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Meeting Minutes – April 10, 2024

Meeting Attendees

     Tom Vanderputten   Keith Loutzenhiser    Mark Holcomb   Ridge Holcomb   Ted Larrison  

     Jim Mauck   John Hollister   Jim Anderson   Kris Williams   Jim Mock  Wayne Andrews

Meeting Minutes

  • The meeting minutes for March 13, 2024  were approved.

Fishing Reports

  • The Little Elkhart is blown out from high water due to rain.
  • Small streamer is becoming effective as the river water warms.

 Treasurer’s Report

  • The combined balances in Everwise and Interra at the end of March 2024 was $ 21,018.69
  • Deposit of $1,025 made April 2nd from A-A-T mail in ticket sales. CITU Film tour – 3 tickets ($30).
  • TU National Annual Report due by May1st.

Corson Riverwoods Park (Reprinted from March 2024 Minutes)

  • Matt Horsley has changed his opinion regarding a Catch/Release section at the new park. There is a change coming to the statewide regulations regarding the daily bag limit for brown trout.
  • Matt now would like to institute a (1) brown only limit within the park boundary. LECTU has decided to not pursue a Catch/Release policy.
  • The park soft opening has happened, and the parking lot is now open.

Cobus Creek County Park

  • Sherry Plank is the new manager at Cobus Creek Co. Park. She would like to continue the habitat restoration done by River Tenders.
  • Mike has not surveyed the site and high water will delay assessment.
  • Mike spoke with Grayson Davis the head of the Valpo volunteers and John Law who assisted with the design and enhancement construction. Knowledge of the previous effort will help.
  • Should this be a SJRVFF project since it is within their jurisdiction?

Trout Habitat/Rowe Eden Project 

  • John Schwartz reached out to Mike and stated that they are closing access to the Little Elkhart River at County Rd 43 until the issues at The Rowe Eden are resolved. 
  • The Schwartz brothers will meet and discuss the possibilities.
  • Matt Horsley intends to speak with them pertaining stocking restrictions.
  • Apparently no good deed goes unpunished!

Summer Work Days for Trout Habit Restoration 

  • The Rowe Eden and Cobus Creek restorations are both on hold.
  • There will be some days devoted to The Meadow section of The Little Elkhart.
  • Summer work days will also involve the section at The Well Field which was cleared last year. Stream enhancements are planned.
  • Rocks need to be removed from The Riverbend Park lunker boxes.

Annual Outing 

  • The annual outing will be Saturday May 4th  2024.
  • LECTU has the raffle license raffle from the state of Indiana.
  • The guest speaker will be Dominic Chaloner, Biology Professor from the University of  Notre Dame.
  • Mike sent a Certificate of Insurance to Middlebury Parks from Trout Unlimited.
  • The Outing casting instructor will be Rick Hinton (Keith will confirm with Rick)
  • Wayne Andrews will procure the Van for the stream access tour. Nick Christofeno will guide.
  • There will be a fly tying demonstration. 
  • Chairs and Tables have been ordered for delivery Friday morning May 3rd.
  • The tent will be set-up by The Middlebury Parks Dept. Thursday May 2nd.
  • Food, drinks, table ware will be handled by Mike’s wife and her family.
  • Mark Holcomb will build a fly casting course.
  • Andy Kitson will do a 30 minute stream demonstration.

Reel Recovery Update (Reprinted from February 2024 Minutes)

  • Ted Larrison will send a Sponsorship request letter to Beacon Health Systems and the Community Foundation of Elkhart County.
  • The request is to sponsor both the LECTU Outing and the Reel Recovery Retreat in 2025.
  • Ted Larrison reported that the Reel Recovery Event will consist of 10-12 participants.
  • The expenses at the Essenhaus will be approximately $4,000-$5,000. Ted and Tom will meet with the Essenhaus to discuss dates and reservation of rooms etc.
  • Ted has been contacting other foundations seeking financial sponsorship.
  • The national Reel Recovery Organization will assist the 1st year.
  • LECTU believes that June 2025 will be the best time for the event.
  • Tom V will serve as the Retreat Coordinator for 2025.

Core Committee Help (Reprinted from February 2024 Minutes)

  • LECTU needs additional members to assist with LECTU activities and responsibilities since this consistently falls on only a few members.
  • We discussed methods to involve more of our registered members. 
  • Possible outreach programs (e.g. Sponsor Fishing Presentation at Lafayette IN or Kokomo IN for local LECTU members.)
  • Possible active outreach for volunteers at the annual outing. Specific signup sheets for various LECTU activities.

Middlebury Riverfest

  • The Riverfest is scheduled for Saturday August 24th.
  • The event this year will be in the afternoon/evening (3:00pm to 7:00pm)
  • LECTU needs to replace Keith who has been the LECTU representative on the Riverfest Committee.

Library Key Pickup

Wayne, Keith, and Mike have been listed by the Library being able to secure a building key for our monthly LECTU meetings. One of them will pick up the key prior to Wednesday of the meeting.

LECTU Meeting Place and Date

  • Middlebury Library in downtown Middlebury IN.

Next Meeting – Wednesday –  May 8, 2024

Tom Vanderputten – LECTU Secretary