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3. WI contingent, Page 5

anyone been out lately??? I got out today for a bit but it was really sunny and there wasn't much action. The river recovered remarkably quickly for how high it was just 2 days ago. I could actually see through the water to the bottom in most places. There were a couple of hatches happening including little black darth vaders and the occasional caddis. No real strong surface action though. Caught a couple on a lightning nymph but never found consistency. Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cloudy so I may skip out for a bit.

Okay, so apparently the WI contingent is far too busy fishing and enjoying the beautiful weather to put up a little update on their successes/tribulations. I got out this weekend on the Rush River and had a blast both Friday evening and Saturday morning. Early morning on Saturday provided a healthy BWO hatch. They were all flying straight up river very fast as if they had somewhere to be. Does anyone know why they would be behaving like this. They even seemed to start flying back downstream after a while? It was like the morning commute or something. Beautiful. A mid-afternoon smaller caddis hatch broke up the constant tying and experimenting with everything in my box. I am getting excited for hopper season which should start hitting anytime now. Anyone else having any luck???

Freepow,
I hope that is the case for rest of the WI contingent; I however have been working seven days a week since the second week of April. I am finding it difficult to acquire the necessary energy to fish all night and work all day. My posts have become few and far between due to a lack of available computer time. Not whining just the facts. I have noticed though that Gonzo, Louis, Shawn and the rest of the PA contingent must have the summer off. They obviously have the time to keep up on both. As far as fly migration up and down stream I swear that I witnessed a White Fly blizzard on the the Namekagon River so dense that when I blinked my eyes they changed direction. I can only assume it was an optical illusion.

Hey guys:

I live in River Falls. By the way...it's a RUMOR there're trout on the Rush River! I have fished it for many years and have yet to catch ONE trout. I've seen suckers, chubs, dace...but never any trout. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Bill

I'm probably going to hit the Rush before the seasons end. I was in Hayward all summer and didn't get out on the Namekagon for trout once. How depressing is that?

Hey, Falsifly, you'll notice the guys in PA aren't posting all that much; we're way too busy out catching big fish. :)

Thank you Louis, you really know how to hurt a guy. I am envious of all who have the time to fish. I on the other hand, am way too busy working. If I were to tell you how many times I’ve been on the water this season I’m sure I would be banned from this site. In response to LOGBOY: I not only spent the whole summer in Hayward I live here, but I did get out once.
http://www.troutnut.com/topic/1453#9517.

Falsifly, do you ever go below the dam and try out some bass fishing? I did it in June with the good folks from the Hayward Fly Fishing Company. Man are there a lot of bass and northern down there. Didn't see one trout, as semi-predicted.

As I look around at the thousands of Lady Beetles swarming over my house, I can't help but wonder. Do trout like to eat Japanese lady beetles? Has anyone researched this?

They absolutely do. One of my favorite little spring creeks gets a lot of them in the summer, and locals here have even tied cork beetles and painted them to match ladybugs.

What about box elder bugs?

Don't know about them--perhaps someone else does.

Only 85 days until the early season opens!!

Howdy to all of you Wisco trout nuts. I'm an old friend of the TroutNut himself and another Hayward area fly fishing crazy.

It's been awhile since I spent time on this board but I will make a point to post things on a regular basis. I guide on the warmwater stuff mostly fly fishing for muskies and certainly do a good deal of trouting around and about on my own.

Jason has been a real inspiration to me and I will honor his work that started out here in Wisconsin as I am able.

So I'll offer up some interesting fish porn that I shot this past summer as part of my own personal troutnut quest.

Hope you enjoy.

Spectacular photos there, Brad! I see you got a nice camera, and you've got the patience to use it.

Ya Troutnut...finally got a good piece of equipment. Not as fancy as yours but the Nikon D40x does a fair job. I am already pining for an upgrade.

These trout action shots are VERY challenging. They look so placid and tranquil but the reality of the shot is like trying to capture a trainwreck at full speed while focusing on a glass thin plane and only having about a 12" square in the viewfinder...

I'm lucky in that I have a pretty good laboratory to operate in...these fish are all from the Bois Brule. All are wild fish. I train them a bit with natural food...I need to feed them a for awhile before they will settle enough to give me good poses.

When I first set up they are spooky and then they are also highly competitive in their feeding. That makes it nearly impossible to get a good shot.

I had lots of trial and error with this project.

Time of day, time of year, local weather, pedestrian traffic, fish mood and on and on come into play. There is only a small window of opportunity to capture these kinds of shots - so yes patience is really a must.

I have found that doing this kind of thing is more rewarding that actually fishing. I am addicted!

Watching fish behave and interact and then adding the natural insect - which I must go out and collect, also scouting location and training the fish...

It is pretty cool.

Next season I hope to do muskies...

hi all, im new to this forum... im from the polk county area. there is this trout stream that has NATIVE brookies and its 1 1/2 miles from my house. i just bought a fly rod and im completely new to the whole sport. i fished almost everyday this summer, but mostly for bass. bass are fun to catch, but i believe fishing a knee deep stream for the most beautiful fish would be a lot more interesting. there was talk about a hidden gem lake near glenwood city... is that lower pine lake your talking about? ive never fished there but thru my hours of research i found out how to get there... thanks all, this is a great forum :)

Brad, I am not from Wisconsin, but those are some of the most amazing pictures that I have ever seen!!!!!!! Bar none. That is the kind of thing that gets your heart pumping during the season when you have water clear enough. It is just what I needed to get through a two degree day here in MT. Keep up the good work.

I've done plenty of snowboarding at Afton, but trout fishing?. ;) Nice photos.

25 days until the WI early catch and release season!

I don’t know about you, but Jack and I can’t wait that long.

With the middle of winter upon us it seems the last cast to the beloved trout is nothing more than a distant memory. The trout season had been closed since October first. (Please note that I said had) Being cooped up inside, bored with the incessant snow and negative numbers on the thermometer, Jack and I decided it was time to get out from behind our limited window-view of the world, and take a drive. We hopped in the truck and headed for the Namekagon River; keeping to the back roads hugging the river banks, reveling in past seasons, and contemplating with anticipation those to come. As we rounded a bend, approaching a favorite stretch of river, Jack was struck with an idea. Winter fishing! I reminded Jack that there are places where winter trout fishing is legal, but Wisconsin is not one of them. Undeterred, I could see Jack was caught up in serious thought. His rebuttal began as he explained to me his philosophy about fishing and the law. In Jack’s opinion one has the right to fish year round, no matter where one resides, or what the regulations are. He went on to explain that no government agency has the right to deprive a person of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which he said, “Is the definition of fishing.” “Besides,” he continued, “The Declaration of Independence guaranteed us these inalienable rights so how the hell can the government step in and regulate them.” “In other words,” Jack went on, “If I can’t fish you might as well put a gun to my head and shoot me, because life just wouldn’t be worth living.” I finally gave in to Jack’s inveiglement, besides, it was making sense. (Up to this point in my life I have always been a law abiding citizen, upholding to the highest moral and ethical standards; a pillar of the community in such standing that I was invited to join AA. I probably would have had Jack been allowed to participate in the group meetings.) “Ok” I said, “But the river is frozen over in thin ice, how are we going to fish?” From here Jack unveiled his plan. We would arrive at our most productive spot, a 100 yard-long shallow riffle run, no more than knee deep and right next to the road ---- after midnight. Jack said that this should give the really big nocturnal browns time to become active, which made perfect sense to me. We would put the truck into four wheel drive and enter the river at the closest point to the road, then commence to drive up and down the river to break-up the ice. Once we had enough open water to fish we would assemble our nine foot four piece travel rods from inside the cab, were it was nice and warm, and stick a rod out each window, like an outrigger, and troll up and down the river. As the fish were caught we would simply reel them in and pitch them through the rear sliding window to the bed of the truck. It was hoped that we could fill up the bed of the truck with enough trout to last us until the early catch and release season. By now Jack had me convinced that this just might work, and after polishing off the final details to this brainstorm we set out for home.