Fishing Report

A slight chance of showers between 2pm and 4pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Light southwest wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
We have almost a week of continued cooler weather ahead, even through the long weekend. Creeks are clear and a bit low, with temperatures in the higher 50s to low 60s. This is a preview of fall in the Driftless!
. While tricos are still around in the mornings, they are showing up later and seemingly less heavy due to the cooler temperatures. The fun starts later in the morning when the hopper bite turns on! Get your hoppers, beetles and ants as close to the bank as possible to tempt trout out from the undercut banks.
. Nymphing is the most productive way to fish right now with fish eating in the riffles and runs dumping into the undercut banks.

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph.
Cloudy and cool, with some shade all day long! Tonight’2 low is 60 degrees, after that we are in the high 40s to 50s overnight.. This is incredibly trout friendly weather for late August!
Tricos are showing up in the mornings. A bit later than usual due to some cooler temps and higher humidity. But a lot of creeks are seeing rising fish from 7:30 to 11 more or less. After that it is hopper (small, size 14s!) or beetles with a bead head below. Subsurface fishing has been a mix of thinner bodied bugs (zebra midges, pearl and orange, Dr. Fauci etc) and scuds/pink squirrels.
With the clouds in the sky, the leech and streamer game has been pretty solid as well!

Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Light east wind.
Creeks are clear and flowing with morning temps in the high 50s. Some of the larger waters are still in the mid 60s. Seek out the smaller creeks, headwaters, and areas where there are springs feeding in to find the best fishing!
Tricos have been present on many of our creeks in the mornings, and the hopper bite has been a lot of fun the past couple of days! Make sure to get your hopper as close to the bank as possible for best results.

Partly sunny, with a high near 79. Northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
Creeks are clear to slightly stained in our area with water temperatures in the higher 50s to mid 60s. Solid summertime temps and flows with some cool nights ahead!
. Tricos are making an appearance each morning, then we are switching over to a small hopper or beetle with a dropper mid day.
Subsurface fishing has been quite good with heavy scuds fished below the riffles, as well as the normal zebra midges and other thin bodied nymphs.
. Streamers and leeches have been good with the cloud cover and stained water, but this will slow down a bit as the creeks clear up.

Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the morning.
. After a little over an inch of rain more or less area wide, the creeks have had time to clear out and get back on track. We’re continuing to see tricos in the mornings and the hopper/beetle/ant bite has been good a little later into the day thanks to the clouds and cooler overnight temperatures.
. Creeks remain clear to a medium stain with water temperatures in the lower to mid 60s. We are looking forward to a really nice cool down starting this evening!

UPDATE: Driving around a bit during the rains, we did have a few heavier cells over the area which have muddied or murked up quite a few creeks. While this will drop and clear quickly (tomorrow is looking prime..) today there is some chocolate to tea stain on the water. Break out the scuds, worms, and leeches!

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 82. South wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
We have had an inch of light rain fall overnight more or less. We’re forecasted to get a bit more throughout the day. So far, nothing is in bad shape, and this rain is filling the springs and cooling things down quite a bit. Even BETTER news. The overnight lows are going to drop starting tomorrow night. We are looking at 50’s and 60s at night throughout most of the week. That is normally a trigger for some great summertime fishing. Coupled with highs in the lower to mid 70s… On paper, this is a great week for trout in the Driftless!
The menu is still pretty simple. Tricos in the mornings (with the cooler weather, you don’t have to start at the crack of dawn to catch the spinner falls), then terrestrials with bead heads down below the rest of the day. Bugs with lots of movement like soft hackles and pink squirrels will be effective all week long.

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming east in the afternoon. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
1/10th of an inch more or less fell area wide in the past 12 hours. Nothing will be muddied up. The benefit to these spotty rains is cloud cover. Even with the air temperature being a bit balmy the next few days, if the sun stays off the water, it prevents the creeks from heating up too quickly! That is KEY this time of year. If the water can remain temperature stable in the middle to low 60s then fishing will remain solid most of the day.
. Hoppers with a dropper are the ticket right now. We are also still seeing some trico spinners first thing in the morning as well.
Looking forward to next week, things look to cool down significantly mid to late next week. Mark your calendars and maybe take a sick day or two if we get overnight temps in the high 50s like they are predicting….

Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Heat index values as high as 95. South wind 6 to 9 mph.
It’s hot out there! It doesn’t look like a significant cooldown until the middle of next week.
However, on the creeks with temperatures still in the mid 60s (use your thermometer!) hopper fishing has been picking up.
We are still seeing tricos in the mornings, the spinner fall starting very early and wrapping up by 9 a.m. After that we switch to a hopper dropper and fish until we (or the creeks) get too warm.
Evenings have been ok, but really only the last hour of daylight.

Sunny, with a high near 79. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph.
Cooler night time temperatures mean tricos and happy fish this morning and tomorrow morning. Plus cooler water temperatures mean a bit longer in the morning to catch fish on terrestrials with a dropper!
The rest of the week looks pretty average, but we are starting to see forecasts for clouds and drizzle over the weekend. If these forecasts stay where they are, or predict more rain, we might have a good summer fishing weekend ahead.
. Tricos early in the morning, then beetles or hoppers with a dropper throughout the day. The menu isn’t complex right now, it is more a matter of finding the cold water. Focus on shaded areas and headwater creeks. Your thermometer is your best friend right now. 65 or lower is key to the best fishing.

Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
. Creeks are in good shape as we did not get the heavy rains forecasted. Overall this weekend the Viroqua area got just over an inch and a quarter total.
Weather is pretty normal for summertime, we do get a cool down Tuesday and Wednesday nights which means Wednesday and Thursday could be some pretty solid morning fishing.
Water temperature is the limiting factor right now, please be sure to use your thermometer. Anything over 65 will be slower fishing and potentially lethal to trout.
Tricos early in the morning, then terrestrials with droppers to mid day. Take a nap, and have at it again late at night when the sun goes behind the bluffs.