CategoriesFishing Report

May 17th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
It is INCREDIBLY busy out there this weekend with multiple groups in the area. Streams are crowded on top of normal peak season crowds.
Creeks are clear and low and fish are spooky. Temperatures are good, and there are sparse hatches of caddis and craneflies.
Please know that we have been receiving multiple complaints from landowners of vehicles blocking field access and not pulling off the side of the road completely. When you are parking, please make sure you are completely off the road (pull your mirrors in too please) and not blocking access to land.

And remember to fish nice. If there is a car at an access point, please find another spot and spread out. Check in with other anglers to see where they are headed and do not hop upstream of another angler.

Caddis and craneflies are showing up in bursts lately, with unpredictable rising fish. Ants and beetles are working well where there is overhanging vegetation. The shade and the food source are trout magnets under these conditions.

Subsurface fishing has been solid on smaller, thin bodied nymphs.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 16th Fishing Report

Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1pm. High near 70. South wind 8 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Everything is happier in the Driftless when the conditions are like this. A good, soaking rain overnight and cloud cover and drizzle this morning. The rain was enough to get worms active, but not enough to muddy anything up significantly. Creeks remain low and clear to slightly stained with one or two exceptions where some small feeder is putting mud into the system.

On days like this, scuds should be the first subsurface bug you try. Scuds are far more active under these conditions than bright sunny days! Fishing them below a attractor foam fly, or indicator should be good all day long.

The caddis and cranefly hatches will be spotty, but keep an eye out for aggressive rise forms. There are also a handful of large ‘olive’ mayflies hatching, usually towards the end of the day.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 15th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 70. East wind 6 to 9 mph.
Creeks are low and clear with temperatures in the low to mid 50s area wide.
Fishing has been good overall, with mid day fish eating subsurface and risers tending to be much more common early and late when the sun is off the water.
A beetle or smaller foam pattern with a bead head (or sunken ant!) below has been great, and when you see some overhanging vegetation, try an ant pattern. Fish have been focusing well on ants on these sunnier days.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 14th Fishing Report

Partly sunny, with a high near 68. East wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Creeks are low and clear with temps in the low to mid 50s area wide.
The haze in the sky yesterday seemed to help with hatches, we had a few more opportunities for rising fish than the clear sky days previously. WIth some light cloud cover today, that will hopefully be the case again.
Caddis and crane flies are the main menu item, with a few olives still hatching the last hour of the day. Watch for rising fish in the morning to rusty spinners too.
If the fish are not rising, try a beetle or small training wheel with a bead head below.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 13th Fishing Report

A 20 percent chance of showers after 3pm. Widespread haze between noon and 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. North wind 5 to 8 mph.
Creeks are clear to slightly stained and still remain a bit lower than normal. Water temperatures are in the low to mid 50s area wide.
After a hot and sunny Sunday, things are back to normal weather wise. We’re looking at high 60s all week long.
Caddis and craneflies are hatching sporadically. We’re seeing a push of bugs hatching then periods of no flies on the water. Searching with a beetle, hippie stomper, or even chubby chernobyl with a dropper is effective all day long. Switching to ‘match the hatch’ dries only when you see rising fish.
Leeches, streamers, and even mice are catching fish now too, but only on days we have cloud cover or at dusk and dawn when the sun angle is off the water.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 10th Fishing Report

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 67. Light northwest wind becoming west 8 to 13 mph in the morning.
The rains yesterday were once again light, sparing our area from any major muddy water. Creeks remain clear to slightly stained with temperatures in the mid 50s. As the clouds depart later today, we expect to see caddis hatches (both black and tan) as well as crane flies on the surface. These are VERY active bugs, don’t forget to twitch your flies.
If the hatches are not around, fishing a beetle with a midge larvae or thin bodied bug with flash below is very effective too.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 9th FIshing Report

A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 59. Northeast wind 6 to 13 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Creeks are clear and still a bit low with temperatures in the low to mid 50s. We are seeing caddis and crane flies daily, although not always in abundance. Searching with a smaller foam pattern and bead head below is the way to prospect for trout below the riffles and near undercut banks.
Hatches have typically been mid day and into the evening.
On cloudy days like this, scuds and leeches are very good!

CategoriesFishing Report

May 8th Fishing Report

Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
The rains yesterday still did not muddy up the water. Everything remains clean to slightly stained. Temperatures are in the low to mid 50s area wide.
On these sunny days we have had some good emergences of craneflies and caddis. Watch for splashy rises and do not forget to twitch your dry flies!
Subsurface fishing has been solid on a little bit of everything. On a sunny day like this we prefer a thinner profile with a bit of flash as opposed to thicker profile patterns.

CategoriesFishing Report

May 7th Fishing Report

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 10am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 69. Breezy, with a southeast wind 10 to 16 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Lots of words to say things will drizzle this morning and the clouds could get caught in a valley and dump some heavier rain (yes please!)
Overall the forecast is not frightening at all. We still need the rain badly and rather than come all at once for a change, the showers predicted today through Thursday will go a long way to stabilizing flows in the area. The cloud cover will help too!
Overall the creeks remain clear to slightly stained. Temperatures are in the mid 50s
On cloudy days like today, fishing will mostly be subsurface while the rains are here. Scuds, leeches, and brush hogs will fish very well. If the rain lets up in the evening and afternoon we could see a few mayflies and caddis hatching, but usually days like this are subsurface days.
There is a lot of insect activity going on out there, so do not be afraid to twitch your flies (surface AND subsurface) as movement can be the trigger for fish to eat!

CategoriesFishing Report

May 6th Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 71. Southeast wind 7 to 14 mph.
Creeks are still a bit low and running clear. Temperatures are in the mid to high 50s area wide.
Trout will be very spooky today with the high sun, make sure to use as much stealth as possible when approaching the water.
We’re hoping to see caddis and craneflies hatching throughout the day today as they normally love these sunny spring days! Don’t forget to twitch your dry flies…
Beetles and hippie stompers with bead heads below fished in the riffles and into the undercut banks is very effective right now.
The recent rains have all been very mild and we have not seen a muddy creek or much of a change in water level. Everything has been soaking into the ground leaving our waters in good shape!

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