Trip Report: Storm Dodgin'

I wasn't planning to fish today after storms moved through the area all day. By the time I got off work though I had to scratch the itch! It was cloudy, streams got a fresh injection of cold water which usually triggers a good bite in summer, and I hoped the stream would have a little stain.

The stream had no stain but fish were eatin'. At first I fished the red brassie again. That worked well and as soon as they got used to that fly I switched to a gray zebra midge, both size 18 with a tungsten bead.

 I only landed a few little brookies on the red brassie but a bunch of decent little brownies readily took the pattern. After around a dozen came to hand I switched to the gray zebra midge and, oddly enough, landed three decent brookies in a row out of the same stretch of water!

I'm always happy to see brookies! After landing another ten or so more I tied on a dry and moved upstream a little. At first I fished the quill bodied mayfly but after losing the only one in my box I switched over to the size 18 ehc.

 What a blast! I noticed a few spare mayflies and midges fluttering around but fish rose consistently near the bubble line. These fish both put up a great fight on the 7' 9" three weight. I've been using the three weight a lot lately but fishing around high grass was made difficult by the shortness of the rod. I'll have to line up the 9 footer coming up!

He just barely nipped the caddis out of the scum line. I'm not sure I'll be able to get out over the next week or so but I plan on doing a deep woods hike later next week if the weather cooperates. Stay tuned!

Trip Report: Red Brassie Trout

Today saw clear skies, temps in the low 80's, and moderate breeze. Conditions weren't perfect but some elements were on my side. Clouds pushed in later in the evening and the stream had a decent little stain to it. Fish rose sporadically to dries and I noticed caddis, a few spare mayflies, midges, and various little beetles fluttering about.

After landing a few on size 20 Matt's midge and size 16 quill bodied mayfly dries I switched over to test out a red brassie that I started tying. Fish responded well! Around 30 trout, mostly between 8-12 inches, came to hand in a little over three hours.

This time of year they start to get really buttery brown! I rolled two really nice fish but the size 18 brassie didn't stick on either of the bigger fish. If the weather holds I may try to get out fishin' tomorrow evening but it will depend on how much precipitation we see over the next 18 hours.

Trip Report: Some Gillies

After a week of being on call I couldn't take it anymore, I had to go fishing! With spotty reception on most of the area's trout water I headed to Winona to chase Bull Gillies. I arrived at the lake around 1pm, tied on a size 18 ehc and had at 'em.

 This was the money fish! They were slurping bugs off the surface and I had consistent action from 1pm to around 230pm when I decided to call it a day. I did try a san juan worm which also worked well. I'd guess around 50 came to hand with a large handful of fish between 7-9 inches.

I have been tying up a storm over the last week and have a sweet 9ft 4weight that's just about ready for sale. Problem is I ran out of black thread and have to wait for a resupply in the mail:( Stay tuned!

New Rod Builds!

Been working on two new rods over the last few days. They're up for sale over at Whitewater Valley Flies. Check 'em out! The first is a twelve foot 7 weight spey rod. This is my second spey build and was a blast to conceive. $175.00.

I continue to work on my thread wrapping technique which, much like tying flies, can be maddening. I'm getting better at applying finish to the thread wraps as well. This is much more of an art to me than any other aspect of rod building.

While working on the spey rod I also built a rod that was much the opposite type of build, a seven foot 2 weight. This rod turned out great and would be an ideal tool to pick little brookies out of a little driftless trickle or a small mountain brook. $120.00.

This zippy little rod cast great in the backyard a few minutes ago. It has a more moderate action and would definitely cast better with two weight line instead of the three weight line I have spooled up. I only took two casts but I can tell you, whoever picks up this little gem is gonna have a blast with it!

I hope to continue doing both smaller rods and those stupid big spey rods as well as the four and five weight "typical" driftless rods (I am working on a four weight this evening).

Trip Report: Kicking Around the Creek

I arose early again this morning to beat the heat while kicking around on a really popular local body of water. My shoes hit the stream around 730am and boy was it already hot 'n sticky! Before tying on the trusty zebra midge I skittered a quill bodied mayfly over an often overlooked little lie.

This handsome little man was easily the largest fish of the day. He didn't come on the first cast but within the first five! The reel seat and grip measure around 11 inches so I'd guess he was 15, maybe 16. After a great battle on the 7' 9" three weight and a brief photo session he was returned to the drink. After a few casts the midge rig replaced the mayfly and off I was to tempt a few trout from the depths.

 A few smaller ones came to hand here and there. One of about 14 inches put up a spirited fight and leapt from my hand while I was snapping a pic. He landed safely in the drink and waved his tail goodbye as he flashed into the depths. After landing a dozen or so on the rusty colored zebra midge I tied on a black size 20 Matt's midge and picked a few decent fish off the surface.

This was the nicest one to take the midge. He actually took it as I twitched it underwater and across the current. Over the last year I've learned a lot about fishing dry flies in ways other than dead drifted and it's increased my catch rate dramatically. As the morning steamed forward the fishing slowed considerably. The sun shined bright and the stream was clear, except for when the heard of cows upstream dipped in to cool down. I noticed a very brief hatch of some type of mayfly but fish seemed much more keyed in on midges. When I got home I tied up a few dozen rusty colored Matt's midges in size 20, hopefully these'll be the ticket!

If you're interested in purchasing any of the flies used today or any fly rods check out my inventory at Whitewater Valley Flies

Trip Report: Beat the Heat

I've been feeling a little under the weather lately. With a bunch of on call shifts, family obligations, rods and flies, and work around the house I wanted to get out fishing, at least a little. I got up early, dodged a few storms, and headed to a reliable stretch of water.

I arrived on stream around 730am. Skies were cloudy and overcast. Temps started out around 75 degrees. The small stream had a neat fog over it for the first few hours which helped me evade detection. I started out with the quill bodied mayfly in size 16 and found success on my first cast!

After landing three or four I came upon a long, uniformly deep pool of about three feet in depth. I laced up a size 18 rusty zebra midge (my go to as of late) and proceeded to pull 29 fish out. None were over 13 inches but they were a blast to catch with the 7' 9" three weight!

 Some fish hit the fly with abandon while others only nipped the fly. Any irregularity in the drift of the indicator and I set the hook. In some instances a light twitch elicited a strike.

Eventually I tied the mayfly emerger again and pulled a few more out of that hole before moving on. Fishing slowed dramatically around 9am as temps rose and skies cleared. A few more fish came to hand. By the time I left this stream around 10am I landed 43 trout, all smaller browns.

This small stream was surprisingly stained. I expected crystal clear conditions. We did get some rain throughout the area so streams may be hit or miss, especially after tomorrow. I passed three other streams on the way home and they all had a similar stain to them. I hope to get out tomorrow morning but with storms in the forecast again we'll have to wait and see!

Trip Report: Avoiding the Jungle

 Interested in flies, look here Whitewater Valley Flies!

After getting home from work and thinking about mowing the lawn, tying flies, and working on a rod I decided to avoid the jungle growing in my yard and the jungle growing in the woods and decided to fish a pastured section of a local stream. I was near the headwaters but visibility was good (two feet). Streams are hit or miss in the area with larger streams needing a little more time to clear up.

I fished with a size 18 olive zebra midge at first but after only a few smaller trout I tied on a rusty colored midge of the same size and began hauling 'em in consistently. This was the big fish of the day although I did briefly hook into one around 18.

After landing around a dozen I tied on a quill bodied mayfly emerger and landed a few brookies! All I noticed on the surface were little (appx size 20) midges which fish rose to sporadically. I fished the fly dead drifted and skittered. Fish preferred the fish on top and only half-heartedly swiped at the fly when it submerged. After landing a half dozen or so on the mayfly I tied the midge back on.

This decent brookie, quite a few smaller ones, and a heap of chunky browns came to hand over the course of around two and a half hours. This stream usually requires great stealth but with cloudy skies fishing was easy! Stay tuned. I hope to get out this weekend between tying flies and building rods!

Tying and Building

I've been tying and building rods a lot over the last week, but not so much fishing. Right now I'm working on a 9' five weight, a 9' four weight, a 7' two weight, and a 12' seven weight Spey rod!

All I have to do to complete the spey and two weight is apply finish to the wraps. The 9 footers have a bit more work to go. I'm really tempted to keep the spey rod but I don't think I'm gonna.

The orange wraps will darken quite a bit once finish is applied. After I clean all the marks off the blank, finish it off, and shine 'er up she'll be ready to haul in some big 'ol troutfish! Stay tuned to see the finished products and drop me a message if you're interested in commissioning a build.

Trip Report: In the Land of Cheese and Brats and Beer

My friend Jesse and I decided to cross the border in observance of Wisconsin's free fishing weekend. We've been putting off exploring the Wisconsin territory of driftless trout streams but free fishing was a great excuse. We decided to check out some more well documented waters and weren't disappointed.

Not only were the views great but we landed quite a few trout. Fish sipped bugs from the surface as we geared up. Jesse fished mostly with a Rapala and I used the quill bodied mayfly emerger in size 16. The first run gave up a few decent trout and it was on!

On the first stream I landed around 1 1/2 dz fish with most between 10-12 inches. Jesse and I moved on from the first stream after an hour or so. Next we hit a larger stream from a bridge. Jesse got a good one!

After a quick pic from above Jesse released this guy to fight another day. A short time later we headed to an access point further upstream.

This guy took the quill mayfly and dove beneath the undercut pictured behind me. After a great back and forth battle on the three weight he came forth for a quick pic. This section of stream also harbored brookies!

 After landing a bunch of medium browns and little brookies I tied into a slightly larger brook trout. He didn't put up a great fight but it was a blast to watch him come up and sip the fly from the surface.

In all we fished four streams and landed fish in each. I landed at least 30 trout and Jesse landed a bunch as well. I plan on getting a Wisconsin license to fish Central Wisconsin over the fourth of July and maybe I'll find time to explore more of the WI driftless too.

Trip Report: Drifting with Dave

Today my friend Tim decided to head this direction to chase trout out of his Dave Scadden inflatable fishing raft. We fished despite scattered storms in the forecast. We arrived on stream around 8am and drifted/fished until around 530pm. The stream had a good chalky greenish stain. We started out with streamers and moved a ton of fish. After trying a number of patterns I switched to a size 14 skittering caddis in light yellow which ended up gracing the end of my line for most of the day.

This was the first decent trout of the day. He took the skittered dry fly violently and put up a great battle in faster current. In the background you can see the "turret" seat complete with a custom stripping basket and balance bar that Tim rigged up since the last time I've been on his boat.

This nice trout took the skittered caddis in a back eddy and put up a great fight on the 9' four weight. At this point it hadn't begun to rain. We switched off paddling, fishing, and wading. I continued with the caddis and Tim focused on streamers. At one point I landed spunky 15 inch brown on Tim's rig.

Tim is a beast on the sticks and was patient with me while I flailed away and did wrong shit. We did landed a fair amount of fish both from the boat and while wading. By mid afternoon we noticed a few big, pale mayflies, bwo's, and caddis here and there but no consistent hatch.

Fish slashed at the streamer often but even after many fly changes we could not hammer down a consistent producer. Fish ate the caddis throughout the afternoon but not as well as I've experienced over the last few years. The average size fish was much larger, however.

Near the end of the float the skies opened up. We grabbed the rain gear we figured would get put to use and continued to fish. Unfortunately we didn't catch much after this point. I landed around 1 1/2 dozen fish throughout the day. Most fish were between 10-12 inches but quite a few in the 13-14 inch range came to hand as well as a few larger. Can't wait to do it again!