THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS !!

Early Spring fishing Report --  Summer has officially began  
--  Trout MaGee's  Fish Totals --


O.K.... first off I wanted to start out by asking how everyone likes the new font size and color.  After reading a post at O.B.N. about such things as background and font size/color I decided to take the advice and roll with it.  Please let me know if this new setup is easier on the eyes than the old bright green font.  I hope it works for everyone.  I personally liked the way it looked as soon as I changed it.  I decided to make my fonts the different color of fly lines that I like. The size is a little larger than what I wanted, but the next choice was just to small.

 Todays post is just a quick cap on some of my favorite things so far this spring.  Some of my favorite holes, fish and other things along the way.  A lot of the pictures have been in posts from before, but I chose some of my favorites out of them to highlight what's been going on in The Catching Chronicles so far the last 3 1/2 Months.  I hope you all enjoy.

Here are some of my favorite holes so far this season.  I look forward to discovering as many new holes as I can this summer.  I look forward to bringing all of you there to.  

 The next batch of photos are of some of the bigger fish I have brought to hand so far this spring.  I am and will always be in search of some of those lunkers sitting deep down waiting for a Trout MaGee special to float by.  I know your in there and I'm coming to get ya!!

 Although I am a sucker for catching and searching out the biggins, there is plenty to be said about the fish thats beauty out weighs the size of it.  I am always amazed at the different look to each trout.  The different size of the head all the way down to the size or shape of its tail.  Here are some of the fish that really caught my eye. 

Alright so that covers the big fish and the most beautiful fish.  But what about those poor unfortunate fish that just aren't quite as attractive or symmetrical.  The fish that when you catch it you kind of feel sorry for it.  Not because you think it is ugly, but just because there's just something about it.  Here are a few examples of the fish I speak of.

 

With almost all the basics covered, I feel there is one particular type of fish that deserves some mention.  This is the fish that bites at the last moment after all the other fish have rejected what your serving up.  This is a fish that is completely tricked as soon as your fly comes drifting down stream on top of the water.  It spies your fly and realizes something is wrong.  All you see is a flash of gold that instantly tells you where that one fish is sitting.  You get 2 chances at most.  Sometimes if the hook is not set on the first strike, your chance is lost.  The second cast down stream into the spot is your last chance.  The fly hits and I slowly raise my fly rod in the air, skipping my bead heads across the top of the riffles.  Bam.  Fish on.

This my friends is my favorite.  

The Drifters of Southwest Wisconsins Driftless

  Well those are some of the highlights so far.  I can't wait to get back out there and bring back some more. 

Until Next Time............ Tight Lines!!!

REVENGE IS........not......MINE !!! Chapter 2

Date: June 17th       Weather: Hot         Time: 7:00-10:oo a.m.


Location:  Southwest Wisconsin's Driftless Area Trout Streams

Tied up a few flies last night while me and the wifee were up late night.  I wanted to tie up a few new test flies and send them to my buddy to test out for me.  I had fishing on the mind late night and planned on getting out in the morning to see how things were looking.  It had been raining quite a bit this week and I was not sure what to expect.  Trout gorging on all kinds of things usually means that they will be a little less likely to be going after the random fly that floats by.  Of course as usual I was up for trying to coax a few out.  Below are a few of the flies that were in my head late night.

I woke up at about 5:30 a.m.  Now when I say woke up I mean went and took a shower and had a cup of coffee.  We actually pulled an all nighter and never quite got to sleep.  Oh well sleep will come and go where as hanging out with my wife late night not quite as often.  I saw the sun coming through the shades and the birds were singing their morning tunes, bringing the morning to life.  Coffee pressed, check.   Fried eggs a fryin, check.  Bagels buttered, check.  Grab my gear and one goodbye kiss later and I am on the road.  As I cruise down the road I can't help but notice the meadows to my left glowing in the early morning sunlight.  The dew is heavy from the mist of the meandering creek that follows along the road.  I spotted a pull off spot and came sliding to a gravelly stop.  I hopped out and decided to take a few pics before getting to my fishing destination. 

Close Up Dew shot

This picture I decided to stick my sunglasses in front of the lens as a sort of filter effect.

This is the hole where  I lost a nice sized brown on my last fishing excursion

I stopped here next on my way to try and get some sweet revenge on the biggin that got away.  By this time it was about 6:30a.m. and there wasn't a single sign of life.  Not a rise.  Nothing.  Oh wait I forgot there was a good amount of gnats out and about, looking for some yummy human flesh to bite.  Luckily I remembered my bug face net hat thingy and it seemed to at least keep me from getting bit a bunch more.  Unfortunately it made seeing a lot harder.  I fished the spot every which way without so much as a bite.  Bummer.  Looks like these guys are late risers around these parts.  Either that or just a little bit smarter from our last meeting with each other.  I decided to take some pics while letting the hole rest for a minute.  Here is a pic of a classic dewy spider web.  They were everywhere and looked like natures fine artwork.

 

 I tried a few different flies and after having no luck I decided to head off to my original destination.   I was hoping that some of the holes would be fishable and that some of the Brookies would be happy to see me.  I put on the gear and grabbed the rod.  Once I started hiking it looked like the grass may have grown a few feet since I was here about a week ago.  I knew it would be tough conditions, but I was willing to fling a few flies into some snags if that is what it would take.  The stream is tiny, but  is just to fun to give up on during the summer months.

Nice hole for the Brookies and Browns to hide.

Here is a pic of some neat grass I came across while wondering around.

Close Up

 After fishing a few holes and ending up with more snags in the weeds dangling in the water than fish caught, I decided to switch to a shorter leader and a single fly instead of using a trailer fly.  It ended up being a better choice due to the fact that snags came out a lot easier and the line tangled a lot less.  I remained patient and just took it all in.  Then around 8:30 the fish started to liven up.  I missed a bunch of hits in some of the bigger holes because of the lack of sleep that I was dealing with.  All I could do about it was manage a goofy grin on my face and try for the next one.  Here is a close up pic of one of the Brookies I caught.  Beautiful little creature.

Early Trout gets the fly.

 I noticed that the weeds and grass were full of life.  The hoppers are really starting to come to life and they are out in full effect.  Even though they are out and about they are definitely not as hoppy just yet.  Usually you can't take a step without at least one hopper hopping onto your face.  I know what fly I need to tie up when I get home later!  :)

Get a Room!!

Up and Away.

 As I continued to fish the temps continued to rise.  My waders continued to leak and I ended up enjoying the cold water that was in the bottom of my boot cooling my feet.  By this time my pants were almost completely soaked and I was wishing I just had shorts and wading shoes on.  Lesson learned.  I kept fishing hoping that the fish and the holes would continue to cooperate.  Some of holes were worse than last time because of the weeds getting knocked down into the water from the previous rain.  Oh well,  one of these days I will have to clean it up a little and just forget about spooking the fish.  It would definitely be worth it for my next trip there.  Here are a few more Brookies that were willing to come out and say hello.

Nothing better than releasing stress by releasing fish.

Healthy Little Youngin.

Really liked the fin on this one.  Like an underwater wind sail catching water currents instead of air currents.

 After reaching the top hole I turned and headed back towards my ride.  I came across this setup below and decided to take a few pics of the operation that the DNR has at the top of this stream.  If I remember right they take Brookies from this stream and use them for reproduction and to stock other local streams.  I remember as a young child taking a field trip here and seeing the DNR shock the fish and watching them float to the top.  Back then it was quite a site.  I didn't know what the heck they were up to.  This setup is in the middle of one of the natural springs that feed this creek.  Quite the set up. 

 I kept walking and couldn't help but think about the long walk back to the car was going to be a hot one.  The lack of sleep was really hitting me now, along with the sweat beading up on my head and back.  My waders were hotter than ever and were starting to really rub my feet wrong.  So I decided to do what seemed like the most sensible thing to do.  Waders off and I was on my way.  Oh how good the grass felt under my sore feet.  It had been a beautiful semi- productive day.  Once again I was happy that I went out fishing instead of lazing around the house tired out.  Next time I head out I may try to at least get a few hours of sleep :)  Although revenge was not mine today, it still exceeded my expectations in both beauty and fish caught.  Thank you mother earth for another fine day of life.  

The End..........or just the beginning.

Late night Brown from my home creek later the same night. 

Until Next time....  Tight Lines to all......!!!!!!!