A Must Have Fly for Wisconsin's Early Trout Season ... Driftless Area Trout Fishing ... Against The Wind

Date: March 31, 2018        Time: Noon - 6 p.m.        Location: Wisconsin's Driftless    

Temp: Cold... Real Cold... Wind and Clouds made it even colder :)


Saturday early morning....I hear rain outside my window.  No big deal.  Then I hear it...not rain...Wind.  Wind that could blow the spots off a cheetah kind of wind.  For real!  Not sure why but apparently the Wind Gods and I have some sort of beef going on.  Well bad thing for the wind.... I never give up.  So I peeked out my window as I pulled my curtain to the side.  There it was.... face to face with me... bending the small trees and plants as it tossed carelessly about with zero regard for mine or any other fly fishers feelings of disgust and utter hatred for it.  As if to really dig on me hard off goes some bark from a tree hurling to the ground.  Hmmmph!  Hmmmph!  and off to the stream I went!  On the journey to heaven on earth, I prepped myself for what was in store.  Possibly a tree snag or 10.  Then there's always the dreaded line slap on top  the water, the tangled lines, the huge possibility the fish may be hunkered down and may not want anything to do with what I prepped for their  dinner.  But I was determined.  The sun poking through the silvery clouds, slowly warming everything it touched, helped me stay inspired to continue on to my destination.

Just like that and poof, I'm there.  Sip coffee, question my decision... Here I go.  As soon as I step out of the vehicle I'm regretting not putting on both sweatshirts at once.  Standing there,  I am forced to push against the door to keep it open, since the wind in some sort of bullying attempt is trying to slam it shut on me.  On goes the second sweatshirt...crap...its still blowing straight thru into my bones.  Luckily I had packed a 3rd sweatshirt and on it went....Perfect.  I opened up the rear door, only to have to pry it open against the wind.  Wow this might be more than I bargained for.  Well to hell with it...grabbed my rod and pack and off to explore I went.  Maybe the wind will be blocked by the huge limestone bluffs that contain the majority of the holes I would fish...yeah that seems possible.  I continued on and began to take in the sheer beauty around me and doing my best to pretend the  wind didn't even exist.  The water was quite clear considering the late night, early morning rain.  Down deeper it appeared a touch stained which boded well for me as far as I was concerned.  I decided to tie on a Zonker fly I had tied up the night before, in hopes of pulling a big fat Brown out from the depths.  After a few casts in with no bites I decided to switch it up and put on more of an attracting sort of fly.  My take on a Copper John Barr's Fly.  First cast in with new fly and things started to look up real quick.  Did the wind stop?...NO.....Did the bluffs protect me once I got back into them?......NO... In fact the wind continued all day long and at times did its best to send me home to my warm cozy house... Fortunately the fishing kept my blood pumping and the cold soon became a distant memory, while golden Brown Trout took its place.  I ended up saving that fly every single time it got snagged... I couldn't let the stream sirens take my precious fly.  By the end of my adventure the fly resembled a fly I might have tied 25 years ago when I first picked up the habit.  The trout destroyed it beyond recognition.  I would say if you are heading up towards Wisconsin's Driftless Area any time in the near future be sure to pack 2 things in particular: An extra sweatshirt or two and a Copper John Barr's fly.  Here are a few pics of the adventure.  All fish were caught and released to swim into someone else's net another day.  :)  Hope you enjoy. 

Some of the holes along the limestone bluffs...that didn't block the wind.

Mushrooms sprouting from dead tree...Look kinda tasty.. :)

If you look at fence you can see just how high creek had gotten earlier this spring.

One of my favorite parts of fly fishing.... The Release

Healthy Brown Trout ... Till we meet again 

Finding some time to reflect on life is another reason to visit the stream

My take on a Copper John Barr's Fly.  This was the hot meal ticket of the day.  A must in your fly box, unless you hate catching trout :) 

Little Brown Trout who wanted in on the action

Small Stream with pretty defined holes... but I tend to pick them off through the rapids drifting down stream as well

Just messed with this picture in editing, to highlight its golden sheen.

See you later.  Thanks for the hospitality

The water was clear and small in spots.  Could hop across with a single bound.

Another healthy brown who fell for all the fluff.... :)

It was a barrel of fun

A nice Brown from a completely new hole that has formed since last year.  Bulls-eye

Sometimes I find myself wondering.....Is this all just a dream... a really good dream :)

They were all nice and healthy.  They put up a fight as if they had never been caught before.

Got most of my bites deep down in, letting fly drift down in and letting it sit.

Up close and personal.

Feisty fella

They were still biting even though the fly was pretty trashed at this point.

At times I would have to re-wrap the red wire back onto the fly so it looked somewhat presentable.

Something was after dinner.  Lucky little Brown

Ice in the guides cold.

This Thermos keeps coffee piping hot .... ummm forever pretty much...

Brown Town 

Baby Trout with a goofy facial expression.

Not so baby Trout.... maybe the mom of the fish pictured above.  Caught this one drifting down into a hole.

Pretty sure that face is his way of saying.... " Haven't we met before "...

Some real beauty on the fish this day

Maybe I should have brought my surf board... Wind made for some tough casting... but I managed.

Picture of Momma fish from above.

The beginning of the end for this fly

At this point the fly had unraveled all of the peacock feather I had wrapped around it.  But they didn't care.

Maybe a trout from above..maybe a different one... Honestly I lost track.  Most fish pictured are different...but....

Releasing this fella so he can get big and kypie!

By the end I was cold and fingers wrinkly.... but it was worth every shiver

Until Next Time............ Tight Lines to All !!

Driftless Streamers - Friday the 13th - New Brook Trout Stream

The forecast was calling for rain the next 4 days, so I thought it would be a good idea and get out before it rained to much and muddied things up.  The sky's were gray and it looked like the rain could fall at any moment.  Ah the perfect time to head out I thought as the raindrops started to spatter my deck.  I had a stream in mind that I was hoping to get permission on so I headed over the hill and proceeded to start asking.  I ended up stopping at 3 different farms and was granted permission to fish the entire stretch I was hoping to.  It may have been Friday the 13th but things were looking good to me :) 

Trouts Paradise

I recently did a fly swap with John of the blog : --- Currents --- He sent some beauty streamers my way and I sent some nice fluffy dry flies his way.  When I received the package in the mail I was super pumped to get out there and send some of these flies deep.  This stream had nice dark green deep holes at every bend, what better of a place to test them out.   I tied one on and trailed it with a small bead head then proceeded to gear up.  Here are the streamers from John of Iowa's Driftless Area.  Superb!

Which One is Your Favorite ?

The Clouds Role in and SO DOES THE WIND !!

No sooner had I stepped foot onto the stream when the rain stopped and a new form of clouds rolled in and brought some hellacious winds with them.  Let's just say tossing a streamer with a trailer soon had me  wondering if my luck was about to change and I could maybe end up in the emergency room removing a fly from the back of my head :)  Well as usual  I stuck with my plan and proceeded to straight bomb the water with streamer number 1.  The first cast that hit its mark was rewarded with a nice 10 inch Brookie on the deep retrieve.  I was so excited and so was the Brookie, the next thing I know it slipped from my hand back into the stream just as quick as it came.  Oh well I was just stoked to see that Brookies inhabited the stream.  The next hole I ran the fly deep but retrieved it upstream and had a bite, then the fly was gone.  Huge trout or snapping turtle, not quite sure.  Bummer!  I quickly tied on a new streamer and it soon proved to be a good choice.

This Fly was the Bee's Knee's for sure.  Love the Olive !

Hungry Fella !! There ya Go!

Another one bites the Bugger :)

Why is the sound of water so peaceful ? :)

Even the little ones couldn't resist a meal almost half their size.

Fish of the day was a nice 17.5 inch Brown female that took me for a ride.

I moved downstream to the next stretch and it was windier than ever.  The farmer told me that back in the 80's there were more than 600 horses being pastured above his land on a state owned property.  He said the water was as brown as chocolate milk and that every last fish was killed.  It amazes me how quickly some of these streams recover with a little help from the land owners, Trout Unlimited and the states DNR projects.  The first cast in and a nice Brown came to hand on the same streamer as above.  Due to all the wind knots and the heavy fly I would end up losing that sweet bugger after all.  I ended up tying on a wild streamer that I had tied up the night before and was excited to see it produce some fish itself.  

Nicest colors of the day award.

Wild Cat Streamer did the trick.  The fish hit as soon as the fly hit the water.

The wind ended up besting me after fishing a few hours and the rain never did fall.  As I type this post the forecast for today was 70's with thunderstorms-clouds and it is 70's and sunnier than ever.  The best way to check the weather is to just get out there and do some fishing :)  The day proved to be worth the effort and I am just glad that Friday the 13th ended up luckier than unlucky :) 

Until Next Time..........Tight Lines to All !!!!!

Wisconsins Early Trout Season - Weather May Vary :)

March 10th 2012

Today the streams had settled down and the water quality was great.  The sun was out and the sky was blue mostly blue.  With the temps up past the 50's and much of the snow gone, what else could a person ask for??  Maybe a huge concrete wall to stop the winds gusting up to 4o mph.  With the wind to my back it seemed to push me upstream effortlessly and the next thing I knew I was at the top of the stream where the two creeks come together to form one.  I busted right and did some surveying, but was disappointed to find only one hole holding some trout.  Below where the two creeks meet there was a decent size beaver dam blocking up the stream.  I opted to do my best to take it out and ended up doing a little damage.  I know, I  know, they will just rebuild it!  Well at least they will have to work on it instead of starting a new project.  Beaver dams seem to be a real problem so far this spring.  You know what they say,"Busy as as Beaver".  The rest of the day was spent trying to get my fly line into the water and not the surrounding obstacles.  I just aimed ten feet to the left and that usually landed the flies close to where I was hoping.  Despite the winds doing their best, I was able to hook up with some beauty Browns.  They were ice cold to the touch and when released took off in a hurry.  I was testing out some new flies and they all seemed to do their intended job. Attract fish.  I had the most luck with the Mini Muddler Mud Honey fly.  Right up until the point it magically disappeared and was never heard from again. Bummer. When I finally looked back and could no longer see my vehicle I realized I was in for one heck of a long hike back.  I hopped onto the road and made the long haul back straight into the wind.  There were a few times where I was sure I had been walking in place.  I can't remember the last time I had that much of a struggle walking into the wind.  Hey if the fish are willing to come out and play then so am I ;) 

G Damn Beaver Dam !!!!

A mini surfers paradise!!!! :) A fly fisherman's nightmare!!

Castle Rock Killer Variation

Mini Muddler Mud Honey

First fella to get tricked on this fine blustery day :)

Bead Heads soaring in the wind.  Tight Lines

Where the two creeks come together.  Which way would you go??

Streamer Variation

New Name :  The Gusty Go Getter :)

Ice Cold Buddy

Close Up of some Waves breaking :)

A little Mud with a little Honey :)

Gone just as quick as it came.

My favorite pic from the trip.

Every windy cloud has a silver golden lining.

Until Next Time.....Tight Lines to All !!!!