CategoriesFishing Report

September 28th Fishing Report

Cloudy, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Creeks are clear to slightly stained with temperatures in the mid 50s. Excellent fall conditions
Thanks to some recent rains many of our creeks finally got a bit of a flush. No water levels came up permanently, but things are much better than a few weeks ago! We’re now in extreme drought instead of exceptional….
Trout have been happy lately. With clouds in the sky they have been eating mostly subsurface on leeches and scuds with a few coming up to darker colored terrestrials. As the grass and banksidge vegetation dries a bit, the terrestrials get moving and fishing gets better. With the temperatures and conditions dry fly fishing is actually better in the middle and later part of the day.
We are still seeing some olives hatching and a handful of fish sipping emergers and some adults on the surface.

CategoriesFishing Report

September 27th Fishing Report

Scattered showers. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 68. East wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
We are FINALLY getting some trout weather this season. Creeks have dropped and cleared quickly leaving us with clear to a medium stain area wide. We’re still doing well with hopper/dropper all day, and finding some fish rising to olives in the afternoon. With the recent rains, leeches and scuds have really picked up with fish eating them as long as there are clouds in the sky and/or the water. In the clear stuff, subsurface fishing is best on zebra midges, pheasant tails, and purdygons.

CategoriesFishing Report

September 26th Fishing Report

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog between 8am and noon. High near 67. East wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Last night we received another inch (give or take) area wide. This much needed rain will stain some things up this morning, but there is fishable water out there. More importantly, the precipitation will push water levels up just a little bit and should trigger some feeding.
Today we are forecasted for scattered showers, mostly after mid day with nothing major accumulation wise predicted.
The menu is still pretty simple right now. Hoppers and beetles with droppers (bead heads for subsurface droppers, sunken ants for a double dry rig). We are also seeing blue winged olives mid day into the evening with sporadic rising fish.

CategoriesFishing Report

September 25th Fishing Report

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 4pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
With some rain over the weekend, creeks are in much better shape. There was a little flush after a couple inches of rain with a bit more predicted tonight.
Today, expect clear to stained water with favorable fall water temperatures.
On the clear water, a hopper/dropper will catch fish all day long and we are seeing a few blue winged olives in the later afternoon and evening.
On the murkier water, leeches and scuds and san juan worm type patterns will catch fish.

CategoriesFishing Report

September 23rd Fishing Report

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Southeast wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.
We received a MUCH NEEDED 1-3 inches of rain last night. Some locally heavy showers have a few creeks up and muddy this morning, but things will drop and clear fairly quickly. There is fishable water out there, and even some clear water.
We needed this rain badly, and it should trigger some great fall fishing.
Season ends after the 15th of October, get out there and fish!

CategoriesFishing Report

September 22nd Fishing Report

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Southeast wind 7 to 13 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Cloud cover and drizzle/mist predicted all weekend long. We’re still in an extreme drought so any rain is welcome, and the forecast is not calling for anything heavy or major so creeks will not be impacted by the rains (unfortunately!). However, the drizzly and cloudy weather will have the fish in a very good mood, and could trigger a larger olive hatch through the weekend.
The downside to the weather is the terrestrials (especially hoppers) will be a bit more sluggish. Focus more on purple and royal hippie stompers and beetles under these conditions.
Subsurface scud and pink squirrel fishing has picked up and will only get better with clouds in the sky!
Finally, we have a chance to leech over the next couple of days too thanks to the clouds.

CategoriesFishing Report

September 21st Fishing Report

Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Light east wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Today is the last warm-fish day. Things are picking up fishing wise despite the super low flows. Heading into the weekend there is a forecast for drizzle and cloudy weather, this is absolutely PERFECT for fall fishing. While it might lessen the terrestrial action, the olives should hatch a bit better and fish should be much happier than on the bright, sunny days.
Creeks are cool and clear and fish can be very spooky. Concentrate on the riffles and undercut banks and watch for subtle rising fish in and below the same riffles.

CategoriesFishing Report

September 20th Fishing Report

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Today and tomorrow are the warmest days in a while (it cools down again heading into the weekend). The creeks are still extremely low and clear, but temperatures are very trout friendly! Fish are eating hoppers (with droppers) all day long, and rising to olives in the later afternoon and evenings.
Season ends after October 15th. It’s time to get out there and fish before it all closes down in the Driftless!

CategoriesFishing Report

September 19th Fishing Report

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9am. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. South wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Creeks are still extremely low and clear. Even with the little rain last night we’re still needing more!
Fishing has slowly picked up a bit. Hoppers are doing well mid day and into the evening and we are seeing olives later on in the day that have a few fish rising.
Focus on the riffles and drops right below them. The trout seem to be gorging on bugs drifting down from that shallow water!

CategoriesFishing Report

September 17th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 71. East wind 5 to 8 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Absolutely beautiful weather continues the next few days. Because of the super dry year, we are starting to see leaves turn on the trees already and despite the extremely low flows, trout have been pretty happy lately. It is not the best fishing the Driftless has to offer, but seeing how our season is almost over (closes after the 15th of October until January), it is about time to chase a trout or two before the off season hits.
Mornings are a mix of trout rising to midges and eating terrestrials with droppers.
Afternoons are starting to fish very well with terrestrials continuing to catch fish, as well as the late season tiny olives hatching most every day.

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