By Bill Heart This newsletter serves as reminder of our Wild Rivers Fishing Expo to be held at Northland College on Saturday, April 6th opening at 1:00. It’s shaping up to be another good event. We have a long list of local trout resource professionals that will attend during the day, along with a number of partner non-profit organizations. It’s a great time to connect with all of these likeminded groups. There will also be tables with our wonderful chapter fly tiers who will be instructing their art. Beginning at 2:00, we will also have two interesting speakers: Nathan Thomas, a current Fish and Wildlife Service employee in Ashland, will be our conservation speaker. He will present on native trout conservation work he assisted with in Yellowstone National Park while employed through the national park service and Montana State University. John Simonson (WiFlyFisher.com) will be our fishing speaker. He will present a general overview of the life cycle of caddisflies and mayflies of Northwest Wisconsin’s freestone trout streams from a fly fisherman’s perspective by using various fly patterns to impersonate each stage of the life cycle of a typical mayfly and caddisfly. Let’s make sure that we have a good turnout for our speakers. Not long after our programs, we will be hold our live auction of many new and used fishing equipment and much miscellaneous items, including pies, maple syrup, artwork and who knows what. This really is a nice infor-mative event. I hope to see most of you there. On a personal level, I just finished tapping my maple trees, gathered sap and started boiling my first batch. It’s by far my favorite rite of spring, and this year, it happened on the vernal equinox. The hard part is the two to three feet of snow that still in the woods. It should develop into a good season.

Wild Rivers TribuneWILD RIVERS CHAPTER TROUT UNLIMITED APRIL 2019

Chapter Report

Nathan Thomas, a current Fish and Wildlife Service employee in Ashland, will be presenting on his pre-vious native trout conservation work in Yellowstone National Park while employed through the national park service and Montana State University.

Make plans to catch the original and preeminent ex-hibition of fly fishing cinema, The Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T), at its stop in Ashland, Wisconsin on March 29. Each year anglers of all ages gather in big cities and small towns alike to soak up films from around the world, spin a few yarns amongst friends and dream about casts yet unmade. In its 13th lap around the globe, the Fly Fishing Film Tour is packed with remarkable films, topnotch stories and imagery that will fuel your dreams for months to come! The March 29 Ashland showing will be at The Sand-bar in Ashland; doors open 6:00 pm; films at 7:00 pm. Ticket cost is $15 at the door, or $13 in advance through the website https://flyfilmtour.com/.

2019 Fly Fishing Film Tour Arrives in Ashland

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Meeting MinutesMinutes of March 13, 2019 Wild Rivers Meeting held at the Four Corners Saloon in Mason, Wisconsin. • Attendees: Bob Rice, Bill Heart, Bob Traczyk, Jason Stewart, Jim Emerson, Frank Pratt, Dan Bloomquist, Kevin Seefeldt,

Marion True, Chuck Campbell, Rolland Kiel and Alan Brew. Meeting called to order by Pres. Heart at 6 pm.• Motion by Rice/2nd Seefeldt to approve the minutes of Feb 13, 2019. Motion Carried.• Motion by Rice/2nd Bloomquist to approve the finance report. Motion Carried. Jim Emerson confirmed that he checked

the bank statements with the treasurer’s report.• Kids Fishing Day (June 1, 2019): Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center has a program each year and the Chapter board

members voted online to approve spending $250 for baseball type hats for the kids. The vote is so noted in the official minutes.

• Expo Discussion:• Guided Trips -Weston Their only one confirmed so far, suggestion-the chapter could perhaps subsidize a guide for

part of their expenses-no decision was made on this suggestion• Auctioneers secured, members need to ask for donations, Chartwells for food & Bloomquist will handle table, fly tiers

-Berge, Emerson & Thier, Rice; Credit Card machine rented; Trifold panel and signs located from last year; solicited agencies have been responding well; posters were distributed at the meeting.

• Advertising - posters will be distributed throughout our area by members, ad in newspaper was discussed but opted out. Last year the chapter spent $97 on a postcard campaign. Facebook ads discussed as a new option. Motion by Rice/2nd Seefeldt to spend $60 on a Facebook ad. Motion Carried.

• Master of Ceremonies - Three members have agreed to introduce various speakers and handle announcements-Frank Pratt, Bill Heart and Bob Rice.

• Setup - volunteers should arrive at 11 am, items to bring-power strips, raffle tickets, cash drawer, bidding cards• Film Fest: March 22 in Hayward and March 29 in Ashland. Posters and tickets were distributed by Jason. Kelly McKnight

needs assistance in gathering folding chairs for the showing at the Sandbar in Ashland. Bill Heart has a contact and will check further.

• Fly Patterns: Berge is running out of fly patterns and revisiting the old hand drawn patterns and updating them with pho-tos was agreeable to everyone at the meeting.

• Members items: Bob Rice is working on purchasing and installing wader cleaning stations on Namekagon River, White River and other potential rivers. Bob has contacted agencies involved in approving this project. There are two type of stations either a water bleach mixture or a brush only station. Bob Rice would like to see a panel discussion on the bene-fits and pitfalls of beaver dams built on trout streams, perhaps Wild Rivers could facilitate such a meeting for the benefit of the public. Meetings will continue to be held on the second Wednesday of the month. Jim Emerson suggested moving the cash register from the entrance of Alvord Theater because people think there is a fee to enter the auction area. Email reminders will be sent prior to the film fest. Chuck Campbell inquired whether the chapter has insurance. Bob Traczyk checked his records and the last insurance was purchased in 2016 for the 2017 year. Bob will check if insurance is still available from National TU and report back to the board.

• Motion to adjourn by Rice/2nd Bloomquist. Carried.—Minutes submitted by Bob Traczyk

Upcoming Meetings &Events of the Arrowhead Fly FishersApril 16: Join us for our APRIL MEETING from 6:00-8:00 pm on Tuesday, April 16 at the Clyde Iron Restaurant and Event Center. Larry Mann, owner of Hayward Fly Fishing Company, will present “What Do You Want to Catch Today? Hayward-Area Fishing Opportunities.”

April 27: We are planning another FLY TYING EVENT from 1:00-5:00 pm on Saturday April 27 at the Proctor Community Center (Pionk Drive, off Highway 2). Come for a relaxing afternoon of tying. Learn some new patterns from others, or just come to tie your own. Those who would like to learn how to tie -- ALWAYS welcome!! The more the merrier! There will be more of Perry Rowlison’s tying materials to choose from, if you like.

May 21: Join us for our MAY MEETING from 6:00-8:00 pm on Tuesday, May 21 at the Clyde Iron Restaurant and Event Center. Stu Neville, Fly Fishing Guide/Instructor from Hayward, will present “Bass Fishing in Rivers and Lakes.”

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By Bob Rice Wild Rivers chapter of Trout Unlimited has been financially supporting habitat work in northern Wisconsin for years. Over the last several years we have belonged the the northeast region of Wisconsin TU and we participate in annual funding oppor-tunities through the region. I want to share specific projects and programs that Wild Rivers TU helps funds. For the last several years we have made donations to fund projects being done in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and we have contributed funds to projects being designed and implemented by the Great Lakes Stream Restoration Manager of Trout Unlimited. For the first several years that that position existed, it was held by Laura MacFarland. Laura recently took a job with WDNR, and Chris Colliers was hired as the new restoration manager. Most of the work has been repairing and replacing road crossing areas to restore fish passage in areas where culverts were insufficient and had become perched to the extent that trout migration upstream of the road crossing was no longer happen-ing. This coming summer a dam on a creek in Vilas County will be removed, and a road-crossing on Colburn Creek will be replaced with Wild Rivers TU acting as the grant requester to WDNR on behalf of TU National. Shown here are some photos of the work done on several road-crossings that Wild Rivers TU has been involved in supporting.

TU-Supported Program Updates

Spencer Creek before. Spencer Creek after.

Halley Creek before. Halley Creek after.

By Bob Traczyk Our chapter members are now covered when they work on TU projects. During our last meeting at the Four Corners, Chuck Campbell asked if we were current on our insurance. After checking the financial records, it was noted that we did not have coverage. It just so happens that the National insur-ance contact Nick Halle had just sent an email to all chapters. For a $155 premium the coverage is $50,000. Coverage is provided to all members, guests and campers. This coverage is for chapter sponsored activities which include meetings, fly fishing instruction, training, stream clean-up and maintenance. So, there is no reason for ducking out on project days because we have got you covered.

A Note on Insurance Coverage

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By Bill Heart Last fall I received a call from Fred Esch who lives in California. Fred let me know that his brother, Bill had died and his will stipulated that Wild Rivers should receive all of his extensive fishing equipment. I agreed to drive down to Muscoda, Wis., to pick up his donation and was shocked by the extent of this donation. I itemized everything that we received and tried to put a value on the donation. As far as I could figure the amount was over $9000. This included a boat and motor with a lot of accessories, and a solo canoe, which will probably be sold separately this spring. But, there are many tubs of fly fishing equipment including flies, fly tying materials, and many books. There are eight fly rods and many reels. Most of the rods, reels, books and equipment will be either in our bucket raffles or in the live auction at the Expo in April. Bill Esch had a lifelong love affair with trout fishing. He chose to live in Wisconsin, first in northern Wisconsin in the Iron River area and later in southern Wisconsin because of the trout fishing it afforded him. He tied his own flies and spread the fishing bug to a good number of his buddies over the years. He traveled out west, to Alaska and many other areas to indulge his fishing passion. And he was a wonderful guy....and is missed by all who knew him.

Remembering Bill Esch

Bill Esch

Join the Action at the Expo!It’s become a rite of spring for northern Wisconsin anglers — great food, auctions, raffles, fly-tying, education, camaraderie, and more! Mark your calendars and join Trout Unlimited from 1:00-7:00 pm on April 6 for our annual Fishing Expo and Auction, to be held at the Ponzio Student Center on the campus of Northland College in Ashland. Bring a friend — the Expo is free and open to all visitors. Below are some scenes from last year’s Expo, courtesy of Bob Rice.

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Description: This fly is another good leech pattern. It can also imitate a minnow or crayfish. One of my nicest late summer browns was taken on this fly. On that occasion I cast across stream to just above the cut bank run and allowed the fly to drift and sink. As the fly approached the deep dark cut bank, I started to pulse it. On the fifth cast a 22 inch brown hit the fly so hard he threw water three feet in the air. An old timer I know uses the same fly tied all white and silver on a #2 hook to take lake trout up to 30 inches. Fly can also be fished as an unweighted fly on a sinking line. Gary Borger knew what he was doing when he designed this fly.

Gary Borger’s Strip Leech

1. Wrap a thread base; wrap the lead free wire and wrap thread over the wire. Glue all thread wraps.

2. Tie on the marabou tail and the wire rib. 3. Tie a piece of yarn along the top of the hook.

4. Wrap the yarn forward forming the body; tie off the yarn and trim the excess.

5. Tie on the rabbit strip. 6. Separate the hair and bring the wire rib though the hair to secure the strip to the top of the body (moisten the hair to make it easier to control).

1 2 3

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Materials:• Hook: 5x-6x long #4-8• Thread: 3/0 black or color to match body• Tail: Orange, red or other bright color of marabou• Body: Yarn, color of choice• Rib: Copper wire• Wing: Fur strip (rabbit with hair on tanned skin)• Hackle: Pheasant rump feather• Weight: 18-20 wraps of .025 lead free wire

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7. Work the wire through the hair going for-ward to tie the rabbit strip to the body. Tie off the wire at the head and break off the excess.

8. Trim the rabbit strip at the tail so it extends a short way past the marabou tail.

9. Tie on a pheasant flank feather.

10. Wrap the pheasant flank hackle, tie it off and trim the excess.

11. With your fingers, hold the hackle fibers back and make several thread wraps to hold them there. Whip finish and glue the head.

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Wild Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Fishing Expo and Auction A fun and informative event FREE and open to the public

April 6, 20191:00–7:00 p.m. FREE and open to all!Held in the Ponzio Center on the Northland College Campus

ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

• Info tables featuring local conservation and natural resource organizations

• Fly tying Instruction• Bucket raffles• Our famous Live Auction

starts at 5:00 pm and features new and used fishing and outdoor equipment, many guide trips, wonderful desserts, especially pies; auction donations welcome day of event

• Everyone Welcome• All proceeds to benefit Wild

Rivers work on our coldwater resources

FEATURED SPEAKERS/PRESENTERS

• Nathan Thomas of the US Fish & Wildlife Service will present on native trout conservation work in Yellowstone National Park.

• John Simonson (WiFlyFisher.com) will give a general overview of the life cycle of maylies and caddisflies by using various fly patterns to impersonate each life cycle stage.

Please patronize our business supporters!7

Wild Rivers ChapterTrout Unlimited29450 Verners RoadAshland, WI 54806

See Our Facebook Pagewww.facebook.com/wildrivers.tu

President (2018-19)Bill Heart

29450 Verners RoadAshland, WI 54806

715-682-4703wwheart@centurytel.net

Past PresidentBob Rice

74355 Kaukamo Rd.Iron River, WI 54847

Oulu, Wisconsin715 292-1143; bobrice723@gmail.com

Board Member 2019-22Chair of Conservation

Vice-President (2018)

Position Vacant

Secretary/Treasurer (2018-19)Bob Traczyk

604 Riverside Dr.Hurley, WI

715-561-3098; bbtraczyk@gmail.comBoard Member 2018-21

Kelly Mc KnightAshland, WI

kjmcknig@yahoo.comBoard Member 2019-22

Dan Bloomquist25075 Dybedal Rd.Mason, WI 54856

715-763-3376; orchardhouse@cheqnet.netBoard Member 2019-22

Frank Pratt10783 Minnie Ave.Hayward, WI 54843fpratt32@gmail.com

Board Member 2018-21

Jason Stewart10625N Chippewa River Rd.

Hayward, WI 54843715-492-1136; westforkjason@gmail.com

Board Member 2018-21

Luke Kavajecz715-746-2816; luke@freshcoastangling.com

Board Member 2019-22

WebmasterBob Traczyk

604 Riverside Dr.Hurley, WI

715-561-3098bbtraczyk@gmail.com

Advisory Council

Dale BastMark BrouderCordell ManzLee NewmanLarry Mann

Check Out Our New Website

http://www.tu.org/connect/groups/415-wild-rivers

Wild Rivers Board Members & Term of Office