Trout Unlimited describes it’s STREAM Girls program as one that “builds confidence and breaks down barriers in science and the outdoors. Through the eyes of a scientist, artist, and angler, girls make a personal connection to their home waters.”
The KiapTUWish Chapter of Trout Unlimited conducted its first STREAM Girls event on May 21, 2022. The Ellsworth Rod and Gun club donated use of their facility for the event which was attended by ten Girl Scouts from Girl Scouts River Valley. The girls participated in a multi-faceted program which included eight core activities; STREAM walk, Go with the Flow, Fly casting, Macro-invertebrate survey, Fly tying, STREAM scavenger hunt and bracelets, and Reflection and Discussion. Linda Radimecky and Michele Bevis served as the program leaders and were supported by a host of volunteers who offered their expertise as the activities unfolded.
The girls were welcomed by Linda and Michele who provided the ground rules for the event along with writing materials and the STREAM Girls Handbook. Girl Scouts staff member, Meghan Belanger, coordinated the logistics and recruitment of the Girl Scouts who represented several Scout chapters from different regions of eastern Wisconsin and central Minnesota. The four Team Leaders, Ellody and Emilene Nemeth, Holly Wandersee, and Lindsay Maxfield, helped each Girl Scout get fitted and put on the waders and boots they would wear for the day.
The girls divided into 4 teams and completed each event with their respective youth Team Leader.
The first event was a STREAM Walk, hosted by Kasey Yallaly (WDNR) and Missie Hanson (MNDNR, Ret.). During this time the girls learned about the make-up of the river, its water clarity, what type of bottom it contained and if it was composed of riffles, runs, and pools. The Riparian Zone (streamside plants) was studied to determine the different types of vegetation growing along the streambank and if there was any evidence of wildlife. As an aftermath, the girls were asked to discuss their impressions of the stream and to write down what they observed.
Rainbow Barry (Biology, River Falls) and Kasey Yallaly lead the girls through the Go with the Flow event. Girls worked together to measure the stream velocity and calculate the area of a cross-section of ’their’ river. Once they had determined the velocity and area, they calculated the flow in cubic feet per second. They experienced the relevance of Math in understanding importance river functions; some girls even liked the Math part!
Instruction on Fly Casting was provided by Linda Radimecky (Mn State Park Naturalist) and Monta Hayner (teacher and certified Orvis guide) with added assistance from some of the volunteers. Each girl was provided a fly rod and reel which allowed them to experience some great hands-on instruction.
Lunch was provided by Judie Babcock and the Kinni Corridor Collaborative (KinniCC). The KinniCC is a public, non-profit, river community development association located in River Falls Wisconsin working with the Wisconsin DNR to restore the Kinnickkinnic river corridor below the Junction Falls Dam following removal of the Powell Dam. Judie and husband Dave delighted the Girls STREAM Team by recording a group picture using a drone to capture images of the group and the surrounding stream environment. You can view this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/uOtAgVCUP5o.
The afternoon sessions consisted of Fly Tying, Macro-invertebrate studies, a scavenger hunt and bracelet making. Grace Glander demonstrated how to tie a Wooly Bugger as the girls tied along with her. Cindy Winslow (retired biology teacher) provided an in-depth study of major insects using multiple visual aids to help the girls with the identification of insects they might capture when in the stream with their collection nets.
The last 2 programs of the day incorporated the “A” for Art in the STREAM Girls program. The Team Leaders led the girls on a Scavenger Hunt to locate and identify nine parts of a healthy stream, parts such as riffles, plants and rocks. Then the girls returned to the lodge and assembled a line of beads that each represented one of the nine stream parts they had learned about that day. This bracelet keepsake would serve to remind them of a healthy stream.
Late afternoon was highlighted with a session of on-stream fishing. Each girl was paired with a mentor who gave instructions on how to fish for trout. The girls were shown where the trout might be hiding and how to cast and present the fly; some were lucky enough to experience catching a trout.
The day closed with the Girl Scout pledge and each girl receiving a certificate of participation and a STREAM Girls Trout Unlimited badge.
KiapTUWish would like to thank the following volunteers who donated their time and knowledge in order to make the first KiapTUWish STREAM Girls program a huge success.
Linda Radimecky, Michele Bevis, Emilene Nemeth, Ellody Nemeth
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.
First off, I want to thank all KIAP members and supporters for everything they have done this year to help our Kinni restoration efforts. Through grants and your donations we donated $75,000 of the chapters money to this cause. The generous organizers of R4F then donated half of their proceeds to our chapter, close to $9000, to be used for the project.
Now our friends at TCTU have stepped in and are doing a tremendous job to increase fundraising efforts, so we can meet our goal of raising $200,000 by November of this year. We have teamed up and TCTU created a joint Kinni fundraising page for our chapters. What’s more, they have pledged to match donations up to $15,000. Let’s make sure we can get the full match!
Please check out the eloquent appeal from Bob Luck, TCTU president, the video by member Chris O’Brien, and the joint fundraising website below.
Shortly after moving to the Twin Cities some 30 years ago, my wife and I crossed the Kinnickinnic River at the Highway 35 bridge just north of River Falls. “I’ve heard of this river,” I said, “It’s one of the most famous trout streams in the country.” A few weeks later, she gave me a fly rod for my birthday, and her life hasn’t been the same since. In those days, I spent most of my time on the Upper Kinni, where the current flows deep and smooth. I could get onto the water within 5 minutes of parking my car—an important consideration given my young family and a full-time job.
Fish rose willingly to hatches of Caddis, Blue-wing Olives and Sulfurs, and sometimes they even took my fly. Recently, with more time on my hands, I’ve been hiking down into the gorge to fish the riffles and pools of the lower river. No road crosses the river for seven miles, and humans share the corridor with Osprey, Eagles, Fishers and even Black Bears. A river like this within an hour’s drive of 3 million people is nothing short of a miracle, and one of the reasons I boast that the Twin Cities is the best big metro area in the country for trout anglers.
In the next 12 months, we can make this amazing river even better. Two dams were built in River Falls in the early 1900s. The impoundments created by these dams raise summer water temperatures on the lower river as much as 5 degrees. Fish are unable to migrate between the lower and upper rivers. Since a severe rain event in June 2020 damaged the Powell Dam, silt built up over the past hundred years has been flowing into the lower river, threatening to smother the cobble stream bed, an important habitat for spawning and aquatic insects. In 2018, the City of River Falls voted to remove the dams and restore the river. Early this month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted the city’s request to cancel the power generation license for the Powell Falls Dam, clearing the way to remove the dam and begin restoring the streambed next winter.
After 100 years, there is a lot of restoration work to do! Public funds will pay for approximately 2/3 of the restoration, including removal of all structures and basic soil stabilization. However, private donations will be needed to fully restore the river and create a mile of publicly accessible trout water in the bed of the former impoundment. That water, by the way, has the bones to be one of the sweetest stretches of the river. Lots of riffle/pool sequences, and some deep runs for the monsters to lurk. The South Branch, a brook trout stream, flows into the Kinni here. Rumors are swirling of enormous brook trout being caught in this stretch last summer by some bold pioneers who didn’t wait around for the rest of us to discover it.
Twin Cities TU and our partners at the KIAP-TU-WISH chapter in Wisconsin are collaborating with a variety of organizations to raise funds, and we are asking for your help. Between now and May 20th, we plan to raise at least $15,000 in donations from our members to restore the Kinni. This will be matched by a $15,000 grant from our chapter account. The TCTU Board is deeply committed to this effort: Every single board member has pledged a contribution, and we have already raised over $5,000. We hope you will join us!
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
This year, Kiap-TU-Wish is offering 100 “chances” on four premium items in place of the traditional raffle normally offered at our Holiday Conservation Banquet. Purchase a “chance” for an item of interest or better yet, for $50 purchase a chance on all four. One in a hundred is great odds, way better than the lottery, and of course buying more tickets makes this even better.
** Update **
Fishpond Dry Bag – $10 per chance, 70 chances remaining “Early Spring” painting – $10 per chance, going fast, only 10 chances remaining Scott Centric rod – SOLD OUT! Norling Bamboo rod – $20 per chance, going fast, only 10 chances remaining Multiple chances can be purchased on any single item or a combination of items.
Members wanting to purchase tickets can contact Tom Schnadt at, thschnad@hotmail.com or by mobile phone, 651.245.5163. Tom can also be contacted by using his home address: Tom Schnadt 2174 Commonwealth ave. Saint Paul, MN, 55108
You can pay for the chance tickets by mailing a check to Tom or by using the “Donate Now” option on the Kiap-TU-Wish website.
The drawing will take place February 28th or sooner.
