The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able. Member Musings. Issue 99.

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Janice Davidson
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Issue 99.9 July 2014 Member Musings The major insect hatches are on, including the mosquitos.

In speaking with those pursuing the warm water species, activity has also picked up for them.

With the help from Todd Calder, Al Johnson and Tom Lager, many were able to tie their first fly.

The next Habitat Day is scheduled for July 19th on the White River outside of Wautoma. Watch your email and the website for details.

Some of the details from this study were used to develop questions for the recent Conservation Congress ballot.

acquired through the DNR, under the Stream Bank Protection Program.

bank easements in the next year and a half at a cost of around $6.3 million.

Trout Unlimited has been active in helping identifying potential easements.

1 Issue 99.9 July 2014 Member Musings The major insect hatches are on, including the mosquitos. Fishing the Hex hatch has turned successful for many and the rains have certainly helped to keep water levels up. In speaking with those pursuing the warm water species, activity has also picked up for them. Chapter members participated in the Heckrodt sponsored fishing day on June 7th. With the help from Todd Calder, Al Johnson and Tom Lager, many were able to tie their first fly. We thank the members who could help out and continue our tradition of participating in this event. The next Habitat Day is scheduled for July 19th on the White River outside of Wautoma. Watch your and the website for details. Early this year, the DNR released a recently completed survey focused on Inland Trout Fishing in the state. We thought it important enough to publish some of the highlights in this newsletter. The study provides some insight into angler preferences and attitudes. Some of the details from this study were used to develop questions for the recent Conservation Congress ballot. As many of you know our access to streams in Wisconsin for both fishing and habitat improvement is in many cases dependent on easements acquired through the DNR, under the Stream Bank Protection Program. In the last state budget the Legislature boosted the financing, which will allow the DNR to pursue a goal of acquiring 100 miles of stream bank easements in the next year and a half at a cost of around $6.3 million. Most of this effort will be focused on the Driftless Region and the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Trout Unlimited has been active in helping identifying potential easements. This is good news for all of us and we appreciate the efforts of those from TU, including Duke Welter. Voice of the Fox Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited This month s fly pattern is provided courtesy of Jim Bartelt a friend of the Chapter and guide in the Driftless area. It fits well with Tom Lager s column of June that focused on Scuds as a major trout food source. Give this new pattern a try and use an imitation of an insect that encompasses a large portion of the Trout s diet. Now is the time to get out there and wet a line. Plenty of hours of daylight to fish, good water levels in most areas, and fish that are in the feeding mode. Summer always seems to be way too short, so don t hesitate. We look forward to seeing you on the stream. Editor The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able. Sparse Grey Hackle

Let s Talk Bugs Tom Lager In my experience mayflies are like friends on the journey. At times they are the destination, the center pin of the journey around which success pivots e.g. the intense Hex hatch.

2 Let s Talk Bugs Tom Lager In my experience mayflies are like friends on the journey. At times they are the destination, the center pin of the journey around which success pivots e.g. the intense Hex hatch. Sometimes mayflies are the ever present attendant of the stream, facilitating success by filling in the gaps when catching slows e.g. the enduring Blue Winged Olive larvae. Other times mayflies are just there, being part of the scenery, giving testament to the functionality of the watershed e.g. sparse leisurely Light Cahill emergence. And then there are occasions when mayflies are the hidden jewel, the unexpected that delights the trip with beauty, causing events to pause at least for a short time. Such was the case on recent small mouth bass fishing trips to Door County with Don Clouthier. While stowing gear at the close of our first trip, a spinner stage male mayfly landed for an instant on my hand, brightly illuminated in late afternoon sun and then was gone so fast as to not have been there at all. There was no evidence of its presence left and no other mayflies on the wing; however, the vividness of its image remained. The distinctiveness of wing color pattern, the contrast of cellophane-clear versus the dark brown apex of the wing and the black brown body with exceedingly long graceful tails was evidence I had not before seen this mayfly. Certainly the abrupt appearance and sunlight enhanced contrasts of its form served to enlarge this experience in my mind and kept me busy for several days reviewing literature and internet sources in a failed attempt to identify this mayfly from my mental images. The culmination of this experience was realized the following week during our second journey to Door County. We arrived at the parking area in time to observe the male mayflies, in bright sun-struck contrasts of color, dancing in undulating swarming movements of rapid wing-beating ascents followed by still-winged downward glides. The scene was further enhanced by the fact that it was all occurring on and above a bright red sports car setting in the parking area. The dark tinted windows and bright shiny red surface of the car attracted this small troupe of dancers to alight momentarily on its surface and then launch into their dancing flight, on sun glinted cellophane wings, rising several meters in the air. What a picture of contrasts: delicate natural beauty attracted to modern technology sleek in design and shiny-bright in color. This interlude remained with me throughout the day, as Callibaetis mayflies sporadically emerged from wave washed shoals adjacent to the bay a day well spent in His creation. these mayflies to be Leptophebia nebulosa, a species within the genus of mayflies referred as Black Quills by fishers. This species was first described in 1853 by Francis Walker, an entomologist in the employ of the British Museum; the description remains valid to this day, documented in now classic Entomology texts of the early 19th century. The Black Quill has an unusual geographic distribution in that it occurs coast to coast across the northern tier of US states and Canadian provinces and as far north as the Yukon. Within this range it is relatively uncommon, but when presence can be found in considerable numbers. The patchiness of the L. nebulosa population distribution across numerous geographies known for fly fishing, I believe, account for the fact few patterns (e.g. Borcher s Drake) have been generated over the years take a look at Jesse s pattern is this issue. The larvae commonly inhabit ponds, still eddies along stream banks and shallow littoral regions of lakes. Prior to emerging, larvae often in very large numbers migrate upstream in small tributaries to marshes where they clamber a shore to emerge 1-2 cm above the water line in the latter part of May and the beginning of June. The combined effect of large numbers and larvae size (1 cm) contribute significantly to the food energy available to trout and other fishes within watersheds. While this species has limited potential to play a significant role in your catching success, it can enhance your fishing experience. When observed this mayfly may serve to connect you to other experiences along the journey for me as an eleven year old observing what I was to later understand to be a Leptophlebid larvae migration up the stream that flowed through our family farm in Northern Minnesota. I recall scooping small wiggly critters from the stream; they remain images vivid in my mind. You can t buy happiness but you can buy fishing gear and that s kind of the same thing. Later with hard evidence in hand, identification revealed

3 Office: E. Enterprise Ave., Suite 500 Appleton, WI Borcher s Parachute Jesse Walters Hook: Mustad 94840, sizes 8-16 Thread: Black 6-0 Tail: Moose body hair Body: Turkey tail feather Wings: White polypropylene post Hackle: Brown and grizzly hackle, parachute

Most scuds are tan with hints of yellow showing through their translucent shell. Some are darker than others and, because they are a crustacean, they vary in size.

4 Ice Dub Scud Jim Bartelt Scuds (fresh water shrimp) are an important food item for trout in the spring creeks of the Driftless Area. Research by the Department of Natural Resources shows that 40% of the biomass in the spring creeks is made up of scuds. Trout have a great preference for them as well. Most scuds are tan with hints of yellow showing through their translucent shell. Some are darker than others and, because they are a crustacean, they vary in size. Because they are not an insect that hatches, they are always present in the spring creeks. Trout feed on them year round. When they die, they turn orange in color, so an orange pattern is good to have in your fly box, as well as tan. Ice Dub is a great material for tying scuds because it has a translucency that is very crustacean like. It allows the base of yellow thread to show through. The shell back of super glue is also translucent and give an impression of a crustacean. It also binds the fly together making it indestructible. Ice Dub Scud Hook: # 12 heavy wire scud hook Thread: 6/0 Yellow Underbody: Around 17 turns of 0/20 lead wire Tail, body & legs: UV Tan Ice Dub or UV Shrimp Pink Ice Dub (looks like orange) Shell Back: Super Glue Lay down a base of thread, wrap the lead wire and cover it completely with the yellow thread. (Yellow shows through the body on scuds, so the lead must be covered well) Tie a few strands of Ice Dub in for a tail. Dub the entire body with a generous amount of Ice Dub. Whip finish. Trim the top and sides with scissors and pull fibers down with your fingers to begin forming legs. Use a bodkin to pick out the legs more completely and remove excess fibers. Remove fly from vise and trim the legs and tail even with hook bend. Trim any extra fibers on the back and sides to form a smooth back. Put the fly back in the vise and lay a bead of super glue on the back. Whether I caught fish or not, just the thrill of rolling out that line and watching my fly turn over has been good enough for me. That and the hundreds of treasured memories I have of this wonderful sport. Curt Gowdy

5 survey results In January of this year, the Wisconsin DNR published the results of their recent survey regarding trout fishing in the state titled Trout Fishing in Wisconsin Angler Behavior, Program Assessment and Regulation and Season Preferences. You can view a full copy of the report at: topic/fishing/documents/trout/troutreportjan2 014.pdf The survey methodology was focused on contacting 1,000 anglers who had purchased Inland Trout Stamps. Looking at the survey and protocol, it appears to be well designed. Here are some excerpts and highlights from the survey that may offer food for thought: "What we found is that there is no single profile of a trout angler in Wisconsin, and that trout fishing in Wisconsin may not fit the popular image often portrayed in the media," says Jordan Petchenik, the Department of Natural Resources resource sociologist who conducted the survey. "Most stream trout anglers use a variety of fishing techniques, meaning they are not exclusively fly anglers. More anglers pursued trout with live bait than by any other methods such as spinners or lures or artificial flies. And the majority of trout anglers said that bringing fish home for a meal was important to them." Scot Stewart, the southern district fisheries supervisor who is leading DNR's review of inland trout fishing, says that the results from the survey were used to develop advisory questions at the 2014 Spring Fish and Wildlife Hearings on expanding trout fishing opportunities. Petchenik says that the survey results show that anglers are generally satisfied with the stream regulations - more than twice as many anglers are satisfied (59 percent) with the regulations than are dissatisfied (28 percent). And two-thirds of anglers reported that the stream regulations are easy to understand. But a sizeable minority percent of the anglers responding - reported that regulations for a specific stream have prevented them from fishing that stream. "The finding indicates that some anglers are being displaced from streams they would like to fish because of the regulations for that stream." The survey also showed that trout anglers today are spending less time trout fishing than in the past, with 45 percent reporting less time spent compared to 17 percent spending more time trout fishing. "As found for other outdoor recreations, time constraints is the primary reason for an angler's declining participation and one-half of them attributed it to a lack of available time," Petchenik says. "The other primary reasons they reported are ones DNR can address, from trout regulations being too difficult to understand or too restrictive, to inadequate public access to degraded stream habitat that makes it more difficult to fish." The questionnaire also provided the opportunity for anglers to express their support or opposition to existing and hypothetical regulations. Regulations that allow trout to be harvested were supported by three-fourths (76 percent) of all stream anglers, while 61 percent of the anglers opposed catch-and-release only regulations on the streams they fished. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) opposed regulations that would allow an angler to harvest six to 10 trout. A majority of anglers had a preference for regulations that allowed a harvest of three to five trout. Anglers want to protect trout from over-harvest but would like to have the option of keeping a large trout. Having a single set of regulations for an entire stream was supported by two-thirds (66 percent) of the anglers. A majority of anglers (58 percent) supported having the same regulations for geographically nearby streams.

6 F o x V a l l e y TROUT UNLIMITED 2000 W. Spencer St. Appleton, WI NON PROFIT US Postage PAID Appleton WI Permit No. 211 Mark Your Calendars! Saturday, July 19 Work day on the White River See you there! Check website for details! Chapter Board Members President Tom Lager Vice President Open Secretary Dick Stielow Treasurer Al Johnson Board 1 Keith Bassage Board 2 Duane Velie Board 3 Norm Christnacht Board 4 John Hammond Board 5 Tony Garvey Board 6 Steve Heuser Board 7 Roger Genske Board 8 Scott Heinritz Board 9 Don Clouthier Board 10 Jim Jenkin Board 11 Rich Erickson Board 12 Rick Schinler Past President Joe Bach Ghetto Mac 1/2 lb. hamburger, browned and drained 1 box Velveeta Shells and Cheese 1/4 cup whipping cream 1 pk. Velveeta Caso Blanco cheese. Comes in a 3 pk. package. Lawry's Seasoned salt Garlic powder Montreal Steak Seasoning Season and brown hamburger, drain grease and set burger aside. Cook shells according to directions on package, add burger to drained shells then add whipping cream and cheeses. Blend well and serve. Enjoy, BoB Kinderman

APRIL ANGLING ADVENTURE! FUN - FELLOWSHIP - GREAT FISHING

Issue 107.7 April 2015 Voice of the Fox Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited FOX VALLEY TROUT UNLIMITED FIRST ANNUAL APRIL ANGLING ADVENTURE! FUN - FELLOWSHIP - GREAT FISHING Fish the productive Driftless