January’s Icebreaker fundraising event is again cancelled
The Icebreaker will not occur this year. Despite repeated requests, we have not received any information about the availability of the American Family Center. That uncertainty alone at this date makes planning the event impractical. With the ongoing pandemic, we don’t expect any large venue to grant us the space we’d need at very low or no cost.
This cancellation means SWTU will again miss its key source of revenue and the opportunity for members and trout anglers from across the region to gather for a day of friendship, fun and learning.
The Board is discussing whether we can offer an outdoor event in April (or more probably May) with many of the Icebreaker’s best features: fun, prizes, camaraderie, instruction, tasty food and revenue for the chapter. Ben Lubchansky, our Icebreaker Chair, has graciously provided some preliminary plans for such an event.
However, we can only undertake this initiative if we have plenty of volunteers to assist Ben and the Board in planning and executing the event. It’s all new and from scratch – fresh ideas and perspectives will be greatly valued.
The time to start planning it is now, at least for purposes of setting a date and scouting outdoor locations while they aren’t covered in snow and ice. With enough helpers, it won’t be much work for any one volunteer, and this could be a great activity to stay active and make new friends over the winter.
If you are interested in being part of an ad hoc committee to plan this event, please contact Ben Lubchansky at 608csk@gmail.com. Meetings will be conducted via Zoom except when gathering outside to look at venues. And of course, please reach out if you have any ideas or connections that could help create the great gathering we all want … and need!
Medium Olive Nymph
Last Updated: October 8, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
by Rusty Dunn
On a cloudy cool day in April, you arrive onstream to find blue-winged olives in the air and on the water. Fish rise steadily below each riffle. Jackpot! You tie on a size #16 BWO dry fly and stealthily approach the first pool. You cast to a riser, and a nice trout ascends from the depths, approaches your fly, but turns away at the last moment and descends into the pool. Another cast, same result. You’ve just suffered a fly angler’s classic indignity. The trout refused your perfect presentation. A proverbial slap in the face. Not to worry. You’ve read all about the situation and know exactly what to do: switch to a smaller version of the same fly. You remove the size #16 and tie on a #18. A few more casts, and another nice trout rises from the depths. Another look, another slap in the face. You’re thinking, “These BWOs must be smaller than I thought”. You clip off the size #18 and tie on a #20. More refusals. In desperation, you try a size #22. Not even a look. You switch to a different BWO dry and repeat the progression. You catch a few trout but, despite all the fly swapping, feel that you missed out on a bonanza. The hatch wanes, and you walk away thinking, “What did I do wrong?”. Read More
Last Updated: October 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Spring event will be a first for us and we could use your help
January’s Icebreaker fundraising event is again cancelled
This cancellation means SWTU will again miss its key source of revenue and the opportunity for members and trout anglers from across the region to gather for a day of friendship, fun and learning.
The Board is discussing whether we can offer an outdoor event in April (or more probably May) with many of the Icebreaker’s best features: fun, prizes, camaraderie, instruction, tasty food and revenue for the chapter. Ben Lubchansky, our Icebreaker Chair, has graciously provided some preliminary plans for such an event.
However, we can only undertake this initiative if we have plenty of volunteers to assist Ben and the Board in planning and executing the event. It’s all new and from scratch – fresh ideas and perspectives will be greatly valued.
The time to start planning it is now, at least for purposes of setting a date and scouting outdoor locations while they aren’t covered in snow and ice. With enough helpers, it won’t be much work for any one volunteer, and this could be a great activity to stay active and make new friends over the winter.
If you are interested in being part of an ad hoc committee to plan this event, please contact Ben Lubchansky at 608csk@gmail.com. Meetings will be conducted via Zoom except when gathering outside to look at venues. And of course, please reach out if you have any ideas or connections that could help create the great gathering we all want … and need!
Workday report: The Dirty Dozen Meet Tarzan
Last Updated: October 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
By Topf Wells
Jim Hess is the best thing since beer. He organized another great workday and the Sugar River is looking the better for it. Jim spent hours of effort making this one happen. He first chose the worksite with Sara Rigelman and then mowed a trail into the site for his UTV and all our participants. Read More
Posted: October 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Let your guide know …
Bill Flader shares lessons learned from 75 years of fishing
Let your guide know of any specific desires or expectations you have.
Many readers of this newsletter will have experienced the excellent smallmouth bass fishery among the sunken logs of Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior, and most will have been guided by Roger LaPenter out of Ashland. Read More
Posted: October 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Season Over: Time for Trout Reading
By Topf Wells
Two of our excellent DNR trout biologists have furnished material you’ll enjoy and learn from. It’s free and just a click or two away … Read More
Last Updated: October 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
New Members – October 2021
We’re pleased to announce the addition of the following new members to our ranks! Read More
Newscasts – September 2021
Last Updated: October 8, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
This issue has lots of great information, including:
Madam X
Last Updated: September 7, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
by Rusty Dunn
It’s a hot breezy day in mid-August. A grasshopper slips from a grassy bank and falls with a plop to the stream below. A sinkhole in the water quickly opens beneath the hopper, and it disappears amid a deep, guttural, sucking sound. You smile, knowing full well what that slurp really means. It means the frustrating days of hatch matching, tiny flies, and fussy fish have passed. It’s now time to shed the vest/pack and return to basics. Time for a single fly box tucked in the shirt pocket. Time for uncomplicated fishing and impulsive trout. Yes, the time for terrestrials has finally arrived. Read More
No in-person meeting in September
Last Updated: October 8, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Temporary pause due to COVID surge and Delta variant
With the uptick in COVID cases caused by the Delta variant and including increasing numbers of breakthrough cases, the SWTU Board has postponed the September meeting. We hope to resume meetings in October and will again ask that you only attend if vaccinated and not feeling any symptoms. It was a tough decision based on the current state of the pandemic. Please stay tuned.
And a reminder … when we do start meeting it will be at Schwoegler’s Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Dr., Madison, WI 53719. If you know of somebody who said they’re planning to attend in September, please reach out and make sure they don’t show up at Schwoegler’s on the 14th.
Fall stream workday schedule
Last Updated: October 8, 2021 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
By Jim Hess
While indoor in-person meetings are still being figured out, we will build on the tremendous success of our spring workdays with a fabulous fall schedule Being outside significantly reduces any risks, and we may ask that people have their shots and/or wear masks. Here are the dates and locations as they stand right now. Of course, there is always a possibility of changes and more detailed information will follow. Read More
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