Thursday, February 21, 2013

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. :D 

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
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4 comments:

  1. The new 2wt was meant for this place! I can't wait to get up there

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    1. Yeah! Ed is finishing up with my 3wt, and I cannot wait to bring that up there. Your 2wt is perfect for those streams. Have you been to the Driftless area yet? I know Woz has, but I don't recall you going up there.

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  2. i love the change of seasons and looks like you were there right before the serious turn in colors, kudos on great fishing

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    1. Thanks, dude! Yeah, I went up there the weekend before the last day of the Wisconsin trout season.

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