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Heat Advisory in effect from July 14, 12:00 PM CDT until July 15, 08:00 PM CDT

The oppressive heat continues.  Although you can still find a few creeks in the mornings with favorable water temperature, overall things are warm out there and we do not recommend fishing for trout right now (or really doing anything in the afternoon and evenings due to the heat!)

Watching the longer term forecast we are hoping the rains come Thursday and Friday.  There is only a slight chance of something at this point, but it could build in the next day or two.

Monday it looks like things go back to normal.

Hot and sunny week ahead!  Highs will be around 90 each day and not much wind until the weekend.

It is summertime in the Driftless.  While there can still be some decent trout fishing, it is really limited to the early morning before water temperatures shut down the feeding activity.  Please remember to use your thermometer.  Anything over 65 will be slow fishing, and much warmer than that can be harmful to trout.

A few trout are sipping midges at first light, but then head for shade once the sun  starts to shine on the water.  Beetle or a small hopper with a dropper is a good choice for prospecting in the mornings.  Small, thin and dark bodied bugs are the best for your droppers right now.

Sunny, with a high near 84. Light east wind.

Summertime!  Fish early, fish late and avoid the mid day sun.  Trout are starting to eat larger terrestrials (check out the new Mr. Sparkle pattern for an edible indicator!) even though hoppers aren’t really around yet.  Fishing foam with a dropper is your prospecting pattern all day long.  In the very late evening we are still seeing some rising fish, as well as the very early morning.  Mousing has also picked up quite a bit at night.

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. North wind 3 to 5 mph.

A little over a quarter of an inch fell in our area (less to the south of Viroqua).  Nothing to stain the water up really, but a refreshing summer evening rain will have the fish in a good mood this morning.

We’re still in summer mode.  If it stays cooler and cloudy and water temperatures are below 65 things are good.  Once the sun comes out, and things warm up the fishing shuts down pretty quickly.

Remember to use your thermometer!!  It is crucial this time of year.  While you can have some good early morning fishing, you don’t want to stress fish out.

A few midges early in the morning, then hopper with a dropper until mid day.  In the evenings we are still fishing hopper dropper and have a few fish rising to cdc and elk caddis as well as some parachutes (just make sure you are twitching your flies.)

Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Summertime in the Driftless.  Watch the weather for windows of cool temperatures (especially overnight temps!) and keep in mind that fishing is the best in the morning until late morning.  Once the sun is on the water things slow down quickly, and once water temperatures start to climb things shut down.

Remember to use your thermometer often.  Anything over 65 degrees will be poor fishing, and much warmer than that can be lethal to trout.

It is small terrestrial time in the Driftless!  Most of our hatches have faded leaving only a handful of sporadic emergences.  Having a handful of caddis and craneflies is not a bad idea.  However, the main focus on the surface should be ants and beetles.  Cast them close to the bank, or near overhanging vegetation for best results.

We still have some cloudy water (not unfishable, but cloudy) and trout are responding to scuds and leeches on those creeks.  Where things are clear, they prefer small thin bodied midge larvae (TZM)  and bead heads (Pearl and Orange).

After a very difficult week for our creeks.  Extreme heat followed by flooding has given way to normal summer conditions.  It is still a bit warm early this week, but cools down nicely later on.  Water temperatures are at 60 or just above in the mornings on most creeks, while some of the warmest are even in the low 60s to begin the day.

It is definitely time to use that thermometer.  Anything over 65 degrees is slow fishing, and much warmer than that can be harmful to trout!  We will have fishing all summer long, but plan for your fishing day to be front loaded from dawn until about 10 or 11 in the morning.

We are seeing some midges hatching in the mornings, and a few rusty spinners.  Once the sun hits the water the surface activity pretty much disappears.  That is time to switch to a beetle with a dropper like a zebra midge or PTerdigon.

Due to the warm weather and flooding, we will be closed July 3 and 4.  Regular hours resume Sunday July 5th.

Widespread high and muddy water combined with the brutally hot temperatures last week have things pretty miserable in the area.  The creeks will rebound by the end of the weekend thankfully (with a nice flush!) but during the holiday weekend it looks grim.

UPDATE 10:20 a.m.  We are getting word of mudslides, streams out of their banks and over the roads and extremely difficult travel in our area.  It is probably a wise idea to stay home for another day or two as we are forecasted to get even more rain the next couple of days.

Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10am. Some of the storms could be severe. High near 88. Heat index values as high as 95. Southwest wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

It’s still horribly hot here today.  Add to that almost 4.25 inches or more in our area (almost 6 in the Timber Coulee Valley) and we are still in rough shape.  The streams will be unfishable this morning after 3 plus inches hit the area.  There was a bit less rain to the south, but those streams continue to be warm due to the excessive heat.  In other words, it is probably not a bad idea to stay home for another day or two…

Don’t go fishing, especially for trout!

With a heat index hitting 100-110 today and tomorrow, and overnight lows in the mid to high 70s, we HIGHLY suggest giving trout a break until about Thursday or Friday.  It is not only dangerous to your health to be out in this weather, the trout streams will heat up very quickly to levels that can be lethal for the fish.  Let them sit in the springs and relax.

It is forecasted to cool down around the weekend, and if we are lucky enough to get some rain, that will help quite a bit too.