January 8th Meeting – Dave Fowler on “Fly Rod Building 101”, Fly Rod Raffle Auction, Membership Dues, BFF Elections and Club’s Future Direction

Dave Fowler started building fly rods in the late 1990’s when he bought a few fly rod blanks at a neighborhood garage sale not knowing anything about building a fly rod.  Fortunately, Dave’s friend Jim Bartelt took him under his wing and showed him how it was done.  Since then, Dave has built too many fly rods to count for friends, family and fundraisers.  He has also been holding fly rod building classes for a number of years and most recently through the Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited and the Nohr Trout Unlimited Chapters.  Dave’s presentation on “Fly Rod Building 101” will discuss the various components and tools necessary to build a fly rod.  Attendees will be given handouts that list a number of suppliers of fly rod building components, sources for on-line tutorials, and step-by-step instructions on building a fly rod.  For those of you who are looking for a winter project, building a fly rod is a fun and rewarding project.  After Dave’s presentation there will be a raffle auction of a totally refurbished like new fly rod that Dave has generously donated to the club.  The fly rod is an older fiberglass rod (2-pc 7’9″ 5/6 wt).  The fly rod was originally built for a doctor in Hudson, WI and has an inscription on it saying “Xmas – 1950.”  It was well used and therefore obviously a cherished fly rod that Dave has completely restored to a like new condition.  Dave wants to give the fly rod a second life by finding a new owner through the raffle auction to raise some money for the club.  Thanks Dave!  Please note that the meeting is on Wednesday, January 8th which is the second Wednesday of the month due to the first Wednesday being New Year’s Day.  The meeting will be at our same meeting location, the Thirsty Goat restaurant, 3040 Cahill Main, Fitchburg.  Here is a link to the Thirsty Goat’s website.  The presentation begins at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and conversation at 5:30 p.m.  Visitors and guests are always welcome.

The Badger Fly Fishers 2025 membership dues can be paid now.  Advance dues payments made now for 2025 count towards membership through December 31, 2025.  The dues of just $20 support the great speakers we have at our meetings and the club’s on-going operating expenses.  Here is a link to the membership form for you to complete and send in by mail.  The mailing address is at the bottom of the form.  You can also pay your dues at one of our meetings.  Thank you for your continued support of the Badger Fly Fishers!

The Badger Fly Fishers annual election of officers and Board of Directors will take place at the January 8th meeting too.  Bob Harrison is ending his current position as President of the BFF and we are looking to add some new blood in this position.  If you are interested or know someone who might be, please let us know.  Lastly, we will have an open discussion at this meeting looking at where the club is currently and what direction the members would like to take it.  We will discuss our current financial status, annual expenses and how we should proceed in the future. The Badger Fly Fishers was founded in 1988 and in the intervening years we have raised and contributed more than $100,000 to local habitat restoration projects and other worthwhile conservation programs.  We can all be proud of what we have accomplished over the past 35+ years.  We look forward to hearing from you at the January meeting.

See you at the January 8th meeting!

Cordially,

Buzz McFly

The Wisconsin Smallmouth Alliance meeting on February 5th will feature a presentation by Seth Underwood from Missing Link Guide Service about smallmouth bass fishing in Southwest Wisconsin streams and rivers.