SWTU Meicher Auction in Madison, WI

SWTU Meicher’s Auction returns to its traditional March time slot; we hope you’ll join us.

This is SWTU’s only fundraising event in 2026 and it should be one of our most fun and worthwhile activities. We (including you) donate fishing gear you no longer need or want or can store. We (including you) bid on it with all the proceeds supporting SWTU. You might note that some members depart the meeting with more stuff than they donated. But it’s all great stuff!

We will start the auction at 6:30. We’ll have lots to bid on and if the auction lasts too long it becomes less fun and less profitable. Show up any time after 5 for dinner and drinks and to examine the auction items. We usually have a big crowd and traditionally this is the best meeting for visiting with old friends and making new ones.

One reason for the auction in March is to enable folks to gear up for the new season. For any newcomers to trout fishing or folks who need gear, DON’T MISS THIS MEETING! Cool stuff at great prices for a good cause.

We always feature flies tied for this area. In addition to our usual fabulous trout flies, this year we’ll add some great warm water flies, even some for muskies and pike.

A simple but key rule for auction donations: Please, please, please only, only, only donate gear that’s in good shape for fishing or other outdoor activities. No junk or trash. A prime example would be leaky waders. If they’re so leaky you’ve stopped wearing them, no one else will want them. The auctioneer doesn’t have time to test all the waders in Schwoegler’s restroom for leaks.

If you’re donating gear, please bring it to the meeting as early as you can. We’ll need to sort and display it. If you can’t bring it to the meeting, contact SWTU’s officers (Topf Wells, Dyan Lesnik, Josh Reilly or Michael Westbury – contact info on the last page of the newsletter PDF). We’ll try to arrange a time for you to drop it off at one of our houses. We need volunteers to make the auction go smoothly. As examples, cashiers and folks to keep the items in good order and handed to the winning bidders.

We’ll also have some different options for cool stuff; our experiment with bucket raffles was well received last year.

Check out our newsletter for the latest information: Newsletter – Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited