Today
The conditions on the rivers are ultra clear and spooky. Spotting fish is not hard, catching them is a bit of a different story. There are trout in the rivers. Suckers are cuddling up and starting their spawning dances. Mayflies and midges are doing there thing. Blue bird days and 70 degree temps have been the rule for the last few days. Just wait, that will change, looks like the weekend could be cooler, overcast and rainy, perfect for fishing.
Above is a photo of Iian with his first fly rod caught trout. On Wednesday there were trout eating above and below the surface. It was one of those bright sunny days and I thought we might be dead in the water given the recent success ratio of the anglers commenting on these pages. That was not to be the case. Patience and pattern change were the keys. There were 2 other anglers on the same stretch of river we were on. Broken water proved to be a better choice for both the dry or wet. Nice trout holding in clear flat water had no interest in our imitations or were spooked away by anything falling on the water. We hooked 5 or 6 fish landed 3 or 4 and missed as many or more than we hooked. They were there, on water where I have been blanked before and some of my most productive outings. Thats fishing.
Patterns that worked. Hot Goat Pink Squirrel#16, CDC BWO #18, Tungsten Bead head flashback pheasant tail #18-20, Peacock caddis#14.
FOUND FLY BOX
A Gray Goat reader found a fly box while fishing the Upper Kinni, He was kind enough to try and seek out the original owner here before he started fishing all the secret flies you lost when you dropped the box out of your unzipped jacket pocket, left it on the bank while sitting and tying a new fly on, leaned over and had it fall out of your chest pack or vest pocket and/or purposely left it on the bank vowing never to fish again since you were skunked again. Shoot me an email and I will get you hooked up. A description of box, exact fly count, location where lost and mean hook size data will be necessary to get the box back.
Conservation Congress Hearings
Looks like we will get the extra opportunity to fish along with a change in regulations for the 2016 trot season in Wisconsin. In a vote of almost 2 to 1, state wide(2260 to 1222) the public voted to adopt the new trout regs and season lengths in the state of Wisconsin. I was a bit disappointed I that more of you did not attend the Pierce County location. Out of the 50 people that were there I only recognized about ten, and overwhelmingly the local folks have tended to be against these types of angling opportunities. Maybe you were all at the St. Croix County location where the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the new regs. Out of 72 counties, the Pierce County vote was the only tie vote in the state. 22 for, 22 against. Remember that, the next time you think your vote doesn’t count for anything. This is America.
6 users commented in " Now, The Past Week, Moving Forward "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackAndy,
As always, your articles make people want to get out there. Keep fishing.
so as Wisconsin trout populations decline the state decides to open up fishing during spawning … makes perfect sense
Hi KBn MN
Thanks for your comments. I have to be quick because of my 6am start this morning. I am certain that the entire population of trout in the state of Wisconsin is not on the decline. There are some regional declines but those populations have had variability since the beginning of time because of changing conditions, some created by man and others natural. Lets try not to be not be short sighted as we look at the bigger picture.
As to the spawning thought. I am assured by the science and the fisheries biologists that The vast majority of trout in the state that are responsible for our sustained natural populations will be spawning after the 15th of October. There is some variability from North to south but not enough to be detrimental to the resource.
I have seen the string algae as well. It has been there since I can remember. We live in a high density agricultural area and unfortunately this type of land use is a challenge to maintaining what we as anglers would consider a perfect environment for our trout streams. Seems the algae has started out worse this year. Many years it has been kept in check by scouring spring run-off or heavy rains. that has not happened this year. Gotta go. I will continue.
A
Thanks Musky guy! Your quick whit and humor does the same.
Andy, thanks for the great posts and info all season. I had the WI hearings on the calendar but kid activities interfered. Glad to hear the recommendations passed. I did not lose a fly box but telling the exact # of flies in my boxes would be next to impossible. Hopefully the owner can be located. Also glad to see that individuals are looking for the owner of lost gear. Spent the last two outings chasing bluegills and crappies on the fly as the shallows are warming up and the panfish were VERY active!
Ski
The exact number was a tongue and cheek comment by me. I love panfish!
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