August 2016Central Wisconsin Trout UnlimitedConserving, Protecting and Restoring Coldwater Fisheries

2002 Wisconsin Trout StampBy Bill Millonig

Riffles, Runs and PoolsBy President Mike SanDretto

Pine River restorationSaturday, September 17th, 2016 7:45 am to 12:00 pmBreakfast and lunch is availableAniwa Rd, Wild Rosecwtu.org

CWTU Board meeting “Fishing the Northern Amazon Basin of Columbia for Peacock Bass and Payara” - Abe downs of Great Northern Fly FishingTuesday, September 13th, 2016 Fin and Feather (upstairs banquet area) 6:15 board meeting 7:30 program 22W Main StWinneconne, WI, 54986

CWTU BanquetSaturday, October 15th, 2016 BEST WESTERN PREMIER Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center1 N Main St, Oshkosh4:30 PM (horsd’oeuvres & raffles start)Contact Laura Tucker (920) 540-5293

CWTU Board meeting Tuesday, November 8, 7:30 pm Fin N’ Feather, Winneconne WI. Tim Pantzlaff of Speyco will present a program about “Taking Your Spey Fishing Interests To The Next Level.”

To list your conservation non-

profit event in this newsletter,

please contact Jeff Wegand at

jeffwegand@hotmail.com.

Just today I got an email thanking all of you from one of the students Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited sponsored Youth Fishing Camp. This year we again sponsored two students. All of the young men and women ages 12-16 who attend the camp are sponsored by Trout Unlimited Chapters around the state. There is no cost to students or their parents. The Camp was held July 14-17 at Pine Lake Camp near Waupaca. While the youth fishing camp is a statewide TU program CWTU members have been active participants since the beginning. Linn Beck, Wisconsin TU State Council Chair and past President of CWTU is the Director of the camp. CWTU board members Wayne Parmley and Bob Haase help to lead the Camp with many other CWTU Chapter members teaching and chaperoning as well. Thank you to all involved (that includes you) for introducing young people to the wonders of fishing and the Wisconsin outdoors.

At the August Meeting and Picnic we elected a new Treasurer, Joe Peikert. Joe has been a chapter member since 2012. He and his daughter Bailey help out at

Troutfest. Thank you Joe for taking on this position. Thank you Harvey Jones past treasurer who resigned in July.

We had indoor and outdoor booths at the Greater Wisconsin Outdoor and Sportsman Festival August 12-14 at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh. 17 CWTU Chapter members participated. It was a great opportunity to meet people and tell them about what we do. The outdoor booth offered fly casting lessons while the indoor booth offered the opportunity to tie a fly. 45 people tried fly casting and about the same number tied flies. We will continue to look for opportunities to meet people who might want to become members, learn more about the environment, restoring and preserving trout habitat. If there is a community gathering in your town where we could set up a booth please contact me.

Summer is winding down. See you at the September meeting and program Tuesday the 13th which will be back at the Fin N’ Feather.

Upcoming Events

Brookie News | Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited | Conserving, Protecting and Restoring Coldwater Fisheries

Friendly Stars of SummerBy Ephoron Leukon

August evenings are a great time to be out on a central Wisconsin stream: mosquito activity is down, cooler weather is in the offing, and there is always the promise of white mayflies, caddis and terrestrials.

But there is another promise this month. The friendly stars of summer are at their best. A little after dusk, as you prepare to leave your favorite water, pause a moment to take in the majesty of all that is above you.

Start with the Summer Triangle (http://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/summer-triangle-asterism-vega-deneb-altair), an asterism made up of three stars from three separate constellations: Vega (straight overhead in the constellation Lyra the Harp), Deneb (Cygnus the Swan) to the east of Vega, and Altair (Aquila the Eagle) to the south. The Triangle is easy to identify and will sharpen your skills for spotting other celestial delights. For instance, a good test for unaided vision is the double star Mizar Alcor (http://earthsky.org/?s=mizar+alcor), the star second from the end in the handle of

the Big Dipper asterism (Ursa Major). If can you see both stars, your vision is pretty good.

The spectacular Milky Way, our home galaxy, is high in the sky running from the northeast where you’ll find the constellation Cassiopeia (the W asterism) to the south in Sagittarius (the Teapot asterism). Spotting Sagittarius means you are looking toward the heart of the galaxy. Just west of Sagittarius is the constellation Scorpius, one of the few constellations that actually looks like its namesake. Mars (more orange than red) and Saturn (pale yellow) are in Scorpius this month and are easy naked eye targets. A small telescope or a quality spotting scope will treat you to the sight of Saturn’s rings. And once seen, the rings act as a magnet attracting budding astronomers young and old alike.

For more on celestial observing I recommend the guide Binocular Highlights: 99 Celestial Sights for Binocular Users by Gary Seronik. The Internet has a wealth of astronomy

information, but earthsky.org is an exceptional resource. Your local library may have the monthly magazines Astronomy or Sky and Telescope which will appeal to both the novice and experienced observer. Finally, the Northeast Wisconsin Stargazers astronomy club based in Menasha, www.new-star.org, invites you to join them for a night of telescopic viewing.

Happy star hunting and tight lines.

Many thanks for those who

attended and supported the

Greater Wisconsin Outdoor

Sportsman Festival!

ThanksMANY

Go to cwtu.org for the latest and to sign up to receive our newsletter via email! | August 2016

Most of you may be thinking terrestrials but I consider them having moderate success until September in sand county. For me, August is usually filled with family vacations because swimming water is warm, nights are cool, and mosquitoes/black flies are down. When I can get out fishing, August is the best time to try to catch big trout on a mouse. If you were unsuccessful to get your 20” grip and grin from the hex hatch welcome to the next best thing. You may have some of the purists of the sport ask if it is a dry fly. The simple answer is “No, it’s a rodent!” Yes you can fish at dusk and be very successful with EHC, cahills, and yellow sally simulators which I do, but nothing is more exciting than fishing a mouse at night because it comes unexpected by prospecting. Rise forms

can be similar to the hex hatch. One rise may be a slurp that you can’t hear or see it and the next rise could be an attack of your rodent like an alligator. Both usually can result in a missed hook up and just a good story.

Here are some things to consider before venturing out. Don’t fish water you have never waded during the day. Look for spots with either deep holes and or heavy wood. Fish with a friend so the experience can be shared, documented and help each other on the journey out. Have an action plan to get out of river safely, legally, and stick to it. Pack snacks, water, compass, head net, and head lamp. Never show your head lamp to water you are going to fish. Fish only in water that is colder than 67 degrees. Warm water is hard on the trout if you hook them and I have

found it not to be very unproductive because I believe fish actually go into a state of hibernation or travel to smaller colder feeder creeks. Best nights are new moons, overcast or when the moon has already set. If the moon is out, only fish in the shadows. Wade very slowly in water, because these trout are not distracted by feeding like the hex hatch, and are very smart. Use the option of frog pattern. I have seen it done in lower upper Michigan. Don’t think that just because you make an effort to fish at night you should be rewarded with large trout. It can be only less than 50% effective but on the nights it works there is usually a possibility to catch several fish in high teens and 20” size. If things don’t work out, take a look up at the stars which never disappoint and make it harder for me to go to bed.

BY JEFF WEGAND

SLEEPLESS IN SAND COUNTY

CWTU Board of Directors Minutes 7/12/16

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President Mike San Dretto commenced the meeting at 6:15 p.m.Questions / comments, email Mike at MSandretto@aol.com.

Minutes Meeting for July 12th 2016 Board Meeting was approved.

Treasurer Report transition period. We should have one next month

Election for treasurer - Joseph Peikert has been a chapter member since March 2012. Joe and his daughter Bailey are graduates of our Fly Fishing School. In June 2014, Joe wrote this article for the Brookie News; http://webzoom.freewebs.com/cwtu/BROOKIE%20NEWSjune14.pdf Recently he has been active in Troutfest and this year helped with youth fly tying. Joe is President and CEO of Wolf River Community Bank; http://www.wolfriverbank.com/. A motion was made and seconded to elect Joe Peikert Treasurer, the motion carried unanimously.

Workdays - Dennis Drazkowski. There is a location change for the August 20th work day. We will be working at West Branch of White instead of the Pine. There is a new vendor for the work day porta potty. It will be “Packerland Portables” distributed through Wautoma Rentals. Work Day photos on website. Bob Haase is looking into why the images are small. Initially he thought it was the file size, but is checking into it. We have had some great photos that were taken by Nate Ratliff of FVTU.

Wild Steelhead Research Update Mike San Dretto for Jeff Treu. Professor Iserman sent information about Eric Wegleitner the grad student on the project. He has led two sampling ventures on some the streams with a focus on Fischer Creek. Their first trip was in late June and Eric went again last week. They are seeing numbers of age-0 steelhead in most of the streams, but they are still pretty small (< 3 inches long). They will continue to monitor their size until steelhead are large enough to put in the PIT tags. Components for PIT tag antennas are all in place and will be ready to go in the water as soon as we put the tags in steelhead.

Committees, Responsibilities, Reporting and Objectives- Paperwork was handed out and responsibilities were reviewed, updated and documented. If you are interested or know someone that wants to get involved please call or email Mike.

Old Business - At the last meeting a motion to stop double signing checks except for large amounts was tabled to find out if our insurance or bank required it. Mike San Dretto reported double check signing is our own policy and is not required by TU, the bank or our insurance. It was decided not to take the motion up at this time. All were in favor of letting Joe Peikert make recommendations in the future

John Tucker Our proposal to change Lawrence Creek Fishery to Robert L. Hunt will be presented to the NRB on October 26 in Madison. Details to follow. We don’t have to do anything else, but it would it may improve approval process if several of us attend. Please contact if you are interested. It has been a slow process, but the end is finally in sight which is very promising that it may be implemented in the near future. If it does go through the Frank Hornberg chapter and us will contribute $250 each to replace state signs.

New Business - Fly casting could be supported at every summer meeting if someone is in need of mentoring before and after the meeting.

Motion to Adjourn