A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Southwest wind 5 to 9 mph.
Water temps have climbed into poor fishing territory again due to the heat over the holiday weekend. We’re forecasted for rain and a much cooler few days ahead of us. Today won’t be great, but tomorrow’s high is 66 and the clouds and rain will help a ton!
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 95. West wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
It’s hot again today. The weekend was very hot and water temperatures have climbed again. There is still fishable water out there, but make sure to use a thermometer! Anything over 65 will be slow fishing and much higher than that can be lethal to trout. The trout themselves are not boiling in the creeks. They are sitting and sipping the cool water coming from spring heads and seeps as well as the oxygenated water coming down from the riffles.
Rains come tomorrow (hopefully) to cool things down. Keep an eye here for updates.
THE SHOP WILL CLOSE AT NOON TODAY.
Sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Creeks are low and clear with temperatures in the high 50s to mid 60. Remember your thermometer as anything over 65 will be poor fishing.
Hoppers and hippies with bead heads below are key right now. We’re in the summer season where fish will rise very early and very late (parachute or klinkhammers in light and dark) and then eat terrestrials and bead heads throughout the day. Focus on the broken water below riffles and push up into the riffles themselves in the evening.
Shop is open July 3rd from 8-5, closed the 4th, and open half day from 8-noon on Monday the 5th.
Sunny, with a high near 82. Northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
Creeks are low and clear with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s. There are still a few warmer creeks so remember to use your thermometer. Anything over 65 will be poor fishing, and much higher than that you could be stressing trout.
We’re in the true summer rhythm. Risers in the mornings and evenings on midges and film stars, then fish eating terrestrials (fish foam with a dropper!) during the day.
The sun is the limiting factor so focus on shady areas and undercut banks when possible.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
It’s summertime here in the Driftless, and the fish are in pretty good moods. There are still a couple of creeks that are running warm, from here on out it is always a good idea to use your thermometer. Anything over 65 is going to be slow fishing. Most of our headwaters and tributary creeks are running in the high 50s to low 60s. Those creeks give you the best shot at good summer fishing.
Even with favorable water temperatures, the fishing is best early and late when the sun is off the water, or on a day that clouds are overhead.
There will be some fish rising early to midges (no tricos yet) then they will switch over to happily eating terrestrials on the surface through the day. Our go-to rig for summer is a foam terrestrial with a bead head dropped below. The evenings will have fish eating some lighter colored mayflies, craneflies, and egg laying caddis on the surface again.
A slight chance of showers between 9am and 11am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. South wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
After a weekend of heavy rain (especially to the south), things have smoothed out and mellowed. The fish are very happy after a bit of water flushed the creeks. We are still low overall flow wise, but some more lighter rains this week should help there.
It’s summertime in the Driftless. This means fishing a hopper or hippie stomper with a dropper below throughout the day is the ticket to catching fish. There are some hatches of lighter colored mayflies in the last couple hours of day, and there are some fish eating midges on the surface too.
On the creeks that are still showing a stain, leeches scuds and streamers will be very effective.
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. North wind 5 to 7 mph.
Heavy rains have subsided and we’re dropping and clearing quickly. North of Viroqua and a bit east did not get the heavy rains that hit south in Crawford county (use caution south of town as some roads are closed after flooding).
Scuds, leeches and squirmy wormies in the murky water, and hopper/dropper in the clear stuff. The rain was more than needed and should start to nudge us back on track for solid summer fishing.
Viroqua received about 2 inches of rain in the past 24 hours (and there is more to come). North of us saw less than an inch, and south of us had up to 10 inches!
Most creeks are muddy with the Timber Coulee system having been spared so far (there is fishable water on the main branch and the tributaries)
We are due for another storm mid afternoon today and we will keep you updated on the impact on the fisheries. It stinks to ruin fishing on a weekend, but this rain is much needed area wide!
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. Light and variable wind becoming north around 6 mph in the morning.
Creeks are low and clear with temperatures in the mid 50s to mid 60s. We’re looking at rain/possible thunderstorms all weekend. The rainfall amounts are not forecasted to blow things out, but be prepared for some wet weather and the potential for some locally heavy showers. Remember that weather is weird here. One valley might be getting and inch or rain, while the next one over the ridge could have a slight drizzle!
Hatches are fairly sparse with some mayflies and caddis in the evenings. During the day we are having continued success on terrestrials with a bead head dropper. With the cloudy weather we switch over to thicker bodied bugs (pink squirrels, scuds) as fish will eat them alongside the thin bodied patterns we fish under sunny conditions
Isolated showers and thunderstorms before 1pm, then isolated showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 82. Light southwest wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
We’re almost back on track temperature wise. Things have cooled down quite a bit from the heat wave a week or two ago! Creeks are still extremely low and clear with temperatures in the high 50s to mid 60s. Please remember to be in the habit of using your thermometer. If anything is over 65 degrees it will be poor fishing and much warmer than that, it could harm trout.
We’re still going strong with the summertime favorite rig of a foam indicator fly (hippie stomper, training wheel, amish go kart), and a bead head below (food, purple drink, purple hot spot PT). In the evening we are seeing a few lighter colored mayflies hatching. Rising trout will respond to a parachute or klinkhammer just fine in those situations.
