CategoriesFishing Report

June 26th Fishing Report

Update 2:40 Heavy rains are over, but the damage has been done. True flash flood rain and creeks are up and muddy. It should calm down for tomorrow though.
UPDATE 2:19 Heavy, heavy rain and the storm is still on us.
UPDATE 2:15 Round 4 is hitting us. Medium to heavy rain. This will stain things up but it is moving quickly and shouldn’t ruin things outside of this afternoon.
UPDATE 12:45 Round three died on the Mississippi. Dry so far. #4 and possible #5 look ominous and will be here in about an hour.
UPDATE 11:00 AM: Round three is coming and will hit. It looks like only some more light rain though.
UPDATE 10:00 AM: Round one lost a ton of power when it crossed the Mississippi. We only had some light rain around 9. Round two is passing south of Vernon County. So far, everything is still in great shape!

Showers and thunderstorms. High near 80. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Creeks are in great shape this morning, clear to slightly stained with temperatures in the high 50s to 60. We’re watching the radar closely and it looks like the first round will be some scattered rains hitting around 9 a.m. The ground is fairly saturated so if we get a bunch of heavy rain all at once things will get muddy for the rest of the day. If it is spread out a bit then we expect a stain on the water but fishable conditions. We will keep you updated!

CategoriesFishing Report

June 25th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Creeks are clear to stained. The larger creeks and those below flood control dams still have a heavy stain on them. Temperatures are in the high 50s to low 60s.
Things have calmed down since the rains and fishing is back to ‘normal’. The sun will be the limiting factor so make sure you are out there early and late, and find shade mid day. The exception to this is fishing terrestrials. Once the dew dries off the grass it is game on to throw ants and beetles near the banks and overhanging vegetation. Ants have been particularly deadly lately.
Hatches are sparse with a few sulphurs and other lighter colored mayflies still hanging around along with a few egg laying caddis and yellow sallies. Having a few parachutes in light and dark colors will cover the evening hatches.
Subsurface fishing has been great on scuds and purple drank as well as on Food and zebra midges.

CategoriesFishing Report

June 24th Fishing Report

A chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11am and 3pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Looks like the summer weather pattern is on us! It might rain a bit, but probably not…..
Creeks are clear to stained with only the ‘larger’ creeks still remaining muddy. Temperatures are excellent right now
On the clear creeks, focus on terrestrials with a bead head dropper. The terrestrial bit is starting to gain some momentum and on sunnier, drier days fish will key in on beetles, ants, and foam attractors (we have even started to see some grasshoppers). Tying a small bead head dropper below your terrestrial when possible ups your chance at catching fish! Brush hogs, purple drank and food are our favorites this time of year.
On the cloudy water, leeches and large scuds fished under an indicator are excellent. As are streamers.
Mousing will get better again when the bankside vegetation dries out a bit.

CategoriesFishing Report

June 23rd Fishing Report

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 73. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
While not crystal clear, there is far more fishable water out there this morning than we expected! Look for slightly stained to moderately stained area wide this morning with only the larger creeks and those below flood control dams to remain muddy.
With the stain on the water fishing a hippie stomper or training wheel with a larger scud or thicker bodied pattern below is very effective.
Guide trips have been doing very well on the surface on ants and beetles throughout the day. Hatches have not been impressive the past few days (even before the rains) but having a few parachutes or klinkhammers for the evening is never a bad idea.
When all else fails, throw a black leech!

CategoriesFishing Report

June 22nd Fishing Report

UPDATE 10:00 PM. Rain falling fairly heavily in town, much larger storm south of us. This will keep the creeks heavily stained to muddy through the day. Still waiting for the main band to hit (probably around mid day)

Showers and thunderstorms likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. High near 73. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
The storm today looks like it is staying south of us a bit. We will get hit, but as of now it doesn’t look like it will be a long soaking rain, but rather a quick rain. As always, we will keep you posted on clarity and conditions.
As of now, some smaller headwater and tributary streams are clear to stained (less than an inch fell in the last 24 hours) with the main channels and lower ends stained to murky.
Under these conditions, leeches, squirmy wormies, large scuds and pink squirrels are your best shot at fish. As water starts to drop and clear go smaller with your flies.

CategoriesFishing Report

June 20th Fishing Report

UPDATE 10:30: Rains have passed through for now. There is a little bit of fishable water available on the tiny feeders and upper ends of creeks, but the vast majority of our waters are heavily stained to muddy. Things have already begun to drop and clear out, but if we get more rain it will set the process back a bit.

We had a nice fishing report up early about how there was only an inch of rain in the past 24 hours. Then the skies opened up. Expect muddy water through the morning and possibly into the afternoon. The radar clears up in the next hour or so, but the damage has been done. If it rains more this evening, then tomorrow will be toast. If it drizzles or misses us we will be ok on Sunday.

While there will be some fishable water out there, expect the majority to be chocolate.

CategoriesFishing Report

June 19th Fishing Report

EDIT 1:15. Light rain in the area, but a very short band and will not do anything to the fishability of the creeks. No rain before and nothing really following this band until later tonight. We will keep you updated!

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 77. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
So far, it looks like the heavy stuff is going to miss us. We have clear to slightly stained creeks area wide with water temps in the high 50s to low 60s. This rain will help cool things down and put a stain back on the water. We will keep you posted as things progress because the forecast is changing hourly it seems!
Hatches are sparse lately with some sulphurs, craneflies, and cahills showing up seemingly randomly in the evening. Expect happier surface feeders if the cloud cover stays in the area!
Small terrestrials are also great right now. As it gets windy before the rains, fishing an ant or beetle, especially under trees or overhanging grass can be deadly. Do not be afraid to let your terrestrial sink a little bit!
Subsurface fishing is great right now both high lining heavy nymphs on the bottom and fishing a dropper below a large foam attractor pattern.
If the rains hit and cloud the water up, tie on a leech or smaller streamer and hold on!

CategoriesFishing Report

June 18th Fishing Report

Increasing clouds, with a high near 85. South wind 6 to 11 mph.
This should be the last hot and humid day. We’re in our ‘summer’ weather pattern now. A few hot days followed by some showers and a cool down. Looking ahead, the rains are nothing bad at all. We’re watching the forecast and it is calling for a tenth to a half inch of rain each day. Just about perfect as it will cool down the temperatures, and if enough rain falls, it might put a slight stain on the water too!
Today, fish early and late and find some shade. The sun is definitely the limiting factor to fishing success. Concentrate on the water below riffles and throw a hippie and a dropper during the day. When the sun starts coming down, the fishing turns on! Fish have been rising nightly to sulphurs, craneflies, and simple parachute adams.
Creeks are clear and a touch low with water temperature in the high 50s to low 60s.

CategoriesFishing Report

June 17th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 84. South wind 6 to 14 mph.
As we near summertime, the rhythm of fishing changes a bit. Fish early, fish late, and avoid the mid day heat. When the sun is off the water, the fishing is MUCH better right now. While we are still catching fish on hippie stompers with a bead head below throughout the mid day, the best fishing happens at first and last light.
Creeks are clear to slightly stained with temperatures in the high 50s to 60.
We’re seeing sulphurs, cahills, a few caddis and craneflies as well as yellow sallies hatching. Simple parachutes in a dark color (brown/grey) and a lighter color (PMD or Cahill) covers most of what you will run into in the evening. Don’t forget to twitch your flies!
Subsurface flies are all over the board. Having a few thin bodied flies and a few thick bodied bugs in your arsenal is key. Keep switching nymphs until the fish tell you what they want.

CategoriesFishing Report

June 16th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 81. South wind 8 to 11 mph.
Fishing has been solid in the Driftless! Creeks are low and clear to slightly stained with water temps in the high 50s to 60.
Fishing is best when the sun is off the water. It isn’t bad in the open, but you give yourself a much better chance at catching trout when you find shady areas, and fish early and late when the sun is not shining directly on the water.
Terrestrials are starting to become very important in your fly selection. Ants and beetles and hippie stompers have been being eaten more and more often on the surface.
In the evenings we are getting a bug soup of cahills, sulphurs, a few caddis, craneflies, and some larger mayflies. Fishing an emerger or klinkhammer style fly in a light or dark color (the fish will let you know which they prefer) will get most rising fish to eat. Twitching a larger parachute (12-14) is also a great way to get some aggressive strikes.
Subsurface has been hot lately with thinner bodied, and flashy nymphs being most effective. Scuds and brush hogs coming in a close second.
Don’t forget leech patterns too! Especially in the evening and on the creeks that are still showing a bit of stain!

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