QUOTE OF THE MONTH  
Bob Luck, Woolly Buggers Don't Count
"A friend told me that fish caught on Woolly Buggers don't count, but that is sour grapes."

Spoiler alert.  I agree with Bob.  Catching trout with streamers do count and are a key strategy for catching big fish. I discovered when reading Bob's book that the title is a bit misleading since he caught a 20 incher using this classic fly.  Personally, I have caught some of my largest trout using a fancy variation of the classic Woolly Bugger called the JQ Streamer (i.e., formerly the CQ Streamer).  When taking the Orvis fly tying class in St. Louis Park, guess what fly was the first one on the list?  WB!  A classic.  I have included fly tying instructions for these flies in the photo section.  Thanks to Paul Johnson for his contribution.
 
INTRODUCTION
Greetings from the TCTU Streamkeepers.  Welcome to 2026!  As always, we are anxiously anticipating the upcoming season.  I have found this to be a good time to restock my fly boxes.  Perhaps some more Woolly Buggers?
 
One of my fishing friends braved the 25 degree temps recently in Wisconsin and caught a lot of fish.  He was finding success with some egg patterns.  I personally usually wait until the temps reach the 40's. 

I visited Waseca yesterday, and got a Minnesota geography lesson from a friendly farmer who told me his family has a “medium-sized” 1700-acre corn and soybean operation in Faribault County.  The county seat of Faribault County is Blue Earth.  Faribault County is just south of Blue Earth County, whose county seat is Mankato.  Faribault is the county seat of Rice County which is Northeast of Blue Earth County.  In between Blue Earth and Rice Counties is Waseca County, whose county seat is, thankfully for a poor cheesehead like me, Waseca.
If you have bothered to read this far, you may be wondering what I was doing in Waseca.   I was attending a singularly important event for trout anglers:  the 2026 Minnesota Neonic Forum.

Twin Cities TU will hold elections for its Board of Directors at the annual meeting on January 26, 2026.  We have seven open board seats and six qualified candidates.  Voting will be done by show of hands for the following slate: 

Current Board members running for a 3-year term
(click on name to learn about them)
Brian Bredenberg
Tommy Bonner
Mike Rude
Doug Moran

New Candidates
Brad Poff (running for a 3-year term)
Brad has been a volunteer for a number of organizations, including University of Wisconsin, School of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Association and Alumni Advisory Board, and UpEnding Parkinson’s.  He was co-founder and GM of Augmentix, Inc. a medical device company that was sold to Boston Scientific.   Brad has recently become active with TCTU and wants to do more to help with day-to-day activities toward accomplishing overall organizational goals.In particular, as a scientist/veterinarian, he hopes to help network with environmental leaders, understand publications and learn from other chapter efforts.

Joe Slavec  (running for a 2-year term to replace James White)
Joe is an avid trout angler and "ecologist at heart" who feels a calling to pass on the resource and help in the conservation of trout streams.  He is the owner of Minneapolis Garage Builders and a volunteer with Sigma Chi and the Lake Sarah association.  Joe hopes to add energy and enthusiasm to support and develop current goals, and provide creative thinking for future goals related to our cause.