I woke at 5am, assessed the estimated rainfall totals for the night before and made coffee. I wasn’t in a hurry, thought I might find chocolate milk and not in the fridge if you know what I mean. I drove by my initial location but the creek was up and blown, un-fishable. I made a decision at that moment to burn more time to the road but perhaps spend less time driving from creek to creek to maybe get lucky and find one fishable spot, instead I drove to the safe bet, to gin-clear water. By ~9am the air temp was above 60°F and would be pushing a predicted 80°F for a high later, first time this year I’ve wet waded. The first hour saw a mixed bag of random rises, likely to emerging Beatis or midge that had been hatching prior to my arrival. A handful of caddis were around but no steadily rising trout so I opted for a #8 Brown SMB, I missed two then landed a nicer 16inch brown that jumped more than any fish this season. I pushed on but dropped the SMB, some would have hit it but I would have been force feeding it, the trout didn’t want it, too big…they had smaller fare in large quantities coming. I’m glad I switched up when I did. Slapped on a #16 Olive Thin Nymph and took a handful of nice looking healthy browns.

By 10am it was clear the caddis were coming. The signature rise for pupa was beginning to occur in larger quantities, smaller trout could be seen airing out in the sun as they did back flips grabbing caddis pupa on the way out of the creek. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared for this. I was expecting Beatis and rifling through my dry fly box it dawned on me that I hadn’t thought to load the box with more Grey Caddis dries after last year… I only had two #18 Grey Caddis dry flies with me and the fish were already beginning to rise in rhythm. A bit of 5x tippet with one of two flies and I got to work on a single run that I landed ~10 trout from before the rising calmed and I swapped back to the #16 Olive Thin Nymph, took a handful more from the same run then waited and sure enough the hatch kicked in again, Grey Caddis ranging from some close to #20 to the larger #16. I fished faster broken water and took a bunch under 12inches with a couple over.

By 12:30pm the hatch was so thick that the fish almost shut down, it became difficult to discern my imitation from the rest so I stopped and watched the event unfold in front of me. A splash loud enough to be heard over the riffle I was standing closer to drew my attention upstream to a longer slow section of creek, larger fish were surfacing. With the slower water and the amount of bugs I opted to add a couple feet to my leader in an effort to fool those fish that would be more critical in the slower water. Longer casts standing in the middle of the creek were required. For close to an hour I stood on the same rock past my knees in cold trout water casting to each fish that showed its face. I missed a handful but smooth casting over 60ft allowed me to take several of the larger fish over 13inches with one over 14. Setting the hook from 50ft out and fighting those fish in…I’ve been waiting for this. My time frame dictated I leave by 1pm but the bugs, the trout, they dictated I stay just a little longer. I landed a couple more and took off almost thirty minutes late. I was later forgiven by the lady of the house, this video explained my reasoning and she was forgiving.

Slide Show

I am the oldest of three, recently I took my younger brother fly fishing for trout. We discussed the idea of him spin fishing but after explaining the challenge of fly fishing and accepting that a first day on the fly might result in few fish if any (for either of us) Jake decided that he just wanted to see what it was all about first hand. He arrived the night before and we enjoyed a few beers and some local food then hit the hay. 5am the alarm goes off. I gathered a bit of my gear from when I first started fly fishing; a pair of my hippers, a vest, my old rod/reel. The thermos was filled to the brim with strong black coffee. I left Jake sleep until just before it was time to take off. Knowing the amount of rain we’ve received hasn’t been a ton but hearing whispers of high muddy water to the south I chose a spot that I knew we would run across other traffic but offered a nice cow pasture to practice casting. My other motive for choosing this spot, stocked rainbow trout, they are easier to catch, perhaps larger and usually eager to smack the SMB.

I’m no guide, not a casting instructor, and had no instruction from any “professionals”. I learned to cast on my own with some advice from the Internet and my friends and I figure if it can work for me, it can anyone. Now consider this, my brother has spent time spin fishing for other specie on lakes but had never touched a trout, never touched a fly rod that is until 6:15am on the 15th. I stuck SMB’s on both our rods and figured that in the past a down/across approach would pull a rainbow up and out basically doing most of the work for you. It would have been nice to get him a trout on the fly but being very realistic we both knew the day might end up just talking through fly fishing, reading water, explaining bugs, the trout, behaviour, anatomy, everything.

Jake started swinging a streamer and I sat behind sipping coffee (remember that thermos) trying to give advice without sounding like an overbearing ass. Careful to keep the rod tip up, watch your wrist, come to a stop on the backcast. These were the phrases that I remember using to help Jake approach casting. I did no overhand anything, I showed him how I do it a few times and sat back. I set him on a foamy run and explained that foam is home, something I was taught by a good friend. With a target and some patience he was going to do just fine that and perfect low wind day really helped.

We worked through a few spots taking our time, enjoying the sun. Love the morning sun as everything grows around me. Nothing was smacking the streamer and I knew that to get him a trout a nymph rig was necessary. I could have set him up with a single fly, made it simple but he wanted to do it the way I would have, I explained that this might result in many knots and that more care was needed with the cast. I hooked him up with a #16 PT, rocks were showing many Ephemerella Invaria nymphs, and a #16 Peacock and Partridge thinking to my recent success with that pattern. Two flies, a sinker and an indicator later, he was swinging up into the riffle so that the flies could sink in time to be deeper in the run, concepts innately ingrained in my mind. He was doing well, his cast was opening up and of course a few snags/knots were bound to occur but I spent my time watching and helping him to understand basic tactics I use to keep my self casting and not fiddling with my line. One big thing that I advocate is patience and halting when ANY sign of trouble arises be it a snag from behind or a mess of line from a bad cast, just stop and deal with it, don’t keep swinging. It seems simple but I learned this rule the hard way early in my career fly fishing and seem to revisit learning it from time to time.

So no fish, water was stained, neither streamers or the nymph rig was working and Jake was doing everything correctly, still no trout. We discussed the concept of the drift and how to approach a spot so as to get a good presentation with a good drift. I would occasionally step in and give it a go to see if I could pull one out with what he was fishing but nothing for either of us. Cattle were about and the rain from the last week was contributing to the stained water which I figured would benefit us but by 10:30am we had done nothing but practice casting. I decided we needed to bust out and try a second location but before we could get into the truck I noticed a few rises, then…a few more. Splashy, nasty Caddis fly rises. I figured why fight it and stuck on a #16 Grey Caddis imitation and swung it twice to see if anything was interested, first fish of the day came up for the fly as I drug it down and across through the pool, just as I was going to have Jake do the next cast. Casting a dry fly was a bit more challenging and after thirty or so minutes attempting to take a fish none were cooperating and we blew out.

Local 2, cleaner water, running 52 degrees on arrival. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew of a run that I had been to recently that was packed full of hungry trout. Figured if he could get a nymph rig in there he would hook into at least one trout. His rod was still rigged with the #16 EHC and as we stepped up to a run I’ve nicknamed the Double Stump Jake noticed the rising. As I was rigging a single nymph rig on my rod (incase the # 16 EHC produced nothing) Jake set loose on the trout. I was standing a good ways back, and not paying attention to how close he was getting to the good part of the run, I look up thinking he was getting too close when he tightened the line and took his first trout on a dry fly. Wow. I dropped everything and busted over to get a crappy shot of him handling his first trout but before any real photography could begin he slipped and the trout went swimming. Well, awesome he got a fish, the day was not a loss but I was hoping for a fish worthy of a photo.

To my brother’s credit he stuck with it and listened well as I let him know when he was getting close to catching tree limbs or if he was getting to anxious and letting his rod tip slip too far on his backcast. He continued to do well and the trout continued to come up for his caddis fly. During this time Jake lost several fish to late hooksets and sloppy line management but was learning how to land a fish by himself. He learned to wet his hands before touching the trout so as to keep the slime coat in tact and not to play the trout to exhaustion. By 1:15pm he had caught and landed several fish all on the first run we were fishing. We moved upstream to a second location and after assessing his fly I decided though sparse if it was still taking trout it could stay on.

I took a few bug photo’s and assessed the water temp as I left Jake alone with the trout. He continued to do well landing a few more small brown trout to add to his count for the day and still had yet to loose his fly despite a couple of very sharp hooksets that left me asking if he had anything left on the end of his line. Despite the rising trout I found few adult Grey Caddisflies, one or two could be seen here and yet the trout were readily rising and Jake was doing well not to put them down, each fish landed was another good photo and a bigger smile. Was he was actually getting good at this?? I mean this blew my expectations completely out of the water, now the day was not without it’s mistakes, bad casts, knots ect. but for never having fished a stream or held a fly rod Jake was doing very well.

To round the day out Jake wanted us to both fish at the same time. We hiked upstream a bit to a spot where Wendy B. and I whacked many fish from weeks earlier. I left him to start and I rigged my rod with a single #14 Red Peacock and Partridge. I deep nymphed the tail of the run while Jake was fishing the head of it where the trout were rising. I lost two strikes then landed the third, 11 inches, the dinner fish. Jake wanted to learn how to clean a trout, I obliged knowing that I could send him home with it and a couple of others I had in the freezer to try for himself, an opportunity to experience the day again at a later time as he cooks trout for him and his daughter, sweet. I was cleaning up and Jake went back to the fish, still swinging the #16 EHC. The day was now complete, or was it? Just as I was missing a strike Jake caught another trout, he says, “I think it’s a bit bigger.” I look over and just grin from ear to ear, I could see the bright body deep below. He got a good fight and I helped him land it in the riffle, 15inches on the dot. He wanted to keep it but I explained that this fish had many years left to grow and make more like it and that it was too cool to take home for dinner, instead we let it run up a shallow riffle down to his hole. I kept the fly and we hiked out (3:00pm), I’ll have that fly for along time. I’m still floored by the striking number of factors that aligned to really make this day one to remember, beautiful weather, a willing patient partner, active trout, CADDIS FLIES, and realistic expectations that were far exceeded. Thanks Jake for getting to know this part of my life, I’m glad you dug it, I know I did.

Notes and Observations:

• On stream arrival at ~3:45pm, fished until 7:30pm
• Water Clarity: Stained but Very Fishable
• Air Temp: ~73 Degrees
• Streamer Fishing Produced Little, Again…
• Bummed to Find Fields of Garlic Mustard
• Trout Rising until 5:30pm, A Storm Blew In
• Fly Fishing a SERIOUSLY Deep Hole May Void Traditional Fly Fishing Rules

Being a stubborn ass I chose to visit the same site as yesterday, looking to land one of those larger trout I missed the day before. Seems to be a typical scenario for the W.F.F. as of late, lighter take, fish on, right about to my feet and it’s as if they could let go at any moment but noooo… they wait until after they’ve shown me their colors and are almost to my feet, at this point my line goes limp. Now I kind of set myself up for this again, a second day in a row, why you ask? Well I am always curious as to what affect a few small changes may make under similar conditions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Notes and Observations:

• On stream around 3:30pm, fished for ~2hrs.
• Air Temp: ~60 Degrees
• Water Clarity: Stained but Very Fishable.
• Sporadic Rising with a few Grey Caddis about.
• SMB Streamer Fishing, Lost 2 Brown’s above 15in.

Slide Show

The day started as the previous few have. On the water around 8:45am, early enough to ensure I got a front row seat to any and all mid-day bug activity but not so early as to have me shivering stream-side. This spring has been exceptional but it still gets chilly overnight and in the early morning hours, for now I’ll leave the 6am arrival time for another month or so, then the window of opportunity widens to match the longer summer hours.

My goal was to hike up past a stretch I’ve fished (not many but a few) and get into a tighter valley, out of the open cow pasture where the wind could have it’s way with me and into an uncharted area for me, I was looking forward to the natural challenges of an un-improved stretch of forested trout stream. Today also signified the arrival of a much needed piece of gear that I am frankly reluctant to quickly adopt, a new camera. The work horse that I have used since day one with the Winona Fly Factory has been the Sony Cyber-Shot camera that I permanently borrowed from Liz in the beginning of my trout fishing career. Since that time it has performed beyond every expectation one could have for a camera like this, it’s a general point and shoot digital camera that I have grown to depend on. As of late though the lens has been sticking as I turn the camera on and off, it has also been having a hard time focusing on smaller things like bugs and flies, this is unacceptable and has been causing me some frustration. Not to mention the dust stuck inside the housing and lens that is becoming more noticeable. Liz noticed and decided that my birthday present should replace the old camera, I’d been looking at the Panasonic Lumix as not only a replacement but a serious upgrade. Giving up old dependable isn’t easy, despite the Lumix’s 12.1 mega-pixel rating over the 6.0 from the Cyber-Shot I just couldn’t blindly accept it would do what I needed it to. So I’ve been giving it a run for it’s money. Read the rest of this entry »

The night before plans were hatched (interesting I used that particular term). I was set to arrive at 8:45am and with a short hike in Wendy B. and I would be staring at trout water by 9:15am. An initial water temp was taken at the first riffle crossing made, a cool 50 degrees. Rocks were picked and I set up a two fly nymph rig, BWO nymphs were present in higher concentrations so the WD-40 was employed. Before I could drift the rig more than a handful of times through the first spot we arrived at it became clear that nymphs were not going to be needed today.

I had some initial concerns that the stretch of water we chose to tackle today might not have much of a Grey Caddis hatch, those concerns quickly faded. Splashy rises were coming from smaller trout under 10inches within the first hour we were on the water. By 10:30am the stream was coming alive, Caddis were coming and they just kept coming. The larger trout could be spotted just by watching the rises, they were consistently at the head of each pool or run, often holding to one side of the seam in the slightly slower water. They do this to maximize the calorie intake from all those tasty Caddis flies but also to minimize the calories they burn by expelling less energy avoiding the faster current. Wendy B. and I sat on the first run we came to taking back to back Brown trout as we worked our way up to those larger fish at the head of the run. This was shaping up to be a once a year day.

The Grey Caddis just kept coming and by 11:30am they could be seen swarming near rocky structures, near downed trees and any vegetation hanging near the stream. Note: we observed a higher strike rate when we put our flies near structure which in turn had larger concentrations of Caddis swarming near. 90% of the trout I took were taken on a #16 CDC and Elk pattern that I tied rather sparse, it worked wonders. I wish I had tried a hackled pattern to see what if any effect it might have had, skittering a Caddis dry is still a bit of a mystery. We fished, with smiles on our faces in the sun. Glorious, tight lines, back to back, for the next couple of hours.

No count of fish was kept, it would have been a pain to do so. Even pictures kind of slimmed to a minimum, for a while we could do no wrong, just keep the fly in the water and out of the weeds behind you and it was going to get attacked, period. Wendy exhibited more restraint at times and I got over excited forcing me to spend some (but not too much) time picking my fly from the weeds. I fooled around with pull on my CDC and Elk pattern by casting it into slack water, crossing the current with my fly line and waiting for my line to tighten thus pulling the fly, as long as the fly stayed on the surface it was slammed every time after moving only a few inches. I found this particularly effective in certain spots where a traditional upstream approach wasn’t available. Keep this in mind when dealing with Caddis, a traditional drift will work but sometimes not nearly as well, these fish become keyed on that quick moving, darting fly and sometimes they don’t want to see your fly just sitting there. Caddis are not mayflies and they behave in extremely different manners.

We couldn’t argue with rising trout, water temps were pushed to the far reaches of my mind and I didn’t flip another rock for the rest of the day. We moved to each run exhibiting rising fish, worked each until one of us took the largest fish willing to show it’s face, they showed and we won. Wendy managed two really nice fish while standing in a riffle casting downstream to slack water, the marauders. He pulled each upstream through the riffle with the 2wt., that rod puts up for sure man. We progressed upstream and the adult Caddis numbers diminished, we could have continued on but not with dry flies, we chose to split, double back and fish the first few runs for a limit of 10inch fish for the grill.

By this point it was approaching 1:30pm and the adults were everywhere but rising behaviour seemed to drop off a cliff by 2:30pm. We each managed a few fish each before the dry fly drew no responses. To round out the day I chose to swing a streamer to trout with very full bellies, very few struck at my fly, perhaps something to take into consideration. At 3:15pm we made the trek out and by 4pm I was on my way home, what a seriously kick ass day. Minimal wind, nothing but dry flies. I mean I used only two flies all day and landed more fish in a few hours than I had any other day I’ve been fishing for trout. To my surprise the CDC and Elk pattern lasted for a long time (maybe I’m getting better at tying) and even after it came loose from the shank of the hook it still managed one last trout before it had to be retired, got my hook back though, a marvelous end to a dry fly. How often does that happen, to retire a dry fly after so many fish rather than busting it off on a trout, or loosing it to a tree? Hasn’t happened many times for me yet but there are many years of this in my future so I’m sure I’ll see it happen again. Thanks Wendy for another good run.

Other Notes and Observations:

• I wonder if we wouldn’t have taken more fish early if we had tried pupa patterns.
• #14 through a #20 adults were seen, so start large and work smaller and darker if the fish hesitate.
• Seriously considering a voice recorder for notes from now on, wish I had one this day.

Slide Show

Haven’t been able to get out much as of late but I have been running out to a local spot day after day to check on the Grey Caddis, looking for the start on this particular stream. I saw the 1st leaping trout on the 8th of April and at that time noticed very active trout holding low and eating everything, darting, turning, clearly eating pupating caddis flies. The pupa roll deep in the stream (especially in slower water as in this case) for a time before filling an air bubble that helps propel the pupa to the surface. It is at this point that the trout rushing to catch this pupa on its way to the surface will often leap completely out of the water. On April 8th the trout were holding low eating pupa deep, on the 11th when I arrived at 2pm the hatch had already been going for a bit, a few smaller trout were feeding on the surface but the important thing I took away was that the hatch in this spot is growing and has a week or more before it is over. Most of the larger fish were eating the pupating caddis deep in the water, only the smaller trout would rise for the sporadic adult. The Barr’s Graphic Caddis (#14-16) and X-Wing Style Caddisflies (#14-16) were working well for me.

I picked up the few I needed to make me smile and tried to get a few images of the adults but few were around. I moved downstream and found a few more but nothing compared to what I witnessed last year. Note: Stop into the Driftless Angler and pick up a tube of Dry Magic Fly Flotant! This stuff is awesome, a SMALL amount rubbed togather turns into a powder of sorts and keeps your fly floating high without gunking it up. Mat and his guides recommended it the last time I was in Viroqua and although it is a bit on the pricey side I feel it will be well worth the extra funds.  It was excellent to toss dry flies for a change and with the earlier caddis I find they are larger (#14/16) taking the smaller trout was a breeze, fun too. As this hatch wears on the flies will get smaller in size moving to a #16 then #18 and maybe down to a #20. Getting an adult to sit still on my measuring tape wasn’t going to happen, I’ll have to gather some specimens to get more information. Time will be made for this, hopefully soon.

I took off around 3:45pm and drove to a second spot to see what was going on, I wanted to check up on a bigger fish that I know lives around these parts. I flipped rocks right away and noticed a huge variety of bugs; cranefly larva, Baetis nymphs, Ephemerella nymphs, Macaffertium nymphs, diptera larva of all kinds, Stone Fly nymphs all amongst all the usual caddis larva. I have spotted Macaffertium nymphs on several streams in larger quantities than I’ve seen in the time I’ve been trout fishing (which isn’t that long). I need to learn more about the cycles that bug populations go through and how some years will have much larger numbers of certain bugs and others won’t, I’m sure there are many factors that go into understanding bug populations, something to look up when I have a bit more free time.

I fished a smaller Olive Bead Head Bugger and picked up only one trout on the second stream. I saw more white suckers than trout and unfortunately I saw three otters and a beaver dam that is really turning the stream into a sludgefest. Don’t get me wrong I like all the wildlife and believe they have a right to some of the fish just as myself and others do, I just know I witnessed this place in better shape last year with regards to brown trout population. No large fish were seen and only a mess of suckers and a few pockets of smaller trout less than 10 inches were found. As it grew closer to dinner time I took off. Second Note: Deer and Wood Ticks are about BIG time. Check yourself, and your dog. Get out and go fishing, it’s good for you. Catch and Keep Opener is this Saturday April, 17th.

Slide Show