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cloudy, with a high near 36. Light northwest wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
The unseasonably mild weather continues through next week. Thankfully the melting has been very slow, not warm enough to go crazy, and the rains have been light drizzle and haven’t flooded anything.
Creeks are clear to slightly stained with water temps peaking at about 40 degrees. Much of our snow and ice has melted making fishing accessible (still a pain to walk in the snow stream side, but there is not a ton of it). BE CAREFUL PARKING YOUR VEHICLE! There are shoulders that are free of snow, but please make sure you are able to pull your car off the road entirely and pull your mirror in as a courtesy please.
Midges and winter stoneflies are hatching mid day in smaller numbers, but we have seen some fish rising recently. Subsurface fishing leeches dead drift, or scuds and midges fished below riffles into the deeper pools have been effective. Remember this is winter fishing, not always the best catch rate, but it is really nice to be outside right now!

Rain, mainly after 1pm. Patchy fog. High near 35. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
First off, the fishing will be decent for wintertime. This is not the time of year to expect crazy good fishing, but it is nice to be outdoors, and you might be surprised by a midge hatch or a pod of happy fish.
Water temps are right around 40, creeks are clear to slightly stained as the melting has been slow so far. The rains today should not be too terrible for clarity and temperature overall. When you are fishing watch water temps! With all this mini melting going on, temperatures can drop quickly, and once that happens fishing tends to shut down.
There are midges hatching mid day, and some trout rising to them. Most of our success has been on larger scuds or leeched dead drifted at the tail and head of the pools.

A slight chance of rain, snow, and freezing rain before 1pm, then a slight chance of snow between 1pm and 2pm. Patchy fog before 4pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 32. East wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
With the slightly warmer weather, creeks are freeing up. We saw a pretty significant increase of non iced up water yesterday and with the warmer temperatures and slow melt we should see more today and through the rest of the week.
If you just need to get outside, by all means do so! This is an excellent cabin fever elimination week. Get out there and enjoy some unseasonably warm winter weather!
If you are laser focused on fishing, the week will be dicey. Yes there is fishable water, and a few fish are being caught, but things are weird.
First, the ice is still covering quite a bit of our water. You can spend some time in the car finding open water, but some of your usual spots are probably still locked up.
Second, the melting is causing the water temperature to drop quickly in the day. Overnight temps are barely below freezing. This means a trickle of snowmelt is hitting the creeks early and lasting all day long. Ideally you want things to refreeze in the evening and slowly melt in the afternoon.
Third, the forecasted rain later this week. So far it is only supposed to mist/drizzle, but if it gets any heavier it could mess up the creeks a bit clarity and temperature wise.

We will keep you posted on how things look throughout the week. If the rains do not hit hard things will be good later on in the week. Again, do not expect lights out fishing, but focus on enjoying some time outside and hope for a pleasant surprise!

Looking at creeks today, a rough estimate would be about 80% of our creeks are still frozen with little fishable water. With the warmer temperatures next week we should see them free up in a day or two. There is definitely fishable water out there right now, and will be more later in the week after a slow melt. The bottom line is fishing might be pretty mediocre this coming week, but getting outside and enjoying some milder winter weather after this cold snap will be good for the soul!

Shop will be open all week from 8;30 to noon

Increasing clouds and cold, with a high near 5. Wind chill values as low as -19. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Today and through the weekend will be COLD. Not at all worth heading out there.
We get an extreme swing of temperatures early next week with Monday’s high being around 32 degrees. Through later in the week the temperatures will touch the mid 30s. These are favorable conditions for winter fly fishing in the Driftless. BUT, keep in mind that the window of good fishing in the winter is short (roughly 9am to 3 pm). You want to fish a rising water temperature. Let the sun hit the water and warm the streambed up then start fishing late morning. Once the water temperature drops (sun changes angle, or snowmelt starts to hit the creeks) fishing shuts down quickly. Use your thermometer.

Starting Monday, Mat will be at the shop each morning all week from 8:30 to Noon. It’s winter time, and the unusual hours are because of the good temperatures. He will be in the mood to make some deals and clear out last years inventory for those of you who show up!

Partly sunny and cold, with a high near -1. Wind chill values as low as -26. West wind 6 to 13 mph.
Through the week the high temperatures do not hit much higher than 11 degrees. Sunday will be 20 (still too cold) and next Monday we might get back to tolerable temperatures.
A good week to stay home, stay warm, and tie some flies.

This Afternoon
Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Widespread blowing snow. High near 29. Blustery, with a north wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
Tonight
Snow. Patchy blowing snow. Low around 14. Blustery, with a northwest wind 20 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Winter storm warning until Saturday, then highs near zero for a few days. This is not fishing weather! We recommend you stay home and tie flies until we see what the weather will give us next week.

The snow is more than welcome to help alleviate our drought.

A 20 percent chance of snow before 9am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. East wind around 6 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Happy catch and release opener. Shop is open on Saturdays from 10-2

Creeks have not recovered from the drought last season and remain extremely low and clear. With the mild winter we are having, water temperatures are in low 40s. There is some bug activity out there, mostly midges, and fish have been rising on sunnier days mid day when water temps are climbing a bit.
The weekly forecast is showing highs right around 30 each day, and some cloud cover most days. Dreary weather, but with the warmer temperatures things should still fish well.
The down side to this warmer winter is we are still in a pretty significant drought and the creeks are lower than normal, even for this time of year. Fish are extremely spooky! If you head out, focus on the riffles and broken water that hides your silhouette a bit more than the slower water.

Catch and release trout season opens Saturday January 6th (we will be open from 10-2!)

With the extremely mild winter we are having, things are in good shape so far. While the creeks are still low from drought and winter, fish are happily feeding all day long with warmer water temperatures than normal.

The forecast for the 6th is for temperatures near 30. That is quite pleasant for January in Wisconsin! Make sure you check out the new midges we have in stock for the early season, and swing into the shop to grab a fresh spool of tippet, some fingerless gloves, and take advantage of last year’s gear on sale.