Minutes of NBFF Membership Meeting
09/20/2023
Pat McQuinn called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm at the New Braunfels Public Library excited about a new trout season. The LAP process zoom meetings are completed and all members that are joining the program had successfully completed all phases. Trout stockings are planned for the year so the season will be good even with the drought conditions.
Nathan Pence, Executive Manager of Environmental Science at GBRA was our guest speaker. His presentation was very informative about GBRA’s role with the Guadalupe water shed and the management of the flows being released from Canyon Lake. The drought we are experiencing is in it’s second year and is being compared to the drought of 1956. He did confirm that the flows will continue as they are needed to meet GBRA’s contractual requirements. The 2023-2024 trout season based on the current weather forecasts of the drought continuing will see the same flow rates that we saw during last season.
Gary Nyland reported that the next fly-tying class will be October 5th, 6:00 PM at the Westside Community Center. He will be sending an email out with further details.
Pat McQuinn reported that the club membership remains at 42. Further discussions were had concerning the levels of participation at club meetings and club activities. Sending out a survey was discussed and in addition calling some of the members that we have not seen for some time to check on them. Ron, John, Brien and Pat volunteered to call 4/5 members each (1/2 of the membership).
The Education Director position is open. Discussion on having another class for the public this fall was tabled for the next meeting.
Ed Sweet reported that the club’s following on social media as of September 20th was 1873. A post to the web site goes automatically to Face Book followers also. He is also placing notices concerning our meetings, holdover tournament, etc. on the website so the public is seeing what NBFF is doing. How to increase participation in club activities is an ongoing topic.
Ron reported that there were no planned outings at this time.
Club logo hat sales have gone very well. Ron is going to place a second order so if anyone needs a hat please contact Ron. Hats are $25.
Our only club fund raiser will be the Hold Over Tournament scheduled for November 4th. This will be an opportunity for members to support the club so participation is urged. We are hoping that the membership will support the event as it is the primary source of funds the club has. Float trips are $200 each and members should contact Ron ASAP to book a raft and to assist Dan with scheduling the guides. Self guided trips are $75 and members should contact Chris at Action Angler to make reservations. Ron also asked for volunteers to help contact vendors who make donations to the event. Vendors have been very supportive of the event with some great gifts and just need to be contacted. Ron has a list of vendors to choose from.
Dan Cone has reported that the signs being made by Texas Parks and Wildlife are in process of manufacture and the plan is to have them displayed on the river by the beginning of trout season. A request will go out to GRTU members to assist with installing the signs.
Martin Stults and Gary Nyland are feeding the fish this week and gave an update. The flows are at 118 cfs and the water temps are between 62 and 68 which is great and an improvement from this past summer. Fish are being reported at all locations but the activity has slowly decreased as we get near the end of the program.
Our next club meeting will be October 25th at 6:00 PM at the New Braunfels Public Library. Cari Rey will be our guest speaker. She is a FFI certified casting instructor, guide and member of the Texas Women Fly Fishers. Cari’s presentation will be fly fishing on the Guadalupe.