CategoriesFishing Report

August 8th Fishing Report

A 20 percent chance of showers before 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph.
Cooler weather through the weekend! This will extend the morning fishing a bit and give us opportunities to responsibly fish the evening (not having to worry about water temps) on smaller creeks.
Please remember to use your thermometer, Anything over 65 will be slow to poor fishing, and much warmer than that can be harmful to trout.
We’re still getting a few trico spinner falls in the mornings, then fishing terrestrials with droppers through the day. Hoppers are ok, but beetles seem to be the food of choice this season for our driftless trout!

CategoriesFishing Report

August 7th Fishing Report

Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Light and variable wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the morning.
Creeks are clear to stained after some rains a couple nights ago. Overall things are in very good shape for August! You still want to focus on fishing very early in the morning up until about 10 a.m. when the bright sun tends to shut things down. However, with the cooler temps this week, you do have the chance to fish a bit in the evening when the sun comes off the water, or during the day if we get some scattered cloud cover or you find some shade.
Tricos in the mornings, terrestrials with droppers the rest of the day.

CategoriesFishing Report

August 6th Fishing Report

Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 73. Northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Very pleasant weather out there (except for the wind) today. Last night’s rains were intense but quick. Dropping an inch or two of water in our area with a bit more concentration south of Viroqua. Overall creeks we scouted this morning were mixed with some crystal clear and some pretty muddy. The good news is that there is fishing to be had, and the rains will stretch the mid summer fishing time a bit longer than the hot days last week.
Search for water with a bit of a stain as fish will be far happier there.
With the storms, we expect tricos to have a day or two before they get back on track. Focus on terrestrials with droppers in the clearer water (scuds will be great for a couple days!) and leeches and worm patterns in the stained to murky waters.

CategoriesFishing Report

August 5th Fishing Report

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. East wind 5 to 9 mph.
After a very hot week and some spotty fishing, things might get back on track in the next day or two. Overnight lows look quite nice, and all week high temperatures are in the middle to higher 70s.
We’re still fishing tricos early, and terrestrials with dropper into the later morning, but we might be able to extend that over the next couple of days if the rains and weather cooperate!

CategoriesFishing Report

August 2nd Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
While we are still doing ok in the mornings, the fishing the rest of the day has been very difficult as water temperatures start to climb around 9 or 10 a.m. There are some creeks that are staying cool into the evening, but there are very few. You are best off fishing only in the mornings.
Next week things cool down bit and we expect the fishing to pick up a bit.

CategoriesFishing Report

Summer Shop Hours Update

It’s getting hot out there. The shop is once again modifying its hours during the mid summer heat. We will be open 10-4 Monday through Friday, 9-5 Saturday and 9-noon on Sunday.

As water temperatures climb, we start to worry about the health of not only trout on those hot days, but anglers too, so we want to encourage everyone to fish early during the coolest part of the day. Please, get out early and fish, then come visit the shop midday to stock up. Give the fish, and yourself a break during the hot part of the day.

Always remember to use your thermometer frequently in the summertime! Anything over 65 degrees will be slower fishing, and much over that and you can do harm to trout.

CategoriesFishing Report

July 31st Fishing Report

Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Heat index values as high as 95. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Hot, hot hot. Summertime in the Driftless means using your thermometer (anything over 65 will be slow fishing) as quite a few of the creeks are getting up there in temperature. If you are fishing, please make sure to limit your fishing between 5 and 9 in the morning and give trout, and yourself a break.
What to watch for are summer thunderstorms. Once those hit and actually dump some rain, it is as if a reset button is pushed. Fishing can be quite good post rain especially with clouds in the sky!

A few tricos spinners early in the mornings, then terrestrials with droppers all day long.

CategoriesFishing Report

July 30th Fishing Report

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a high near 86. Southwest wind 3 to 7 mph.
Creeks are in full summer mode. Water temperatures are starting to climb and fishing is slowing down. The mornings (sunrise until about 10) can still be good, but we recommend only fishing in the mornings when temperatures are favorable to fishing, and comfortable for the fish!
Tricos and terrestrials with a dropper are on the menu.

CategoriesFishing Report

July 26th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 82. South wind 6 to 10 mph.
Things look great this morning, with even a slight chill in the air at sunup. We made it to later July with mostly incredible temperatures! This weekend things will get a bit toastier. Not horrible, but we are looking at mid 80s for highs and night time lows in the mid 60s.
Focus on the morning fishing. When the water has a chance to cool down from the sunny, warmer days, things are usually much better. We are still seeing some trico spinners in the mornings, then we switch over to a beetle or hopper with a bead head below.
Creeks overall are clear to slightly stained and a bit low. The sun is not your friend right now, so fish early, fish late, and avoid the mid day sun. Also please remember to use your thermometer. While we still have creeks in the low 60s, there are some that are getting a bit warm. Anything over 65 will be slow fishing, and much warmer than that can be harmful to trout.

CategoriesFishing Report

July 24th Fishing Report

Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the morning.
The report has not changed much at all, things are clear and a bit low with temperatures in the low 60s with only a couple creeks getting 65 or warmer.
Tricos in the mornings, terrestrials until mid day
We can not emphasize enough how fishing early this time of year is important for success. Things have cooled down over night, and fish will be looking to eat, especially when the tricos are around, until the sun starts to get high in the sky and shine directly on the water.
Cloud cover is also your friend. If the sun stays behind the clouds like yesterday and so far this morning, fishing remains solid.
Fish early, find the shade to find fish, and if clouds roll in, fish the last couple hours of the day too!

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