Jimbo
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Well, then you haven’t been paying attention. The Board has sent out emails to GRTU Membership asking for volunteers every year. This was a call for volunteers not just for TroutFest, Stockings, and Clean Ups,… this was a call for members, who are willing to devote time and effort, to fill positions on the Board. The Board changed by-laws, at the urging of TU National some years ago, to limit terms of Board Officers. This was an effort to promote a rejuvenation of Leadership and get new and younger individuals involved moving TU forward into the future. I was the only one on the Board who voted against term limits. The reason was I did not see new people wanting to join our efforts and volunteer their service on the Board for the common good. It has turned out to be prophetic, and now the Board is considering rescinding that bylaw.
I tried for years to get someone to help me with Fisheries. Someone, I could train and have take over the program. I started working in Fisheries back in 2008. I had been coming to all the stockings for some time when Bill Higdon had his heart attack. Since I had been his righthand man for awhile, I carried the load with his guidance, and ran the program for 2 years unofficially. Well, when he died, I was naturally the right person to take over and was nominated to the V.P. of Fisheries. I ran the program for 10 years. As my health declined, I started looking for someone to train and take over. My first heart attack was in May of 2015, then another in May of 2016, that took hospitalization. Still, no one was willing to volunteer to fill V.P. of Fisheries. Then my 3rd Heart attack in 2018, that should have killed me, and people started thinking, rightly so, that V.P. of Fisheries might be vacant again soon. Soon after that Dan Cone volunteered and I trained him and was there as a mentor, anytime he needed me. He took over for the 2010-11 season and managed it for almost 4 years. Then he needed to step down, and guess who was the only one who would take the job again? So here I am again, V.P. of Fisheries, with no one else willing to take the job. I’ve been a continuous Board Member for GRTU longer than anybody, this being my 24th year. I seen many Board members come and go. Until the last 10 years or so, it always seemed we had people good enough to want to fill the positions and do the work as it was needed to be done. That pool of volunteers to do the heavy lifting has dried up. No one wants to be Chairman of Troutfest, no on wants to be President, no one wants to be V.P. of Fisheries, and No one wants to be Treasurer/accountant…. I am still V.P. of Fisheries, Brad Garner is still Treasurer. Bill and Lise have been saying for years they won’t be doing TroutFest anymore. They are stepping down this year as President and Chairman of Troutfest and those positions will be vacant.
We need members, and the right kind, who are willing to guide out programs, willing to devote time and effort, to continue our conservation and charity efforts, to join the Board, and get the job done and done right !!!! And everyone is willing to train and mentor those who would come forward and volunteer for the positions. Our Financials are in good shape, but only because we are a volunteer organization. If we had to pay people to be: President, Treasurer, Chairman of Troutfest, or V.P. of Fisheries, we would go bust in just a few years. And realize this, no GRTU, No GRTU Fisheries, No LAP, No 16,000lbs of Big Trout being stocked in the Guadalupe every year…..
The next Board Meeting in June, the Board has some very BIG Decisions ahead of us that will determine the future of GRTU. WE need the right people to step up and volunteer to do the BIG work or we are going down hard.
Jimbo
Chris has not done anything with the shop yet. If you want something, anything, flyfishing, give him a call and setup a time you can meet. It would help liquidating his inventory. I’ve been buying stuff from him even after the shop officially closed. Chris has “Frozen Shoulder Syndrome” and is dealing with the rehab. I don’t think he will be able to guide in Colorado this summer like he normally does. Having this shop and it’s incredible fly selection closing is a BIG Blow to the Guadalupe’s Flyfishermen and me personally !!!! It is another era passing…. Austin Angler…. Now Action Angler. Rio Anglers, Gruene Outfitters are decent and will have to do now. The only other real Fly Shop Option for everything is Living Waters up in Round Rock.
I tell you, seems like a passing of critical era. GRTU’s Board is in crisis !!!! Board Members are leaving and we don’t have anyone volunteering to do the needed work anymore. Most of the Board Members are past retirement age and doing the heavy lifting. Right now, we have no one running TroutFest next year. Noone to be President, plus vacant Board Member Positions. We need someone strong enough and willing to put in the work to continue its Legacy and the money it generates for GRTU and all the programs we support. If no one steps up to these critical positions, we will have a $60,000 loss, and I can see this Chapter going down the tubes. It is so sad no one volunteers anymore for the good of the community !!!! Seems our generation is a dying breed with nothing to replace it. Everyone is all about: their self-image, social media, and “Likes” these days…. Me… Me… Me….. They just assume someone else will handle to work that supports their lifestyle, not willing to do the work that pays nothing and supplies the basics to sustain what we now have. I won’t last forever either. I’m 72 and counting, when I die, who will run Fisheries for GRTU? There are no volunteers. I am fearing the collapse of this Chapter and out Fishery as we know it…..
Jimbo
Maybe we can get some rain this afternoon?
Tom tom tom tom….
Tom tom tom tom….
Tom tom tom tom….
Tom tom tom tom….JImbo
We are working on getting the parts necessary to bring them back on-line. Until they are, assume you can only fish the upper river in the morning. Always take a stream thermometer and take water temperatures often, quit when water temps hit 68, or move upstream to you find suitable cold water.
With these lpw flows, you should probably start to think about fishing for warm water species. We do have plenty of rivers to fish for Bass, Perch, and Carp. Plus area lakes offer lots alternatives.
Jimbo
Well, I been asked to bring out the drums and start pounding on them again. Canyon Lake is presently at 877.80’msl and the lake’s pool is 909′, so we need a bunch of rain in the upper basin, resulting in good flows into the lake, and start the rise in lake levels we need. The next few days we have the potential for the rains over the upper basin we need to start this process….
So,… to help give this much needed rain a little nudge….
Tom tom tom tom….
Tom tom tom tom….
Tom tom tom tom….Let it Rain
Let it Pour
Then let it Rain some more !!!!Jimbo
We are overdue for a big push of water coming down the Guadalupe River. It always seems like it will never happen again, right before it does….
As for stocking other locations, none provide the possibility of cold year-round flows. So, we will wait out this bad drought and continue to concentrate on the only place in Texas where there is a possibility of a year round flows that are cold enough to support a Trout Fishery.
Now we could use more LAP sites, I know, and I will work on that. But all you really have to do is park somewhere and the move away from the parking areas to find a piece of water all to yourself. They are there if you put in the effort. I do and I’m 72….
Jimbo
Yes, these “Hoot Owl” restrictions, fishing only from Sunup to 1pm and then quitting are voluntary. These are not rules you must follow, but as conservationists, I think you will understand the reasoning, to fishing only the coolest part of the day, so as not to excessively stress the Trout Population. Flows are very low, and when the air temperatures hit the 90’s, it really warms up the water fast, and limits the viable habitat for our Trout. Also remember how important, these Trout that holdover to the following season are, and how they provide fabulous action for large Trout in the following Fall. When we get several years in a row of significant holdover, like this past year, you see the high numbers of large, healthy, strong, Trout available before we even stock. You also see records broken like we have this past year.
Jimbo
I’ll be there….
Jimbo
Crazy Texas Weather…. I did not expect that this cold front would drop temperatures so dramatically. It looks like next week will be plenty cool enough to fish the river…. After that who knows? When air temps get into the 90s, and with flows of 56cfs, the water temps will start warming to levels you don’t want to fish, real fast again. I do see this rain event hit the Kerrville area. There is a 300cfs pulse coming down the river. What I do know from the past, is that unless the rain continues on regular basis, by the time it gets to Spring Branch it will be less than 100cfs. Still is a good start! Now if we could get the normal or even more than normal spring rains, we could see a real bump in flows to help fill up the lake. It would take something 20-30 inches upstream to get the lake close to pool, but this is Texas, and things like that do happen every now and then.
The places we feed: Maricopa, JDL, River Rose, Kanz, Rio, #5, Lower Slot, Pott’s, Little Ponderosa, and sometimes even lower early in the cycle. For those wanting to help, you can contact Ron Demeyer, he is in charge of the feeding team, rondemeyer@yahoo.com.
Jimbo
You guys are the worst !!!!
Jimbo
JC
So where will you call home base? And where will you be concentrating your fishing efforts? I’m going to be in southern Colorado for much of July, if you want to GTG.
Jimbo
Chris
That terrible news for any parent. Stay close and see that he pulls through. Family is much more important….
Jimbo
WE had no problem with the locks when he stocked a little over a week ago. I will check them again tomorrow then I’m down there.
Jimbo
We are about half way to the 40 volunteers we need, if you are on the fence about helping, the weather forecast for Saturday is a low of 37 and a high of 62 with a few clouds. So, the weather is looking real good for stocking this time of year.
Thanks for volunteering !!!!Jimbo Roberts
GRTU V.P. of Fisheries
Joan
Thanks, you and your friends will be welcome! We usually just watch the kids for a couple of the first sites and then everyone else takes over.
Jimbo
