Driftless Winter 2016: Part One

Day One

My friend Adam and I have been trying to get out and fish this winter.  We were thinking steelhead in Michigan or Wisconsin, and that just never happened, because, we've both been busy.  Things always work out in the end, because, it just so happened that we both had a free weekend at the end of January.

We decided, we're going to fish.

Our destination, the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin.

You just couldn't beat the scenery.

I haven't been to the Driftless Area of Southern Wisconsin since May 2013.  The last time I attempted to go was in September of 2013, a few days before the season is set to close for the year.  I never made it, because, my car was totaled. Click here to see that old post - Sitting Duck.

We left early around 4 AM on a Saturday morning and as I made the last turn onto a gravel road we we greeted by a bald eagle.  Always a beautiful sight.  Adam has never been up here, and he recently got into fly fishing, so, I was looking forward to showing him the very few spots I know in the Driftless.

Frozen guides did not stop us.

The morning started off cold.  Our guides were iced every 5 minutes, but that's okay, we weren't miserable, because, we were thrilled to be out of the house and wetting a line surrounded by such beautiful scenery.  Adam brought along some liquid heat to help warm him up from the inside out.

Adam sippin' on some liquid heat.

What to use...dries? nymphs? streamers?

What size should we use...10? 14? 16? ...20??

After changing flies quite a few times, I ended up getting some attention from red beadhead leech I tied on a size 6 egg hook.  Adam went with the hopper dropper technique.  A technique I rarely use, but probably should use more often.

Not wanting to spook any of the fish with my walking, and how I slip and fall in the snow, I was attempting to make hero casts, so, I can fish an area before I was near enough to spook the fish.

Streamer Eater.

Casting the leech to the tail end of some riffles, I got a strike, but missed.  3 casts later, my rod bent, and as I lowered my net, a beautiful brown was scooped up.

Release.

As the day went on, it got warmer.  Our guides were iced, no more.  I was actually breaking a sweat, because, I was so warm in the 4 layers I was wearing.  The rise in temperature gave us hope that the fishing was going to turn for the better, but it didn't.  It stayed stagnant.  We couldn't figure out what they wanted.

Long stealthy casts.  One of the keys to fishing the Driftless.

The lack of fish didn't affect us at all.  One look around and it was all good.  These streams are very special, and they just get prettier when the snow reveals lush green grass, and the trees begin to become full of life, again.  The trip wasn't done, and we were already looking forward to returning when jackets and winter gear were not needed.

Sitting Duck

Sunday, September 22, 2013.

I decided to make one last trip out to the Driftless Area of Wisconsin before the season closes for the year. I was pretty excitded for this trip, because, I was going to explore some new water that someone gave me details about.

So, I was cruising along driving the speed limit of 65 MPH on I-90 (...and yes I really was doing the speed limit! When you're out driving at 3:30 AM and there isn't a lot of traffic, you're easy target for the state troopers.) I was just North of the border and crossing over the Rock River bridge. As I was going over the bridge 2 deer came out of no where and I hit one of them. I lost control of my car, spun out, and my car came to a complete stop...sideways in the middle of the 2 lane interstate. (My Toyota Matrix was in both west bound lanes, with the front of my vehicle facing on-coming traffic just a bit.) I immediately turned on my hazard and bright lights, put the car in neutral, and got out to push it off of the interstate. I moved it an inch before I saw headlights. I got back in my vehicle flashed my brights on and off, and tapped my brake lights, in hopes the driver would see me. They and slowed down to go around me. I got out of the car as they were avoiding me and tried to hail them for help, but they sped off.

Then I started to push my car, again. I was only able to move it a foot before I saw the next set of headlights coming my way. Again, I got back into my vehicle and flashed my lights, but unfortunately, this car did not see me, and took out the front left fender of my car, and turned me perpendicular to the center line. I was just about to get out and start to push, again, but noticed another set of headlights coming at me, so, I stayed in the car, and prayed that this person would see me.

Unfortunately, the second vehicle did not see me until it was, too, late. The mini van smashed into the right rear fender with a solid hit. After my car did a 180 degree turn, I got out, again, and successfully pushed my car onto the shoulder, and out of harms way. (It was like a bad carnival ride.)

I grabbed my big mag flashlight from my backseat and called 911 as I made the 1/4 mile walk to the other vehicles. THANK GOD! - No one was hurt or injured. The axel on the mini van was broken, and the van was resting on the tire in the right lane of the interstate. The other vehicle was on the shoulder, and had damage all along the left side.

Thankfully, I brought my flashlight. I stood behind the mini van and flashed it at on coming traffic to warn them to steer clear of the right lane. There were two 18 wheelers coming down the hill and the driver in the right lane did not see me in sufficient time, and when he did he was unable to switch lanes, because, the other truck was there. This guy layed on all of his brakes and was coming in HOT! I remember yelling something to warn the others, and I quickly darted off into the ditch, and almost into the forest. The big rig stopped with a huge cloud of smoke about 15-20 yards away from the van. CRAZY!

The Matrix on the flatbed. Most likely totaled.

Tips for the future:
- Road flares! - I have them in my old Chevy Blazer (That I am currently driving now), but I never thought to put them in my car. Could have possibly saved me the nightmare.

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.....

F3T - Wilmette, Illinois

There were only a couple of films that really grasped my attention.

1. Urban Lines
2. Blackwater: Devils Gold
3. Riding High: The Science of Tarpon

All of the films were great, and had some nice story lines, history, and cinematography. It's just those were the only 3 that were for me. (Remember: Everyone has different tastes)

All in all, it was an excellent night. Met some awesome people, discovered a new favorite beer (Three Floyds Brewing - Alpha King...Delicious!) and I even walked out of the theater a winner of one of the giveaways. Can't beat free stuff!!!

I won a TU hat, Heart of the Driftless DVD, some stickers, and an Orvis Gale Force Sling Pack. How awesome is that. Now all I need is the regular sling pack, and I will own all of them. Haha

I love me some free stuff...especially if it's fishing related.

I am already looking forward to next years F3T!!

Getting Ready

So, just the other day I was looking through my fly tying materials, and I found a few items that have been hiding from me...some foam spider bodies (Waspi). I remember purchasing these years ago when I first started tying, and I still had quite a few left. (I actually had 3 - 24 packs left - haha.) So, I decided to give them a go, and ended up running out of hooks. Now I think I have enough spiders to last the spring and summer.



Small spiders for Bluegill and sunfish.

Big spiders for the big Bluegill.

A bunch of EP Fiber patterns I tied. Hoping to fill this box by May.

These smaller flies (Beadheads) are new to me. I don't normally tie stuff like this, but I've been wanting to learn to tie different patterns. I normally tie stuff for bass...streamers, clousers, etc..

A friend of mine has emailed me a book with a ton of different classic patterns in it for trout, so, eventually, I will be diving into that and trying to tie up some trout flies. Maybe, I'll get to use them when I go out to the Driftless Area.

I wish I was out fishing right now, but we just had some huge storms the past few days, and especially yesterday into today that have every body of water flooded. There were a ton of road clousures today, and a 15 minute drive took me 1 hour, and to get home took me 2 hours. Ugghhhh!

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.

My First Trout

I started fly fishing about 4 years ago. Living here in the Chicago suburbs, I primarily fish for bass. It wasn't until this past summer that I hooked into my first trout. 

For the past 4 years I've been doing a 4 day - 40 mile canoe float trip on the Current River in Southern Missouri. The river is full of small mouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, pickerel, needle nose gar, carp, etc. The first 3 years of the trip I was focused on enjoying the beautiful float, camping, and fishing for smallies. (The smallie fishing is amazing here!)

This past July (2012) I decided that it was time, that I finally catch a trout. I mean I am fly fisherman, and trout is usually the fish of choice for most.

I started off using flies I've never used before...such as prince nymphs, hares ears, and elk hair caddis. I probably wasn't using the proper technique with these flies, but I'm sure with practice, and time I will get better. I wasn't attracting anything, and probably scaring all of the fish away with the horror that was me trying to fish these flies. 

So, after playing around with those flies, I decided to go to my old faithful...a wooly bugger. I tied on a white wooly bugger, and the fish started hitting. Large mouth, small mouth, and I finally caught my first rainbow trout! It was very exciting. At first I didn't know what I had hooked in to, as it got closer, I saw that it was a trout. I immediately jumped out of the canoe and landed it. As I held it in my had, I admired the beauty of it's color and markings. They really are beautiful fish.

I ended up catching 3 rainbow's the entire trip, and I also, think I caught a little case of trout fever. (Another blog to follow - The Driftless Area of Wisconsin)

Orvis kindly reposted this picture on their page. Pretty cool of them!

All fish were caught, and happily released.