Long Time No Post...

Ten days since my last post and I haven't had a chance to comment on the recent Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited Annual Ice Breaker event. This has turned into one of the highlights of the long southern Wisconsin winter. I enjoyed two wonderful morning talks from Bob Linseman of the AuSable Angler and Mike Miller from the Wisonsin DNR. Bob's talk on "Streamers for Trophy Trout" presented jaw dropping images from the AuSable. I immediately came home and scoured my fly boxes to get a look at what "large ammo" I had in my possession. On the heels of that search I went browsing through my local maps and books to start thinking about what "overlooked water" might be out there in need my attention. Bob was a wonderful speaker who took the time to chat long after his scheduled talk was done. Bill Engber (a local angler of some reputation himself) strongly recommends Bob's book on trophy streamers. All of his books can be found on his website.

Mike Miller from the WDNR presented a thoughtful and informative talk that covered a wide range of streams, bugs, improvements, and TONS of usable information. Mike is very generous with his time and knowledge. Locally we are so often blessed to hear Mike talk that we risk taking for granted to having such a resource in our own back yard. The highlight for me was his mention of the "University of Wisconsin class" that does stream sampling in the summer - pretty sure that was the UW Fly Fishing class. Mike's video about the Wisconsin early season from 2009 is still available on line and worth a look.

In addition to the talks, raffles, fly tiers, I really enjoyed running into lots of fishing friends and acquaintance. Its great to run into local author John Galligan who is always willing to share his thoughts on writing and fishing. I have commented on John's mystery series in this blog in the past and my opinions have not changed. The perfect books for winter (or summer) reading. Enjoyed seeing Todd Opsal from the new On The Creek fly shop in Cross Plains. Embarrassed that I have not yet stepped foot in the shop - that will change soon.

All in all a great way to spend a Saturday during the deep freeze of winter.
Won't be long now - only 5 weeks until the early season.

Tight lines amigos,
Trout Buddha