
BANQUET 2023!

Trout Unlimited – Nohr Chapter
Harry and Laura Nohr
We’re super excited to share about the upcoming virtual Driftless Area Stream Restoration Symposium, March 7th and 8th, featuring a range of scientists, restoration specialists, and experts working to study, care for and recover these iconic streams. TU and our partners have restored more than 350 miles of streams in this world class trout fishery, and totaled $65M of restoration investments.
We’d love for you register and join us at this conference and our important work in this region.
Join @troutunlimited’s Driftless Area Restoration Effort (TU DARE) staff and volunteers for a two-day virtual symposium featuring some of the most powerful and important voices working to care for and recover these world-class trout streams.
You can attend the full line-up, or drop-in on one or several talks throughout both days.
Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter TU Meeting
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Meeting located at The Hollow, downtown Montfort WI
New and old members welcome to attend! Join us for dinner at 6:15!
AGENDA
Approval of previous minutes from 8/16/22 meeting, also discuss our
Landowner appreciation picnic held on September 10th.
Public comment
Goals – short and long term
Treasurer’s report, bank signatures discussion – John
Banquet – gathering initiatives and task masters monthly – Gordon
Diversity Initiatives / water monitoring / general updates – Carol
Workdays / Website updates – Ted
Youth report – Kurt
Membership / Grants / 2023 Resolution approval – Brian
Project report – Don
Threats to resources – Dave
You are welcome to join our meeting via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84945004324?pwd=Z2JiZUhNeHIwc2kybmxKTHpKVDhzZz09
Meeting ID: 849 4500 4324
Passcode: 125119 Dial by your location
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
The Nohr Chapter of TU will be holding our Annual Summer Social (Landowner Appreciation) on Sep.10th at the site of our recently completed project on the Blue River off of County Q in Grant County. (Directions below)
Food will be served from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM, prepared by our fabulous chef Doug. We will provide soda and water but feel free to bring your preferred beverage to drink responsibly. Bring a folding chair if you have one.
At 10:00 AM we will have some people and equipment to hold a casting clinic for anyone wanting help with some aspect of their casting.
Landowners for whom we have done stream restoration work or who may be considering a project will be invited to discuss their experience. This is also a chance to meet your Board members to discuss where projects have been completed and those planned for the future. Work is ramping up on Big Spring just above where it enters Six Mile Branch very near here. Come and see some before and after, it is impressive work.
DNR folks will be there and run a stream shocking demonstration. If you are not familiar with some of DNR’s online trout fishing tools, this will be a good chance to learn about them. There are great interactive access maps and info available.
We especially welcome youngsters and will have some members who are experienced at teaching kids to fish, so if you have a son or daughter but haven’t had time to start them off on trout fishing, this is your chance.
For women/girls interested in cold water fishing, our Nohr Chapter women’s advocate, Carol Murphy, will be in attendance. Please join us. We will have rods available or bring your own.
Finally, when we pack up the food at 4:00, if you would like to fish with a member who knows the local streams, we will pair up and hit the water. We can work with spin and bait fishers too.
Hope to see you there.
Directions: Turn North on County Hwy G (two miles west of the Village of Montfort off of Hwy 18). Follow Hwy G north for approximately 7-1/2 miles and then turn right on Biba Road. Biba road is located approximately 1-1/2 miles past the Castle Rock Inn Restaurant. Follow Biba Road to the intersection with County Q. Turn left onto Q and the site will be approximately 1 mile. If the field road is muddy, park along the road and we will have someone to shuttle you to the picnic site.
Thank you all for coming out and showing your support!! We hope you had an enjoyable evening!
H&L Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited Banquet Report
After having to cancel our annual gathering in 2020 and twice in 2021, attendees
gathered at Castle Rock Ridge on May 6 for the 2022 Banquet. Our venue of the
past several years is just a few miles up the hill from the Blue River watershed.
That stream and a couple of its major tributaries have been the sites for our
stream restoration efforts. Dr. Kris Wright gave a presentation on how he and the
UW-Platteville students annually study the chapter’s stream work and measure
the impact on the stream size, water temperature, stream bed characteristics,
macroinvertebrate diversity, and trout population size and density. Dr. Wright
gave a brief summary of the benefits of the chapter and university’s data
collection from our local stream work and how that 18 years of data collection is
unique in the study of stream improvements and adds to the research of how
best to maintain and improve cold water streams. He thanked us for the ongoing
financial support and how many of his students go on to careers in conservation.
Two families and landowners who have granted fishing easements and allowed us
to work on their Blue River property were thanked and honored. The Zadrazil and
Stanek families’ children were present to accept the awards and a summary of
their efforts was outlined by Project Chairman Don Pluemer.
Awards were presented to chapter members for their leadership and support of
chapter efforts to educate adults and youth on the value of keeping our streams
cold and clean. Our highest honor, the Gold Net Award went to new chapter
president Carol Murphy. She has brought a lot of energy and new ideas to the
group and organized the Water Monitor Volunteers, has led several gatherings
designed to teach women how to fish, and has been involved in state wide events
that help women get outdoors, become better fishers, and get involved in
conservation efforts.
Kurt Meyer’s State Council Award as Youth Leader of the Year was highlighted.
He has Trout in the Classroom in his Fennimore School science classes which lets
students see trout hatch from eggs, grow in his cold water aquariums, and are
then released into a local trout stream. He teaches youth how to fish, tie flies,
cast, and about the Driftless Area and how special the local cold water streams
are. Many of his students are not aware of how unique the streams are since
they grew up here and consider that just a normal part of the landscape.
Don Pluemer was honored by the Gathering Waters Land Trust Group for his
ongoing work and leadership in stream restoration. Don was mentored by the
late Pete Esser and Pete’s goal of improving the Big Spring to how good a fishery
he remembered it as a young man has continued with improving many miles of
the Blue River as well under Don’s guidance.
Our chapter lost our president, Tim Fraley, and several other regular banquet
attendees and chapter supporters over the past couple of years—Laurie Balk, Jim
Coursey from the Chicago Donnelly Chapter, Paul Carpenter, Pete Esser, and Bill
Weege. Those people were remembered and their contributions praised.
Many prizes and auction items were won and the contributions from the Bill
Weege and Paul Carpenter estates enhanced the number of rods and reels
available for bidding. Many classic books from the collections of Bill Weege, Jeff
and Cleo Ware, John Morton, Dave Fritz, and Gene Mazewski found new homes.
Several guided fishing trips, two rods built by Dave Fowler, and a host of tied flies
from several local tyers such as John Gribb, John Morton, Brian Smolinski, Rich
Osthoff, and Scott Hanson were cherished auction items.
Thank you for all those who attended and contributed repeatedly during the
years we were not able to hold the banquet. The chapter’s work goes on.
HARRY AND LAURA NOHR CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED
After twice cancelling due to COVID-19 flares, we are optimistic that a new variant is not going to force us to cancel yet again.
Thank you for all the many donations over the past couple of years as our chapter’s work has not been cancelled. WE WILL HONOR THE DONATIONS MADE SINCE OUR LAST BANQUET WITH THE ALLOTTED DINNER TICKETS BASED ON THE DONATION AMOUNT. Those who purchased dinner tickets for either of the two cancelled events will also have tickets for the May 2022 banquet. All purchased or earned tickets will be available at the door the night of the event.
Please be prepared to bid on our silent auction items and bucket raffles. We have been gathering prizes for the cancelled banquets. A large trove of prizes including rods, reels, treasured books, and an entire setup for fly tying have been donated to our chapter by the estates of Bill Weege and Paul Carpenter, and generous donations by Jeff and Cleo Ware and John and Wendy Dunagan. These items will help everyone have the gear they desire to fish, wade, fly tie, water monitor, or to learn about a multitude of conservation topics and interesting places to travel.
We have lost our president, Tim Fraley, several long-time banquet attendees, and a land owner who allowed us to do work on her stream since our last event in 2019. We hope to honor their memories the night of the banquet. There is also much to celebrate as our chapter has many dedicated members who continue to spend thousands of hours toward the preservation and improvement of the cold water streams this piece of the world has been blessed with.
If you have items that you wish to donate as prizes for the banquet, please notify me soon at the email address below. We hope to see many of you at the banquet Friday, May 6, 2022 at Castle Rock Ridge west of Montfort at the intersection of Highway G and Shemak Road in the heart of the beautiful Driftless Region.
Gordon Grieshaber, Secretary
ggries@mhtc.net
H&L Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited will host a Lie and Tie on Saturday, March 5. It will be from 11:00 to 3:00 at The Hollow in downtown Montfort. There will be a brief Board meeting at 11 and all are invited to attend the meeting or begin tying flies. If one doesn’t know how to tie and is interested in learning, there will be some opportunity for instruction and extra tying equipment available. Food and drink will be available for purchase from The Hollow. Hope to have a pleasant gathering.
Any and All are invited!!!
Hello from our chapter President Tim Fraley
Fall in in the air; walnuts leaves are starting to change, grasshoppers are abundant! Our Summer Social and Landowner Appreciation picnic was a success with 45 in attendance, thank you to all the people who organized and helped!
Please don’t miss out on our October 9 Banquet! Details are to the right on this page! Behind the scenes Ted and Carol are making progress on a much-improved website with new features and information. Highlights include an:
Project work on the Zadrizil property is moving along without major weather problems and should be complete by year’s end!
Hello from Chapter President Tim Fraley!
I hope this newsletter finds everyone safe and healthy during this pandemic.
One of the chapter events that has been postponed several times is our banquet. The board has decided to not have a banquet before the traditional opening day of regular fishing. We are looking at a possibility of a banquet in early October if the vaccinations go well. I am also looking for a chapter member to help the chapter start a trash pickup program along our more well used streams. Please email me if you are interested.
Finally, if you are feeling cooped up, the early catch and release season is opened till the first Saturday in May.