Downeast TU is a chapter of Trout Unlimited, a national non-profit organization dedicated to protect and conserve North American cold-water fish species and habitat. Membership is open to all, go to www.tu.org/join305Downeast and use chapter code 305 Downeast TU.
Monthly meetings are the Fourth Wednesday of the month from October to May at the Moore Center, 125 State Street, Ellsworth, ME
gmail.com (joeyrizzoart[at]gmail[dot]com). Rizzo’s art can be seen at https://fineartamerica.com/#ChanceSculpture #JoeyRizzoArt #BangorPublicLibrary #Downeast TU #Trout Unlimited #DowntownBangor #ArtoberBangor
https://downtownbangor.com/
Changes coming in January! Starting Jan. 22 DETU monthly meetings will change to the 4th Wed. of each month. Stay tuned for a membership survey.
At our January 22 members meeting we will vote on two changes to the Downeast Trout Unlimited bylaws.
We are making changes to align our DETU bylaws more closely with National TU. The changes are as follows:
Maine Council TU https://tumaine.org/ TU activities in Maine.
Trout Camp June 22-26 2025. Students ages 13-17 can apply. Forms available on Maine Council website. The camp's stockpile of flies for use on the Kennebec River needs replenishing. Anglers or fly tiers, please consider donating a half dozen or more of the same pattern. Flies should be sent to Robb Cotiaux at 91 Tufts Road New Gloucester, ME. 04260. Contact Robb Cotiaux r.cotiauxgmail.com (r[dot]cotiaux[at]gmail[dot]com)
Rising Trout Award Nominations are now being accepted. This award given by DETU recognizes an individual or organization that has made outstanding contributions to fulfilling our mission to conserve, protect, and restore cold-water fisheries and their watersheds. We will accept nominations through December from any DETU member for this award. We will choose the recipient in January and the award will be given at the 2025 Annual Meeting on April 23.
Shad Raffle Returns with a Twist- Winners Choice of 2 Prizes! Tickets $10 each. SHAD FISHING for one MAY 17TH or 12 LOBSTERS! Drawing April 23 Two winners will be drawn. The first winner has their choice of prize and the second winner will receive the remaining prize. DETU will soon be mailing members one ticket for this raffle. Purchase it, sell it, or buy the ticket and designate that the prize be given to a veteran. Experience a day of fly-tying and fly-fishing for American Shad. Your day will begin with fly-tying at 8am in Milbridge, followed by fishing on the Narraguagus River with Al West, Registered Maine Guide and DMR record holder for the largest American Shad caught on a fly rod. DETU members Mike Elkavitch and Bob Bechtold will offer fly tying guidance and supply the flies needed for a successful day of Shad fishing. Dress for the weather and bring your own snacks. Gear will be provided if needed. The lobsters will need to be picked up, location TBD. For more information contact Al West at aldime04658gmail.com (aldime04658[at]gmail[dot]com)
Art Installation Promotes Brook Trout Conservation- Artist and DETU member Joe Rizzo has created "Chance" an amazing 14 foot Sea-run Brook Trout as part of an installation to bring awareness for the need to protect, conserve and restore brook trout habitat in Maine. Part of Rizzo’s vision for “Chance” is to raise awareness of conservation groups in Maine whose work has helped preserve and protect the waters where sea-run brook trout live, especially the Downeast Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Downeast Salmon Federation. Contact Joe at joeyrizzoartgmail.com (joeyrizzoart[at]gmail[dot]com). Rizzo’s art can be seen at https://fineartamerica.com/
Bucksport Mill LLC seeks to relinquish ownership of the Silver Lake, Alamoosook Lake, and Toddy Pond dams. On November 1st, the DEP accepted a Petition for Release from Dam Ownership filed by the company as complete. Each of the 5 Towns affected will be scheduling meetings for their citizens. Penobscot’s will be December 3rd, Bucksport’s December 12th, and Orland’s will be December 13th at 6:00pm. Surry and Blue Hil will schedule meetings soon.
https://townoforland.org/
MaineDOT to Install Long Term Temporary Bridge in Machias- A more durable structure over the Dike Bridge in Machias will ensure safety while DOT assesses long-term resiliency needs and options for a permanent replacement on Route 1 over the Middle River. The new temporary bridge will be designed to last about 20 years.https://www.maine.gov/
Informative Series on Maine Dams in The Maine Monitor- https://themainemonitor.org/
https://themainemonitor.org/
https://themainemonitor.org/
Conservation Law Foundation to sue Cooke Aquaculture- CLF plans to sue one of the world’s largest salmon producers over Clean Water Act violations at 13 sites in Maine. https://www.clf.org/newsroom/
Good information in this article about Renewable Energy and Dams in Maine https://themainemonitor.org/
Thank you Downeast Salmon Federation for replacing an undersized and deficient culvert on Sodom Brook in Deblois. This brook was designated an area of special management by Maine IFW because of its cold-water inputs to the Narraguagus River. A 4’ pipe was replaced with a bridge designed by DSF Fisheries Biologist and DETU member Mike Manning using the Stream Smart Road Crossing Program guidelines. Now a natural stream channel exists that opens nearly a half mile of critical habitat for Atlantic Salmon and Eastern Brook Trout. While DETU did not fund this project Trout Unlimited has an Embrace a Stream grant program if you know of fish passage impediments near you.
Maine Council TU https://tumaine.org/ TU activities in Maine, Trout Camp info and forms, and a link to Lauren Pickford’s photos from her October Downeast visit.
National TU- Now through Giving Tuesday, your contributions will have triple the impact! Every $1 you give to Trout Unlimited will be generously double matched by TU's board, packing 3 times the punch for cold-water fish conservation and habitat protection. Make a donation today: https://bit.ly/3V9K00Z https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Downeast Trout Unlimited Gear= Great Gifts: Hats $25, Brook Trout pins $15, Earrings $16
Downeast Trout Unlimited chapter 305 is dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring Maine's cold water fisheries and their watersheds. Go to www.tu.org/join305Downeast to join--half price for new memberships! Call 800-834-2419 to renew. Mail donations to Downeast Trout Unlimited, c/o Dana Hunter, Treasurer; 9 Lobster Pool Road Little Deer Isle, ME 04650. Contact DETU Secretary Tammy Packie, tpackiegmail.com (tpackie[at]gmail[dot]com) or visit https://www.downeasttu.org/ or Downeast TU on Facebook.\\
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM ROB PACKIE
I am writing this letter to celebrate our fifth anniversary as a Trout Unlimited chapter, to talk about our accomplishments, and to ask you to help us forge our future.
Annual Meeting & New Leadership Needed
At our next Annual Meeting, on April 23, 2025, myself and the three other officers of the board, George Marnik Vice President, Dana Hunter Treasurer, and Tammy Packie Secretary, will be stepping down after serving six years in our respective roles. We have laid the groundwork for a successful chapter to build on, and it is time for a change. A change of ideas, of vision, perhaps even an entirely new course. This is an important time for the chapter, its first leadership change, so I want to ask you to think about your role in DETU.
Working on a TU chapter as an officer comes with responsibilities and challenges but it also brings rewards in the work that is accomplished under your leadership. I would like to have a conversation with any member who might like to have a role in decisions to be made going forward. Please feel free to call or email me so we can chat.
Though we are stepping out of our officer roles, none of us are going away. We will be available to help new leaders transition, working on committees as we have been, and we will continue to support Downeast Trout Unlimited.
Five Years of Accomplishments
When I started in my role as President of Downeast Trout Unlimited I was, to say the least, surprised at how many people had never heard of TU. Having been a TU member for over thirty years I assumed people involved with other conservation groups would know of the work done by this national organization. I found that if people were not fly fishers or not working with fish conservation they didn't know of TU.
I think our biggest achievement is that we have established the presence of Trout Unlimited in downeast Maine.
We have done this with a big effort on outreach. We invited members of NGOs from the area, who do not necessarily work with fish conservation, to speak to our chapter about their work. We also reached out to like-minded groups and now DETU participates in events such as the Penobscot Fly Fishers Cabin Fever Reliever, the Pleasant River Fish and Game Association Puckerbrush Weekend, Island Heritage Trust Family Fishing Day, Green Ellsworth's Union River Summit, and Downeast Salmon Federation's Smelt Fry.
Of course the various federal and state agencies and NGOs that work with fisheries and habitat conservation and restoration have been involved with our chapter. Many staff members have spoken at our meetings and others have had conversations with me on different issues. Several have told me they are happy to see a TU chapter in downeast Maine.
We cannot forget the effect our newsletters have had. While DETU averages around 250 members, Tammy sends the newsletter to over 800 people, some as far away as New Mexico and California. Based on feedback our newsletter is greatly enjoyed. A couple of weeks ago Tammy and I were at a Project Share dinner and when Tammy introduced herself to someone from the Maine Sea Grant program he responded, “Your Tammy, you send out the newsletter!" When Tammy replied “Yes” he told us it's a great letter and he enjoys getting it. All of this outreach work has been time consuming but it has paid off and helped us get out our message.
Oh yes, and then there was Covid. Thanks to Tammy DETU was able to get Zoom meetings up and going very quickly and in so doing we were able to continue with monthly board and members meetings. At the first Cx3 after Covid we were recognized and praised for this by TU staff and attendees from around the country. I guess if anything good came out of the pandemic it is that we now have hybrid meetings and that has allowed us to have speakers from far away who would not come to speak in person, as well as giving those who choose to do so the opportunity to attend our meetings remotely.
Several members have participated in advocacy work at the local, state, and national level. This work has included advocating for or against bills in the state legislature, for fundraising, and on connectivity issues.
While we have not done a lot of conservation projects as a chapter, DETU members have worked on Sea run Brook Trout Surveys, water chemistry sampling, the annual Card Brook Clean-up, and with Project Share doing large wood installation on the Narraguagus River.
Lastly, something very important to me, DETU partnered with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing to create a new program in Machias. Forty years ago, before I knew of TU, and long before I heard about using fly fishing for therapy, I worked as a Firefighter/EMT. On multiple occasions after working horrific incidents, I would go home at the end of my shift, clean up, grab my fly rod and a box of flies and head to a pond to fly fish and collect myself. During the time of year when the fishing season was closed I grabbed binoculars and went birding, but somehow that never worked as well as fly fishing, I think it may have to do with the physical aspect of casting and retrieving, rhythm and timing, but I can't say. What I can say is we have several members who are instructors for fly tying or casting, or both. Working with a group of vets is incredibly rewarding and a lot of fun. This is a great and ongoing program.
Downeast Maine was an area of the state that was begging for a TU chapter.
Our chapter territory, bounded by the coast, ranges from the Penobscot River on the west, to the St. Croix River on the east. It has six rivers located between those boundaries, rivers that are home to the last populations of endangered Atlantic Salmon. Downeast Maine is also home to many waters with healthy populations of Landlocked Salmon, including two of the original watersheds where these fish evolved following the last glaciation, the St. Croix River, including West Grand Lake, and the Union River, including Green Lake. Many of our waters hold Brook Trout and, of particular note, many streams with open access to the ocean have Sea-run Brook Trout. Maine is the only state in the lower forty eight with native populations of Arctic Char. Two of those lakes, Floods Pond, and Green Lake, are in the DETU chapter area. These fish species and their habitat need the support of TU to continue to survive in the face of a myriad of threats to them.
People ask me why I got involved as deeply as I have with TU. Well, I just told you why.
Finally, Tammy and I are dealing with ongoing health issues. Not only do these issues sideline us at times, they are definitely a mental distraction. Unfortunately, our problems are not going away anytime soon, but hopefully will be resolved in a year or so. In the meantime, we will both remain connected and committed to the chapter and will support our new leadership team.
As always, thank you all for your support of Downeast Trout Unlimited. Don’t hesitate to reach out to learn how you can become more active as a leader.
Rob
Robert Packie
President Downeast Trout Unlimited
rbpackiegmail.com (rbpackie[at]gmail[dot]com)
207-610-0976
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Join Trout Unlimited and other advocates working to restore migratory fish populations on the Kennebec River to urge FERC to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to require effective fish passageways on the Kennebec. There are several ways you can help:
1.Sign our petition. TU will include this petition with the detailed comments we will send to FERC.
2. Submit personal comments to FERC. These may be submitted through FERC's electronic comment portal, which can be accessed at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/
Thanks in advance for joining Trout Unlimited and our partners in the Kennebec Coalition: Atlantic Salmon Federation, Maine Rivers, Natural Resources Council of Maine, and the Conservation Law Foundation to support this important effort to ensure the survival of Atlantic Salmon in the U.S.
Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery and Museum Tours The salmon have spawned and the fry are hatching. Would you or your group like a tour? Call Senior Biologist Denise Buckley at 207-469-7300.
Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs): Forestry operations that use best management practices protect the natural ability of watersheds to support life. By preventing stream sedimentation, BMPs can maintain streambed properties and the clean water that allows fish and the aquatic insects they depend on to feed and spawn. Leaving trees that shade and provide leaf litter to waterbodies limits changes in water temperature and chemical characteristics that could improve the ability of trout to reproduce. FMI: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/
Downeast Trout Unlimited (DETU) is dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring Maine's cold water fisheries and their watersheds. Call 800-834-2419 to renew or go to tu.org/intro to join and use chapter code 305 for Downeast Trout Unlimited. Donations may be mailed to Downeast Trout Unlimited, c/o Dana Hunter, Treasurer; 9 Lobster Pool Road Little Deer Isle, ME 04650. For more information contact Tammy Packie, tpackiegmail.com (tpackie[at]gmail[dot]com) 207-
Reel Craft Pass The Reel Craft brewery booklet promotes craft beer and flyfishing, with 50% discount on 1 beer at over 50 Maine locations throughout 2024. Cost $20. Available at The Reel Craft Pass on Facebook or www.reelcraftpass.com Reel Craft Pass is donating a portion of the proceeds from their 2024 Maine Edition of the Reel Craft Pass to DETU. We have raised over $400 so far.
TU Maine State Council is seeking donations for a $150,000 legal defense fund to hire lawyers to help Maine TU deal with Brookfield in the FERC dam relicensing process for the Ripogenus, Rumford Falls and Aziscohos Hydro Projects Legal action may be necessary to protect the fisheries on these waters. Contact Steve Heinz, heinzmaine.rr.com (heinz[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com) for more information.
Draft Water Quality Certification: Green Lake Hydroelectric Project
Project Folder: Green Lake Hydroelectric Project
Membership: Downeast Trout Unlimited (DETU) is dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring Maine's cold water fisheries and their watersheds. Membership link and discount for new members: The Individual rate is $17.50, half price the normal rate of $35. DETU will receive $15 for recruiting new members. To join go to www.tu.org/gmail.com (tpackie[at]gmail[dot]com)
TU National Over 300 TU volunteers, including Tammy Packie, State Council Rep for the National Leadership Council, TU staff, anglers and conservationists from around the country attended CX3 in September to celebrate coldwater, conservation, and community on the Spokane River in Washington. CX3 2023 showcased partnerships with the Nez Perce Tribe, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing and others to emphasize the importance of collaboration to address complex environmental challenges. Fishing on rivers with local volunteers (Tammy went with the leader of the Gonzaga Costa 5 Rivers group to learn about their activities), a stream clean-up with the Spokane Riverkeepers, the Annual Awards banquet and Members Meeting, and casting with Spokane Women On The Fly (Tammy tried fly-casting for the first time!) were fun activities for all ages. The focus of Cx3 2023 was removing the lower four Snake River Dams. Participants were given a tour of Lower Granite Dam, engaged in insightful discussions, workshops, and viewed the powerful film Covenant of the Salmon People to help understand the critical issues surrounding these dams. Thank you to all the presenters, including our keynote speaker, Nez Perce Chairman Shannon Wheeler. Attendees left CX3 armed with knowledge to advocate for the removal of the lower four Snake River Dams to recover Idaho’s salmon and steelhead. To learn more about the accomplishments TU has made in the past year and goals for the future watch President and CEO Chris Wood’s State of Trout Unlimited presentation on YouTube. Next year’s CX3 is in the Twin Cities, MN. from Sept. 25 – 29 2024.
President's Message
With fall fast approaching I want to bring all of you up to date on new and ongoing activities in our chapter. Over the summer DETU continued to advocate for habitat preservation and promote fly fishing. I attended the Downeast SHRU meeting and participated in the second Family Fishing Day with Island Heritage Trust in June. Several DETU members assisted Project Healing Waters on a weekend fishing event and taught fly-casting at a Pleasant River Fish and Game Conservation Association event in July. DETU board members continued efforts to partner with community organizations to preserve water quality and promote fish passage.
Several NGO's concerned about the Union River have contracted with a firm to do an economic study on the river. Two consultants will be conducting interviews and would like to hear from members of DETU at 8:00am on Sept. 26 at Flexit Cafe on Main Street Ellsworth. Jen and Bryan will be set up immediately to your left as you walk in the Cafe. Any and all are welcome. I will be there and would like to invite you to come and share your views. They will hold a public meeting at the Ellsworth Library at 6pm 9/26 as well.
MDI Region Hazardous Waste Collection Day Saturday September 21 from 10-2pm. Residents of Mount Desert island, Cranberry Isles, Frenchboro, Swans island and Lamoine can prevent toxic substances from entering water sources by bringing their household hazardous waste or universal waste to MDI High School for disposal at no charge. For more info on the event go to http://www.acadiadisposal.org/
Bob Bechtold, one of our members, is starting a Flies and Lies group on October 6th. The meetings will take place twice a month on Sundays from 5-8pm in Bar Harbor at the Machias Savings Bank on Cottage Street. The meetings are free and open to the public. Contact Bob at 207-288-4957 or trichoptera42gmail.com (trichoptera42[at]gmail[dot]com) for information.
Speaking of flies, Robb Cotiaux, Maine TU's Trout Camp Coordinator, has put out a request to the Maine chapters for donations of flies suitable for use on the Kennebec River. The camp's stockpile of flies is running low and needs replenishing. He is asking the fly tiers among us to donate a half dozen or more of the same pattern. Of course those members who don't tie flies, like me, can also donate flies. After 50 years of fly fishing I have accumulated boxes of flies, many of which I don't use, or have more than I need. I have been going through my boxes and pulling out those to send to Trout Camp. Flies should be sent to Robb Cotiaux at 91 Tufts Road New Gloucester, ME. 04260.
2024 Trout Camp: Everyone had a good time, fish were caught, and new skills learned. The two teen mentors were excellent, and Cody Leighton, from DETU, has stepped up to adult camp board member status. Many thanks to all who taught, stayed overnight, and supported our efforts. Trout Camp 2025 will be held from Sunday, June 22 to Thursday, June 26. Applications are on the State Council TU website. If any member is interested in volunteering please contact me for details.
The Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Machias group (PHWFF-M) is continuing to grow. They meet monthly at the Downeast Salmon Federation headquarters where they tie flies with some DETU members, host speakers, and view fly fishing films. In October the group will be going to Echo Lake in Acadia National Park for an afternoon fly casting clinic and Brook Trout fishing. I will be there teaching with a couple of other DETU members. If anyone wants to join or become a volunteer with PHWFF please contact me or Mike Manning, Program Lead, mike.manningprojecthealingwaters.org (mike.manning@
DETU is continuing to advocate for fish passage to be included in the design for the rebuilding of the Branch Lake dam. The city of Ellsworth has formed the Branch Lake Fish Passage Working Group that includes city staff, a member of the Branch Lake Association, Down East Trout Unlimited, Downeast Salmon Federation, and Green Ellsworth. At this time we are waiting for the engineering firm to submit their preliminary design drawings.
Trout Unlimited has hired a new Maine Project Manager, Lauren Pickford. I've invited Lauren to speak at one of our meetings to outline her goals for TU in Maine. Lauren has a Masters degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management from Unity College and has worked on a number of watershed projects in the Sebago and Belgrade Lakes areas.
As a reminder, our Annual Meeting is in April. This is an important meeting as all four officers on the board will have reached their term limits and will be stepping down from their current roles. We are looking for replacements to step up and help out the chapter. If you can help support DETU in this important way please contact me. I will be sending out more information on this in the upcoming months.
At this time our member meetings will continue to be hybrid on the third Wednesday of the month at 5:30 pm at the Moore Center in Ellsworth, beginning October 16 and going through May. We are in the process of lining up speakers for this year, and do not have a speaker for October yet. Some of the topics to be presented are a Brook Trout study by IFW, Fly Fishing in Cuba, and Frenchman's Bay Conservancy's land acquisitions in the Union River watershed. If you would like to do a presentation, or know of someone who would be a good speaker, please contact me, Tammy, or Mark Whiting our Program Coordinator. mark.c.whitinggmx.com (mark[dot]c[dot]whiting[at]gmx[dot]com)
Finally I want to pass on a word about wading safety. I just read an article on this subject and in it they said that when it comes to wading, be a chicken. Chickens rarely drown. For years I neglected an important piece of equipment, a wading staff. I added that to my equipment this year. After years of not listening to friends urging me to use one I finally got the message. Since using it this season and seeing how much easier and safer wading is I can't believe I was so foolish for so many years. I urge those of you who don't use a wading staff to get one and use it. And let's not forget a wading belt, another piece of safety equipment that can save your life.
We hope you had a great summer and thanks for supporting DETU. If you’re not already a member consider joining us today to support our work and connect with Downeast Maine’s fishing community. www.tu.org/join305Downeast
Rob Packie
President Downeast Trout Unlimited
rbpackiegmail.com (rbpackie[at]gmail[dot]com)
207-288-5442 –h
207-610-0976 -c
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Downeast Trout Unlimited (DETU) is dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring Maine's cold water fisheries and their watersheds. Call 800-834-2419 to renew or go to tu.org/intro to join and use chapter code 305 for Downeast Trout Unlimited. Donations may be mailed to Downeast Trout Unlimited, c/o Dana Hunter, Treasurer; 9 Lobster Pool Road Little Deer Isle, ME 04650. For more information contact Tammy Packie, tpackie
288-5442 or visit https://www.downeasttu.org/ or our Facebook page Downeast TU:https://www.facebook.com/
pages/category/Nonprofit- Organization/Downeast-TU/
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Donations can be sent to:
305 – Downeast Chapter Trout Unlimited
9 Lobster Pool Road, Little Deer Isle, ME 04650
The Coastal Stream Survey Project is a collaborative effort that began in 2014, and seeks to recruit volunteer anglers to gather data on wild brook trout in Maine’s coastal rivers and streams. Wild brook trout may move considerable distances during the course of their lives. Some wild brook trout that live in coastal streams may spend part of their lives in both saltwater and freshwater, a life history strategy called "diadromy.” Diadromous brook trout may leave their freshwater environment for periods ranging from a few months to over a year. Typically, they migrate from fresh to salt water at an early age, probably to take advantage of the more abundant food resources in salt water estuaries and perhaps also to seek thermal refuge during certain times of the year. Learn more about the Coastal Stream Survey.
Volunteer Anglers Needed
We need your help! Thanks to the overwhelming response from anglers and the conservation community, we are pleased to announce the launch of the seventh consecutive year of the Remote Pond Survey Project. There are lots of exciting places to explore this year, and we are seeking new and returning volunteers to assist with this effort. You too can be part of this exciting conservation effort and backcountry adventure!
The success of this project is entirely dependent on the data collected by volunteer anglers, so please consider helping with the Remote Pond Survey Project. This is your chance to make a significant contribution to the conservation of native brook trout in Maine. If you love to fish for brook trout and are looking for an adventure, we need you!
