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BROOKIE NEWS

<<< Illustration “One Last Look -

Brook Trout” courtesy of Bob White

of Whitefish Studio

Newsletter of The Central

Wisconsin Chapter of

Trout Unlimited (CWTU)

Special Edition January 2014

Prez Sez

Don’t you just love it when someone

asks “Cold enough for you”! Wow, I

sure hope it is better by the first

weekend in March. I have rarely

missed the early season opener, but 40

degrees would sure be great.

Please enjoy this “Special Edition”

Brookie. As you know, we stopped

mailing the Brookie several years ago.

We went to the internet to save on US

postage which has increased again to

Call to Action Special Fundraising Issue.

Please read about CWTU’s

stream restoration work and

help support our mission with

a generous donation!

49 cents for regular mail. Most

organizations have done the same. We

have a membership of 330+ of which

approximately 100 do not have an

email address. With the exception of

about a half dozen people who

requested that we continue to mail

them the Brookie, those without email

usually receive one mailing per year

announcing the Fall Banquet.

This once a year “Special Edition”

Brookie has been sent by US Mail or

email to all 330+ members. You will

notice a calendar of CWTU events for

2014, currently available only on our

website. We would like all members

to be aware of our planned activities.

This is also the first time that we have

announced a chapter wide River

Restoration Fund Drive. Our Work

Day Co-ordinator, Scott Bahn, has

included some beautiful pictures of

work on our area rivers. Members of

CWTU and anyone else with an

interest in conservation often donate

their labor to these restoration

projects. However, we are constantly

in need of funds for materials

(examples; rock, lumber, grass seed),

tools, equipment, and specialized

labor.

Donations are tax deductable and may

be matched by employers. Please

donate to our cause of “Conserving,

Protecting and Restoring” the Cold

Water Fisheries of Central Wisconsin.

John Tucker

CWTU Board Meeting

January 21, 2014

(Postponed from January 14 due to

weather)

Fin ‘n Feather, Winneconne

1. Meeting called to order by

President Tucker at 6:15 p.m.

2. Minutes of the previous

meeting were approved as

distributed

3. Treasurers report was approved

as distributed. Discussion of

the Trout and Salmon Fund

matches and the Mecan River

funds.

4. Discussion of the proposed

River Restoration Fund Raising

piece to be included in the

January Brookie. Scott Bahn

provided a mock up of the

piece with numerous photos. A

donation sheet will be

appended. Mr. Bahn will work

with Mr. Seligman to get the

piece ready for the Brookie.

5. Discussion of Troutfest,

February 22. Mr. Smaglik

reported that all mini-seminars

are now scheduled and

numerous tiers are signed up by

Mr. Dave Johnsen, with others

expected to be on site as is

customary. Ms. Tucker will

bring donuts and fruit. The

Chapter has plenty of license

plate holders that can be used

as favors, etc. Additional

donations of prize items are

desired.

6. Discussion of proposed

changes to the Trout Regs. Mr.

Haase reported that there will

be a meeting on January 25 of

the DNR Trout Study

Committee with the

Conservation Congress Trout

Study Committee to discuss

possible changes to the Trout

Regs. Mr. Haase indicated that

among the possible

recommendations could be the

opening of all State trout waters

to early season fishing, with

exceptions made only on the

recommendation of the local

fish biologist. No action will

be taken, but recommendations

may go forward to the NRB.

7. Advocacy Training. Mr.

Tucker reminded the Board of

the benefits of the Advocacy

Training offered by the River

Alliance and urged members to

enroll for the upcoming session

at the State Council meeting on

February 1.

8. Discussion of the Wautoma

Pond. Messrs. SanDretto,

Burke, and Tucker continue to

work on this issue. They met

recently with a local resident,

Mr. Olsen, who seems to be

heading up the efforts to

replace the dam and refill the

pond. They provided him with

information and data the

support keeping the dam open,

including benefits to the White

River and its fish populations,

and likely flood control

improvement, based upon a

study by Professor Potter. No

action is likely in any case until

2015. The Board indicated its

support for continued efforts to

sway public opinion in favor of

not refilling the pond, including

ongoing conversations with

influential residents, and

possible pieces written for the

Argus newspaper.

9. Discussion of sale of State

lands. Does not presently

appear to represent any threat to

valuable recreational, especially

fishing access, lands. Members

are urged to remain vigilant.

Mr. Haase pointed out that the

legislative mandate to sell off

some Stewardship lands was

intended to help deal with

budget shortfalls, and it is not

clear why, with a predicted

budget surplus, such sales are

needed. Moreover, he pointed

out that there is a great deal of

surplus land held by the

Department of Transportation

that could be sold. There might

be an opportunity to speak to

our legislative representatives

on this issue.

10. Old Business: a.) The WITU

license plate bill has cleared the

Assembly and moved to the

Senate. Contact your senators

and urge passage. b.) Mr.

Haase is still working with the

DNR (yet another official) on

the Bob Hunt Memorial

project. c.) Members are

reminded of the State Council

Meeting and Banquet to be held

in Oshkosh on Feb. 1. A great

opportunity to observe the

workings of the State Council

and to have a great time at the

evening Banquet.

11. New Business: a.) We are now

in possession of the embroidery

code for the Chapter logo. Mr.

Seligman will look into where

we can use it so that members

interested in having the logo

added to their own clothing

items may do so at nominal

cost. We will also try to get the

original image that might be

used on such items as mugs,

etc. b.) Mr. Harmon III is still

working on the Benches

Project.

12. Discussion of the Youth Camp.

It will be held on July 24-27.

Mr. Beck and Mr. Haase are

part of the coordinating

committee. The seek

volunteers to help with

instruction and chaperone

duties. Expect 18-20 kids. Mr.

Bouck suggested that the

Chapter might use some

Education funds to help

sponsor kids. Enrollment will

be competitive and prospective

enrollees will submit an

application . It is likely that

each of the State’s Chapters

could sponsor one or more kids.

13. Meeting was adjourned at 7:50

p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

David Seligman, Secretary

Brookie News Articles and Features

Members and friends of CWTU are

encouraged to submit articles, notices,

and photos for publication in the

Brookie News. Send electronic

submissions to seligmand@gmail.com.

TROUTFEST ’14

Saturday, February 22, Fin ‘n Feather,

Winneconne, WI

MINI SEMINARS

John Gremmer Twenty Ways To Catch

More Fish

Tim Landwehr Pre-spawn Smallmouth

Tactics

Tom Lager Hexagenia – Not Just

Limbata

Rich Osthoff No-Line Nymphing

Brad Petzke Fishing the St Marys

River

Nate Sipple 2014’s Game Changing

Smallmouth Flies

Steve Winters Extended Bodies for

Damsels & Hoppers

Kyle Zempel Exploring the Lower

Wisconsin State Riverway

Bob Haase Better Fishing using the

Internet

Shawn Sullivan Night time Hexing

Jim Hauer Tenkara – Another Way

Fox Valley TU Cabin Fever Day

CWTU was well represented at the FVTU's, January 11, Cabin Fever Day. CWTU's master cane rod builder,Scott Grady, pictured, donated a beautiful cane rod, which was raffled off during the event. Scott has donated rods to the State TU Banquet and our own CWTU Banquet.

Rick Fahrenkrug(left) and John Gremmer display the new CWTU River Keepers display board at FVTU's Cabin Fever Day on January 11. Rick and John designed and constructed the board with the goals of spreading the word about River Keepers and recruiting new members. Currently the CWTU River Keepers have 28 monitoring teams working on over 35 sites.

CWTU's Vice-President Dr. Mike San Dretto is shown promoting CWTU's 2014 Fly Fishing School at the January 11, FVTU Cabin Fever Day.

Last Chance – Only

ONE Remaining CWTU 40

th Anniversary

Fishing Shirt Columbia

“Bonehead” Sea Foam

Green, Size Large

Price Reduced – Only $50

Contact David Seligman, CWTU Secretary

Current CWTU Officers and Board

Members are listed elsewhere on

the CWTU.org Website

CWTU’s First Annual

Work Day Fund Drive The New Workday Season is

Quickly Approaching;

Help make it a Successful 2014! We had a very successful work day season

last year and to kick off 2014, CWTU is

asking that you consider contributing to help

make this year even better! Your monetary

contribution will go a long way to help fund

this very important chapter activity by

providing funds for tools and food needed to

feed the work day crew. Please consider

contributing money towards our work days

and even better, join us for a work day or 2

this coming year. Below are the dates

(always the third Saturday of the month,

May through September). We will be

working on Chaffee Creek this summer.

May 17th

June 21st

July 19th

August 16th

September 20th

The following is a description and some

pictures of what was accomplished in 2013.

May 18th, 2013 – White River – The work

day was attended by 38 people, representing

four different TU chapters, CWTU, Fox

Valley TU, Elliott Donnelly TU and South-

West TU.

We closed up 2 braids with approximately

250 Christmas trees and later on, Shawn and

his crew from the DNR came in with the

Piranha Dredge and piled sand on top of the

Christmas trees to form a solid bank.

June 15th, 2013 – Mecan River – The work

day was attended by 18 people and 3

different TU chapters were represented. We

worked on 2 conventional bank covers on

the uppermost part of the section that we

have worked on for the last 3 years north of

Highway 21.We also completed some

maintenance and fish-ability brushing.

July 20th, 2013 – Parsons Creek – Fond du Lac

County – This work day was attended by 42

people and was a joint work day with the

Southeast Chapter of TU. In addition, we had

representation by Fox Valley TU, Oakfield

Conservation Club, Friends of Parsons Creek

and Oak Brook TU from Chicago. We

completed 2 conventional bank covers in the

Hobbs Woods Nature Area.

August 17th, 2013 – Mecan River – The

work day was attended by 23 people, from

both CWTU and Fox Valley TU chapters as

well as Friends of the Central Sands. The

work crew was split into 2 groups, one

completing a conventional bank cover

upstream from the bridge on Hwy 21

and the other crew went south of the bridge

on Hwy 21 and removed a tree that had

fallen in the river near some work that was

done by our chapter 2 years prior.

September 21st, 2013 – White River – This

work day was attended by 23 people

representing 3 TU chapters (CWTU, FVTU

and EDTU) as well as Friends of the Central

Sands and some college students from Fox

Valley Technical College that are currently

enrolled in the Natural Resources program.

Shawn and his team from the DNR had the

Piranha Dredge on hand to do some

dredging and we also placed about 75-100

Christmas trees that helped close 2 braids

and added deflectors to a section of the river

out from the Memorial bench.

Before and After Pictures of

our Progress!

In total last year, we had approximately 100

different people help out with our restoration

efforts for 2013 that totals roughly 950

hours of volunteer time towards our chapter

efforts. As you can see, a lot of great things

are happening on the third Saturday of the

month in the summer, come join the fun and

consider contributing funds to help keep the

restoration of our cold water resources

going!

If you would like to contribute, please send

your contributions to:

Central WI Trout Unlimited

P.O. Box 3041

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3041

Thank you for your support and I hope to

see you on the stream for a work day this

season!

Scott Bahn

CWTU Work Day Coordinator

1-920-886-9651

sabahnrodco@new.rr.com

Come Join the Fun

Central Wisconsin Trout

Unlimited

Work Day Fund Drive

Contribution Please feel free to copy this form or simply

provide the requested information on your

own card when making a contribution.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Last Name: _______________________________

FirstName:________________________________

Street Address: _____________________________

City: ____________________ State _______

Zip_________

Telephone Numbers:

Home (______) _____________________

Work :(______) ____________________________

E-mail Address:

___________________________________________

Does your employer match donations? Some employers may match donations made to organizations like Trout Unlimited. You may be able to double your contribution!

$10 Contribution

$25 Contribution

$50 Contribution

Other

Please make checks payable to:

Central WI Trout Unlimited

P.O. Box 3041

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3041

Your tax deductible donation will go a long way to

helping restore our precious natural resources!

Thank you for your continued support of Trout

Unlimited!