IMG_4800In the last week there has been a considerable pick up of surface related feeding buy the trout in Western Wisconsin. The conditions are finally right for a wide variety of bugs to emerge and the trout have responded. This is a good thing and it is time to scrape that rust off of your Brad Pitt casting skills and put the dry on the water. There will probably be a short period of greed feeding by the trout and a wide variety of bugs seem to be working right now. Eventually the fish will become more selective and pattern selection will become more important as we head into the summer heat.

IMG_4803There were at least 8 different bugs coming off the water and resting in the stream side grasses in the afternoon shifts this last week. They included Olives, Granny Smith sulphers, PAD’s(Lt. hendricksons), yellow cranes, at least two different caddis a light one and an olive one. There was also a beautiful, giant mottled wing tan mayfly that I have seen before on the Kinni and Rush in about size 8 or 10. Could be the hex variety that folks are talking about but I tend to stay away from definitive identifications. The fish have not been particularly selective and hunting trout with long casts to difficult locations has been a gas.

Nymphing and swinging wet flies(soft hackles) has also been effective.

I am suspecting that in the next week or two the flush of hatches will continue, the water will begin to warm and the summer heat start to set in. Of course, I could be wrong and it could snow next week.

Have fun