By Henry Nehls-Lowe

Five SWTU members and Carol Murphy, NohrTU President, recently traveled to Upham Woods for the UW Hoofer-sponsored 2024 Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference. Eighty representatives from midwest college & university outing clubs attended this morning’s workshops, so we were disappointed that our first session drew only a few of these outdoor-ethusiastic-twenty-somethings, but how can “Driftless is a Fly Fishing Destination” compete against “Wildland Firefighting in Alaska” or “Dispersed Camping and Budget Adventures?”

We appreciate that Scott Allen, Wisconsin TU Council Chair, was able to drop in for this session. Next we had solid turnout for the two 30-minute casting clinics, where I saw some gorgeous loops. Then, at the afternoon Networking & Careers session, our table had a continuous stream of visitors who eagerly chatted with us about TU, our professions, our shared love of the outdoors, their career hopes and dreams, and, of course, fly fishing. Andy Morton wisely set up his fly tying kit and soon had a series of newbie fly tying students knock out their first fly. We all came away inspired from being around these energized and passionate young adults. Many thanks to Andy Morton, Tom Thrall, Adam Balin, Dave Fowler, Paul Williams, Chester Chung and, of course, Carol Murphy. See some nice casting action in this video: https://youtu.be/2DHtqLU5aCE?si=R_r3V8mETuKJroR8.