Anyone been out ?

[Sarge]

Rod&Real, I kinda like your thinking.

Mortality of the fish I catch really concerns me, especially later in the season when the water and air are warmer.

I have even irked a fishing partner one time, as I waded and splashed threw a nice run trying to grab I fish that went belly-up on me after release.

It was a really nice fish and I took to long to get it in, got it back in the water and it kick right out of my hands, I thought it was OK but as I was standing there, up it came and rolled over a couple feet down stream, so the chase was on.

Finally about 100 yards down stream I was able to grab it, I knew it was over so I took it home and ate it. Would have much rather left it for another battle, but I refused to let it go to waste.

Hopper, a 25incher, 21,19,and a 17, You much have stumbled across my hole. Thanks for the report!

[Guest]

If you were along Sarge, at least someone could have used the net; we would have had him for sure - and photos to prove it. I empathize with fishing in the summer. I caught a real nice fish last summer during that hot spell and I'm not sure he made it after a long battle. At least you caught up with yours and took it home. Makes you wonder how many fish that a person catches that don't make it after the battle. More than I bet we think. I've read a variety of mortality studies on trout that range from 4-5 per hundred up to 18-20 per hundred that die when returned to the water. Bottom line: hook it up and land it quickly, then let it go quickly.

There will be plenty of nice fish around this weekend - conditions are supposed to warmer, overcast, rainy, etc. Perfect if you as ke me. The not so clear water should especially help the bait and spin fishers.

I doubt all of those nice fish I encountered in the past few weeks will be around after this weekend. My moment on the soapbox issues this statement: release all of your trout over 12 inches, if you're looking to take a few home - so be it, enjoy your weekend and think that if you come back and catch those 12 inchers in a few months, chances are good they could be 13 inches or bigger.

[Guest]

Between co. rd. #9 pullout and the lower Quincy Bridge, there were 17 cars parked today around 2:00 - that's a lot of people!!

Needless to say, I didn't stop to angle, nor did I stop in the Elba vicinity, but I did venture into Winona County to do some hiking/fishing. There were cars, campers, and trailers everywhere in Elba as you can imagine.

After a 20 minute hike on a Winona county stream, I found that the stream was, as expected, gin clear. Fished a caddis dry with a Black Wet FLy dropper since it was windy and, you never now, terrestrials could be blown in as well. I also caught a few fish on caddis emergers also. Spent the day sight fishing for the most part, which if you've never tried, is a whole set of patience and challenges. I didn't catch many fish, but I did fool one skinny brown about 14 inches long ont eh dropper.

Caddis activity, with this warm weather, could really pick up soon. Don't neglect midges either, as I saw a bunch this morning. There will be BWO action on cloudy, rainy days as well. Dark Hendrickson action will probably start to decline.

The streams in the WW area were very fishable despite some heavy rain and hail that went through the area in the morning.

[Guest]

I decided to venture out a for a few hours to check out some streams and eventually ended up angling for an hour and a half. The stream I was on was very clean and cold (40's), but there were some fish taking midges. I had great luck with a yellow scud and a caddis larvae trailer, and then later a hare's ear trailer. I caught mainly scrappers, but three fish were in the 14-15 inch were also landed, so the bait fishers didn't get them all in the first few weeks.

The stream I fished used to be one of my personal favorites despite the fact that it got hammered pretty good early on by bait fishers. The stream has changed dramatically, as I guess all streams do now and then. It's tougher than hell to fly fish due to the flooding and downed trees that block every run from a cast. It's certainly a bait fishers paradise, but I have lost a stream that I basically considered myself an expert on because I've fished it so long.

Oh well, perhaps we'll get some real flooding again next spring and I'll have to venture back to giv it a look.

[Jim W]

Hopper,

It can be a little frustrating losing runs, holes etc to mother nature. However I like to think of it as "new" water, different approach etc.

It's kind of neat to re-visit a stream , not knowing just how Spring has re-mapped things.

PS>
Even "bait" fisherman can't find or catch all of the nice trout!

Thanks for the reports, very nice!!!

Jim W

[Guest]

I know - bait fishers don't catch them all, but they certainly have a tendency to leave a whole lot of trash lying around. Perhaps garbage cans should be installed at all parking areas near streams??

Anyway, I braved the elements today and fished WW. It was tough going early on actually trying to make an accurate cast and mend in the wind, but it was a productive day - around 15 fish with one in the 16 inch range. Flies of choice were #16 olive caddis larvae with a #16 olive PT trailer with krystal flash for the wing casing. The PT was the really hot item. There was no hatch on or fish rising. I think sometimes we get too cute for our own good with flies and forget about the standard patterns like the olive PT.
The water was very clean and in great shape. It's still a bit low for my liking. The other branches were all clean as well. This weekend's forecast doesn't look promising - cold and potential for more snow.

On a nature note other than finding dead trout again in some of the pools, a hen turkey bolted out in front of my vehicle and was chased all the way across an open field with a tom in hot pursuit - pretty neat stuff.

[Guest]

I fished for a few hours yesterday AM on a nice crystal clear spring crek south of I90, and surprisingly, didn't run into another soul the whole time I was there.

The water table is obviously pretty low as this stream had crib structures (habitat improvement) that were 6 inches out of the water while last year they were not visible. It not only makes for tough angling, as the holes and runs that "used" to be there are not there anymore so to speak, but it also means that the trout are congregated in pools and spook a hell of a lot easier than they would under normal circumstances.

Anyhow, there were a few caddis here and there with trout rishing to take them. It's a gray caddis in about a #16-18 hook size. The hatch was better as I was about to leave, so if you're a fly angler, you can pull a banker's hours type shift and get to the stream about 11:00 as that's when the hatch will start to pick up.

[Guest]

Went to a stream not far from home tonight and encountered what I expected: very low and clean water. I only caught about 15 trout - mainly on Hare's Ear patterns or a caddis emerger, but most of them were out of two holes. It leads me to believe that on many of our streams, where the water is significantly lower than normal, that the trout are podded up, especially in an absece of a hatch - just my .02 cents

The highlight of the evening was hearing two hen turkeys cluck away at about 6:00 and then seeing them actually get up and fly across the stream not 50 yards from me to roost in a pine grove. Cool stuff.

Good luck to those venturing out tomorrow on areas other than the lakes. I counted 8 cars along the area streams in a 2 mile section tonight - looked more like the trout opener......

[Guest]

Even though the weather was not very pleasant today, I decided to venture out and do a bit of "walk and fish." Walk and fish is just that - walk some distances and fish what looks to be promising water.

I threw olive and black buggers all day, and my walk was rewarding as well. I encountered numerous trout - mainly between 12-18 inches with a short tangle with a 22 plus inch fish - he hit the bugger and rolled long enough for me to get a perfect broadside view and have a shot of adrenaline rush through my system, and then was gone.

The wind wasn't really a factor until this afternoon while it did rain steadily the entire time. The rain didn't deter the fish, in fact, I think it helped. I prefer to fish in rainy overcast weather when I'm out looking for larger fish, and today was ideal for that. The water temps were around 50 degrees.

In case you haven't noticed, eagles certainly have a presence in the Root River area. I saw at least 10 different birds today ranging from adults to juveniles.

[Guest]

Fished yesterday in the sun, wind, rain, wind, hail, sun, and wind.....when is it going to finally gt nice out and stay that way. It feels like the leaves should be dropping not blooming.

There's some caddis action in the Beaver Creek area in Houston Co. - the water is very low and very clear. Beaver Creek is aptly named in case you've never been there - lodges all over the place, fallen trees, and trees that have been hacked off by those rodents. Just don't drink the water . Also, I found about a 9 inch dead male brook trout just lying on the bank. Who in the hell would catch a nice brookie like that and then leave it on the bank to die?? I could make false accusations and target anglers of a certain method, but I'll shy from that bucket of worms (no pun intended) for now...

Ran into an unusual hatch yesterday afternoon - a yellow crane fly hatch. They kind of have mosquito like legs, traditional mayfly wings, but there's no tail. Pretty neat stuff.

Good luck to those planning on going out.

[Guest]

After a lengthy hiatus, I finally made it out on teh stream to fish one of my favortie hatches, teh Light Hendrickson. I went to an old staple, the Whitewater area and ran into four or five other fly fishers witht he same idea - I even had to tell two of them what the hatch actually was.

The hatch is not yet full bore, but it is beginning and should progress all week. I didn't do much with nymphs other than a #14 yellow Shillinglaw Emerger (yellowish body, woodie tail, one strand of k. flash for the rib, some z-lon for the shuck, and a brown head). Caught fish on traditional parachutes, a Snowshoe Hare's imitation, and had the most success with a new fly I tied up this winter ala Shane Stalcups. It's tied on a #14 scud hook, yellow body, dun colored post and brown hackle wrapped around it - it was by far the pattern of choice as the trout were taking more emergers than true dries.

The area streams are sitll clean, clear, and low.......