Issue 109.9June 2015

Voice of the Fox Valley Chapterof Trout Unlimited

Member MusingsSaturday May 16th, was aperfect day for the 37thannual Fishing Day forPeople with Disabilities. Itwas an ideal day for many tocatch some trout and justenjoy the nice weather.Some of the first fish of theday were the largest and gotthings started with a bang.The participants not onlyused the traditional wormsto coax the rainbows out ofhiding but also a few secretbaits. We saw a number offamiliar faces along withsome new participants. Ourbiggest challenge wasgetting folks to stop fishinglong enough to enjoy lunch.

To all the Chapter Members and others who helped out, wethank you. A special thanks to Rich and Jan Erickson for theplanning and all the behind-the-scenes work to make thishappen. As always we thank the Killoren family for use ofwhat is the perfect location for this event. Check the websiteor Facebook for more photos from the day.

The Fox Valley Chapter is helping to sponsor its first“Trout-in-the-Classroom” project that will begin this fall atthe Chilton Middle and High Schools. While the Chapter hasdiscussed this for some time, it is coming to be through theefforts of Chapter Members Joe Bach and Brad Bowman whoteaches in the Chilton School District and will be helping tolead the efforts along with teachers Terry Bartel and GregStromer. Funding has been made possible by a grant from theChilton Area Community Foundation. For those not familiarwith the program, the students will start with eggs and raiseand monitor fish over the school year, to be releasedsometime next spring. With the efforts of Brad, Terry, andGreg, this will be tied to lesson plans for a number of learningopportunities, which will give the students some hands-on

experience and provide a unique learning model. Withoutdoor activities sometimes limited, this should become onemore touch point for students to connect to the environmentand at the same time have fun learning.

Our next Habitat Day is scheduled for Saturday June 20th onthe Chaffee Creek and is a joint effort with the CentralChapter. As you may be aware, the Chapter has again helpedto sponsor a DNR summer work crew, who also participate inthese Habitat Days. Reports are the crews have been busyand have completed the remaining work on Peterson Creekproject. They will also be busy brushing and doing work ona number of the “Central Sands” area streams over thesummer. Speaking of Habitat work, the crew from Rawhidewas busy on May 19th building brush bundles and brushingon the Davies Creek as part of the restoration project. Weappreciate their efforts, the strong backs, and extra workcompleted by these young men.

Work continues on the Wisconsin State Budget, which has animpact on issues from DNR staffing, research, andenforcement as well as Stewardship Funds for the purchase ofeasements or land. As this budget works its’ way thru theprocess and is fully developed, we hope that you take thechance to contact your local legislators and share anyconcerns you may have.

The fishing has been good and should only get better. Justahead is the Hex Hatch in June and the chance to chase someof the large fish that seem to only come out at night. We hopethat you get the chance to get out and enjoy the WisconsinSummer and all it has to offer. Good luck fishing and thankyou for supporting the Fox Valley Chapter of TroutUnlimited.

Jim JenkinEditor

visit us atwwwfoxvalleytu.org

V i f th

Let’s Talk BugsTom Lager

Sometimes it takes a gentle nudge to realize that what issought after is not always whatmatters and not always what makesthe difference. Last week on the wayback to camp while climbing a steeptwo track cut into the side of thecoulee, a fragrance stopped me in mytracks. The late afternoon sun hadwarmed the hill side below the trailcreating an up draft lifting the moistearthy smells of spring that carriedalong the delicate bouquet ofchokecherry blossoms. The whiteflowery clusters of blossoms and thesmall stature of trees did not readilycatch my attention, for I was tired and heading home,oblivious to the ordinary, the ordinariness of spring.Fortunately my olfactory senses caused me to pause andclimb down the slope to realize the fragrance’s origin andthere they were, not rare or unique, just one of many Godgiven gems of spring where trout live.

Hatch charts and a local website declared it is time for tancaddis to be flitting about and targets for hungry trout,thereby becoming the intended basis of fishing success. Thetan caddis designation covers a multitude of caddis, whichare also known as Spotted Sedge, Little Sister Sedge andGreen Sedge, all belonging to the Hydropsychidea Family.These critters inhabit small to mid-sized streams where swiftcurrents surge over boulders, tumble through riffles andpermeate coarse gravel beds. The larvae construct lean-tostyle structures supporting their silk meshed nets thatprotrude in the current filtering suspended algae and organicdebris as food sources. They have greenish worm-like bodies,with brown thorax, legs and head and are readily observedcrawling from their shelters when rocks and tree limbs arelifted from a riffle. The most commonly observed stage is thatof the adult, after the pupa swims up to hatch through thestream surface. Hydropsychid caddis wing colors andpatterning range from uniform tan and brown to mottled andvariously spotted with tan, brown and white colorations. Thepictured caddis show the variation of this group collectedfrom a Bad Axe River riffle. For the finely tuned fly tier anawareness that body color at emergence can be tan, yellow orgreen may be helpful; however, within a few days all colorturns to the tan or brown color of maturity.

Vulnerability to trout is most evident during the process ofhatching as pupa traverse the water column, break throughthe tension of the surface and ride downstream sheddingtheir papal case and unfurling wings for flight. While adultsmature during subsequent days, their flitting behavior alongstreams is of little significance to trout since caddis do notapproach the stream surface until after mating and then it isthe female that dives or crawls through the surface to reach

submerged rocks and woody materials for egg laying. If youhave observed gelatinous greenish globs on your wadersfollowing evening fishing it is an indication female caddisused you as a means of return to the river and substrate for

egg laying. Other female members of thisgroup disperse eggs by dapping ortouching their abdomen along the streamsurface at six or ten inch intervals in arapid erratic fashion. Within this diversegroup of Hydropsychids, emergencetypically occurs in a concentrated fashionin evening and may continue after dark;egg laying is less intense and is scatteredacross time, some occurring in earlymorning and from afternoon throughevening, while others are entirelynocturnal. Since trout key on these

behaviors for feeding, the fishing literatureis replete with many fly patterns and method discussionsdesigned to best fish the tan caddis.

Being prepared for tan caddis, it was gratifying to see them inearly evening with light colored egg sacks perched at theready while flying in zig-zags across riffles laying eggs. Thetan caddis appeared to be doing the expected, trout rose in asplashy manner and a fly pattern was selected withconfidence. As the line-up of rejected patterns accumulatedon the used fly patch, bewilderment set in. While it wasdifficult from my casting location to align the caddis flightpath with trout rise position, it was obvious tan caddis wereon the stream and trout were rising, but they were not takingany caddis pattern. Having sought and found the beauty oftan caddis on the wing, but not the intended fishing success,I had again become oblivious of the ordinary; the ubiquitousBlue Winged Olives were riding the riffles. A nearly invisibleearly evening olive hatch was in progress among theflamboyance of the tan caddis. After making the correction,catching followed and gradually diminished along withsplashy rises. I was contented to have gained awareness ofwhat made the difference and hooked the #20 Adams to thekeeper.

Rivers and the inhabitants of the

watery elements are made for

wise men to contemplate and

for fools to pass by withoutconsideration.

Isaac Walton

Office: 920.832.24092901 E. Enterprise Ave., Suite 500

Appleton, WI 54913www.wipfli.com

Tan CaddisJesse Walters

Hook: Mustad 94845, sizes 12-18Thread: Tan 8-0Body: Tan dubbingHackle: Ginger hackle, palmeredWing: Tan antron

Visit Jesse’s shop on Etsy for a variety of hand tied flies available for purchase

jwaltersflies

Catch More FishDon Clouthier

April Angling Adventure - 2015

What fun we had fishin’ the Early Season during ournow-annual April Angling Adventure in the beautifulDriftless Area of Wisconsin. We had so much fun the DNRdecided to do away with the Early Season so next year thefishin’ can start in January 2016 . . . but we will wait untilApril.

Where else can you catchbeautiful Brown and NativeBrook Trout in a beautifulpastoral setting, listening tothe clop, clop, clop of theAmish buggies while watchinga 4-horse Amish plow teamprepare the soil for springplanting.

Yes, the early season is uniqueand we had a great time! Nextyear our AAA will be theweekend of April 15-17 twoweeks after Easter March 27thand the usual peak of theSpring Steelhead Season. Here are some of the eventsplanned for AAA-2016:

• Because of the response of retired anglers there will be a“Senior” component of AAA which will start 2-3 daysbefore the “official” weekend start to give the old guys amuch needed and deserved head start. “Prefishing” theevent will help every angler.

• A former FVTU President and professional Foodie hasagreed to be our Exeutive Chef and do all the mealplanning and kitchen organizing so we can focus on Fun,Fishing and Fellowship without having to worry about ourice, food and libation supply.

• We will look into renting a cabin ON the W.F. of theKickapoo very near to the W.F. Sportsmen’s Clubcampground which is also on the river.

• There will be a casting clinic depending of need.

• Expert Fly Tier’s will demon-strate their craft focusing onDriftless Area patterns.

• An entomology clinic will beconducted if we can get theprofessor off the water.

We all agreed AAA was a greatlearning experience especiallyfor anglers not familiar withthe Early Season or fishin’ theDriftless. FVTU members whohave fished the Early Seasonin the Driftless were able toshare their knowledge aboutstreams and tactics by taking

new to the area anglers to productive streams and demon-strating Driftless-specific tactics, terminal tackle and bugs.

You Will Catch More Fish if you save the date and join usin the Driftless Area for another Early Season April AnglingAdventure.

event will help every angler.

continued from last month

Some Uncomfortable Questions toConsider in our Evolving Ethics of FlyFishing

Howard and Brad Bowman

Howard responds: Reducing angling to only “catch andrelease” may disconnect us from one of the ways in whichfishing as well as hunting is justified as an ethical enter-prise, namely food gathering. When this dimension istaken away then do we end up using our sport in purelyself-gratifying and self-entertaining ways? And is it the casethat the removal of this ethical anchor diminishes how wego about approaching our fishing enterprise with our bestvalues? This is troubling and I think deserves extendeddiscussion and reflection among anglers. If harvest ofappropriate fish in appropriate numbers in appropriateenvironments is part of the ethic of our sport, I believe wemay bring a degree of honesty to our values that can helpus clarify the decisions we make on the stream.

In the spirit of complete disclosure and transparency, Iacknowledge that I love and enjoy every aspect of flyfishing for trout, from the tying table to the dining table!However, if we think about two things as we fish, I believewe may have a more nuanced set of questions and valuesto bring to our enterprise: First, we do—I believe—need tothink about the fish’s experience as well as our own. Andsecond, at the beginning of the 21st Century we now knowwith certainty that our environments and the fish we loveare at risk. When I was a young man in Northern Maine,the limit was 10 trout per day! Wow! Those days are gone.Instead, we have inherited—despite much abuse—beau-tiful, but very fragile environments in which to fish forcreatures who are enchanting beyond words but also atgreat risk.

As we prepare for upcoming seasons, Brad and Howardoffer up a kind of “ethical check-list.” We share this“checklist” as a way to invite further discussion among allof us who are passionate about fly fishing and theenvironment.

Questions to consider when approaching the stream:

• Is this a healthy, robust and prolific stretch of waterthat can afford some harvest? If so, how many fish doI intend to keep?

• Am I intending to just put “notches in my belt” today orto take in the wonder of matching fly to fish?

• How fragile is this place? Should I use only barblesshooks here? Or should I only take pictures?

• Have I already taken my fair share of fish this trip/thisseason?

• What strategies will I use to attempt to minimize distressto the fish I interact with?

• What can I do to leave this stretch of stream better thanwhen I arrived?

• Will I remember to be thankful for the fish I see, that Imiss, that I “catch” today?

• Do I have the ability to take all of this into account andmake intentional decisions??

Our thoughts are offered in with the love of our sport inmind and with the utmost respect for all of our fly fishingbrothers and sisters. If you find that you have furtherthoughts on “Uncomfortable Questions in Our EvolvingEthics of Fly Fishing,” please feel invited to continue thediscussion by emailing bowmanbiff@gmail.com orhbowman1@charter.net

In a perfect postcard of nearly 60 years ago, Fred Iacovoni can see himself as a barefoot kid of 7 or 8, a beat-up Mitchell 300spinning reel and rod in one hand and bag of orange spawn in the other. He is fishing from a pristine bank at Tippy Dam, anglingfor steelhead that make the Manistee River their part-time home . . . The sky is blue, the fish biting and the river a siren. But anaccident put those images on hold the day Fred was injured in a diving accident at a neighbor’s pool in 1979 at age 33. He wasrendered a quadriplegic on Independence Day, cruel irony that.

Fred has fished some since, from a wheelchair, limiting the time and place and frequency. A heart attack in Novemberslowed his 64-year-old body even more. Enter the son. His name is Fred, too. He was 3 when his dad got hurt. Theyounger Fred learned fishing at his father’s knee — which lure when, and how to coax fish from the bottom, the weeds,the eddies. “Kinda weird,” he admits. “When I was that kid, it seemed like work, then. But I was young.” Today, at 39,Fred fishes for the intrinsic joy it offers. For himself. And for his father. Each time the son goes out now, he has hiscameras. He snaps photos and shoots video of the fish and the fishing, then transmits the images to the father who nolonger can be there in person. The elder Fred will be sitting in his chair, or reclining in bed when his cell phone or com-puter announces gifts en route. Miles from the lake or river where his son is fishing for the both of them, the father siftsthrough images that transport him to another time, another place. Fishing and Stream, January 2011

Enjoy fishing this Father’s Day with your son or daughter!

F o xV a l l e y

TROUTTROUT UNLIMITED2000 W. Spencer St.Appleton, WI 54914

Mark Your Calendars!June 20

Habitat Day on theChaffee Creek

Join us!

June 21Father’s Day

Get out and fish!

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 Jen EricksonBoard 5 Tony Garvey 585-1540Board 6 Steve Heuser 470-0836Board 7 Roger Genske 729-9916Board 8 Todd YaekelBoard 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

Pan Fried Asparagus

1 lb. fresh asparagus trimmed and cut to 1 inch pieces.2 Tbsp. olive oil2 Tbsp. butter2 cloves garlic mincedsea saltfresh ground black pepper

Melt butter with olive oil in medium size skillet over mediumheat. Add asparagus and garlic stirring frequently for about5 minutes. Cover skillet and cook for 2 minutes more.Uncover and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.Serve immediately.

Enjoy, BoB Kinderman