Thanks to everybody who attended our chapter meeting on Hay Creek.  If you would like to view/download the meeting presentation, please look below!  You can find the video on our YouTube Channel.  Don't forget to like and subscribe!

by Jim Sauter
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"... it is best to keep those outdoor lights off just in case. That is one way you can help the migration."  Ross Ellet, ABC Meteorologist
 
Greetings from the TCTU Streamkeepers. 
In last month’s newsletter, I shared that I visited with another angler at an area trout stream, TCTU member Gene Scheffler.  He graciously gave me two of his Chuck Caddis flies. 
Well, I had a chance to use the size 16 fly on the SB Whitewater on Saturday, May 2.  Near sunset I decided to give the Chuck Caddis a try and immediately caught four nice sized browns including the largest brown trout of the season so far for me.  The Chuck Caddis worked!  Another angler friend recently gave me some woodchuck fur, so I will be tying some of these soon!  If you don’t have a Chuck Caddis handy, the Mother’s Day Caddis will probably work.
After a long drive to the SB, I encountered numerous other anglers in the area including a family with 3 children.  One of the lads decided to fish very close to me, and what I thought was a splash from a trout turned out to be his large bobber.  He had made a truly amazing cast with a beautiful zebco.  Lots of fun!
Even though the river was "crowded" by my standards, the trout remained very active.  One of the other elderly fishermen that I visited with had been there since 5:00 am when the temperature was a brisk 26 degrees.  The air temp when I arrived was a balmy 60 degrees.

 by Doug Moran
In many Upper Midwest trout watersheds, invasive species management often focuses on well-known culprits like buckthorn or reed canary grass. Yet another plant—wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)—is quietly degrading trout stream riparian zones in ways that directly impact habitat quality, water temperature, and restoration success.  While commonly viewed as a roadside nuisance, wild parsnip can have outsized ecological consequences when it establishes along streambanks and floodplains.
Wild parsnip readily forms dense, often monotypic stands that displace native riparian vegetation such as sedges, grasses, and forbs. These native plants typically provide deep, fibrous root systems that stabilize streambanks and support diverse ecological functions.In contrast, parsnip-dominated areas tend to have simpler structure and shallower root systems. The result is reduced bank stability and an increased likelihood of erosion, particularly during high flow events.  For trout streams, this shift matters. As banks destabilize, more sediment enters the channel—setting off a chain reaction of habitat degradation.

How You Can Help
TCTU has expanded its habitat efforts to include taking action on wild parsnips. We have several events either planned or in development, so make sure you check our Events Page to help.

by Bob Luck
​My wife says I treat trout fishing like a job.  Just about every weekday morning I pack my lunch, load my waders into the car, give her a kiss and tell her the same thing that Black Bill told his wife before catching the state record stream trout on the Whitewater River:  “I’m going out to catch the big one”.  And sometimes I do, although nowhere near the size of Black Bill’s 14 pounder.  Last year may have been my best big-fish year ever.  I caught ten trout in the Driftless area over 16”, including two that were 20”. 
This being fishing, last year's success has inevitably led to this year's failure.  I have been catching plenty of 10-11 inchers, less in the 12-14” range than I usually do, and my biggest fish so far taped out at a measly 15”.  There have been a few opportunities:  I was fishing a bankside pocket on the Kinni in mid April when my nymph stopped.  I set the hook and saw a large head come out of the water.  Then…nothing.  Two weeks ago, I fished a cramped, brushy stream on a tip from Doug Moran.  On the second hole I had a swing and miss from a trout that looked close to 20”.  I reported this to Doug, who went back with his spinning rod and sent me a photo of an 18” brown trout—his personal best.  If I were a bigger person, I’d be happy for Doug.  ​

In 2014, Minnesota passed a riparian buffer law, requiring perennial vegetative buffers of up to 50 feet along lakes, rivers, and streams and buffers of 16.5 feet along ditches.   The objective of this law was to reduce sedimentation and nutrient loading in order to improve aquatic ecosystem health.  
Is the law working?
That is the question that the TCTU Streamkeepers set out to answer last year, by doing macroinvertebrate sampling at two sites on the South Branch of the Whitewater River, following up on research that had been conducted in 2018, shortly after the law's implementation.  A team of amateur entomologists including Mitch Abbett, Carl Nelson, Mark Peerenboom, Jim Sauter and Dave Sauter (aka Jim's brother) collected samples of insects that were analyzed by MNTU Habitat Director Dr. Jennifer Biederman and Winona State PhD Candidate Will Varela.  Doug Moran provided angling support.

Thanks to John Edstrom for a great presentation.  A video of his presentation is on our YouTube channel here.  You can view or download his slides below.  

by Bob Luck
A big thank you to everybody who attended the Earth Day Trash Pickup in Lakeville.  This year's event was "choose your own adventure" style.  My wife Sahya and I picked up along South Creek near the border with Farmington.  Lots of trash to clean!  We also did a bit of seining in the water and found some scuds, but no mayflies, caddis flies or stone flies,  Hopefully the stream restoration project we have in store will help to change that.
Earth Day is this Wednesday, April 22nd.  The weeds are low and the trash stands out.  If you get a chance, please clean up in your neighborhood, or pick up some trash the next time you are out on the stream!

by Bob Luck
“Sometimes I find it hard to pick a topic for my monthly TCTU column”, I told my wife Sahya.  “But this time is easy. I am going to write about how my fishing rods got lost in Turkey.”  “They didn’t get lost in Turkey”, she replied.  “They got lost in Minneapolis”.  She was right.
I spend most of my year either fishing or traveling, but I rarely combine the two.  I do my fishing from April to November, mostly in the Driftless Area with an occasional outing to the Mississippi, or the St. Croix, and a rare trip to the Rockies.  I do my traveling from December through March.  I leave my fishing rods at home and focus on culture, history, food and marriage maintenance.
But last Fall, when Sahya told me she wanted to visit Turkey, I started plotting.  Turkey has plenty of warm, sunny places along with great food, culture and a fascinating history, but it also has high mountains and all kinds of interesting subspecies of brown trout.  I negotiated with Sahya to give me a few days off at the beginning of April, and tracked down a local fly fishing guide who was willing to take me on a fishing/camping excursion into the Taurus mountains just north of the Mediterranean city of Antalya.  My guide, Tuncay, advised me to bring rods, waders and gear because fly fishing gear is expensive or unavailable in Turkey, and his supply is limited.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Kudos to TCTU member Chris O'Brien for his recent comments in the Minnesota Star Tribune Article about the Vermillion River.  Source:  Johnson, Cloe. "Health officials have new advice on what fish are safe to eat in Minnesota."  Minnesota Star Tribune, 2 May 2026. 
“I think there’s a lot of families fishing [around the Vermillion River], and a lot of kids getting excited about keeping their trout that they catch,” O’Brien said. “It’s (i.e., changes in the fish consumption rules) definitely a loss in recreational opportunity for sure.”

STREAMKEEPER NOTES
We've already recorded our first chemical monitoring readings of the spring!  Kudos to Rowe Winecoff and Keith Ketchmark for taking our first readings for 2026!  The "spring flush" of nitrate pollution is coming soon.
The spring flush of nitrate pollution is a seasonal surge in nitrogen concentration in waterways, peaking as springtime rains wash fertilizer and manure from agricultural fields into surface and groundwater before crops can absorb it. This phenomenon, worsened by climate-driven, high-intensity rain events, causes significant ecological damage, including algal blooms and fish kills, while also threatening drinking water with high nitrate levels that can cause health problems like blue baby syndrome.
Every single data point we upload helps us build a clearer picture of stream health so we can strive for clean water for generations to come.
If you want to learn more about chemical monitoring of streams, please join our event on April 18th.
 In my last fishing excursion to Wisconsin, I discovered a new fly.  A friendly angler (who turned out to be TCTU member Gene Scheffler) called it the Chuck Caddis.  Gene was very generous and gave me one in size 16 and another in size 18.  The Chuck Caddis uses woodchuck hair.  I'll have to give it a try and tie up a few!  I just need to find some woodchuck hair. ​

Thanks to all those who attended our chapter gathering last night, and special thanks to Melissa Wagner of the Lanesboro DNR office for her presentation on stocking.   You can find a a link to the video of the presentation as well as a PDF copy below.

by Jim Sauter
"The child in nature is an endangered species, and the health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable."  Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods

Greetings from the TCTU Streamkeepers. 
Spring has arrived, and this is the time where I am switching modes from fly tying to stream monitoring and fishing.  My contribution to the Laughing Trout Bug Bank this year was 50 pink squirrels.  I have attached a photo and recipe/ instructions at the bottom of this article.
Randy Lage, with the help of Chip Meyer and Craig Passow, organized and recruited some members of the Laughing Trout Fly Fishing Club to tie flies for various youth, veterans, and other organizations.  The purpose is to promote fly fishing, warm water fishing, and fly tying.  The Bug Bank is a sub-committee of Laughing Trout Fly Fishing Club and has provided outreach to various groups and organizations.  The Laughing Trout Bug Bank continues to explore other groups and organizations that may benefit from these donations. 
The Laughing Trout club meets every Wednesday evening at the Wayzata American Legion at 6:00 pm.  There are some very highly skilled fly tiers in this group, and they have even allowed me join, sit in, and learn a few things.  All are welcome.
There are other excellent fly tying opportunities in the Twin Cites metro area such as the St. Paul Fly Tiers & Fishing Club and at various fly fishing shops.  The St. Paul Fly Tiers meet on Thursday nights at 7:30 pm at the VFW in North St. Paul. 
Our TCTU Streamkeeper group is gearing up for our 2026 monitoring season. 

by Bob Luck
​It was 56 degrees and sunny when my plane from Tokyo touched down on Monday afternoon.  “Perfect spring weather”, I thought as I got off at the Nicollet LRT station and walked back to the apartment I had last seen in January when I decamped to Asia for warmer weather and better food.
Tuesday’s weather was less than perfect.  Overcast, with a few snow flurries, a pesky wind from the Northwest, and a forecast high of 40.  “Maybe this lousy weather will bring a good Blue-winged Olive hatch” I told myself as I got into my car and drove to my friend Mike Miller’s farm on the Lower Kinni.  Mike was still down in Florida, but had told me I could go ahead and drive down his dirt road towards the river to avoid a long walk in.  I hesitated briefly when I got to the hill overlooking the river, but the track looked good, so I drove to where the road ends a few hundred yards from the river.
Nothing was hatching, so I worked my way upstream, tightlining a nymph with my Tenkara rod.  After two hours of casting practice, I picked up five fish in a deep run that we call the Otter Hole.  

by Kevin Wier
2025 was another great year for the Foster the Outdoors mentorship program.  We paired a total of 12 youth with volunteer mentors and three of the youth this year were young ladies.  In the March edition of the MNTU newsletter we had the opportunity to highlight and thank some of the wonderful partners who make this mentorship program tick.  Of course the real MVP’s of the program are the mentors themselves and we highlight some of their adventures in the article as well.  You can see the full article here: https://mntu.org/newsletter/
At the risk of stating the obvious, we can’t run the program without mentors. 

On March 10, 2026 twelve Charter Members approved the formation of a Twin Cities-based Fly Fishing Guides Association.  The goal of the Association is to elevate the sport through scientific literacy, conservation leadership, and exceptional client experience.  If you'd like more information on the Association, please email John Edstrom or Carl Maijer.  

Regular readers of our newsletter may recall that TCTU has adopted Neonic-treated seeds as its key advocacy issue for 2026.  To learn more about these dangerous insecticides, and what we plan to do about them, please read the document below.  If you would like to join our efforts, please click here to fill out a brief survey.

Thanks to all those who attended our chapter gathering last night. Special thanks to our guest speakers including Randy Arnold, Kevin Wier, Zander Cummins and Kasey Yallaly.
If you want to get to work with Randy on Habitat Projects in Wisconsin, email him: [email protected]​
If you want to get involved with Foster the Outdoors, email them: [email protected]​
If you want to attend Neonics Lobby Day at the Capitol, you can find details and registration here
You can find a pdf version of the presentations below.  If you'd like to watch a video of Kasey's presentation, you can find it on our YouTube channel here.  Don't forget to like and subscribe.
See you next month!

Here is a 1-page primer on Neonics for hunters and anglers, prepared by the TCTU Neonics Advocacy Team