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A couple driftless days
Post 26 Jan 2016, 18:14 • #1 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
Sunday and Monday reports were looking good. Highs in the mid 30s. Low winds with a bit of precipitation in the mix. Seemed like a good combination to make for some good fishing. Prior to Wisconsin's new Winter C&R season this area of Minnesota use to get hit harder by border jumpers looking for a fix as they waited until March for their local streams to open. Now that is not the case and now I'm the border jumper. Going back to the comfort of my home waters than chancing on new waters that I know nil about during the cold and bitter months of winter. I'm well aware of what will have shelf ice or be locked up back home and same cannot be said for my new local waters. Also it's pretty much the same commute either side I go with.

Sunday I grabbed my Cabela's Prime 6' 3wt and hit the road. I headed over to one of my favorite stretches of water. Arrived to a crystal clear stream that had a bit more shelf ice than the last time I had fished this stretch. Fishing was tough. The shallower runs had trout spooked before I could even get a cast in. The deeper holes keep the trout confident and less spooky and this is where I found the majority of my success tossing one of my favorite go-to streamers... The simi-seal leech.

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I also decided to try a stretch that I had only thought about in the past. Caught a few up this stretch but as I continued up it it got less productive as in zero fish caught and just as many seen. Seems like it could be a little more promising with an active hatch but otherwise most of it's tiny runs were tough for nymphs let alone the streamers I was throwing further downstream. But I did land a couple before it shut down. Temps never did seem to reach the mid 30s hovering more around high 20s and barely breaking 30 likely due to the overcast skies that accompanied the entire day.

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Monday again I reached for my Prime and headed over to my brook trout factory. Stream is loaded with a very healthy population of brook trout. I got to the stream only to find it looking pretty stained. Started at one of my favorite holes only to find a tree downed right through the middle off it making it tough to cast. Caught one tiny brook with no other hits and decided to hike down stream and work my way back up.

As I walked down I was a little discouraged. Lots of shelf ice in some stretches with pert near locked up areas. As I worked further down stream I could see the stream getting dirtier. I'm walking along a section of standing corn, paying more attention to the stream than anything else when suddenly I have the sh*t scared out of me as I startled 6 turkeys that were buried behind the stalks. They come running and flying out of the corn and I reach for my knife. Then I reach for a change of pants. At that point I figured I'm wide awake and have hiked far enough down stream to start fishing.

Water quality at this point is pretty bad. Less than 6" of visibility. Not entirely sure why. No cows. It hasn't really been warm or sunny enough to start a thaw. I catch a few tiny brookies. Water quality is getting worse. Clearly can see mud in the water. As I'm working upstream again I'm startled by a group of 5 ducks. At this point I'm just walking and not fishing. I come up to a hole that I've always had great success at and figured why not. I cast and instantly have a brook trout on. Good start. Next thing you know I've caught and released at least a dozen fish. It shuts down when I snag a branch and drag it through the entire hole.

Things start looking up. Water seems to be clearing and I arrive another juicy hole. This time I can definitely tell the stream is clearing up as I can see pretty deep and the riffle at the head of the pool is looking more blue green than skim chocolate milk like earlier in the day. I lose count and move on. This starts to happen at each additional hole. Finishing at the hole I started with. That first trout's siblings must've woken up by now because I landed a lot more than one tiny trout.

At the end of the day I landed god knows how many brook trout. Mostly of the same 5-6" size. A few pushing 8". But the Prime got quite the workout. And I had a good time. It could've been a lot worse. And in hindsight I'm thinking that group of ducks is what made the stream look so dirty.

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Post 26 Jan 2016, 18:22 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/16/05
Posts: 2537
Location: Georgia
Thanks for the report. Pretty fish and a couple of days out in the middle of winter. Hard to beat that.


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Post 26 Jan 2016, 18:27 • #3 
Inactive
Joined: 11/10/06
Posts: 243
Location: US-MO
Beautiful colors on those browns!


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Post 26 Jan 2016, 18:55 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/19/14
Posts: 3924
Location: USA - Illinois
double dang hotdish, what a great post - from a State that is known to have no trout even - heavenstomurgatroid that is............................................ :eek


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Post 26 Jan 2016, 18:57 • #5 
Guide
Joined: 12/09/11
Posts: 164
Location: US-MN
Thanks for the report and beautiful fish. It was nice to finally get out with the break in the weather after the last few cold weekends we have had.


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Post 26 Jan 2016, 19:26 • #6 
Master Guide
Joined: 07/07/13
Posts: 369
Location: Lakes Region NH
Those browns are nice, great pictures.


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Post 26 Jan 2016, 19:52 • #7 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/24/12
Posts: 493
Location: Portland, Oregon
I love these reports from the driftless area. It has been on my bucket list for a while. Great report and pictures. Thanks for sharing with us!

David


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 08:43 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/24/14
Posts: 1896
Location: US-NC
Great report and pictures. Glad you were rewarded for venturing out in the cold.


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 10:55 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/05/10
Posts: 5229
Location: Mid Hudson Valley of New York
Sweet. Nothing like a hot dish on a cold day ;-/


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 15:20 • #10 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
picketpin52 wrote:
Sweet. Nothing like a hot dish on a cold day ;-/

https://youtu.be/bcYppAs6ZdI


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 17:27 • #11 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/30/09
Posts: 2527
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Very very good time! I am really itching to get up there and these pics are great. Glad you got out and thanks for sharing the pics.


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 19:56 • #12 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/25/09
Posts: 2319
Great post, Can't wait to get there in the spring!


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 20:27 • #13 
Guide
Joined: 12/22/13
Posts: 316
Location: Colorado
Great report. What is in the mouth of the second brown? Looks like frog feet sticking out, but they should be hibernating.


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Post 27 Jan 2016, 20:49 • #14 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
lostrover wrote:
Great report. What is in the mouth of the second brown? Looks like frog feet sticking out, but they should be hibernating.

That's exactly what it was! Needless to say I'm still baffled by this.


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Post 28 Jan 2016, 08:32 • #15 
Guide
Joined: 08/29/15
Posts: 292
Location: The Cottonwoods, NM
Just how bad can the crowds be during the warmer months?

I'd love to make the trip but try to avoid too many folks.


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Post 28 Jan 2016, 09:25 • #16 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
@Bushdog... It likely depends on where and when and what the weather's like... Right now we're experiencing the mid winter thaw... Mid 30s... Low 40s so I'd expect more people to be out this weekend... But for me I work weekends so I almost always avoid any contact with other anglers. Also helps that the bucket brigade is still at home or out on the ice.


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Post 28 Jan 2016, 12:42 • #17 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/20/11
Posts: 1880
Location: US-MD
NIce fish and nice report...that'll teach that frog to wake up early!


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Post 28 Jan 2016, 13:08 • #18 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/05/07
Posts: 373
Location: Belmont Bay, Virginia
Man, I am going to have to make a Driftless trip this year. Beautiful fish, beautiful water!


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Post 30 Jan 2016, 10:09 • #19 
Guide
Joined: 12/22/13
Posts: 316
Location: Colorado
Hotdish, how does the Drift 3/4 balance with your prime?


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Post 31 Jan 2016, 00:33 • #20 
Guide
Joined: 06/22/14
Posts: 128
Location: MN.
Nice report hotdish. You took some decent fish for the time of the year. Good going!! Well worth the effort.

I had to smile at that frog pic. Never witnessed that one before...

I should work the (snowslide) area again sometime this summer. But for the drive...

Jeremy.


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Post 31 Jan 2016, 01:33 • #21 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
lostrover wrote:
Hotdish, how does the Drift 3/4 balance with your prime?

Honestly I haven't checked to see where it balances... Since its the only 3/4 size reel I've got... But I don't notice it being heavy in the butt end... Next time I have it out I'll check


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Post 01 Feb 2016, 13:10 • #22 
Master Guide
Joined: 05/30/13
Posts: 853
Location: Wisconsin Driftless
Saturday I got out a couple hours before I had to be to work. Temps were amazing hovering in the mid 40s. Can't ask for anything better for the end of January. Missed a lot and landed a couple nice browns. Almost took a spill into a deep bottomless pool while trying to land a nice brown. Steep banks and melting snow makes for some slippery terrain and I'd been in some serious trouble as a non swimmer. But I kept the rod high and didn't lose the fish. So a win in my book.

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Sunday I met up with a friend from another forum who I'd met at Great Waters Expo last year. He is very much an avid fan of our native brook trout and so I was willing to share my little slice of brook trout heaven with him. First run we got to I told him to just drop his fly down the run and give it a twitch, within seconds he had his first trout of the day. Which pretty much sums up how the rest of the day went.

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My friend enjoys his graphite but I think I may have converted him after he broke off the tip of his rod while trying to get his fly out of a snag while through the course of the day he'd seen me time and again remove flies from brush and limbs without hesitation.


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Post 01 Feb 2016, 13:39 • #23 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/18/12
Posts: 1712
Location: Bozeman, MT
Excellent!


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Post 01 Feb 2016, 13:40 • #24 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/30/09
Posts: 2527
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Hellmtflies wrote:
Excellent!

X2!


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Post 01 Feb 2016, 15:03 • #25 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/26/12
Posts: 1188
Location: Fairfax, Virginia
Such a difference in the coloration of the Brook Trout among the different watersheds. Great photo sets !!

Pecos


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