It’s finally time to start planning your trip to fish the Driftless. We will be booking both guided trip and weekends only in the fly shop apartment.
Please call the shop to book (apologies in advance if you do not reach us as we have been having major troubles with our phones). If we miss your call, we will call you back as soon as possible and get you on the calendar!
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While trout are spawning, and we’re still dealing with COVID-19 in our rural areas we hope everybody is safe, healthy, and sane. The shop is online and phone order only. Please e-mail us with any questions you might have etc. We’re slowly working on online inventory and adding some new logo gear etc on a daily basis.
On the trout fishing front, Wisconsin’s season is closed. Limited water in Minnesota is open and Iowa is open. However, we do not recommend fishing right now as brown and brook trout are spawning. If you find a stocked rainbow stream in Iowa you will be ok, but overall it isn’t a bad idea to just give the trout a break and don’t interfere with spawning fish!
A HUGE thank you from all of us at the Driftless Angler for your support during a difficult year. The storefront will close today early (Mat needs to catch a fish on the last day too!) and will remain closed through the fall. We will still be answering the phone and e-mails etc and our online shop never closes.
We hope you all have a healthy, safe, and sane fall.
chance of sprinkles with a slight chance of showers before 11am, then a chance of sprinkles between 11am and noon. Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 63. Breezy, with a northwest wind 8 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Season closes after the 15th, get out there and fish!
Hopper dropper through the day, then watch for fish rising to olives and even some caddis later in the day.
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 10am, then showers between 10am and 1pm. High near 62. Breezy, with a southwest wind 15 to 18 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sporadic rains through the area this morning with some local heavy showers. It doesn’t look like it will mess up the fishing in any way, but having a backup plan is not a bad idea.
If the clouds stick around look to be fishing more scuds and pink squirrels subsurface. If not, use spanish bullets, perdigons or other slim bodied bugs.
On the surface, the foam hatch has been good all day long (hippie stompers/training wheels etc). and we have seen olives in the later afternoon/evenings.
We have had MANY reports of anglers trespassing. Yes, it is crowded out there being the last few days of season, but there is ZERO reason and no excuse for trespassing. If you are unsure whether the land is public, and you can’t find a landowner DO NOT FISH THERE. There is plenty of public and well marked water in our area to fish.
Sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Not much has changed out there. It is still foam attractor or hopper with a bead head below all day long. Add to that a chance at seeing fish rising to olives (size 18-20) in the later afternoon and evening.
Creeks are clear and the fish are spooky. Find some shade and approach with caution and stealth.
These are the last few days of season and there are a lot of anglers out there taking advantage of the good fishing and great weather. Please be courteous! If there is a car at an access point and you can not check in with the angler, drive to another spot. Do not hop upstream of another angler. And take extra care to respect private property.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Breezy, with a southwest wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph.
It’s in the last week of season. Every day is a perfect day to fish!
Creeks are clear and running late season low. Temperatures are in the low 50s.
We’re seeing olives in the evening when the sun comes off the water, and fishing terrestrials and attractors tied below all day long. Nothing too fancy or special this time of year.
The sun is your limiting factor right now, try to find shade or avoid the mid day sun for the best fishing.
Larger fish are starting to eat streamers and leeches. Again, fishing dawn and dusk is your best shot at hooking some larger fish!
Sunny, with a high near 66. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.
The sun has been a blessing and a curse. While it is very pleasant to be out there, the sun has made fish very spooky and slowed down the olive hatch a bit.
Terrestrials/foam with a dropper through the day and looking for fish rising to olives in the later afternoon/evenings.
Creeks are clear with temperatures in the high 40s to low 50s.
Our area continues to see an increase of COVID cases. Please keep social distancing in mind and be safe out there!
Sunny, with a high near 69. West wind 5 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Creeks are clear and flowing a bit low with temperatures in the high 40s to low 50s.
The sun is not doing anglers any favors. It is more pleasant to be outside, but it is making the fishing more difficult than cloudy conditions.
It is worth waiting a bit until the creek temperatures bump up a degree or two. The fishing picks up as temperatures creep up a bit.
With the bright sun in the sky and crystal clear water, the fish are spooky. Fish broken water and find shade to find happier fish. A nymph drifted just down from the riffles is key in the mornings. Afternoons give us a bit better terrestrial bite (hopper dropper). Evenings we are still seeing olive hatches but the fish tend to be a bit more reluctant to rise. Fish smaller mayflies on finer tippet if you run into refusals.
The leech and streamer bite has cooled down a bit too. Wait for the sun to be off the water a bit and it will pay off.
Season ends soon! Wisconsin’s trout season goes through the 15th of this month (no fishing starting the 16th). Get out there and fish!
With the end of the season on us, we are seeing quite a few anglers out there. Please pay extra attention to the water you are on, do not trespass or block driveways/fields when you park. Remember that we fish friendly here. Do not crowd other anglers, if there is a car at an access spot drive to the next spot. Never hop upstream of another angler, you are effectively cutting off their fishing and ruining their day!
COVID 19: Cases of Covid are on the increase in Wisconsin and our little corner of the world. Be cautious and stay away from other humans. While fly fishing is, by nature, socially distant be careful when in towns, at the gas station etc.
