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

Memorial for Todd Hanson

The summer edition of the Wisconsin Trout newspaper shared the sad news of Todd Hanson’s passing. Todd was a member of SWTU and a friendly face at many of our events. As you can read in Wisconsin Trout, Todd also played a large role at the state level. He will be missed and we wanted to share information on his memorial. Read More

Learn What Your Board’s Been Up To – Sept 2023

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.)

New Members – September 2023

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

Newscasts – Summer 2023

This issue is filled with great information, including:

Have a great summer – See you this fall!

We’ll see you at our Tuesday, September 12, Chapter Meeting

By Topf Wells

Put September 12 on your calendar when we resume our meetings at Schwoegler’s Lanes.  We’ll have some surprising and excellent news about SWTU!

At our June meeting, members elected Steve Musser as SWTU President. We’re excited to work with and support Steve as we continue to do great things for our precious cold water resource.

Chapter member John Gribb passes

John GribbWe were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of John Gribb, whose friendliness, caring and generosity made a deep mark on our community. You can learn more about John by reading his obituary here and consider leaving a note or remembrance on the memory wall.

Pat Hasburgh shared the following personal email with the Board and agreed it could be shared in Newscasts. It exemplifies the tremendous, positive difference John made in the lives of so many.

While John lived a long and fulfilling life, this is devastating to me.

John was literally the first person to welcome me to the Chapter at the first meeting I ever attended, asking me to sit at his table when I was a budding fly angler. Actually, everyone at the table was very welcoming and at the time I had no idea the heavy hitters I was sharing dinner with. Read More

Save your Saturdays – Fall Stream Workday Schedule

By Jim Hess, Conservation Chair

I hope everyone is enjoying your summer. It is certainty zipping right along, almost August already, and time to start planning our 2023 Fall Workdates. Below are the dates for our fall workdays to place on your calendars.  Read More

Chuck Valliere Passes – TU Leader and Friend to Veterans

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Wolf River TU Chapter President Chuck Valliere. Chuck was a constant, friendly presence at trout events and gave a great deal of his time, energy and expertise to the Vets on the Fly program. There will be a Celebration of Life on August 7, 2023. Details are below.

Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location: Rex’s Innkeeper (Restaurant)
301 N Century Ave
Waunakee, WI  53597

Pine River Assessment Raises Eyebrows

Pine RiverBy Topf Wells

Justin Haugland, Senior DNR Fisheries Biologist, has published an interesting report on the Pine River in Richland and Vernon Counties.

My takeaways from Justin’s assessment:

  1. Wow. This is a big watershed with lots of streams. Justin and his crew had to work hard to cover all this water and the analysis must have taken a lot of time and thought.
  2. This report will interest anglers because Justin describes some streams with large populations of trout that are not well known.
  3. His key recommendation is extremely important for SWTU, other chapters, TU DARE and other conservation organizations like BFF to pursue. Justin strongly recommends that easement authority be created or expanded for a number of streams in order to better protect and improve them and to increase angler access. One such stream is Fancy Creek and its tributaries. It’s stuffed with trout, browns in Fancy and brookies in the headwater tribs. It has only two small easements and one would have to have the agility and stamina of an orangutan to fish one of the two. I’ve driven the full length of Fancy for years longing for easements. When I finally had the nerve to ask a landowner and walked to his pasture, a Holstein bull awaited me (no fishing there).

Read More

Vets on the Fly – All Veterans Welcome

By Dyan Lesnik

SWTU Veterans on the Fly will start their next fly fishing/casting session on August 2. Vets on the Fly meet at a different location every Wednesday at 6 p.m. All Vets and their families are welcome – there is never any cost and all gear is provided.

Watch for weekly destinations on SWTU Vets on the Fly or contact Mike Johnson. Read More