Please register now or share this with someone who may be interested. These fill up and we want our members to have an opportunity to take part in these groundbreaking clinics.
There are two types of clinics detailed below with links and QR codes for more information. Both are set in Westby, WI (near Viroqua, in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area) and the cost is $375 (registration site adds a fee that does not go towards the clinics).
Basics Clinic By Women For Women: June 12-14th, 2026
Learn how to choose proper equipment, tie knots, cast, read water, select the proper fly and time on the water. You will learn new tactics, regardless of your level of ability. Equipment available for use. Register here online.
On the Water Skills Clinic – Intermediate: June 10-12, 2026
Personalized instruction streamside. Tune up workshops by women instructors to refresh skills in casting, matching the hatch & reading the water. Fish WI finest trout streams with experienced anglers.
Register here online.
Read More
Posted: March 2, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Miss Kasey’s Presentation or Want to See it Again? You’re In Luck!
Last Updated: March 3, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Looking Ahead to Our April 2026 Gathering and Chapter Elections
April 14, 2026. Jason Freund will be our featured speaker of the year. He is an expert angler, tyer, historian and scientist. His blogs are fun, his skill and knowledge impressive, and he is one of Wisconsin TU’s most dedicated leaders. Based in LaCrosse, on the faculty of UW-LaCrosse and the President of the Coulee Chapter, Jason knows a lot about the streams we fish and some we should be fishing.
This is also our annual meeting with chapter elections and we have two vacancies on the Board. If you’d like to serve on the Board, please contact Topf Wells, Dyan Lesnik or Don Golembiewski (contact info at end of the newsletter).
Last Updated: March 2, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Remembering Ray Venn
By Topf Wells, SWTU President
Ray was in his second stint as an SWTU Board Member, having served many years ago. That’s an unusual pattern of service which reflects Ray’s commitment to SWTU’s conservation, education and fun mission. He participated in the full range of SWTU activities. In just this last year, he joined us for work days and was a superb instructor at several casting clinics we held for kids. At our last clinic, I was not helping a youngster much and asked Ray to take over. He had the kid casting like a champ in 15 minutes. He was a welcoming and friendly presence at our meetings. Read More
Last Updated: March 2, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Let’s Be Careful Out There: First Aid Training
Let us know if you are interested in a free First Aid course
By Topf Wells
The SWTU Board recognizes this reality. Our work days have many folks working hard with power tools over uneven terrain. We also have crowds at different events where someone can suffer a medical emergency. We want everyone to be as safe as possible and to receive effective health if something goes wrong. We intend to be Care Full for our members and guests with proper training and equipment. Read More
Posted: March 2, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Learn What Your Board’s Been Up To – March 2026
Minutes from SWTU Board of Director meetings can be viewed in this Google Drive. If you have questions on what you read in them, reach out to one of the Board members listed on the last page of each newsletter. (Note that you may need to click the “Last Modified” header at the top to sort the list with the latest minutes at the top.)
Last Updated: March 2, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
SWTU Member Survey
Our survey is out and many thanks to the many dozens who have completed it so far. Your input will help improve SWTU as a worthwhile, effective, and fun conservation organization and fishing club.
Please don’t wait! It’s open until March 31, but we don’t want anyone to miss out on providing us feedback.
Brown Owl
Last Updated: March 2, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
by Rusty Dunn
If the history of fly fishing is viewed with the mirror of time, dry-fly fishing is a relatively new invention, having begun in the mid-1800s. Wet-fly fishing, on the other hand, existed for centuries before that. An important cornerstone of wet-fly angling as we know it today developed quietly in the English north and Scottish south during those centuries. The style spread widely in the mid- to late-1800s, when anglers of the English south learned about and adopted the methods. The English north is strikingly beautiful, with expansive moorlands, dense woodlands, cascading waterfalls, glacially weathered mountains, and verdant rich valleys. It is a land of swift stony-bottomed rivers that are home to ancient brown trout and centuries-old fly-fishing traditions. The area is the birthplace, incubator, and laboratory of what has become known as the “North-Country style” of fishing. Flies and methods of the north have been refined by observant and talented anglers for centuries.
Read More
Spring 2026 Workdays: Save the Dates!
Last Updated: March 3, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Saturdays – 9am to 12 noon (Except for Tuesday, June 9)
By Jim Hess, Conservation Chair
We would love to have you join us. If you are interested in carpooling to a workday, contact Dyan Lesnik (dmlgriffin@gmail.com) and she will try to find a contact for you. See below for dates, locations, activities and a chainsaw training opportunity! Read More
Registration Open for the 2026 Women’s Fly Fishing Clinics
Last Updated: March 1, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
Please register now or share this with someone who may be interested. These fill up and we want our members to have an opportunity to take part in these groundbreaking clinics.
There are two types of clinics detailed below with links and QR codes for more information. Both are set in Westby, WI (near Viroqua, in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area) and the cost is $375 (registration site adds a fee that does not go towards the clinics).
Basics Clinic By Women For Women: June 12-14th, 2026
Learn how to choose proper equipment, tie knots, cast, read water, select the proper fly and time on the water. You will learn new tactics, regardless of your level of ability. Equipment available for use. Register here online.
On the Water Skills Clinic – Intermediate: June 10-12, 2026
Personalized instruction streamside. Tune up workshops by women instructors to refresh skills in casting, matching the hatch & reading the water. Fish WI finest trout streams with experienced anglers.
Register here online.
Read More
Last Updated: March 1, 2026 by Drew Kasel Leave a Comment
New Members – March 2026
We’re pleased to announce the addition of the following new member to our ranks!
We are honored to have you among us. Please join our next meeting. We’d love to get to know you better, answer any questions and give you some free flies! If any questions about the meeting, please contact Dyan Lesnik.
* Note that some longer-term members may be captured in the list above. A glitch in the excel file has made it harder to sort … but it’s better to be inclusive and we’re happy to have your continued support!
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