Driftless Angler > Articles by: driftlessstg
CategoriesFishing Report
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August 30th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the morning.
Creeks are back in shape, or in some cases still a bit stained, after the rains this weekend. Overall things are good with most creeks running clear to medium stained. The tributaries are always clearer than the main branches!
Temperatures are looking excellent all week long in the mid to low 70s! While we aren’t out of summer yet, the cooler temps will open up even more fishing opportunity and have trout in a pretty good mood!
True hatches are sparse with some midges and very few tricos around as well as the ‘parachute adams’ hatch in the evenings. The main surface action is on terrestrials. Now that things have cooled down a bit, the fishing rhythm is nymphing early, then as the ground dries out and the ants, beetles and hoppers get moving, switching to a dry/dropper.

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 28th Fishing Report

Creeks got a lot of water in the middle of the night as a couple of brief thunderstorms rolled through our area. Most everything is unfishable as of this morning, but dropping and clearing quickly. While it might be some leech and San Juan worm fishing later today, there will be something to fish this afternoon/evening. Look for the tributaries and upper 1/3 of creeks to be the best option.

There is a slight chance today of more rain, but nothing scary forecasted. Tomorrow cools down and most of the creeks should be back in good shape too!

CategoriesFishing Report
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August 27th Fishing Report

Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2pm. Patchy fog before 10am. High near 83. East wind 7 to 11 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
The heavy rains that were predicted to hit us last night missed leaving quite a few creeks in clear to slightly stained shape. We still got about an inch of rain area wide. If we do not get significantly more things will stay stable and fishable. We are due for a few more potential rain storms through the next few hours and into tomorrow a bit with the major stuff forecasted for the morning. If anything turns sour, we will let you know!
As of now, stick with fishing hopper/dropper but change your dropper flies to larger profile. Scuds, pink squirrels, even worm patterns work after these rains. If you are finding some murky water, drive to another valley and take a look. You can be surprised at the amount of fishable water out there even after these rain events!

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 26th Fishing Report

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 85. Southeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
Starting tonight, there is a high probability of rain and some storms. While it isn’t forecasted to be enough to ruin fishing, the lightning could keep us off the creeks. We will, of course, keep you posted as to conditions. Fishing in between the storms can be quite good, and after the weather calms down a bit, the temperatures drop and get quite comfortable. This looks to be happening on Sunday.
As of now, the fishing has been quite good in the mornings, and slowly tapering off into the afternoon and evenings. It’s typical summer time here. Fish early, fish a hopper/dropper, and take a mid day nap!

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 25th Fishing Report

Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Normal, if hot, summer day today, then forecasted for an inch or two of rain, then cool, then hot, then cool again starting Sunday.
This unstable weather pattern usually is not excellent for fishing, but the fact that after today we get cloud cover almost every day will help!
In other words, expect some weird fluctuations in weather and the fishing.
Subsurface will be the best bet the next couple of days. Throwing bead heads below a larger foam pattern is still a good idea too.
Keep your focus on the shin to thigh deep water below riffles for the most part. Your happiest fish are there right now sipping the oxygenated water and eating bugs rolling off the riffles.
Please remember to use your thermometers too! While it isn’t a huge concern, there are a couple of creeks that are warming up. Remember that fishing starts to slow down at 65 degrees, and a couple degrees warmer than that, and it can be harmful to catch fish.

CategoriesFishing Report
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August 23rd Fishing Report

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 85. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph.
Creeks are clear to stained. The rain this morning was only 1/4 to 1 inch. Nothing will be significantly muddied up. It will become quite hot and humid today as things heat up this afternoon. The first 3 days of this week will be uncomfortably warm. The rains have helped quite a bit to keep water temperatures down, but continue using your thermometers to make sure you are going to have a good experience and not harm the trout (anything over 65 is questionable).
It’s all about the terrestrials right now. While there are a few sporadic hatches of white mayflies and even some tricos, fishing is best with crickets, hoppers, ants, beetles etc on the surface.
Subsurface fishing has been best on thin bodied bugs (perdigons, hot spot PTs) and small scuds.

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 21st Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 79. West wind 5 to 11 mph.
The rain last night was gentle and did nothing to mess up the creeks. It is still midsummer so make sure you are constantly checking your temperatures. Anything over 65 is no good. There are not a lot of creeks out there that are that warm thanks to the cooler weather, but it is still a good idea to check.
Terrestrials are hot. Ants, beetles, hoppers etc. Fish smaller ones underneath overhanging vegetation and larger ones with droppers right below the riffles.

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 20th Fishing Report

Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Light southeast wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
We’re in our summer pattern (apologies for not posting more reports this week, it is really hard to get creative typing the same “it’s hot use your thermometer, tricos and terrestrials” report over and over!)
The pattern that happens is it gets really hot and humid (today), then rains come and cool things down for a couple of days, then it gets hot and humid again and repeats. Barring anything too weird, we are looking at a couple of these cycles coming up over the next week.
Otherwise, it is hot out there, please use your thermometer and make sure you are not fishing over 65 degree water. Terrestrials are at the top of the menu on the surface right now. The humid and foggy mornings are not great for tricos.
Subsurface is where the majority of the fish are feeding. A purple drank or brush hog is excellent right now!

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 16th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 77. South wind 3 to 7 mph.
Creeks are clear and a touch low with temperatures right around 60. Only a couple are starting to warm up to 65. Make sure to use your thermometer to double check temps.
Overall everything is pretty normal for the summer. The floodwaters from last week have cleared out and left some bankside vegetation smashed down which makes walking and casting a bit easier!
Tricos in the early morning, then terrestrials (hopper/dropper!) all day long.
Mousing has been fun lately too!

CategoriesFishing Report
Post By driftlessstg

August 13th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 76. West wind 5 to 9 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Creeks are clear to stained with the waters north of the shop starting to become fishable (the creeks that had the worst effects of the rain).
It’s summertime which means tiny trico spinners first thing in the morning, then switching over to terrestrials on the surface (ants, beetles, hoppers etc)! Fishing a foam bug with a dropper is never a bad idea. On the murky water, a squirmy worm or scud/squirrel. On the clear creeks; purple drank, brush hogs, and pork chop express are fishing well!
Concentrate on the broken water below the riffles and fish up into the riffles to find the happiest fish.
Mousing has started to pick up lately too! Fishing a mouse on the surface at night can be a blast this time of year.

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