SWTU, P.O. Box 45555, Madison, WI 53744-5555 president@swtu.org

New Members – February 2024

We’re pleased to announce the addition of the following new members to our ranks! Read More

Hold the Date for the 2024 SWTU Spring Fair

Spring Fair Background

We’re excited to announce that we’ve locked in the date and location for our 2024 Spring fair.

Saturday, April 20 at the East Side Club

Mark your calendars for fun and education. More details coming soon.

January 9, 2024, Chapter Meeting Canceled Due to Weather

Like the schools and many other organizations, we are putting safety first and cancelling our Tuesday, January 9, 2024 chapter meeting.

We look forward to seeing everyone for our next meeting on Tuesday, February 13.

Thank you and be safe!

Newscasts – January 2024

This issue is filled with great information, including:

  • Rusty is looking for a dry fly hook in a haystack

Taste the Great Destinations

Ben Lubchansky

Serving up a mouthwatering presentation at our Tuesday, January 9 Meeting

Ben Lubchansky will be presenting tips and tricks (and trips!) to bring gourmet elements to your destination angling and adventure trips. From planning and packing to improvising in the field, Ben will give you the info you need to ensure your adventures are unique, memorable, and beyond the standard package. Ben will discuss his ‘Casting and Cookery’ series of angling trips as well as things you will want to know to make your own trips more exciting and enjoyable – whether stalking bonefish in the islands or overnighting with old friends in the Driftless. Ben will cover equipment, ingredients, meal planning, ingredient sourcing, foraging, dining out, and managing rental home assets and liabilities all in addition to presenting his own uniquely inspired trips featuring great destinations at the best time of year and the fish and food that makes them special.

Ben has been a cook and trip leader on group trips to the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Louisiana, and Cape Cod, as well as here in the Driftless and on the Wisconsin River. He has guided for trout and smallmouth bass in Wisconsin and is a commercial fly tyer. He has been a professional cook for over 30 years and is a staunch supporter of SWTU. Please learn more about Ben, his work, his upcoming and past trip offerings, and his fly tying business at www.608csk.com/general-1 and www.twowickflies.com.

Please join us at Schwoegler’s on Grand Canyon Drive on Madison’s West Side on Tuesday, January 9. Dinner and drinks available at 5:30 with Ben’s presentation starting about 7 p.m.

Schwoegler’s Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Dr., Madison, WI 53719

3rd Annual Spring Fair Fundraiser – Save the Date!

Save the DateSWTU has secured Saturday, April 20, 2024*, for another fun-filled, social day of camaraderie. We’ll be returning to the East Side Club on the shores of Lake Monona with hopefully stunning weather this year. Further details and tickets will be available in February.

*Note that a different date was first promoted, but the event has now been locked in for April 20.

Haystack

Haystack Fly

Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”

by Rusty Dunn

What is the measure of great achievement for a trout fly? Featured articles in glossy magazines? Making “Top Ten” lists of the fly-fishing paparazzi? A fly whose bin is always empty at the local fly shop? These are fine tributes to accomplished flies, but the most noble of honors – the pièce de résistance – is reserved for a chosen few: flies so good they have a beer named after them! Such is the case with the Haystack dry fly and its namesake beer “Haystack Blond Ale”, brewed by the Great Adirondack Brewing Company of Lake Placid, NY. The Haystack is a pat­tern born of the creative mind and talented hands of Francis Betters. Fran Betters (1931-2009) owned and operated Adirondack Sport Shop, located on the West Branch of the AuSable River in upstate New York, for decades. Mr. Betters was known widely as a fly-fishing guide, teacher, storyteller, and creator of champion flies, including the Haystack, the Ausable Wulff, and the Usual. Read More

Women’s Fly Fishing Clinics: Register now

Also an opportunity in Oshkosh on February 3, 2024 — see below for details!

Please register now or share this with someone who may be interested. These fill up and we want our members to have an opportunity to take part in these groundbreaking clinics. (Check out the great story and pictures from this year’s successful clinic.)

There are two types of clinics detailed below with links and QR codes for more information. Both are set in Westby, WI (near Viroqua, in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area) and the cost is $355 until April 1 and $375 after that.

Robbery of Women’s Clinics gear
On December 7, we shared that the storage locker holding all gear used for the clinics was broken into and everything taken. Please keep a watch for the stolen items – details are in this email shared with everyone. Thank you.

Read More

SWTU Fly-tying Courses – Registration open for 2024

Free of charge – Registration opens soon

Fly Tying ZoneTrout Unlimited invites you to learn fly tying or im­prove your tying skills this winter. Experienced SWTU instructors will teach both beginning and intermediate level fly-tying courses in Fitchburg starting Wednesday January 17, 2024. Classes consist of instructor-led demonstrations and hands-on tutorials. The courses are completely free of charge, and all materials needed during in-class instruction are provided. You need only supply fly-tying tools and thread, a list of which is available at https://www.swtu.org/learn/flytying/flytying-classes/. Read More

Workday Appreciation: A fun and productive fall 2024

I want to thank everyone that helped out with the fall workdays. There were 83 volunteers that showed up for the 5 workdays. We started on 9/13 at the Dane County Davidson Property (Sugar River) installing a brush bundle and finished on 12/02 at Kittleson Creek clearing two large stands of willows. The weather for our fall workdays is always interesting as we start in summer-like conditions and finish in winter. In between, we worked on Big Spring, Hefty, and Whitford Creeks.

I am currently in the process of planning our 2024 Spring Workdays. If you have any suggestions, please pass them along to me. Pictured are Topf Wells and DNR staff Justin Haglund and Lloyd Meng (fur hat) inspecting a potential site.

Jim Hess, SWTU Conservation Chair