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Spring is a great time to fish the “bunny hatch”
It's Easter season, so I thought it would be appropriate to mention the “bunny hatch.” No, this isn’t about the eggs that the Easter Bunny leaves. This is about flies that use rabbit or squirrel Zonker strips. Bennett's Lunch Now that I’ve done my best attempt at a pun, let’s talk about patterns. Leeches, Slump…
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Want bigger trout in the Driftless? Eat some smaller ones
When I first joined Trout Unlimited and became engaged in environmentalism in the early 90s, the catch and release ethic was so much a part of our ethos that it took on a moral, almost religious quality. Today, I believe it is still an important management tool and absolutely critical in some situations (obviously where we…
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Driftless symposium goes in-person again
Over 135 people attended the 2025 Driftless Symposium hosted by the Trout Unlimited Driftless Area Restoration Effort and the Wisconsin Wetlands Association on Tuesday February 25 in La Crosse, Wisc. Several common threads emerged among this year’s presentations, highlighting both threats to watershed health and the countermeasures being developed to face those threats. Threats to…
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AOP surveys continue in Driftless Area
The summer of 2024 was our second year having field technicians working across the Driftless Area to assess the condition, fish passage status and flood vulnerability of bridges and culverts on our coldwater streams. This work is often termed “Aquatic Organism Passage” or AOP due to the broad ecosystem benefits that are achieved when…
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Oak Brook TU hosts genetic sampling day in Driftless
In May of 2024, the Oak Brook Trout Unlimited chapter traveled to the Driftless Area for their annual fishing visit. But in addition to the chapter’s usual fishing and stewarding their section of highway near Viroqua, magnanimous chapter member Dave Carlson also offered to give TUDARE a preview of the eDNA sampling methods the chapter has…
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Young conservations help restore trout habitat in Traverse Valley Creek
In September, the Wisconsin Clear Waters TU Chapter and Oak Brook, Illinois TU Chapter completed a stream restoration project on Traverse Valley Creek in Trempealeau County, with a focus on educating local youth. The restored section of stream is along highway X, 5 ½ miles from the junction of X and State Highway 93.…
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Driftless area ignites teen’s passion for fishing and conservation
Lauren Genske’s earliest forays into trout fishing didn’t go exactly as planned. Consider her first outing in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area when she was about 11 or 12. “My dad was supposed to be taking me to go morel mushroom hunting,” recalled Genske, who lives a couple hours north of the Driftless region in Antigo, Wisc.…
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