To keep documentation of the strange behavior(or disappearance of) the trout on our local waters, keep the reports coming to this thread for now. I will dig a little deeper into the dilemma.
Well, Well, Well
A remarkable occurrence happened on Saturday at our traditional opener. Out of 14 anglers(some of the best I know) dead set in the middle of the lower Kinni, no one landed a fish. Water temps in the lower to mid 30s, nice day, Midges and small stones everywhere, everyone in prime form, clear water, NO FISH CAUGHT. That is 14 skunks plus all the others I spoke with. Thats a bunch of stink. There are theories. Some of them included fish kills and toxic spills. No fish!, how could it be? I have to admit, for the conditions, it should have been a very successful opener. But something was different and I haven’t quite nailed that down yet. Many other anglers in other watersheds had the same success, nada, zip, zero, none. We know the fish counts are down in Western Wisconsin, but zero!!!!!!! I have talked to two anglers since then who had caught fish on Saturday but they were largely the exception. More on that later…….
TODAY Tuesday
At 8AM I shunned all responsibility and drove to the river. And then the next river, and the next. I drove and drove and drove. Most all the water in pierce county was high and dirtied up. The good news is that none of the rivers were blown up in that classic spring blow out style event. They were just high and murky and cold. I never strung up my rod and was home by 11. I will try and keep you up on conditions this week when I get another chance to look for that first head shake of the early season. Here is a link to my friend Nate Sipple’s blog with another story from the weekend. The Meandering Trickle
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Will do. Keep your eyes here.
Andy
Just for the sake of your data collection efforts here, I was on the Trimbelle on Sunday of opening weekend from 9:30 or so until about 3:00. Caught one smallish brown right away in a deep pool and then nothing. Saw one other trout and several suckers.
Thanks for all the info!
ML
Forgot to mention, lots of midges in the air around mid-day and not a rise!
Until now, I have never posted anything before on any fishing blog or website. But, because of all the poor fishing reports received thus far, I thought this entry would be appropriate if, for no other reason, than to let others know that things may be looking up.
Got out for the first time yesterday with a fishing guru friend of mine and fished the Kinni. We were on the water by 10:00 AM and for a two hour stretch did respectably well, catching about dozen browns between us. By noon, the cold front began to move in and everything shut completely down. Still, not a poor morning outing for us — 2 fishermen; 2 productive hours; 12 fish. All the fish appeared healthy, with the majority being in the 8″ to 12″ range with one 14″ monster thrown in for good measure.
Andy:
No worries. Bad Dad will be trout fishing in a couple weeks when the Baetis are hatching, even if it means I have to winch his sorry ass out of his house or, bait him out with some smoked fish and fishing wine.
Jaybird
So your using lures now?
Roy
You and yours are welcome here any time. The report is appreciated. I think things are looking up. Welcome to the herd.
Thanks for the data Martin
Always helpful.
Hi Andy,
Here’s my contribution to the “Skunk Chronicles” for what it is worth. Fished the lower Kinni yesterday (3/19) around the rocky branch confluence 1:30-4:30, el’ skunko. No hits, rises, or trout seen. Spent about 1/2 time nymphing and the other 1/2 fishing a black bead head bugger across and down. Did meet a couple of fly-fishers who reported catching a couple (2?) between them around 10″ (nymphing).
Fished the upper Kinni today 2:30-4ish, skunked again. Again, no hits or rises. I did see (spook) a couple standing on the JJ bridge scanning the water though. I met a spin fisher on his way out reporting skunked as well.
I would rate myself fair to partly cloudy in fly-fishing ability but by no means clueless. Interestingly, my early season success rate parallels the drop in numbers you shared in the previous post although I hope I am improving in technique , knowledge, and ability? 2013 (good-very good), 2014 (slow-poor), 2015 (NADA-so far). I think I will probably wait until (if??) reports improve although I do enjoy the “nature hikes” even with no fish.
Hi Andy:
A friend and I fished Lower Kinni yesterday from 12:30-4:30pm. Parked at River Ridge Rd, hiked downstream several hundred yards past the two main bends, fished our way back. Zero catches, zero hits. Fished nymphs deep along banks and in runs, fished streamers, fished at varying depths, fished and fished and fished. I even threw a large Royal Coachman on the top just for the heck of it. The few anglers we talked to also had no success.
It was an oddly quiet day on the river–no birds seen or heard, no bugs in the air. It was like we were fishing in “The Road”.
Thanks Doodle
Just fished 3/21 to 3/22 Caught mostly just great views. Saw lots of fish in the water but that’s because I spooked them and they were just going nuts. Fished mostly on the upper Kinni. Weather was cold and water temp was at 40.
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