FWAM trip to Rapidan River, Friday, May 9 will be delayed until 10 am departure from Dick's Sporting Goods parking lot due to forecasted thunderstorms.

See: responsibilities. Then E-mail Jay Lovering, NVATU President, or call him at 703-973-1024 to discuss.

Gary Beard joined stream cleanup volunteers April 5, 2008.

Dates in April and May are open for additional volunteers along Accoitnk Creek to participate in the 20th Annual Alice Ferguson Potomac Watershed cleanup and the Spring stream monitoring.

More information is at http://www.accotink.org and the Friends of Accotink Creek calendar.

Look for the May newsletter in your mailbox. Now it's easy to volunteer and donate funds to the Chapter and the good work that the volunteers do. Just fill out and mail to ourTreasurer the last page of your May newsletter to let us know how you would like to help NVATU this year. Network for Good also provides a vehicle for you to make your donations online. You may also send a check directly to our Treasurer. In either case, you may designate your donation. It's easy, just click on the Donate Now button below.

Nadia Elguidy will be speaking to us about the conservation work of the Potomac Riverkeeper (PRK) to protect the waters we cherish and love to fish. PRK fosters conservation efforts and speaks out for the Potomac through programs and enforcement actions.

Our NVATU regular monthly meeting is the first Thursday of the month, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., at the Vienna Firehouse, Vienna, Virginia . Come at 6:30 p.m. and join in the fun of tying flies and meeting other members to swap fishing stories.

Demonstrated by John Hadley:

Elk Hair Caddis It's a little ragged but the fish don't care! Bring your vise, scissors, hair stackers, thread and bobbin, other materials will be provided to tie a fly or two. Come early and plan to be setup to start tying by 6:30 p.m. or so.

Originator: Unknown

May's Fly of the Month will be demonstrated to show the tying of elk hair wings and palmered hackle is the Elk Hair Caddis. Caddis are very prolific and a favorite food item for trout. Be sure to fill your fly box with Caddis flies of various colors from black to green to light tan and sizes 10 to 18.

Fishing Technique: Talk with someone at the meeting who has used the fly.

The Elk Hair Caddis Recipe: Stop by and learn what it takes to tie this fly.

Next month we will be continue the series to learn how to use various materials and tying techniques with a demonstration and practice tying hackle tip wings and the sparse Catskill style on the Adams Fly. Bring your vise, bobbin and black 6/0 thread.

Annual TU Tri-State Conservation and Fishing Camp
Sunday, June 22 to Friday, June 27, 2008.
Apply soon. Camp fills early!

Graves' Mountain Lodge - Syria, Virginia, adjacent to Shenandoah National Park.
Be one of the 24 high school students (currently in the 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grade), both males and females, who will spend most of six days outdoors experiencing mountain streams and their environments to learn about successful and responsible fishing, conservation, stream life and restoration, wildlife, outdoor skills, team challenges, leadership, and lots more, all while having fun. Enjoy an exciting week of hands-on action packed fun in our mountain stream environment that will help you become a skilled angler and an experienced conservationist.
See www.tucamp.org for application information and fees.

For more information contact either Paul Kearney E-mail or 540-229-0563, or
George Gaines E-mail or 202-904-3547.

If you are not receiving the monthly email reminders and bulletins, please click to send us an E-mail and we will add your name to the list.

The regular membership meetings are the first Thursday of the month at the Vienna Firehouse!!

Visit the Firehouse site for directions. You can see the Mapquest map here.

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Our chapter meetings are normally held on the first Thursday of every month.

Meetings start at 6:45 with a fly tying session. The actual meeting starts at 7:30 with Chapter business and information, followed by the program for the evening. The program topics are announced in the newsletter and the website, but are subject to change.

Everyone is welcome at our meeting. If it is your first time at one of our meetings, please let us know at the table when you come in and we can tell you about membership, show you a newsletter, introduce you to folks, and welcome you.

On an intermittently sunny Saturday morning, November 10h, 2007, a stalwart crew of eighteen NoVA TU volunteers, thirty cedar trees, and twelve tons of rock joined to help preserve and restore Big Spring Creek in Leesburg. Big Spring Creek is the only stream in eleven counties of Northern Virginia with a wild reproducing trout population and, as such, this tributary of the Potomac is well worth looking after.

Cedar revetments and rock headings were placed at nine sites along the upper portions of the stream in support of high banks that are subject to wear and tear from the flow of water, especially in expected high springtime flows. Two crews anchored the trees to the banks and helped position rocks to divert flow further. Another crew was busy all morning getting trees and rocks to the various sites spread along the stream for several hundred yards. By the time one o'clock rolled around, everyone welcomed the plentiful lunch that yet another group had been busy preparing. Lively conversation followed about conservation, the work of NoVA TU, and, of course, where to fish.

There was a nice mix of first-timers and those with long experience with this sort of work Thanks to all those who helped on the tenth and in the preparatory weeks before hand including Gary Beard, Scott Bearden, Bruce Beaulieu, Brett Binns, Roger Brown, Skip Courtney, Scott Cregger, Benjamin Cukok, Jim Galvin, Kiki Galvin, Jay Lovering, Ford Moseley, George Paine, Neal Peckens, Rod Pitts, Frank Roberts, Bob Rosenthal, Bobbie Rosenthal, and Burt Weisman. Their efforts exemplify TU's work on the ground in fine style. Special thanks also to John Odenkirk of VDGIF and Joseph Ferdinandsen of the Weston Wildlife Management Area, and, of course, Mike Spak, without the use of whose bobcat and 'gator' the work simply would not be possible.

Bob Rosenthal has contributed the Fifth Annual Big Spring Creek Status Report. Burt Weisman contributed the the earlier reports. Review a detailed account of progress made through the cooperation of our chapter and landowners on this Northern Virginia rarity:

Fifth Report

Fourth Report

Third Report

Second Report

First Report with great pictures

Spring Discounts March 2008 -- March 2-14 - mid-week, Sun thru Thur, get a 25% dicount, only for new bookings!

Trout fishing - Private and state stocking makes fishing perfect this week. Private stocking two times each month; March, April and May; thousands of 12" trout and hundreds of 2-4 lb. fish this year with 30 fish over 4 lbs. Fifty-two miles of stream near the cabins are stocked by state every week in March, April and May.

Visit www.wvlogcabins.com

Dave's Description: "One day in 2006, I thought that if I were ever going to write about my learning experience with fly-fishing, it should be now while I am making the transition from "Newbie" to "Somewhat Proficient." I have come from knowing absolutely nothing about the sport to being reasonably good at it. At least I can catch fish consistently and, more importantly, most of the time I know why I am catching them. If you don't know anything about fly-fishing, this is the book for you because that was exactly my situation a few years ago. The book will help anyone to catch fish using a flyrod without any prior knowledge."

Dave's book take you through his first three years of learning to fly-fish. Read how Dave make the "transition", and gather valuable tips and inisght along the way.

Dave not only mentions the Chapter in his book, but has generously offered to make a donation to the chapter for each book he sells through lulu.com. The site allows you to look through the book and decide for yourself. If you're a beginner, or just looking for some good "fishing reading", I'll bet you'll enjoy this book.

Visit lulu.com and look through. Better yet, get Dave's book and make your own journey to "somewhat proficient". Thanks Dave!!

If you would like to fish with the folks from the Shenandoah Chapter of the FFF, please E-mail Bill Cartwright at dichb 'at' aol.com, or telephone at (540) 432-0607. The chapter has regular "fish with a member" events, and would love to have you "fish along"!

We're announcing a new partnership! Take a look at the Speedtech Instruments Angler’s EDGE Plus Fishing Predictor.

Purchase a Mariners Edge or the Anglers Edge, and Speedtech will donate 25% to the chapter for any NVATU member that provides the chapter number #360! New EDGE technology makes SOLUNAR TABLES obsolete.

These one-of-a-kind instruments measure the different influences of moon phase, moon/sun position and barometric pressure, to predict when fish, deer, and elk will be the most active. Fish and Hunt SMARTER with Speedtech's EDGE!

Compare the features of different Speedtech products HERE.