Kyle Zempel shares a southern adventure on Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Kyle Zempel, owner and chief guide of Black Earth Angling and a strong supporter of SWTU, will speak at our December 12 meeting. He will have just returned from a red drum (red fish) expedition to southern Louisiana. He’ll have great stories and photos (and maybe some video) of a great fishing trip.
Baby, it’s cold outside and some of us might be looking south for a warm and exciting fishing adventure. Red drum are superb gamefish and offer some of the more exciting, accessible, and affordable saltwater fishing for fly rodders and light tackle enthusiasts. While they’re not salmonids, sea trout are another great gamefish, that often share the same water as drum.
Kyle will have some reliable suggestions on trips southward in search of these fish (and wirth reference to Louisiana, some Cajun food and good times).
He’ll also answer questions about Black Earth Angling’s ’24 Wisconsin fishing opportunities.
Please join us at Schwoegler’s on Grand Canyon Drive on Madison’s West Side on Tuesday, December 12. Dinner and drinks available at 530 with Kyle’s presentation starting about 7.
Schwoegler’s Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Dr., Madison, WI 53719
Posted: January 2, 2024 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Learn What Your Board’s Been Up To
Minutes from SWTU Board of Director meetings can be viewed in this Google Drive. If you have questions on what you read in them, reach out to one of the Board members listed on the last page of each newsletter. (Note that you may need to click the “Last Modified” header at the top to sort the list with the latest minutes at the top.)
Last Updated: January 2, 2024 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
2024 Wisconsin TU State Council Banquet Tickets
Posted: January 2, 2024 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
More great reading from a great trout biologist
By Topf Wells
That would be Justin Haglund, the Maestro of Melancthon. He just released his assessment of the Otter Creek watershed in Iowa County.
This is a set of trout streams that many of us overlook. It might be because Otter, the flagship, is a Class 2 stream for which stocking is essential. It has lots of public water and some of the tribs and nearby streams are Class 1 and a couple are superb. Read More
Posted: January 2, 2024 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
New Members – January 2024
We’re pleased to announce the addition of the following new members to our ranks! Read More
Newscasts – December 2023
Last Updated: January 2, 2024 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
This issue is filled with great information, including:
Last Updated: December 4, 2023 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Warm Thoughts and Big Fish at our December Meeting
Kyle Zempel shares a southern adventure on Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Baby, it’s cold outside and some of us might be looking south for a warm and exciting fishing adventure. Red drum are superb gamefish and offer some of the more exciting, accessible, and affordable saltwater fishing for fly rodders and light tackle enthusiasts. While they’re not salmonids, sea trout are another great gamefish, that often share the same water as drum.
Kyle will have some reliable suggestions on trips southward in search of these fish (and wirth reference to Louisiana, some Cajun food and good times).
He’ll also answer questions about Black Earth Angling’s ’24 Wisconsin fishing opportunities.
Please join us at Schwoegler’s on Grand Canyon Drive on Madison’s West Side on Tuesday, December 12. Dinner and drinks available at 530 with Kyle’s presentation starting about 7.
Schwoegler’s Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Dr., Madison, WI 53719
Women’s Fly Fishing Clinics: Register now
Last Updated: December 4, 2023 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
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. Read More
Wrestling Invasives Along Whitford Creek
Last Updated: December 5, 2023 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
By Topf Wells | Workday Report 1: November 4, 2023
No complaints about weather for this work day. Temps started in the high 30s and climbed to the low 50s, clear skies and no wind. Our effort matched the weather.
This was our third work day on the TPE Sylvan Road property, which features Whitford Creek, a Class 1 brook trout stream and the Dodge Branch. Re: the Dodge – no big brown trout there at all, nope not a one, nope, don’t bother to fish it at all. Our goals were to take out box elder and invasive honeysuckle in the area we had been working and to tackle the invasive willow along Whitford. Three great conservation organizations combined their efforts: SWTU, the Nohr Chapter, and the Southwest Chapter of TPE. Fourteen laborers from the three organizations entered the vineyard. With all the dang wild grape vines that’s not just a figure of speech. Read More
Who Had the Better Day: SWTU or the Badgers?
Posted: December 4, 2023 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
By Topf Wells | Workday Report: December 2, 2023
Maybe the Badgers – beating #3 ranked Marquette is pretty good. Our last work day was pretty great, too, for lots of reasons:
Turnout. On a day that started cold and blustery and with the nationally televised basketball game waiting at home, folks had good reasons to stay there. A wonderful mix of 20 or so volunteers showed up to help a farmer, Dane County’s stream program, and a wonderful trout stream. Veteran and new members arrived, young and old, Board Members and Officers all pitched in. We were joined by the farmer, Ken Hefty, and his grandson Levi Reeson. Ken operated a skid steer – increasing our efficiency 10-fold and Dane County’s James Brodzellar and Katie Nicholas. Carol Murphy, Nohr’s star president, joined the crew.
The Project. We were on the first Dane County easement downstream of Kittleson Road on Kittleson Creek. This begins a stretch of great and permanently eased water down to STH 78. The goal today was to remove some invasive willows. Read More
Adams
Last Updated: December 4, 2023 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
by Rusty Dunn
You are a beginning fly angler, and the moment of truth has arrived. Today is your first day of fly fishing for trout. You bought the equipment, read several “how to” books, stocked the fly box, and consulted stream access maps. You’re at the river, and it’s time to tie on a fly. But what fly? Those books made it seem so complex. Dry fly, wet fly, pupa, emerger, terrestrial, nymph, spinner, cripple, and on, and on. So many choices. So many decisions. Remembering advice of some ‘expert’ author you’ve never heard of, you pick up and examine river rocks. Yes indeed, insect looking critters are scattered about. Some creepy crawly things. Some wormy squirmy things. Some snotty knots that may or may not even be alive. Trouble is, you don’t know a mayfly from a house fly down there among the rock and rubble. You’re thinking, “For Christ sakes! I don’t want to speak Latin or be an entomologist. I just want to catch a trout.” You open the fly box, and your hand hovers with indecision. What fly? At that moment, an elderly gentleman with a kind face emerges from the path. You inquire, “Anything hatching?” The gentleman replies, “I did well with an Adams”. There you have it … wisdom of the ages. You tie on an Adams, catch a few trout, and have a grand first day of fly fishing. You now feel wise and confident. Read More
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