NVATU EDUCATION

Touching the lives of over 1000 local students each year

NVATU Education focuses on education leveraging environmental science, the programs of our collaboration partners, and TU National programs to inform and teach our members and the youth of our community to be conservation active, responsible custodians of our stream habitat and fisheries to preserve them for future generations to enjoy

NVATU Education presently incorporates five education activities; Stream Guide, Trout in the Classroom (TIC), Stream Girls/Stream Keepers, Flytying instruction, and the NVATU/BSA Fly Fishing Merit Badge program.

Stream Guide

The extremely popular NVATU Stream Guide (Washington D.C. Area Trout Fishing), now in its third edition, provides an introduction to more than 30 streams located within a day trip of Northern Virginia. The guide provides updated information on directions, regulations, and stream access as well as expanded stream descriptions to provide anglers with a deeper understanding of what they will experience when they visit these streams. If you are new to fly fishing or recently arrived, this guide is a “must have” reference for streams in our area. The guide features GPS coordinates that direct the reader to parking lots and access points.  Helpful fishing tips from our chapter members and local guides give the reader an edge for a successful day on the stream. Guides may be purchased at local fly shops or under the “about” tab of this website.

TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM

Trout in the Classroom is a conservation-oriented environmental education program for elementary, middle, and high school students. Through the school year, students raise trout from eggs to fry and then release them into approved cold water streams. This act of raising, monitoring, and caring for young trout fosters a conservation ethic within participating students and promotes an understanding of their shared water resources.

The Trout in the Classroom (TIC) https://www.virginiatu.org/education program continues to be a flagship education program for NVATU and has operated for 14 years. The program has recovered substantially from 8 tanks in Spring 2021 (post covid) to 36 tanks by October 2023, with 23 participating schools. We need a pool of at least 20 volunteers to draw from to deliver eggs in the fall and release fish in the spring. If you are interested in volunteering for this activity or if you are aware of a school that would like to initiate a TIC program, please contact George Paine at gpaine@novatu.org

STREAM GIRLS/KEEPERS

Stream Girls is a Trout Unlimited patch program held in conjunction with the Girl Scouts of America to teach cadet level girl scouts about conservation, stream ecology, fly fishing, and fly tying.  Stream Girls is part of the Trout Unlimited Headwaters Youth Program. Detailed information on the Stream Girls program can be found at www.tu.org/streamgirls. The participating scouts receive workbooks and are charged with assessing the health of a local stream. They take and record chemical and temperature measurements, identify macroinvertebrates, calculate water flow, learn about standard protocols and then review the data they have gathered to agree on the stream condition. Scouts also, have the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of the stream environment as they participate in the stream walk. Although the program is actively supported by chapters in other regions of the country, NVATU is the only chapter to offer this program in Virginia.

Stream Keepers is gender neutral version of the identical program, not associated with GSA, originally designed to serve boy scout troops but available to any youth organization.

For more information on Stream girls/StreamKeepers events, if you would like to volunteer for a future event or if you know a cadet level Girl Scout troop or other youth group who might be interested, please contact bparker@novatu.org. Also, check out the event reports below.

Fly Tying Instruction

John Hadley teaches an informal fly tying class in conjunction with each of our in-person member meetings. The NVATU chapter provides materials, vises and tools for this class, although attendants are encouraged to bring their own vises and tools so they become familiar with them. A “fly of the month” will be chosen for the class. The fly pattern will be one that will work on our local waters. Although flytyers of all skill levels and ages are welcome, attendees who know the basics are more likely to complete the fly pattern.  However, even if you have never tried flytying and just want an introduction, there will be many flytyers around to help with the basics. Refer to the homepage for in-person meeting schedules, no reservations required, just come and learn.