 Winter fly fishing presents unique challenges, but with the right preparation, you can still land some great catches. Here are some key tips to ensure you stay warm, safe, and successful this winter season: 1. Sleep in: The best time to fish is when the water has warmed up, so sleep in and avoid those cold mornings! 2. Insulate: Layer up with wool or synthetic materials to stay warm. Avoid cotton, as it traps moisture. 3. Electric Gear: Electric socks (iHood, Gerbing) are great for warmth! Keep your feet toasty without worrying about wet conditions. And consider an electric vest for your core. 4. Gloves & Hand Warmers: Gloves are personal, but always bring extra pairs and hand warmers for breaks. Remove them when handling fish, and use tools to safely release fish without getting wet. 5. Stay Warm: An insulated hat helps prevent heat loss from your head. A good face mask is also key to avoid frostbite in extreme cold. 6. Finding Fish: Look for sunny spots where fish are more active. Trout often hang out in slow, deep pockets next to faster moving water. 7. Tippet & Fly: Use a 6X fluorocarbon tippet for nymphing, and 7X monofilament for dry flies. Stick to smaller flies (18, 20, 22) like midges, copper johns, or pheasant tails. 8. Ice in Guides: Avoid breaking ice off with your hands—this can damage your gear. Instead, dunk your rod in the water to clear ice buildup. 9. Stay Safe:
Know the local fishing rules and regulations! Winter catch-and-release periods vary by state. In MN, some SE State Parks and areas are catch-and-release only from Sept 15 to April 12. In WI, trout streams are catch-and-release from Jan 4 to May 2. 11. Handling Fish: Cold water means fish are slower and need to conserve energy. Keep fish wet and minimize handling. Use barbless hooks to release quickly and gently. Avoid air exposure to prevent fish gills freezing. Stay warm, fish safely, and enjoy the quiet beauty of winter fly fishing. If you have any questions or want more tips, don’t hesitate to reach out! Tight Lines! 
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A new edition is out from our friends in SE MN and Iowa, including everything new about Habitat, Conservation, Advocacy, and, of course, a fishing report! 
Click here to see a video of Mike Hodgens' presentation on Greater Yellowstone. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel! You can view or download a copy of Mike's presentation below.  by Caitlin Collins
A group of 32 anglers gathered this past weekend for TCTU's annual Winter Fish Camp at Whitewater State Park. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and that made for great fishing. Over 3/4 of the group caught a fish -- a MUCH higher total than we saw last year! We had a few first-time anglers in the group, and a couple of them managed to snag a fish as well by Jim Sauter
"Many men/ women go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." - Henry David Thoreau Welcome to the winter season! As 2024 winds down, we want to say thank you to all our members and stream volunteers who have helped us accomplish so much over the past year. The response has been overwhelming and included monitoring streams, training using Save Our Stream protocols, stream cleanup days, habitat work, and having so many "eyes and ears" on our streams to help keep them healthy. Thank you! I have discovered that since becoming somewhat obsessed with trout fishing, I have a strong propensity to pay very close attention to the weather. I am always curious about the air temperature, precipitation, wind, and now even water temperatures. So, when does winter really start? After the first snowfall? Once the lakes are iced over? When temperatures fall below freezing? After shoveling that first dusting of snow? By all these accounts, winter is in full swing in Minnesota. There have been some important recent developments in our efforts to restore the Kinni to a free-flowing river by removing two dams in River Falls. For details, please read this message sent to our donors.
Here is an electronic version of the copy that Kasey Yallaly of the Wisconsin DNR handed out at our November chapter meeting. To see a video of Kasey's presentation on YouTube, click here. If you attend our chapter meetings online, following is a list of tips for maximizing your Zoom experience! A new edition is out from our friends in SE MN and Iowa, including everything new about Habitat, Conservation, Advocacy, and, of course, a fishing report!
The TCTU Board has proposed some changes to our chapter bylaws that will be voted on at our Annual Meeting on January 27, 2025. Details are below.
The Annual Meeting of Twin Cities TU will be held on Monday, January 27th 2025 at 7 pm at the Fat Pants Brewing Company in Eden Prairie and via Zoom. Agenda and Registration information follow:
by Jim Sauter Welcome to November!
The 2024 TCTU Streamkeeper chemical monitoring season is officially over after our first frost. Typically, we begin doing chemical monitoring of streams in April and conclude at the end of October. Some random salt testing of streams may continue over the winter months. Biological testing for macroinvertebrates is done in the spring and fall. A new edition is out from our friends in SE MN and Iowa, including everything new about Habitat, Conservation, Advocacy, and, of course, a fishing report!
By Jim Sauter "Now that fall has officially begun, it’s time to start thinking about winter salt." - Izaak Walton League I. INTRODUCTION- Just One More Cast
Welcome to October! Suddenly, the rains have diminished, and the warm weather continues. Our air temperatures set a record for most 80+ degree days and a near record for lack of precipitation for the month of September. The water temperatures varied with a low of 57 degrees in Hay Creek to a high of 73 degrees in the Little Cannon River. We will continue our chemical monitoring efforts through the end of October. The good news is that I finally caught a brook trout during this season. Volunteers are the engine that power TCTU's activities. In the twelve months from September 2023 to August 2024, nearly 400 volunteers contributed over 2000 hours of time to Education, Habitat Improvement, Advocacy and Community Engagement. We had 19 super volunteers, who participated in 5 or more volunteer events. We'll be giving them a shout-out at Oktoberfish.
Thanks to Cory Goldsworthy and Nick Peterson who gave a terrific presentation on Coaster Brook Trout. You can see a video of the presentation on YouTube here (don't forget to subscribe!). You can download a copy of the presentation by clicking below.
A new edition is out from our friends in SE MN and Iowa, including everything new about Habitat, Conservation, Advocacy, and, of course, a fishing report!
by Jim Sauter “Live each season as it passes, breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden Welcome to the fall season. Many subtle changes are appearing during this time of year. The Apple House at the Minnesota Arboretum is now open and serving apple cider slushes and caramel apples. The local coffee shops have unveiled pumpkin spice drinks. The days are getting shorter, and the leaves on trees and sumacs are transforming. The evening temperatures are cooling as are water temperatures in area streams. And the trout are getting hungrier and more active. I really love this time of year. A new edition is out from our friends in SE MN and Iowa, including everything new about Habitat, Conservation, Advocacy, and, of course, a fishing report!
The Duke Hust award is an annual award given to a chapter member who exhibits exceptional leadership and dedication to the chapter. It is given in honor of George Agar "Duke" Hust, a past president of the Twin Cities chapter of Trout Unlimited and of the Minnesota State Council of Trout Unlimited who passed away in 2007. Duke was instrumental in the formation of the Twin Cities Chapter and tirelessly donated his time and resources to ensure its success. Nominations for the Duke Hust award may be submitted at any time. Nominations for a given year will close on September 30th and the award will be given at a chapter event later in the Fall. To receive the award, individuals must be a member in good standing and not currently serving on the TCTU board. To nominate a chapter member for the Duke Hust award, please download the following document, fill it out, and email it to [email protected]. 
You can find the latest edition of our chapter newsletter here
By Jim Sauter
Greetings from TCTU Streamkeepers. I. INTRODUCTION Welcome to the dog days of summer. This is usually a time when the Dog Star, Sirius, begins to shine and we experience the sultry heat of summer. The good news is that most of our stream water is still in nice 50-60 degrees. We only had one reading where water temperatures were about 65 degrees, and that was Belle Creek on July 28th. The coolest stream came in at a nice water temperature of 53 degrees on July 21st at Trout Brook. Recently, when checking out a possible site for the Save Our Stream training on Eagle Creek, my eleven-year-old granddaughter, Hannah, and I decided to take a water clarity test. When we arrived at the stream, we visited with several representatives from the MN DNR, MNTU, and TCTU. They were in the "planning stage" for a future habitat project on the stream in 2025. By Zander Cummins - 2024 TCTU Scholarship Recipient I attended The Northwest Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Academy from June 22 – 29 of this year, which was the 23rd year of the camp. The Academy is a program near Shelton, Washington that is dedicated to growing the next generation of fly fishers and conservationists. There were 18 kids there this week and a variety of volunteers teaching us different skills.
There were three main sections of this program. The first three days of the week were dedicated to building our skills as fly fishermen. We had casting classes from Marion Hiller, an FFI certified casting instructor, and tying lessons from a variety of different experienced tyers, including a couple of the directors. I liked the variety of different ways we could practice casting such as 1-on-1 instruction, the casting course, and tic-tac-toe casting. Because of this practice I was able to pass the Bronze course by the end of the week. The fly tying lessons were also really useful to me because I could watch to see what I was supposed to be doing. The second part of the week was focused around the biology and conservation of trout, and entomology. We learned about these topics through Power Points by different people with knowledge on the subjects and a couple of field trips. Here is a list of the presentations and the activities that went along with them. Entomology 101 and Match the Hatch We went to a river to find bugs and then came back and talked about how they are important to the ecosystem, how to identify them, and how to create and choose fly patterns to match the bugs we found. Then, after dinner we tied flies that matched what we found. Fisheries Conservation This was led by a guy from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service who talked about what he does at his job. We then rotated through three activities, trout dissections, radio telemetry, and invasive species archery. These activities taught us more about the fish, how people track and estimate fish populations, and the dangers to streams in Washington state. Fish Barriers The same guy then talked to us about culverts and other fish barriers. After the talk we went to a culvert with some of his surveying equipment to see if the culvert was small enough that it was a fish barrier (it was not a barrier). This including taking water depth measurements, width and height measurements, and slope/waterflow measurements. Clean, Cold, and Complex Waterways This lesson was about the things that make up a healthy trout stream, clean, cold water and a wide variety of other organisms. To go with this, we took water tests at the lake we were on and at a nearby stream to see if they were good trout habitats. These tests included pH and dissolved oxygen samples, water clarity tests, and temperature checks. We found that both water systems were fairly good for trout but they were a little warmer than trout like it and the stream had a slightly too high pH. The final part of our time at the academy was spent using our skills to catch fish on both a river in the area. We had one day at the river where we learned wading safety and how to mend while on the river. We then split into groups to fish different beats along the Satsop River and Bingham Creek. I went to Bingham and caught a couple of nice trout. On the last day of camp, we had the chance to go back to the river. I went to Satsop that time and my group caught a bunch of little trout. Throughout the week we had a lot of free time to do what we wanted to. Sometimes during free time we were able to go out on boats and fish the lake. The problem with this was that there were lots of rules about when we could do it which didn’t give us as much time on the lake as I would have liked. Because of this I spent most of my free time tying flies which was really fun because there were tons of materials we could use. This was one of my favorite parts because I was able to experiment on different flies without wasting materials that I bought. During my time at the Academy I learned a ton and became a much better fisherman. I also learned a lot about what people in conservation jobs do which will be good to know when I decide what I want to go to college for. This program was an incredible opportunity and I think it would be cool if Minnesota had a program like this for people who had gone through other programs such as the Foster the Outdoors program I did. Thank you so much for the scholarship allowing me to attend this program. A new edition is out from our friends in SE MN and Iowa, including everything new about Habitat, Conservation, Advocacy, and, of course, a fishing report!
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