CategoriesFishing Report

August 21st Fishing Report

Sunny, with a high near 76. Light southeast wind.
Wow, what a great week of morning temperatures we have had. Overnight temps are dropping into the 50s and it is more than pleasant out there until about 11. The fishing has been good (for summertime!) early until about 10 or 11, then things shut down unless we have some serious cloud cover.
Tricos early, then hoppers, ants and beetles with a dropper the rest of the morning.
In the evenings, the last couple of hours of the day can be solid on hopper dropper and caddis patterns too.
Heads up, the weekend is going to be HOT. Looking at air temps near 90 through Monday

CategoriesFishing Report

August 20th Fishing Report

Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. East wind 3 to 7 mph.

Creeks are clear and a bit low with temperatures in the low 60s. For later August, things are actually quite nice! It is still summertime, so remember fishing is best early from sunup to about 10 (watch for tricos spinner falls early), then take a mid day break. Fishing can be good again the last 3 hours of the day.

Outside of the trico spinners, fishing is best on hoppers or beetles with a dropper below.

Remeber to focus on the colder water at the headwaters and middle sections of creeks. The lower sections are pretty warm right now which is normal for August.

CategoriesFishing Report

August 14th Fishing Update

A 30 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 83. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Things are in very good shape for later summer weather wise. The next few days the temperatures are in the high 70s to low 80s with overnights right around 60. It is still summertime trout fishing, but with the cooler temps and scatter rains the next few days things will be fishing well. Still keep your focus on the morning into the earlier part of the day. The mid day fishing is usually much slower without full cloud cover.
There are still a few tricos in the mornings, then fishing terrestrials with bead heads below the rest of the day.

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.

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