incher in Lake Tiaroga. Lois
was fishing from the shore, using Power Bait, just 10 days after the tagged fish
were stocked.
All winners receive $50 in Club Cash for Clubhouse dining.
If you're a Fishing Club member and you
catch a trout with a tag in its dorsal fin, you win, but only one award per
color tag per membership is allowed. The tag must be turned in to Ray Tuers.
Christmas trees placed
The Club
placed some 60 Christmas trees in Lake Wanteska Feb. 8 to create more fish hides
there.
The trees are intended to enhance the fishery habitat by
providing structure to attract forage fish to to help sustain the bass and trout
populations.
Four locations were selected by a team of knowledgeable
Wanteska fishermen. Marking buoys were anchored in these locations several days
before by Jim Ungaro and Bill Roehrich.
Our CFPOA Maintenance department provided a crew, using a
pontoon workboat lent by Dan Weingartz, of Island Ford Road, a local dock
builder. Club President Rick Hybil, Treasurer Larry Alsobrook, Past-President
Frank Wolfe and members Bill Roehrich and Ed Wallick helped in the project.
The trees were donated by Connestee residents.
Club
donates to Employees Fund
Club President Rick Hybil presented a check for
$750 to General Manager Jim Lorah Dec. 7 as a donation to the CFPOA Employees
Fund. The Fund is used for seasonal bonuses and other special payments
throughout the year.
The Club has developed a tradition of allocating money for
the donation in its annual budget. The amount was increased last year from the
$500 that was given in previous years.
"We appreciate what the Association's employees do for not
only the anglers of the community but for everyone," said Rick. He made the
presentation at the December meeting of the Board of Directors.
Tiaroga dock completed
The Club donated half the cost of the new
boat-launching dock completed at the Lake Tiaroga dam in November as part of its
Community Spirit program. The donation was $500; the CFPOA paid the other half
of the $1,000 cost.
The 3- by 20- foot dock was built by Dan Weingartz, of Island
Ford Road, who has been building docks on our lakes for more than 25 years. It
is next to the concrete launching ramp and makes launching from a trailer
easier. Boaters can now avoid wading into the water to guide their craft. The
dock also allows easier tie-ups with its posts that rise above the decking.
The Community Spirit program provides improvements to the
Connestee property related to the lakes and outdoor recreation. Each year the
Club budgets money for the program. In the past it has paid for such things as
park benches, a picnic table shelter, a handicapped-accessible fishing pier and
a recycling station at Atagahi Park.
Awards presented
The Club presented its annual awards Oct. 8 during its Fancy in the Park picnic
at Atagahi Park. More than 60 members and guests attended.
The Awards this year:
Sportsman of the Year: Mike Sterinsky.
This award is presented to a member who promotes the sport of fishing by example
and education; who has displayed creativity by presenting new ideas; who has
demonstrated leadership and active participation in the Club's fishing
activities and programs, and who has displayed an active interest in maintaining
and improving our Connestee waters. The Awards Committee citation read, "Mike
surely meets these measures... for exceptional interaction with Outreach
participants, teaching fishing skills, good sportsmanship and fostering good
will for the Connestee Community."
Hall of Fame Award: Toots Foth.
This is presented to a member who has made substantial and lasting contributions
to the Club in each year of membership for a minimum of 10 years. The Awards
Committee citation noted, "If anyone has been a loving and energetic steward of
the Fishing Club, it's been our own Toots Foth. Our first -- and so far only --
woman president, Toots not only took over the helm back in the late 90s, she was
active before, when husband Gerry was president, and has remained active since,
in just about everything we do."
Distinguised Service Awards: Larry Alsobrook,
Hutch Hutchison and Charlie VanHagen.
These awards are presented to members who have made outstanding and varied
contributions to the Club during the past year. The citations:
Larry, our Club treasurer, was be recognized for his
perseverance and dedication to learning and improving the treasury functions...
and he's lent a valuable hand, too, at the Fish-A-Rama and even helped build our
cardboard boat for this summer's Regatta.
Hutch Hutchison, one of our most active and knowledgeable
fishermen, was cited for his invaluable contributions to our important Fishery
Management Committee.
And Charlie VanHagen, a loyal member for nearly 10 years, who
rarely misses a meeting, was cited for not only his many hours of toil designing
and building the Club's cardboard boat in the Regatta, but for paddling it, too.
And winning the race.
Largest Largemouth Bass Award: Bill Roehrich,
who landed a six-pound bass in May in Lake Atagahi.