I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many fly shop owners and guides who are ardent conservationists. TU depends on the volunteer hours, the donated tackle and the publicity generated by the angling business world.

Fishing professionals are in a unique position to attract new TU members. Charlie signed his business, The Evening Sun Fly Shop, up for a TU Outfitters, Guides, and Business membership. Whether you own a pizza parlor or a fly shop, this program is a great way to support TU.

Charlie has dedicated a corner of his store to conservation information, including handouts from TU. He also encourages customers to join the organization and chooses products, such as Hodgman waders, that include a TU membership with each purchase.

As Charlie puts it, his business depends on clean water. He can’t understand why any fishing professional wouldn’t actively support TU.

The members who sign up through Charlie’s shop will join to the ranks of the Squan-a-tissit Chapter. One of the chapter’s ongoing efforts is stream monitoring. Squan-a-tissit TUers work closely with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to keep track of water quantity and temperature as well as search for unrecorded populations of native brook trout.

Past chapter president Russ Schott took me to Gulf Brook, a diminutive stream that flows through a tight, wooded gorge. Chapter members discovered brook trout here in 1999. Gulf Brook is spring-fed. The springs were bottled by the Pepperell Springs Water Company for years and the product was awarded “best tasting water” at the World Fair in the early 1900s.

The bottling company recently went defunct and the chapter helped the town of Pepperell and the Trust for Public Land purchase the property, preserving over ½ mile of creek frontage and a sizeable chunk of the watershed.

With the springs now protected, the resident brook trout will benefit from clean, not to mention tasty, water for years to come.

To learn more about the Squan-a-tissit Chapter, visit their website at www.squanatissit.org.

To read more about the Outfitters, Guides, and Business Members program, CLICK HERE.