Issue 106.6March 2015

Voice of the Fox Valley Chapterof Trout Unlimited

Member MusingsThe final results are in and we are happy to report that theChapter had a record 2015 “Cabin Fever Day.” The net profitof approximately $8,000 set a record and reflected an increaseof approximately 40% in profit from the previous year. Whatthis means for the Chapter’s financial status, is that we are inexcellent condition. Based on our budget we will end the yearwith an operating balance of approximately $2,900 on top ofour permanent reserve fund and supporting all of ourcommitments including the DNR Habitat Crew, thenewsletter, and other events.

While the Chapter is on excellent financial footings, this is thefirst step in expanding our foot print and doing more tosupport the resources which we enjoy. Building our financialresources allows us to be in a position to support more HabitatWork as opportunities present themselves. The goal is to raisemore funds and further enhance our ability to carry out themission of Fox Valley TU.

Directly in front of us are challenges to our ability to furtherprotect and enhance our cold-water and natural resources inWisconsin. Most of you have probably been watching thenews regarding the biennial budget that is being debated inMadison. The budget in addition to financial considerationsalso lays out changes in government structure and operations.One of the more prominent implications for Trout Unlimitedis the effort to end land and easement acquisitions under theStewardship Program. Proposed changes would effectively killthe Stewardship Program. Other direct implications arefocused on the DNR where the board would be converted toan advisory-only status. Full power would be left with theDNR director, an appointee of the governor. Such a moveopens up our Natural Resources management to the potentialfor political manipulation in the future. In the 2/22/15 PostCrescent, Mr. Mike Ellis the former Republican State SenatePresident may have stated it very simply. “Republicans have toask themselves this question: If (former Democratic Gov.) JimDoyle was doing away with the powers of the DNR board andgiving it to Jim Doyle, would they think that’s a good idea?”Additional steps would include eliminating in excess of 60permanent DNR positions, many of these cuts impactingscientific study.

The purpose for our discussion of these issues is that we hopeeach member examines the proposed changes and decides for

themselves if this is the direction they prefer for the protectionof their natural resources. You be the judge, but citizensshould participate in this important debate. If you would liketo contact your representative via email, letter, or phone ahandy site to use is legis.wisconsin.gov which will show yourrepresentatives and all of their contact information.

Our February Chapter meeting presenter, Charlie Piette fromTight Lines, taught us about pursuing summer-run steelheadon the famous Deschutes River, a tributary to the Columbia. Ifyou missed this presentation but are interested in learningmore, stop in and see Charlie at Tight Lines in DePere. Wethank Charlie for a very informative program. His presentationstyle is always excellent and encourages audienceparticipation.

Our next program is scheduled for Thursday March 19th withChris Jape from River’s End Guide Service presenting on“River Smallmouth Fly Fishing” Plan on stopping out for the7:00 PM program and join us early at the Capitol Centre tovisit and dine before the program.

The board has decided to organize a fishing trip to the“Driftless Area” in place of an April Chapter Meeting. Forthose who have not fished this extremely productive fishery, itis a chance to add some new areas to your list of favorites. Thisearly catch and release season will provide a very niceopportunity for all. Dates are scheduled for April Friday 4/24through Sunday 4/26. You are free to join for one or all days.Many will most likely camp at the West Fork Sportsman’sClub in Avalanche, WI (Gazetteer, Page 41 D4), but localhotels are also readily available in Viroqua. For thoseinterested, our coordinator is Don Clouthier. You can reachDon at clouthier4@aol.com and please add “Driftless Trip” inthe subject line.

Our first “Habitat Day” is scheduled for April 18th on theDavies Creek. This is a signature stream of the Fox ValleyChapter and we hope that you can join us. Watch the web sitefor more details and directions.

Thank you for supporting the Fox Valley Chapter with bothyour time and talents. Together we can and are making adifference around cold water resources, which will last forgenerations.

Jim Jenkin, Editor

V i f th

Let’s Talk BugsTom Lager

Listening to a recent presenter at a winter fly fishing seminarcaused me to wish for warm breezes and brookies rising onstill evenings to fluttering damselflies. I liked that warm cozythought, but it was too distant; is there not something on acloser horizon to dream about and get ready for? Thankfullyone comes to mind that is earlyseason and a bit of a challenge. It isnot as easily found as ubiquitousmidges and Blue Winged Olives,but it has a connection going backin early North American fly fishinghistory. The Hendrickson – amayfly popularized in earlysporting literature and rendered in1916 into a lasting pattern by RoySteenrod for fishing Catskill rivers.Over the years the Hendricksonhas fairly consistently been thecommon name for Ephemerellasubvaria, and surprisingly, theentomological pundits have notexercised their authority to mess around with the Latin nameall this time! However fly tiers, i.e. Art Flick, recognizedgender color differences (reddish-brown body) and createdthe Red Quill, which is the male E. subvaria, thereby leavingthe Hendrickson to embody the female for those inclined tosplit this mayfly by subtle colors. (I will not mention thatsome female spinners are reddish-brown too). Since we havegone this far, we must also declare the Dark and LightHendricksons and the Little Hendricksons, which can also bedark and light. These latter patterns associate with closelyrelated Ephemerella species (e.g. needhami and the Sulphurspecies of dorothea and invaria) and even the genusSerratella, by some sources. So if you are into splitting hairs,there is plenty of room here for you.

The Hendrickson name is good enough for me, andrepresents the first periodic mayfly hatch of the season; Iindicate periodic, since Blue Winged Olives are on-the-wingall months of the year. Mid-March is early, with April through

mid-May being the most common emergence period.Hendricksons are widely distributed over our four stateregion; however, their populations are characterized bysporadic local abundance within streams and interspersedbarren reaches across watersheds where none are found.They inhabit the pristine soft water streams of northernMichigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, almost all streams ofthe Central Sands Region and the hard water limestone-rich

spring creeks of the DriftlessRegion. Moderate to swiftcurrent flowing over coarsegravel, cobble and boulders arepreferred environs, where theyfeed, collecting and gatheringorganic detritus and algae. Larvaeare relatively large (# 12 – 16hook) stocky shaped robustcritters designed for clamberingover rocks on short legs; theirshort tails limit swimming toclumsy undulating movements.Coloration is a fairly uniformdark grayish brown with a light

buff dorsal marking on theabdomen and banding on legs and tail; pictured larvae arefrom Neenah Creek Adams County in mid-April.

When Hendricksons are located, the fishing will bememorable whether imitating either larval or adult forms. Inthe early season, larvae are easy trout targets in weeks leadingup to the hatch due to size and movements. Dun emergenceis an afternoon event when temperatures are warm. Lateafternoon and evening is the most common time for matingswarms over the stream, afterward spent males fall to thestream and females take some time migrating to riffle areasand fly in an up and downstream manner until they settle todrop their yellow egg sacks or deposit them at the surface.

So the trick to unlocking the Hendrickson experience isfinding them . . . easily said, but easier if the practice ofobserving His creation is a habit . . . such as picking the rocksto see who is there. However, when they remain elusive wecan always drift a pink squirrel or perhaps float a Betty.

Hendrickson EmergerJesse Walters

Hook: Daiichi 1770, 12Thread: Tan 8/0Tails: Partridge fibersNymph Rib: Gold wireNymph Body: Gray dubbing with black markingsWing Case: Brown/gray polypropylene with black markingsNymph Legs: Partridge fibersDun Rib: White threadDun Body: Pinkish tan dubbingDun Legs: Tan polypropylene with brown markingsWing: Gray polypropylene yarn, burnt

Office: 920.832.24092901 E. Enterprise Ave., Suite 500

Appleton, WI 54913www.wipfli.com

www.foxvalleytu.org

Fox Valley Technical College January MeetingRich Erickson

Our January 29th chapter meeting was a presentation by Chef JohnBalistri and several students at Fox Valley Technical College. Ourchapter records indicate that this was either the 25th or 26th annualpresentation by the students from the Culinary Arts program at FVTC

to the FVTU chapter. Chef John and the students prepared a number ofspecialties including an excellent pan smoked salmon and an incrediblemaple syrup cake desert. The chapter also had a number of specialguests that evening – people who have supported our chapter in avariety of ways. Those individuals were: Bill and Linda Walters, Scott andCarolyn Grady, Russ and Sue Bouck, Jon and Megan Pyatskowit, andAndy and Luann Killoren.

OB

tospmguvCA

s

Catch More FishDon Clouthier

Escape the wrathof Wisconsin’s

winter

The world recordcatfish is a MekongRiver monsterpictured at 635 lbs.

That species and many hundreds more will soon be endan-gered if numerous planned dams are built. They include therare and endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin (see below) whosespawning waters include the upper reaches of both theMekong River in Laos and the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar.

Sixty dolphins areestimated to survivein the IrrawaddyRiver.

After last year’ssevere and neverending winter Iswore I would

escape, at least for a few weeks, the frigid WI and go fishing.I was counting on the Tight Lines Andros Island trip but thatwas abruptly cancelled in early November. So I called YellowDog Fly Fishing to arrange a Belize or Costa Rica trip but Icouldn’t find a fishin’ buddy to share the costs. Then a trip toS.E. Asia featuring a small ship cruise on Burma’s IrrawaddyRiver became heavily discounted. Along with an old neigh-borhood buddy, we jumped at this eco-tourist opportunity!

The three week trip was fabulous. The weather, sightseeingand people were awesome. In addition to Myanmar we tookshort cruises on the Chao Phraya River in Thailand and theMekong in Laos. We spend seven days on the Irrawaddyhoping to see a pod of dolphins which the captain had seenonly a few weeks before - but no luck. S.E. Asia is a greatplace for ecotourism – I took 1600 pictures and learned a fewthings about regional environmental struggles.

The Irrawaddy and Mekong Rivers in S. E. Asia are amongthe world’s most populated watersheds. Over 100 million

people owe their lives to the bounty of these rivers. InMyanmar the Myitsone Dam is expected to be completed in2017. It is to be built at the confluence of the N’mai and MaliRivers near the Chinese border. China needs the dam toprovide power to its Yunnan province. Chinese money andcontractors are behind its construction. This will alter thelives of about 40 million people living, farming and fishingdownstream. It is being built where the Irrawaddy dolphinsspawn.

The Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong River in Laos is nearlycomplete. A second major hydropower dam is proposed 700miles downstream. The river flows 3,200 miles from China toVietnam. Below the Xayaburi Dam the lives of 60 millionpeople in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will be changedforever.

Farmers and fishermen in four countries plus internationalNGO’s are fighting a losing battle to stall the construction ofmultiple dams on these rivers. It is the old story of failedgovernments cashing in on “free” resources. Rapidly devel-oping China is the main customer of this “free” energy.Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Laos are among the lastremaining Communist dictatorships. Both are client states ofpowerful neighbor China. In both cases the people havealmost no voice in these life altering matters.

Two hundred years ago this country began more than acentury of dam building activity. Only recently have webegun removing dams; often to permit fish migrations. Weare powerless to help the people in Asia have a voice in theselife-altering projects but we can improve our own localstream quality and advocate for “green” concerns. FVTU haslocal stream improvement projects on six Saturdays startingApril 18th and we need your participation.

There are a few “morals” to this story of a wonderful wintervacation. First, extend your fishing season, get out of ourWI winter, and enrich yourself in blue water fishing orecotourism. Next, 2015 is a good year to start to or get moreinvolved in our chapter’s stream improvement projects.

You will catch more fish if you escape Wisconsin’s winter anddo just about anything in a warmer climate.

2015 Cabin Fever DayCan Rod Winner

Dale Aho with Dan Zdroik (left)

CONGRATULATIONS!

The Gift of an Extended SeasonMark Peerenboom

Finally I was on them. Fish feeding on the surface of thestream told me that the tiny Blue Wing Olives were there.They were bringing up fish constantly at the tail of theplunge pool and the run that followed. Fish were risingboth mid-stream and tight up against the grassy banks. Icouldn’t believe my luck. It was like locating May Morelsor a ripe August blackberry patch. Here they were, a giftfrom the Minnesota DNR.

In 2014 an enlightened Minnesota DNR had extended thetrout season in its Southeast counties until mid-October.Although the minute Blue Wing Olive mayfly is alwayspresent, my chances of finding them were uppedconsiderably when the DNR extended the season. A notedMidwest fly-fishing author, Tom Wendelburg, calls themthe “Duns of Autumn.” And here I was on a warm autumnafternoon ready to dry-fly fish like I only had dreamedabout.

Earlier planning had told me that I wanted to fish theextended season and that I wanted to fish Trout Runbecause of its good reputation. I had intended to fishterrestrials on a meadow section Google Earth had helpedme find, unless stream and fish told me differently.

I parked the car in a wide spot on a road parallel to TroutRun and next to a power line cut and took the trail downa steep incline. I followed its switchbacks to the riverbottom. On my way down the hill a large black turkeyvulture startled as I approached the gut-pile of a harvesteddeer. My “catch and release” trout fishing felt like playcompared to the serious business that the gut pilerepresented. I was happy to walk past it. I crossed thestream and walked the edge of a harvested bean field tothe meadow section I’d researched on Google Earth.

Fall is terrestrial fishing unless Blue Wing Olives appear.Although hopper patterns seemed to be preferred inWisconsin, I rigged up with a cricket pattern following theadvice of a native Minnesotan. In fall trout usually holdclose to shore and start to key in on the matured ants,beetles, crickets, and hoppers who make the mistake oflanding in the stream. This is opportunistic feeding andnot the wonderful constant feeding of a Blue Wing Olivehatch.

Excited to spot the fish rising, I clipped off my cricketpattern and tied on a tiny Blue Wing Olive parachute asthe fish continued to break the pool’s surface with theirfeeding. For the next hour and a half I caught fish. I used3-foot 5X fluorocarbon tippet on a twelve-foot leader on a3 weight rod. At times the wind had made for difficultcasting but bad casts never put the fish down for a verylong. I was guessing the heavy hatch and the broken waterallowed for that margin of error.

After fishing the hatch for that hour and half I retraced mysteps and hiked back to the car parked on the top of theridge. I took off numerous layers of insulating clothing andput on a fresh cotton t-shirt for the 2 hour ride home. ButI held on to the idea that in future years I might again beblessed by the “Duns of Autumn” and silently thanked theMinnesota DNR for extending the season.

In Wisconsin this April 13th at the Spring Hearing,Wisconsin Anglers will have an opportunity to vote yes onQuestion # 12 which, supports extending Wisconsin’strout fishing season into mid-October. I suggest votingyour support and enjoy your extended Wisconsin Octobertrout season in 2016. I don’t think you will have regrets.

http://dnr.wi.gov/About/WCC/Documents/spring_hearing/2015/2015SpringQuestionnaire.pdf

SavetheDate

Discover the Early Season!Fox Valley Trout Unlimited announces ourFirst Annual APRIL ANGLING ADVENTUREFish the productive Driftless Area streams

with experienced FVTU anglers.

WHEN: April 24-26, 2015WHERE: W.F. Sportsmen’s Club, Avalanche, WICONTACT: Don Clouthier (920) 851-0597

Complete details coming soon! Visit our website: foxvalleytu.org for updates

Fun - Fellowship - Great Fishing!

F o xV a l l e y

TROUTTROUT UNLIMITED2000 W. Spencer St.Appleton, WI 54914

Mark Your Calendars!Chapter Meeting

River Smallmouth Fly FishingChris Jape, presenter

Thurs., March 19, 2015The Capitol Centre

Social Hour: 6pm-7pmProgram time: 7pm-9pm

Check website for details!

NON PROFITUS Postage

PAIDAppleton WI

Permit No. 211

Chapter Board MembersPresident Tom Lager 540-9194Vice President OpenSecretary Dick Stielow 722-2121Treasurer Al Johnson 450-2013Board 1 Keith Bassage 757-5247Board 2 Duane Velie 450-0862Board 3 Norm Christnacht 419-3303Board 4 John Hammond 731-8155Board 5 Tony Garvey 585-1540Board 6 Steve Heuser 470-0836Board 7 Roger Genske 729-9916Board 8 Scott Heinritz 427-5846Board 9 Don Clouthier 851-0597Board 10 Jim Jenkin 734-6344Board 11 Rich Erickson 982-9080Board 12 Rick Schinler 735-0681Past President Joe Bach 570-2632

Cauliflower Soup1 head cauliflower, broken into florets1 stalk celery, chopped3 1/2 cups water4 tsp. chicken bouillon4 Tbsp. butter4 Tbsp. flour1 tsp. sea salt1 tsp. McCormicks seasoned pepper2 cups whole milk1 cup or a little more shredded cheddar cheese8 oz. fresh white mushrooms, sliced

In a large sauce pan combine the cauliflower, celery, water,mushrooms and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Rreduce heat,cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables aretender (do not drain).

In another large sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, saltand seasoned pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk.Bring to a boil over medium heat, cook and stir for 2minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Stir in cheese untilmelted. Stir into the cauliflower mixture. Serves 6

Enjoy, BoB Kinderman