Letter From Chapter President

Summer has arrived and not a moment too soon as Memorial Day unofficially serves as opening day of the summer season. It is a beginning unlike any summer of my life as we continue to deal with the pandemic forced upon us. Staying healthy is of course the main focus but staying mentally healthy is a close second. I have been able to get a little tailwater fishing in even though the Park access has been closed and just recently reopened. That is all getting ready to change as they slowly dial up the areas available to locals and visitors for recreation.

Thanks for your continued patience as we have had to cancel meetings and events lately due to Covid-19 restrictions. The next Great Smoky Mountain TU chapter meeting is scheduled for 6 PM Thursday June 18th 2020 at DEAD END BBQ. They are back in the dine-in reopening phase and I look forward to meeting there again. I personally have been getting my BBQ fix with their take out service and have been very happy not only with the food of course but the steps they take to ensure safe pickup. Please help support them as we enter the next phase in Knox county whether dining inside or takeout.

On Sunday August 9th, 2020 at 9AM we are having a "DAY ON THE WATER" at the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many of you are familiar with this area right off Little River Road about 8 miles above the Townsend TN park entrance. We have obtained the large covered picnic Pavilion for the entire day. It will be a day of fishing, chilling and grilling with friends and family or as we call it "Fishin with no Mission"! Just a relaxing day of hanging out and fishing rain or shine. All we ask is to let us know how many people you are bringing so we can plan our food requirements.

We are going to be soon finalizing our date for the "Battle of Gatlinburg" One Fly Tournament in September. This will be our fourth year for this one of a kind annual event in downtown Gatlinburg. Every year the prize list gets larger and knock on wood hopefully we do not have a drought like last year. Watch for details for registration and information in the coming month.

Up until the Covid-19 situation we had been ramping up our activities with the Farragut High School fishing club and the University of Tennessee's "Vols on the Fly" TU 5 Rivers chapter. As the plans for schools and universities future school year comes in to focus we will continue to work with them to solidify our partnership with the groups.

Back in the winter one of our chapter members Gary Nunley mentioned an idea for chapter members to reach out and connect to fish. As many of you know sometimes you want to go out and find new waters or maybe just enjoy fishing with a friend. I also think from a safety point it is always a good idea to have someone with you. It it is an idea worth exploring as social distancing on the water and going in seperate vehicles makes this possible even in our current environment.

In closing please follow us on the GSM TU Facebook page and chapter website. The Great Smoky Mountain Facebook page is the best and fastest way to stay up to date with current chapter information or changes.

GSM TU Facebook

http://m.facebook.com/GreatSmokyMountainTU/

John Reinhardt

President