Won’t you help this brookie??!!?? We currently have items on our auction starting at only $20, that works out to less than 4 cents a day. For much, much less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can make a difference in his life. Trout, like this native brook trout, thrive in cold, clean water and 100% of your donation goes to protecting his home! Please help!! Won’t you go to our auction site right now and pledge your support by bidding on some items today?
You can insure that the beautiful brook trout pictured above and his children and his children’s children and their…. well, you get the picture, can thrive for generations to come! Don’t delay, pick up your computer and bid now!
We have over 80, yes I said 80 – items on our auction!!! Our biggest and best auction ever! There is something for everyone!
Guided Trips – Patagonia, Big Horn, and 17 others!!! That’s not a typo! 19 total!!!
Fabulous Stays – Bahamas, UP of MI, On the Rush River, Northshore of MN
15 Fly Boxes – Most hand tied by chapter tiers!
Art – Prints by Bob White and Jon Q Wright!
Fishing Gear – Abel reel (just added), Sage graphite rod, Heddon bamboo rod, Diawa spinning packages, lines, waders, vests, packs, and much more!
Gift Cards to Wonderful Area Merchants
Jewelry, Beer, Booze, even a Puzzle – yes I said Puzzle!
And much more!!!
This is one of our biggest fundraisers on the year, that we use to pay for all our programs – restoration, dam removal, education, and monitoring.
What are you waiting for! Click on the link above and start bidding! Thanks so much for your support!!! Auction ends March 21st at 8 pm!
December Get Together: After two years without a holiday banquet due to the pandemic, Kiap-TU-Wish is reconstituting the annual celebration. Mark Tuesday, December 6th on your calendar. The venue is Junior’s Bar and Restaurant in River Falls. We are planning a social hour, a buffet and an awards program to honor our many distinguished volunteers.
Menu: Meat and Cheese Board, Salad Bar, Chicken Wings, Cheeseburger Slider, Mashed Potato Bar, Beef & Chicken Satay Skewers, Seasonal Fruit Display, Smoked Salmon Display
The program will consist of a social hour from 6-7 p.m., with the meat and cheese board, seasonal fruit display, and smoked salmon display served. Additional menu items will be served from 7-8 pm. We will then have a short awards program at 8:00 p.m.
Ticket information: Price: $30. Tickets can be purchased on-line (Eventbrite) or at the door.
On-Line: Log on to the Eventbrite site through this LINK.
At the door: Call Greg Olson at 612-300-8970 to register. The registration deadline is 11/25/22. You can pay with cash or check upon arrival at the event.
Date, Time, and Place: December 6th, 2022, 6:00 p.m. Juniors Bar and Restaurant Located in the Radisson Hotel 414 Main Street, River Falls Wisconsin
I recently had the pleasure of joining Fisheries Biologist Kasey Yallaly and her crew on a stream survey of a marvelous little Brook Trout stream in Dunn County. Kasey’s crew is made up of three college- and high-school-aged young men—Dustin, Sam, and Parker—who will be assisting her throughout the summer.
Starting out with temperatures in the low nineties and finishing with the mercury hovering around the century mark, survey conditions were clearly less than optimal. Luckily, the stream temperatures were satisfyingly below the air temperature, making conditions a bit more tolerable. Mind you, I was just an observer and perfectly happy bringing up the rear as I watched Kasey and crew swipe their magic wands back and forth beneath the stream’s surface, and under tree roots and logjams, to bring the stunned trout to the surface for capture and measuring.
Being a casual observer allowed me to see just how much work goes into surveys of this type. There is a lot of bull work involved, the hardest of which is towing a small boat loaded with a gasoline generator and a sizable washtub fill with water that serves as a temporary aquarium for the soon-to-be-measured trout.
Once all the equipment is readied, a typical survey starts out with one of the crew members setting the amount of current that will be generated by the electrical control box that sends a current into the water through the hand-held wands. The electricity briefly attracts the fish and temporarily stuns them so they can be easily captured. After additional safety checks are made and the wands are activated, the crew members hook themselves up to the boat in a fashion that reminded me of a team of horses pulling a hay wagon. Each member is armed with a net and a wand as they progress upstream in a well- choreographed display of quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination. The fish dizzyingly come to the surface and are quickly scooped up and transferred to the holding tank. It was quite amazing to observe the number of trout that could be netted from a deeper pool or deep pockets along the shore, often with a tree root thrown in for good measure.
At a predetermined stopping point, the net results (pun intended) are examined for disease and measured for length, then quickly released. I particularly enjoyed this part of the survey—not only seeing these beautifully colored trout up close, but watching Kasey’s quick-handed aides pull each specimen out of the tank to try to get the wiggly creature to hold still long enough to be measured.
Fish surveys of this type are essential for building successful management programs. Each survey provides biologists with insight into how fish populations are responding to current management plans and environmental changes. Collected data enhance knowledge of water quality, riparian habitat, and stream degradation, allowing biologists to craft unique management techniques for each system and to achieve sustainable fisheries now and into the future. Climate change will necessitate continued vigilance and well-conceived planning in order to sustain our quality fisheries. From my perspective, our streams are in very good hands, and we are fortunate to have an abundance of well-managed streams from which to choose when we decide to wet a line.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 virus, we’ve decided to take a chance and conduct another Fly Fishing for Trout clinic in River Falls. We will make every effort to ensure everyone’s safety by providing masks and hand sanitizer, but it will be a challenge to conduct hands-on casting instruction. Even so, we need your help as volunteers to act as guides, mentors, and instructors.
This year’s Fly Fishing Clinic, sponsored jointly by Kiap-TUWish and River Falls Parks and Recreation, is set for Saturday, June 4, from 1:00-9:00 in Glen Park. We’ve been conducting this clinic for years and we know that it’s always popular; we expect about 20 students. The clinic will cover casting, knot tying, entomology, fishing strategies, and wading safety.
Kiap-TU-Wish will provide supper during a break at 5:00, and guided fishing in the evening. Our chapter members are invited to join us as instructors, mentors, guides, and supper servers.
Mark your calendars for June 4 and volunteer by contacting Mike Alwin at mikealwin@gmail.com or Brian Smolinski at brian@lundsflyshop.com. I guarantee you’ll have fun.
Join us on Friday, March 4th at Tattersall Distilling in River Falls for a fun night of food, drink, and amazing outdoor/fly fishing films. As usual, this event will sell out so don’t wait to buy your tickets. All proceeds from the 2022 R4F fly fishing film festival will support the Rhinos Cancer Foundation (https://rhinosfoundation.org/) and the Kiap-Tu-Wish Chapter of Trout Unlimited (http://www.kiaptuwish.org/)
Kiap-TU-Wish is volunteer-driven and has no paid staff.
100% of the Spring Fundraiser dollars will go to:
Youth Education and Engagement,
Trout Habitat Restoration,
Advocating for removal of the two Kinnickkinnic River dams,
Stream Temperature Monitoring,
Buckthorn removal, Brush clearing, and Easment mowing, to make trout fishing more enjoyable.
Recently, and through YOUR generosity, Kiap-TU-Wish has committed to make a significant donation toward the restoration of trout habitat through the former Lake Louise impoundment, following removal of the Powell Falls Dam on the Kinni.
Thank You for leading the charge to remove these dams and for the continuing restoration our many fine western Wisconsin trout streams.
Greg Olson, Board President Kiap-TU-Wish Chapter of Trout Unlimited
