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

Delaware Adams

Delaware Adams

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

by Rusty Dunn

A 12 year old boy named Walt moves with his family to Roscoe, NY in 1919 and meets a friend named Harry on the first day of seventh grade.  Walt and Har­ry shared an interest in fishing, and they became fast friends.  Roscoe lies in the heart of the Catskill Moun­tains, with famous trout streams but minutes away.  The area is a paradise for two outdoorsy twelve year olds, and this chance encounter led to a lifelong friendship.  The two boys and their future wives even­tually became legendary fig­ures of the “second gen­eration” of the Cat­skill school of fly tying.  They fol­lowed a decade or two after the Cats­kill style was fully refined, but they set the standard for quality of Catskill tying through much of the 20th century.  If Amer­ican fly fish­ing were to have a royal family, the two couples – Walt & Winnie Dette and Harry & Elsie Darbee – would surely be the kings and queens. Read More

Learn What Your Board’s Been Up To – April 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.)

Nohr TU Chapter Annual Banquet – Friday, May 5 in Muscoda

Our good friends at the Nohr Chapter invite you to their banquet! Learn more at https://nohrtu.com/news/. (Seems like a good plan to go fishing and then finish the day at the banquet.)

Black Earth Creek to Dane County: Thank You

By Topf Wells

SWTU joins the creek in thanking Dane County for two steps to preserve the creek and improve it for trout and those of us who pursue them. Read More

News From Another Great Biologist

By Topf Wells

CREEL CENSUS.  Tim Parks, the DNR fish biologist for Grant and Lafayette Counties and the lower Wisconsin River, and his staff will conduct a creel survey on the Big Green River April 1 to June 15th. If they are not able to talk to anglers in person they leave a postcard on anglers’ windshields. If you’re lucky enough to fish the Big Green and find such a postcard, please fill it out and mail it in. Creel censuses are expensive and labor intensive.  They help the DNR measure angler effort, catch, and  harvest dynamics. The more responses the DNR receives, the more accurate and helpful is the creel census. Read More

New Members – April 2023

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

Newscasts – March 2023

This issue is filled with great information, including:

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Our Nohr TU Friends Keep Providing More Fishing and We Keep Helping!

Our Tuesday, March 14, Chapter Meeting
By Topf Wells

Please join us for the March SWTU meeting on March 14 at Schwoegler’s Bowling on Grand Canyon Drive.  Dinner, drinks and conversation starting at 5:30 with the meeting and presentation at about 7.

And we’ll have a spectacular double-barreled presentation.  Carol Murphy, President of the Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited (our friends to the west in Iowa and Grant Counties), will show some slides and describe Nohr’s latest projects on 6 Mile Creek, the Blue River and Big Spring Creek.  Read More

Make a Difference and Some New Friends – Step up for SWTU

By Don Golembiewski

uncle sam fly fisherNominations are now being accepted for positions on the SWTU Board of Directors. Our volunteers make a huge difference for our members, our resource and our community.

We are looking for two new directors (thank you, Pat Hasburgh and Curt Riedl) and a new Treasurer as Nick Jackson has admirably served the chapter but will roll off the board. We’ll have elections this April and are also looking for a couple of people to join our Nominating Committee (a fun, short-term task). If you have questions, are interested or know of someone who is, please contact any officer or board member.

A Simply Splendid Series of Spring 2023 Workdays

By Jim Hess, Conservation Chair

It may not look like it, but spring is just around the corner and I wanted to update everyone on our spring workdays. We still need to finalize some details, but the locations and dates have been determined. For now, please hold these dates open, if you can (note they’ve been updated slightly since last month).
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