As if you didn't have enough reasons to attend our September 22nd chapter meeting in-person at the Gnome Craft Pub, here is another:  5-star food!

by Jim Sauter
The fall equinox is fast approaching and will be here at 1:19 pm on September 22.  In Victoria, Minnesota, we are losing about two minutes of daylight per day.  The water temperatures are cooling, over 360 million birds in the USA have already started their migration journey, and the trout are beginning to fatten up and take on their fall colors in preparation for the spawning season. 
 
During my last fishing outing at the end of August in a western Wisconsin stream, the trout were very active.  Tom Rosenbauer, in one of his Orvis podcasts, refers to this as, "...aggressive feeding behavior."  The brown trout were aggressively attacking my nymphs and dry flies in riffle windows.  I landed just about every fish.  Every bite was a hookup.  This was by far my best fishing day of the season in Wisconsin.  I just love those days!

by Jim Sauter
Greetings from TCTU Streamkeepers.  Welcome to August. 
So far this has been a summer with above average moisture, warmer than average temperatures with eleven 90 degree days so far, and lots of smoke from Canadian forest fires negatively impacting air quality.   
I was curious about the "unhealthy" air quality in our area and checked with AI on the possible effects on streams and fish.  Here are some findings:
 
HOW SMOKE AFFECTS TROUT POPULATIONS (Sources:  AI, Bangor News)
Changes in Fish Behavior: 

• Direct effects from smoke and ash: Smoke and ash, consisting of fine particles and potentially harmful chemicals, can be directly deposited into streams and lakes.
• Water Quality Degradation: Ash and other particulates from fires can cloud streams, making it difficult for fish to breathe and reducing the availability of their food sources.
• Increased Surface Activity: Reduced sunlight from smoke can be like an overcast day, increasing the activity of fish that feed near the surface.
• Location and Movement: Fish may become more comfortable moving around during the day when they would normally retreat to cover, as the smoky conditions offer less visibility and potentially less stress.

• Habitat Destruction Near the Fire Sites: Wildfires can burn trees along streams, removing crucial shade and increasing water temperatures to lethal levels for cold-water species          like trout. Erosion can also be an issue. 
• Wildfires Can Contribute to Habitat Complexity: Some research indicates that, over the long term, wildfires can contribute to habitat complexity by providing large woody debris, which is beneficial for fish like trout providing that the frequency and intensity of the fires are within certain limits.  Yes, to a degree, there are ecological benefits to some forest fires.
   
  THANK YOU PAUL JOHNSON
  Kudos to Paul Johnson for his donations of dozens of flies and additional items for door prizes at our TCTU Chapter meetings and our upcoming Oktoberfish TCTU event.  He has done this for several years, and I can attest that his flies consistently catch fish.  I especially have had success with his purple prince charming, caddis, and his BWOs often prove deadly. 
  Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the inner sanctums of  Paul's fly tying room.  I consider Paul a master fly tyer and a distinguished member of the Laughing Trout Fly Tying Club, and he shared some insights with me about fly tying and trout fishing.  After visiting Paul's Fly Tying Room, I decided that I need more fly fishing rods, reels, fly tying supplies, and a major remodel of my fly tying room. 
  Thanks again to Paul!  

by Bob Luck
Two days ago, I returned from a 5-day horse pack trip in the Willmore Wilderness of the Alberta Rockies.  My college buddy, Harry Nelson, had invited me to join him and three veteran outfitters, Johnny, Art and Ferlin.  I flew up to Edmonton and soon afterwards found myself riding my horse Baldy up the Wildhay River.  The hazing started about 2 hours into the trip.  I asked Ferlin where he got his name.  He told me “From Ferlin Husky”.  “Who is Ferlin Husky”? I innocently asked.  “Oh my God, you don’t even know Ferlin Husky?  Wings of a Dove”?  I didn’t, and I still don’t.  Harry joined along in the laughter but secretly confessed later that he had never heard of Ferlin Husky either.
This was primarily a horse riding trip, but Harry had promised me I could get in some fishing on the Wildhay, which was rumored to be packed with bull trout. After a three hour ride into the park, Harry and I wandered down to the river to see if we could catch some trout while our outfitters set up camp.  Harry is not much of an angler but was willing to throw a few casts and stand guard with the bear spray.  Over the course of two hours, we tried a variety of tactics and flies, and we had just one four-incher come up to take a swipe at my hopper.  Later in camp, Johnny told us he would take us to some beaver dams where we might have better luck.  “And you should bait your hooks with bacon.  I haven’t been fishing in a long time but when I was young, I fished a hole about ½-mile downstream and caught a 26” bull trout.  I took a hunter I was guiding to the same place, and he caught a 28 incher.  Both of us were using bacon.”  Art and Ferlin nodded in assent and made it clear with both verbal and nonverbal signals that any idiot who used flies instead of bacon was a hopeless tenderfoot doomed to go fishless.

by Jim Sauter
Greetings from TCTU Streamkeepers.
Independence day has come and gone.  This was a good time for burgers, brats, fishing, baseball, ice cream, s'mores,  parades, and fireworks.  
This year as we watched the fireworks from Grand View Resort on Gull Lake, I paid special attention to the birds in the area.  The herons, ducks, and loons were totally freaked out.  A heron sought safety as it perched on top of a nearby boat lift.  
Many times, we are aware of the impact of the sound and light display for pets and little children.  This was the first time I paid very close attention to bird life.  They were clearly flying around and moving nervously during the dusk hour when they have normally settled down for the night.  The loons were not giving us their usual evening calls.  

by Bob Luck
As those of you who have received emails from me at 3 am know, I have a sleep disorder.  I don't have any problem going to sleep, but staying asleep is a problem, especially when I have a fishing trip planned the next day.  Which, in my case, is most days.  There is a silver lining:  during Trico season I have no problem being on the stream by 6 am, which is when these tiny mayflies start hatching on warm July mornings.  Yesterday, acting on a tip from an old-timer I met on the stream last season, I headed to a new piece of water.  I saw some flies on the water, but almost no rises.  I either misunderstood what that old-timer told me, or he is congratulating himself about sending me on a wild goose chase.  I still enjoyed myself, and I may even try that stretch again.  If you are looking for some new water to fish, following is some savvy advice from TCTU Board Member Evan Griggs, whose day job is running Fishing For All LLC, a guiding service.  

MNTU and the DNR are getting ready to do a major habitat project on Eagle Creek, the closest fishable trout stream to downtown Minneapolis.  As we were about to start the work, a rare plant species was discovered that needed to be inventoried and mapped so that it could be protected during the in-stream work.  We definitely want to protect rare plants, but were not excited about a delay in the habitat project.  We sent out an appeal to volunteers for help, and got an overwhelming response.  Under the leadership of Hannah Swenson of the DNR, the volunteers listed below completed the inventory in three days.  Thank you!  In case you are wondering what the plant is, keep wondering.  It is a shy plant and has requested anonymity.  We can say, though, that over 19,000 plants were found in Eagle Creek, giving it the second-largest population of any stream in Minnesota.
Thanks to:  
​Paul Algren*, Todd Christenson, Toshi Karato*, Bob Luck, Sahya Luck, Tracy Niebeling*, Jim Patterson , Tim Pierzina, Jim Rue, Jay Wetmore
*Helped every single day!

by Doug Moran
Project MACHETE is an experiment TCTU volunteers are doing w/the DNR's Mark Nemeth. We want to see what methods work for killing the hated buckthorn, while reducing the use of chemicals & the need for a licensed sprayer.
The 3 methods we're testing are as follows.
Method 1-Orange, cut to low stump, treated w/Buckthorn Blaster
Method 2- White, cut to ~3-4 ft above the ground, all branches stripped off, & new growth re-stripped off every 5 -6 months. This is the Critical Period Cutting (CPC) method
Method 3- Green, same as White, but, re-stripping new growth every month. This is a modification of the CPC we're trying based on conversations w/Alex Roth from the FMR.
There was no visit in June due to high water- the Vermillion could not be safely crossed.
On July 12, Mark Nemeth and I safely crossed the river and hit the study area. Here's a few observations:
1. Four of the Orange trees (24%) had resprouting. We think we had missed them or inadequately treated them w/the Buckthorn Blasters. It should be noted that 2 of the trees had single re-sprouts which were dying or very weak looking.
2. All of the White and Orange trees had resprouting. No surprise
3. All the trees had lots of buckthorn seedlings sprouting around them, w/the exception of those that seemed to have been in the flooded areas, where the flooding or new sediment prevented new seedling sprouting.
4. Given #3, it is likely that chemicals will have to be part of any efforts to eradicate buckthorn.

Hope you found this interesting, watch for more to come!! If you want to join in on the August visit, contact me at [email protected]

by Harold Slawik
This is the fourth year that Ike’s Creek (aka Mall of America Creek) has been part of the TCTU Streamkeepers Program. You will find its headwaters southeast of the intersection of Killibrew Drive and Old Shakopee Road, just a few hundred feet from the Mega Mall. This beautiful little stream flows in a narrow valley for less than a mile into Long Meadow Lake in the Minnesota River Valley. It flows clear and steady throughout the year and has a population of naturally-reproducing brook trout.
The creek is primarily on Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge property and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is overseeing a major habitat improvement project this summer. USF&WL biologist Vicki Sherri has been overseeing Ike’s Creek conservation efforts since brook trout were reintroduced to the creek in 2007, and the current project is a crowning effort with major funding from the Minnesota Valley Trust.
In April and May TCTU volunteers participated in two efforts to protect the creek’s trout by moving them out of the 400 to 500 foot improvement zone. Minnesota DNR trout specialist Mark Nemeth walked the creek with electro shocking equipment while volunteers netted the fish and put them in a holding tank for later movement upstream.

by Jim Sauter
Greetings from TCTU Streamkeepers.
To date our Streamkeeper volunteer monitors have conducted 37 chemical observations on 10 streams and two macroinvertebrate samplings on the South Branch of the Whitewater River.  Our thirty plus Streamkeeper volunteers, along with the over 2,000 of our TCTU members who are fishing and hiking in the area, are providing a small army of "eyes and ears" on streams in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and beyond.  
Our stream chemistry numbers are looking good so far this spring.  We still have elevated chloride numbers on the Mall of America/ Ike's Creek, and the nitrate level on Hay Creek was "fair".  Little Cannon River was experiencing some erosion from our spring rains.
BUGS AND BUFFERS, THE REPEATER PROJECT
I believe there is a rare breed of people that get really excited about bugs.  Some folks hate bugs, some are indifferent, and then there are those of us that love them and get excited to see them.  

by Bob Luck
Two weeks ago, I tore myself away from the Driftless Area to spend a few days with some friends in the Boundary Waters.  I did manage to smuggle my new 8-weight into the canoe—the Ant Bullet that I won at the Oktoberfish silent auction last fall.  I must admit that catching smallmouths and northerns on poppers is a pretty fun way to fish, as well as providing some fresh meat to go along with those freeze-dried meal kits. 
Inspired by my BWCA adventure, I went to my friend Mike Miller’s farm last week, borrowed his ATV, and drove down to the Kinnickinnic River to fish at dusk.  Mike is far too sensible to fish at night.  He stayed in his house with his dog Ernie and a beer and told me to give him my report when I returned.  Figuring an 8-weight was overkill, I cast poppers into a large, slow-moving pool against the bluffs with my 5-weight.  Nothing.  Just in case, I tried a large hopper pattern.  A few casts later, the line started screaming off the reel.  After a few seconds, the line went slack, and I reeled in a straightened-out hopper with a few tufts of beaver fur attached. Time to go home.

by Yves Charron
Dear fellow Twin Cities Trout Unlimited members,  I hope you all had a chance to go fishing.   This has been an unusually cold and wet June so far, but the trout don’t care--they are already wet. ; - )
This month’s edition of the President’s angle will be slightly different.   It will be about safety. 
As some of you know, I like to fish in streams for trout, but since we are in the land of 10,000 lakes, I have a  kayak and fish lakes around the Twin Cities and the great state of Minnesota.   One Saturday in May, I did just that.  After a successful outing on a lake just north of the Twin Cities catching largemouth bass, I pulled my kayak off the lake and strapped it to the top of my car as usual.  Below is what it looks like on top of my car.

As usual, I checked everything to make sure it was well secured and before driving.  Then through my sun roof, I monitor to ensure the kayak is still well secured.   I exited the parking lot, took a few side streets, and merged through traffic to get on the highway.   After a few minutes of driving, I heard a big bang on top of my car.  When I looked-up, the kayak was no longer there.  ​

If you missed our chapter meeting featuring Terrestrial Insects by Jason Freund, we have you covered!  You can find his presentation on YouTube here.  (Don't forget to like and subscribe!).  And you can read or download his slides below.

by Jim Sauter
Greetings from TCTU Streamkeepers.
Welcome to the spring season.  I know spring has arrived since we can now see the pre-dawn light at 5:00 am, and I also have my first mosquito  bite of the season.
Our 2025 stream monitoring has begun, and we already have about a dozen recorded chemical observations on area streams.  You can see our results at this link by clicking TCTU Water Quality Reading- 2025 responses:    twincitiestu.org/h2o
There seems to be a lot of interest from our TCTU Chapter in helping with our Streamkeeper monitoring effort.  In the spring of 2021, we started with 9 volunteers on three streams and, now we have 45 Streamkeeper volunteers that are helping monitor eight area streams.   
Are we making a difference?  According to Kent Johnson, a retired water biologist from Wisconsin who helped us get started with the program, the answer is "yes". ​

​I hope everyone enjoyed Bill Sherck’s videos and stories at our April chapter meeting.   Also, if you have the opportunity and time, make sure you sign-up to volunteer at Tune Camp, this is a great opportunity to serve.  At our upcoming May meeting, we will discuss other opportunities to volunteer for youth activities over the summer. 
On a separate topic, I did some fishing in the Minnesota Driftless Area since our last meeting, and noticed some bank erosion problem.  This is causing problems with the trout stream filling with sediments and the farmer losing his land. That reminds me how important it is to continue our work on habitat improvement and to support other organizations that sponsor habitat work/stream restorations.

Lately, I would rather be outside enjoying the weather than listening to talking heads discussing tariffs and the plummeting stock market. On one of my recent fishing outings, I got chased by a fellow Canadian…..

by Bob Luck
My daughter decided to get married on May 3rd, and I wasn’t going to argue, even though it took nearly a week out of my fishing during the caddis hatch.  It didn’t seem worth it to pick a fight with my favorite fishing partner.  Besides, there isn’t a week between March and November when I can’t complain about missing some sort of important hatch, emergence or other important event on the stream.
The wedding was lovely and last week I was able to return to my fishing.  On Wednesday I fished a new stream in Western Wisconsin that is reputed to have big trout—both brooks and browns.  

by Bob Luck
A few years ago, I read "This Is Your Mind On Plants", Michael Pollen's book about plants that can alter human consciousness.  As part of his research, he quit caffeine, cold turkey.  After a couple of months of withdrawal, he stopped thinking about it when he woke up in the morning.  In part 2 of his self-experiment, he stopped by a coffee shop in a mall one morning and ordered a coffee.  It was the best thing he ever tasted, and the after-effects were even better: he found himself in a perfect state of alertness, optimism and enthusiasm--name an adjective for a positive emotion and that's how he felt.  "This is the trick", he thought.  "If I just drink a couple of cups a week I can have all these positive feelings without any of the side effects".  His resolution lasted until early afternoon, when he started coming up with reasons he needed to go back to the same mall to go shopping...

Thanks to the Friends of the Mississippi River, Mark Nemeth (DNR) and Matt Doth (Mahigan Outdoors) for the fabulous presentation on our home water, the Vermillion River.  If you missed the meeting, you can see it on our YouTube channel here.  Don't forget to subscribe! You can also download copies of the presentations below.

A new edition of the Hotline is available with lots of great news, including a special feature on a proposed hiking trail in the Minnesota Driftless.