Fall report: Fish 2, Me...0

I managed to race home from work today and get some much needed time on the river. Water temps are definitely dropping and the river is still full of king salmon. Some are beginning to die off, while the moldys still spar and tail around each other in large pods.

I had a good smack a few casts in on the Quillayute. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of lifting the rod and pulling the fly out of the fishes mouth.

The sun dropped below the horizon and I switched it up to a white craft fur EP style bait fish which I ran grey prismacolor down the back of to mimic an alewife or shiner. My very first cast and I felt a tremendous tug on the rod followed by rapid head shakes. I figured it to be a smallmouth and began stripping the fish in... it was then that I felt the true weight of the fish. The fish took about 40 yards of line out as my click pawl screamed. The line went tight and I finally started to gain on the fish and it surfaced with a few big splashes. It looked to be a decent brown trout. It took another small run and began shaking its head fighting in one place, like brownies usually do. I side stepped to the bank on my left and began reeling the fish in when all of a sudden *tink!* my leader broke off. The loop connection failed. It didn't matter though. It was my first evening on the river and it just felt good to be swinging flies and casting to fish again. I know what I will be working on at the vice.

Olympic Peninsula Steelhead

My cousin Adam shared a few photos with me this morning of some PNW Steelhead. This gorgeous fish weighed in at 16lbs and was just shy of 35 inches.

(I hope he doesn't  mind me sharing the photos)

Gorgeous scenery

I don't see a fin clip

Rosy Cheeks

Hoh River Steelhead

My cousin Adam, who lives out in Washington was fortunate enough to get out for a late birthday camping/fishing reatreat. He swung  these beauties up fishing the Hoh. I have taken the liberty of sharing these great photos. 

(I think I smell a small family reunion in the works)

Quillayute produces!.....

...Just not the intended target, it was nice to feel something on the other end though!

Quillayute

Here's a couple of Quillayute flies I tied up this morning. Most angling literature states Syd Glasso as the originator of the fly, however, some argue it was actually originated by Dick Wentworth. Either way, I think it is a great looking Steelhead fly, and I hope it fishes as good as it looks.

 

I played with the head color, to add a touch of brightness. Maybe it will wake Mr. Steelhead up.

The Fog

Had one of the most beautiful mornings on the Milwaukee this weekend. The fog stuck around well into the morning, keeping things quiet and warm. The stillness of the fog, and limited visibility really made it feel like it was just us out there. Sometimes you get to forget your are in a city when fishing the Milwaukee River.

March Steelhead

The weather this past week has been unusual to say the least. We usually don't associate cloudless sunny days in the mid 70's with Steelheading. But it is March and the fish are in, busy making reds and spawning. Sunday morning Adam, Anthony and I hit the river ( I was running late as usual) and fished until the evening. Swinging flies all day long, only stopping for lunch, we only managed to hook into one. Sadly, we ended the day with no fish to hand. We all fished different styles, colors, and depths of the water column. In the photo of our rigs you see Airflo Scandi, Delta, and Skagit lines. Classic flies, bunny leeches, tubes, and other bright colored creatures failed to produce.

We bumped into David from ChicagoTroutBum and friend Niall, who also turned up skunked.

Water conditions were just about prime. The stain was good, but turbid, with the water still a little high and dirty. Runoff is more prevalent to the north, where standing water is still found along the riverbanks. 

Adam and I both commented to each other about the fact that last week it was fishing in snow storms and freezing temps, and now this week water temps are already climbing into the upper 40's. 

Rain is in the forecast, as well as some cooler temps. (still unseasonably warm) The rain should bring in more fish, and the run should be working into it's prime. Dropback fish will be hungry, looking to pack in calories as they work their way back to the big pond. High water and warm conditions in spring are a great time to try out larger presentations to entice competitive males and those  hungry dropback hens. I know you will surly find me on the water, trying to beat the skunks out of my waders. Getting Skunked sucks.

Catch em if you can!

When the stars align

A late start to the day and little aspirations of actually catching any fish.  As of late it has been the season of the browns.  Each hookup having the characteristic "sit and shake" and the "aw' shit,  it's just another brown" feeling.

Hopefully it will soon be steel and the reels will sing.

Regardless,  I couldn't be more thankful that these fish chose my fly and that on such a beautiful day I had the river entirely to myself.

A very tired fly.

Some recent ties...

So far only one of these flies has kicked some serious ass for me giving 3 grabs in 1 hour.  What's great is that the season has not really even begun.

Green Butt Silver Hilton

 Lady Caroline Variation

 The Akroyd

 Goose Wing (The Wildcat)

 Another Caroline variation

And another Caroline variation 

Blue Charm

Welcome

Just wanted to say welcome to Adam (as soon as he accepts) with this photo of him I took when he wasn't looking (creepy I know). But the way the light was cutting through the trees had a cool effect on the water, and kinda looks like beams of light from the fishing gods shining down upon us.
Cheers! I am looking forward to you posting on this blog.

As Promised....

As promised, here is some eye candy from Dec 17th. My buddy and I worked slowly through this run, he cashed in about 20 yards ahead of me with this fiesty hen brown. She absolutely crushed his pink intruder. Congrats dude!

What month is it again?

With temps reaching the 40's, rain, snow, sleet, and fog, you would think we lived in the PNW or something. If it keeps up like this in Wisconsin, we might not have much of an ice fishing season.

This weekend was a great one. With such rare weather for December, quality fishing has continued in the Tribs. When I got to the bank of the river, flows were looking perfect. The water color/clarity was stunning, not too clear, good stain, and a beautiful green hue. I began swinging my first run with high hopes. One solid tug right off the bat lead me to believe this day was going to be phenomenal. Apparently not so. Not for me anyways, I worked through the rest of the run with nothing to show but these photos, and a shoe floating in a back flow. ( I hope the shoe's rightful owner isn't in the river somewhere...yikes!) 

But that is not all I found along the river that day. Turns out my river finds aren't limited to garbage, and odd rarities of the world. This day, I was fortunate enough to strike a conversation with none other than Author and Abu Garcia reel builder, Mr. Ambassadeur himself, Simon Shimomura.  Now, I don't have the time or energy to go into depth on the iconic Ambassadeur reel from Abu Garcia. If you don't know, look it up. But I do want to say that it was an honor to meet Mr. Shimumura. Simon was an extremely pleasant man, humble, polite and enthusiastic about sharing his hand made, one of a kind, 24karat gold plated Ambassadeur reel. What a beaut! I have never seen one in person. I have only read about these things. This reel was an amazing piece of true workmanship and quality. Mr. Shimomura was also so kind as to show me his hand wrapped Sage fly rod, hand wrapped river rod, and this sweet little gem I managed to snap a photo of.

This reel is a "Record Standard" made by Abu Garcia. This classic has no drag system, just a click and pawl. Simon told me these were not made available in the United States. They made a ported version later in the products life, but this reel is in mint condition. Stamped "Made in Sweden" with the factory hammered sea-foam green finish shining beautifully I found myself lusting over this classic reel.
Like I said, it was an absolute honor to meet Mr. Shimomura. Check out his books, fishing tackle and photos at his website here.

Back to fishing. I worked my way to another favorite run of mine. A run which is usually a great producer. Well, another guy swinging flies politely jumped in behind me and picked my pocket. Fun to see, but a little frustrating.
After working through the run once, I met up with my good friend Adam, who's determination to hook a fish led me to stepping in at the top of the run again. This time luck was on his side. Adam was maybe 30 yards ahead of me, when mid swing his fly was crushed. I quickly reeled in my rig and made my way down for the assist and some photos. We thought for sure it was a Steelhead as she tore line off his Farlow click pawl and thrashed the surface. After a long battle, with a huge bend in his rod, Adam successfully landed a bright, fat, Brown trout hen. (pics to come)
Even though I went without a fish that day, it is almost just as fun when your buddy reels one in and you are there to lend a hand and take some photos. On top of meeting great people, it makes the whole day that much better, and totally worth it.

Opportunity knocks...

So I made the decision to leave work early yesterday to do some fishing. It turned out to be a good decision. It was around 2pm when I finally got in the water. Air temps were in the low 20's and the water temp was, well, freezing. 

Getting bumped by ice flows while I side step down the river, I see another fisherman starting a small campfire. Did I mention it was cold out? As I move my way down the run, I get my first good bump...hmmm, there's fish in here. I repeat the cast, savor the dangle, nothing. I take two steps, cast my fly down and across, swing the fly across the current. I wait and wait some more. Nothing. This process repeats itself as I grow weary of my chances at catching a fish today. I can feel my legs and feet going numb. I forgot my gloves in the truck. Damn, why did I do this?

Towards the bottom of the run, I finally hook up. An explosive strike to my fly is followed by violent thrashing on the surface of the water. My rod comes alive and the fight is on. As I reel her in, my heart races and I forget the cold for those few  moments. That is of course, until my fly line stops and I cannot reel any further. My guides were iced so heavily that I could not bring the fish to hand! As I struggle to break off whatever ice I can, I feel the line go limp while I struggle to free it. My heart sinks, I ready myself for disappointment. As I begin to reel in the now freed slack line I feel tension, she's still there! The fight is back on. As I pull her towards the bank, I reach into the frigid water and wrap my hand around the base of her tail. I remove her from the water momentarily to snap a photo and say thanks, before releasing her back into the river. She wasn't very photogenic, I was rushing to get a shot and release her in a timely manner, but she was a beauty of a brown trout. Her skin glowed with a purple, and green iridescence over a silver speckled body. She had already dropped all of her eggs, and was on the prowl, looking for a meal. Bright with color and full of life, I watched her as she swam away. I remembered why I had endured these freezing temperatures and ridiculous conditions in the first place.

But, there is a greater lesson within this story. 

Rule number 1: You wont catch fish sitting on your couch. 

Rule number 2: Respect the dangle.

Part of building confidence is success, with more success we gain confidence. Now I know darn well there are fish in the run I am swinging my fly across. (Not only because I have fished it a thousand times or so, but just ahead of me I see a gear chucker, huck a glob of spawn into this runs vicinity, hook, land and release a Steelhead within 3 casts.) So what do I do? KEEP FISHING. I work my fly through the run, allowing each swing to finish, settling directly below me. I let it dangle. Then, I let it dangle some more. With my success on the river, I have learned a few things. (See rule number 2) So many of my fish have come when my fly is directly below me and I am just about to strip my line in, lift my fly out of the water and start the whole process over. 

When the temps are as cold as they are now, and were yesterday, you have to control your fly, fish it deep and move it slowly across the current. Two handed rods are an extremely effective tool for this.

Remember, you can swing flies in the cold and you can catch fish doing so. Persistence pays off. Don't let the cold numb you so badly you forget your fundamentals and go home with a zero. Trust me, I was preparing myself for it, scolding myself for leaving work early to get skunked, but then I referred to rule number 1.

Lake Michigan Tribs have been fishing well in Wisconsin.We have had a very moderate fall/early winter, but it looks like cold is finally here to stay. Dropping temperatures means the rivers will inevitably lock up. Until then, it will be weighted flies, sink tips and bright colors kept close to the bottom to wake fish up. So far this season has been quite productive, with good numbers of large Steelhead returning to the rivers. Lots of Browns are still in the system, some will winter over, with others returning to the harbors.

 Although this report is a few days late, here are some shots of recent fish. The Steelhead was a Thanksgiving Day bonus. The brown was brought Dec 3rd using the same fly with a great assist on the landing by my good friend Adam.