So Much Happening at Our WEDNESDAY, May 14 Chapter Gathering, Including Tom Wendelburg Fly Auction

We will gather on WEDNESDAY, May 14 (as opposed to our usual Tuesday due to some scheduling with Schwoegler’s).

We’ll elect officers at this meeting, raffle an array of incredible flies and hear from an extremely special and welcome guest: Kyle Oliverncia – the new DNR fish biologist for Dane, Green, and Rock Counties. He is our point person for all of SWTU’s stream conservation work in our area. Kyle will introduce himself and discuss stream sampling plans for the year and provide an overview of the Garfoot Creek project planned for 2026/27. And don’t you want to hear about this fish picture?

Some of us have worked with Kyle on our Sawmill Creek workday and met with him and the other fish biologists in this part of the Driftless Area. He’s a great guy – knowledgeable, communicative and approachable. We and the trout are lucky to have him caring for our streams.

Special Raffle of Tom Wendelburg Flies on Wednesday, May 14

The late Tom Wendelburg was Wisconsin’s most prolific fly-fishing writer. In a 35 year career Tom wrote over 200 articles in all the nation’s outdoor magazines, from Sports Afield and Field-Astream, to the Flyfisher and Fly Fisherman. His 2001 book, Catching Big Fish with Light Tackle, was published actually by our prestigious University of Wisconsin Press. (Check for copies on eBay – it’s filled with hard-core fly fishing strategies. for trout, bass, panfish, steelhead and salmon.)

The setting for almost all of Tom’s writing was Wisconsin waters, especially our Driftless spring-creek trout streams. Having lived on Black Earth Creek, early-on sometimes actually out of his Ford Pinto station-wagon!, Tom was likely America’s first “Trout Bum”, long before John Gierach coined a book with that title, living the trout-life for over 55 years until his death in 2020.

A long-time member of the chapter, following his death the Wendelburg estate asked fishing friends and SWTU to sell his equipment and flies with the proceeds to fund restoration projects on his beloved Black Earth Creek, including its Garfoot Creek and Vermont Creek tributaries.

The May 14th WEDNESDAY meeting offers a special opportunity to win some of Tom’s very best flies: 3 sets of his Wisconsin spring creek flies, each with about 70 flies – mayfly and caddis dries, hopper and cricket terrestrials, hair’s ear scuds, marabou leeches and streamers. Tom was also an accomplished fly fisher for panfish and bass, and so we’ll also offer 2 sets of Tom’s bass bugs and 2 of bluegill poppers. Bass blasting a bug or bluegills sipping a popper are about as much fun as fly fishing gets, and the bass and bluegills are getting ready to put on a show.

Raffle tickets will be $10; the more tickets the better your chances for once-in-a-lifetime flies.

It’s a lot going on in this last gathering until September, so we hope to see you on WEDNESDAY, May 14. (We’re repeating the WEDNESDAY as much as we can!) We’ll gather, as always, at Schwoeglers on Grand Canyon Drive on Madison’s West Side. Dinner and drinks will be available starting at 5:30 p.m. with the election, presentation and raffle following some brief updates at 7.

Schwoegler’s Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Dr., Madison, WI 53719