President’s Angle for April

By Jim Coursey

The season is open. Alan Gault, Bill Wobbekind, Kent Carlson and I went to Avalanche, WI to celebrate and everyone caught fish this time. A great way to start out the new angling year.

More spring Creeks opportunities await at the chapter sponsored Spring Creek Trip which will commence April 28-30 at Napp's Motel in Fennimore. A new venue and a great place to go for early season trout fishing. More details are available later in this Newsletter and on our award winning Website www.edtu.org Please sign up early so we can tell Susie at Napp's how many guests she can anticipate housing that weekend.

Don't overlook the other chapter trips to the Wolf River and the AuSable. Sign up early to guarantee a place on the trip. We are happy to see a lot of new members this joining this year and we hope they will take these opportunities to learn more about the angling opportunities that exist in our neighboring states.

Our speaker for the April 4th meeting is the knowledgeable entomologist Dr. Art Mazzier. Many of you have heard him before and all remark how informative and helpful he is in educating us on the important topic of invertebrates in coldwater. Come out and enjoy another fact filled presentation and be sure to RSVP to Kent Carlson, kentrcarlson@sbcglobal.net , 312-663-9601 so we can provide the restaurant with an accurate count of attendees.

Speaking of restaurants, with Armando's closing after our June meeting, the leadership of the chapter is utilizing the responses to the questionnaire distributed at the last meeting as a guide to planning a future and necessary alternative. In short, Bill Wobbekind and the rest of the board designed a winner. It was unanimous that we come as close as possible to the current format as we look at the future. As soon as we find an acceptable new place to meet we'll let you know.

Anyone interested in attending the Nohr TU chapter banquet in Dodgeville, WI on May 5 can go to their Website, www.nohrtu.org or contact Chuck Steudel for further information csteudel@mhtc.net. Tickets are $30.

Dave Meyer has kindly volunteered to be the chair of our Membership Committee. We ask you to join us in thanking him for generously donating his time and creativity to this important task. He will need help, so if you're interesting in helping your chapter, please contact him.

Our May speaker will be John Epifano of the Illinois Natural History Project and our June speaker will be Buzz Butters, talking about the Hex hatch.

Lastly, please remember, before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Have a healthy and productive spring season.