Conserving, protecting and restoring cold-water watersheds of North Georgia.
Conserving, protecting and restoring cold-water watersheds of North Georgia.
The Georgia Trout Camp was founded in 2004 by the GA Council of Trout Unlimited. Chairman Charlie Breithaupt, Secretary Kathy Breithaupt, and Executive Committee member and owner of the Atlanta Fly Fishing School, Mack Martin, proposed the idea to the GA Council Executive Committee in September of 2003. A unanimous decision was made to support the Camp financially and philosophically.
The mission of Trout Camp, June 4-9, is to introduce boys and girls ages 13-15, to Trout Fishing and Coldwater Conservation ideals. Our Camp is a six-day overnight camp, and we are housed at Tallulah Falls School in Tallulah Falls, GA. We skipped 2020 due to Covid concerns and had a weekend camp in 2021. In 2022 it was business as usual with our typical 6-day 5-night camp.
The camp is supported financially by the GA Council of Trout Unlimited, private donors, and camper tuition. We have made every effort to keep our costs reasonable for the campers. Our tuition which includes room and board, transportation, and equipment is $700. The cost per camper does not cover the expenses, so we supplement our finances with our Fly-Fishing Dream Trip raffle that we have held successfully since 2005.
We accept 12 campers and average about 30 volunteers. Since 2004 we have graduated over 400 young conservationists and anglers. We also enjoy our Young Mentors. These are select Camp graduates who would like to return to camp for a mentoring experience. Our volunteers are TU members (who have an approved background check) who are invited to join us during the day, and spend the night in the dorm, as space allows. Meals are included.
Our curriculum includes: Casting, Knot Tying, Fly Tying, Stocking the River or Stream with the Department of Natural Resources, Stream Entomology, Stream Etiquette, Reading the Water, Conservation Work with the US Forest Service and GA DNR, Equipment and Maintenance, Camaraderie, Fun and Fishin’!
Learn more about Trout Camp online.
See you on the River!
Kathy Breithaupt, Ph.D.
Chairman, GA Council of Trout Unlimited
Right here in Blue Ridge and the surrounding North Georgia region, four of the strongest supporters of Blue Ridge Mountain Trout Unlimited and Blue Ridge Trout & Outdoor Adventures Festival (aka Trout Fest -- the chapter's primary, annual fundraising event) have chosen Trout Unlimited Business memberships as part of their support for TU at both national and local levels.
We hope you are passionate about supporting TU Business members. They are partners in TU who help spread our conservation to their angling communities — they are truly our representatives on the water. In return, TU features them in its quarterly magazine, lists them on the national website and give them free Trout Unlimited gift memberships to share with customers, clients and partners who stand behind TU's mission to protect, reconnect and restore the trout and salmon resources we love so much. These businesses put their money where their mouth is and give back to the resources they love and depend on.
Local support of BRMTU by TU Business members include the Atlanta Fly Fishing School, Blue Ridge Fly Fishing School and Reel 'Em In Guide Service. Each is a significant contributor to the education, conservation and community outreach programs of BRMTU.
Across the country, more than 400 great TU Business members support us financially, physically and in every other way. They donate to their local TU chapter banquet. They show up to support us at the planning and zoning board meeting. They email their elected representatives in the state house when we need them to do that. They fly to DC to testify on Capitol Hill. They’re our hometown businesses and we should support them.
Check them out in the back pages of TROUT magazine or search for them by state on our website. You’ll find a vast array of opportunities for your holiday shopping. The best fly shops and outfitters are there, of course, and we’ll come back to them. But there are great gear manufacturers like Winston, Scott, Fishpond and Vedavoo. There are great businesses that produce apparel like FisheWear, Damsel Fly Fishing and Simms. There are commercial fishermen, wineries, breweries, investment managers, media professionals and insurance companies. Every one of them is an ardent supporter of what we do to protect, reconnect, restore and sustain coldwater fisheries across America.
But at the center of it all are the businesses that form the nucleus of fly fishing and conservation, the fly shops, guides and outfitters who are the heart of fly fishing in any community. These are small family-owned businesses that trade on Main Street, not Wall Street. When you buy that holiday gift from our local TU Business members -- Atlanta Fly Fishing School, Blue Ridge Fly Fishing School and Reel 'Em In Guide Service -- you’re supporting local families and local communities. But maybe just as important, you’re supporting another TU member, a teammate in the greatest coldwater conservation organization in the world.
Check them out. Buy some gear. Book a trip. Buy a gift card. You’ll be glad you did, and so will the fish.
Support local TU Business members who give back to Blue Ridge Mountain TU.
Outfitter/guided wade/float fishing and fly-fishing/fly tying instruction, fly-fishing gear, flies/fly-tying materials, outdoor clothing, accessories and more.
Outfitter/guided wade/float fishing and fly-fishing instruction, fly-fishing gear, flies/fly-tying materials, outdoor clothing, fishing kayaks, accessories and more.
Outfitter/guided wade/float fishing and fly-fishing instruction in Georgia, North Carolina & Tennessee
Outfitter/guided wade/float fishing in Georgia and North Carolina. Fly-fishing instruction for beginners to advanced anglers.
Outfitter/guided wade/float fishing and fly-fishing instruction in Georgia.
Shop at smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to Blue Ridge Mountain Trout Unlimited (or your favorite charitable organization) — no fees, no extra cost.
Chapter members Jim Reich and Bob Wetzsteon traveled in mid-July to Buras, LA, to tackle redfish, spotted seatrout and sheepshead with WB Outfitters.
Anticipation was rising at first light for chapter members Jim Reich and Bob Wetzsteon while crossing the Mississippi River near Buras, LA, in July.
BRMTU member David Cargile said it was a spectacular take by this rainbow on a June Bug dry fly. Caught and released on June 29 on Noontootla Creek.
Chapter member Harmon Smith shows off a fine South Holston River brown trout caught during the members' trip in late spring 2022.
Chapter VP Mel Richardson landed this redfish in summer 2022 in the waters off the North Carolina co
The BRMTU South Holston River Trip in Tennessee takes place May 2-4, 2023 . Just three spaces remain open.
Cost: $75 per person ... includes a bed at Redbrick and Farmhouse at Holston Castaways in Bluff City, TN, and three evening dinners.
Trip coordinator: Harmon Smith, phone: 770-540-4608.