Driftless...I'll be back!

Took a day trip to the Blue River in Wisconsin's Driftless Area.

The Plan 
Arrive at 5 AM and fish the morning. Mid day find a lake or hit the Wisconsin River for bass. Then return to the Blue River in the evening to finish out the day.

What Happened
I hit the snooze button, and woke up later than planned. I ended up stepping foot in the water at 7 AM, and I immediatly lost my first trout. After that I missed a few more, and caught 4 creek chubs. 5 hours later I was sitting on a rock in the middle of the small river. I tied on a new fly and let the current take it while I ate a quick snack. Right after the first bite of my cliff bar, my rod bends and I have a fish on, and I saw the flash of a trout. I just broke out in laughter. It was quite a moment, and I thought it was hilarious that my first trout of the day came from me taking a break. 

On the wade back I managed 1 more brown. I also managed to step in a deep hole, and didn't realize that the water made it's way into one of my pockets....that my phone was in. So, I was in for a disappointing surprise at the car when I discovered that my phone was dripping water. Drove to the nearest town for a bag of rice, and just hoped for the best.

I decided to just end my trip and head on home soon after that.

...Hoping to return before the end of the season, and toss some hoppers.

The hoppers were starting to come out, but I saw zero surface activity. Soon.....

Driftless Area of Wisconsin

This past September, I took a day trip to the Driftless Area that is southwest Wisconsin to do some trout fishing. The weather was looking ugly all the way up there, but once I reached my destination the rain stopped, the wind calmed down, and the sun came out. I couldn't have asked for better weather. 

I've always read, and heard about how spooked the trout get, but you don't really have an idea until you see them scatter with your own eyes, while you're still 10-20+ feet away from the edge of the stream/creek. 

I caught rainbow trout 2 months before this trip, but this time I was after brown and brook trout. I managed to catch my first brown. I caught a total of 3 brown trout for the day. They were all caught using a grasshopper. I also lost a total of 11 browns, and 3 of them were big! One of them I almost had in the net before he kindly unhooked himself. It was one of those look to the sky and yell "no!" moments, like in the movies, but I kept my cool, and opted for a quick "MF" bomb.  

Another cool part of my trip was, I got to see a wild barred owl fly. I think it caught something because it was on the ground. I got to see him take off into the trees. Pretty damn cool! 

If you haven't been to the Driftless Area, I highly recommend it! I plan on making more than one trip there next year. It's a beautiful place with excellent fishing opportunities.