Fishing Report

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.

Sunny, with a high near 80. Light east wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Pleasant weekend.  The sun will make fishing difficult, so make sure to fish very early and very late and find any shade available.  Even overhanging grass provides relief from a bright sun!

It’s terrestrial time in the Driftless.  Although we have not seen hoppers yet, the beetle and ant bite is on!  A few caddis here and there (oddly enough black caddis are around), some craneflies, and some lighter colored mayflies in the evenings (do not be afraid to fish a larger, size 12 parachute in a light color).

Subsurface fishing has been good on Spanish bullets and zebra midges.  Smaller, thinner bodied bugs in the bright sunny weather.

Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.

Last few days of mild weather this week and into the weekend.  Things get HOT next week.

Fish early and late, shade is your friend right now.  Mid day fishing in the bright sun has been very slow as of late.

Overall creeks are a bit low, but temperatures are solid for fishing.  Beetle with a dropper, ants below overhanging vegetation, and some mayflies hatching the last couple hours of the day.

Showers and thunderstorms before 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 4pm and 5pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. High near 79. West wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

It actually happened last night!  A long, soaking rain hit the area with an inch to almost two inches in our area (closer to the Wisconsin River there was less rain). Creeks are in pretty good shape overall, clear to slightly stained with only a couple blown out where the clouds got stuck in a valley.  These are the conditions we look forward to!  Cooler morning, post rain, and some clouds all day long.

Fish scuds, larger patterns (pink squirrel time!) and even some worm patterns in the murkier water.  If the clouds stay overhead we should see some rising fish earlier in the evening tonight too.

Increasing clouds, with a high near 78. Calm wind.

Hot day, clear water, and sun the first 3/4 of the day…  Not the easiest trout conditions out there.  Luckily water temperatures are still good (mid 50s to 60 first thing in the morning), but we are getting some warmer waters on larger creeks as we normally do this time of season.  Keep using your thermometer, anything over 65 is going to be poor fishing.

We’re getting some midges and rusty spinners in the early, early morning that have trout rising.  Once the sun touches the water, it shuts down quickly.  Change to a terrestrial or attractor fly with a heavy bead head below (or tight line nymph) to prospect mid day.  In the latest part of the evening, we are seeing some cahills and sulphurs and getting some fish to rise.

Late at night, mice have started to work quite well!

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

A bit more rain fell south of Viroqua than north or east.  There are a few muddy streams out there, but overall we continue on with clear to stained water and spotty clouds for the day.  An excellent day to be fishing a scud below a training wheel!

Hatches have been unpredictable, but having a few lighter colored mayflies for the evening (cahills, sulphurs) and some emergers for the mornings will help you catch the pods of rising fish.

Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 4pm, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. High near 68. Breezy, with a southeast wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Rainfall totals are way down from what was forecasted.  That means we will have some light rain and clouds all day today.  Excellent conditions for fishing.

WIth the wind and rains, dry fly fishing will be difficult to say the least.  Focus on subsurface fishing, especially scuds and Milwaukee leeches.  The normal, bright bead heads will work too as long as the waters stay clear.

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 3pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Breezy, with a west wind 8 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Creeks are clear and running cooler thanks to more mild temperatures!  It is still a good idea to use your thermometer, as some larger creeks and the West Fork of the Kickapoo are getting too warm for good fishing.

Trout are being a bit difficult lately, with most of the feeding happening subsurface on Pearl Jam and pearl and orange nymphs below an edible indicator.  Hatches are not predictable, but some lighter colored mayflies are showing up late in the evenings and some caddis (CDC and elk!) throughout the day.

We have some rain coming through the area tomorrow.  It isn’t anything we are too stressed about (so far the forecast is for showers all day with an isolated heavy rain in a valley or two) as we are still in drought conditions and the ground is ready to soak up a bunch of water!

Increasing clouds, with a high near 75. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

An extremely pleasant weather week ahead.  Highs barely top 70 the rest of the week, and the lows hover right around 50 degrees.  Add some cloud cover in mid week and you have a fantastic trout forecast all week long!

Creeks are mostly clear and running around 60 degrees.  A few fish rising to midges and spinners in the morning, then switching over to subsurface fishing below an indicator fly (training wheel season is here!) .  In the evening there are sparse hatches of light bodied mayflies.

The key to success right now is finding shade.  Any trees, bluff faces, or even a couple of pieces of overhanging vegetation hold trout that are much more willing to eat than those in wide open meadows.  Find the shade and you will find the fish.