No fish for you!

I had planned to take the day off to go fishing in the Madison area today. The weather had been gradually improving for the past two weeks, with average high temperatures in the low 50s. So I thought it would be safe to take a Friday off and head for some confirmed trout water.

When I woke up this morning, I didn't even have to get out of bed to know it wasn't a fit day for fly casting. The wind was shaking the walls, and rain was pelting the windows. I might have been tempted to head toward a stream if it didn't require forfeiting a day of vacation and driving several hours. But I erred on the safe side, and went in to work instead.

My office is a mostly windowless building, so I was unaware that the weather was getting even nastier outside. At noon, I walked out to my car and was bemused by the snow flurries. By the time I was halfway into my usual 5 minute commute home for lunch, the winds were blasting my snowtire clad car back and forth on the highway, and the snow was more than just flurries. The previously brown lawns were now a consistent blanket of white.

Oddly enough, I remember the Farmer's Almanac mentioning something about snow in April this year. Once again, they have vindicated themselves.

So now fish for me. Not today, at least. But I banked my vacation time and I'll dip into it again in a couple of weeks. By then I'm sure the weather, and hopefully the trout, will be cooperative.

Solunar Fishing Calendar - April

Courtesy of Troutlet.com

cool vanity plate

cool vanity plate
Originally uploaded by JoeFriday.

spotted at a fishing spot this weekend

Bigger than a breadbox

Imagine catching a 20 pound bass and releasing it. Then catching it again years later when it hits 25 pounds. Some of us like to describe our catch as "football-shaped". That finned fellow is more like a basketball!

Which way did they go??

My previous post (First day out.. first trout in) alluded to the DNR reinstating their trout stocking on the eastern side of Wisconsin. Something that has been sorely needed for several years now. The last notable stocking was done in 2003 with a good population of browns. And I was elated to see the data showing tens of thousands of rainbows relocated to streams closer to home.

So this weekend I went out in search of their new habitats. Armed with my trusty DeLorme's Gazetteer and a list of waters that the DNR recently visited, I set off on Saturday on my first day of streamside reconnaissance. I drove down to Ozaukee County, the southernmost area listed on the DNR site, with the expectation of working my way back north, marking my well-thumbed atlas with future fishing hotspots.

The day was perfect for driving, if not fishing. The temperature was a crisp 42 degrees, but it was a sunny day with little wind. I got off I-43 at Port Washington and aimed my car toward the most likely bridge in the area. I never had to stop the car there, as there clearly was no place to park. And the hike down to what one can only assume was a creek, looked like rappeling gear was a better choice than felt-soled wading boots.

On to the next bridge. The water was much more accessible there. But not exacty what I'd call good fishing. The stream was about 4 feet wide, with trees right up to the water's edge. No wonder there weren't any trucks parked there. No problem. There's plenty more water on the map. Next bridge, please.

I wasn't even sure I was at the right place when I got to the next bridge. Was there even water there? Where did it all go? Or rather, where had it been coming from, since I was driving upstream?

This how my day went. Bridge to bridge. Parking the car and staring at nothing resembling a decent trout stream. Eventually I didn't even stop the engine, but just put the car in 'park' and hopped out to confirm that I wasn't missing anything. All the way back to Sheboygan County. Not a single fish of any kind was spotted.

But that's okay, I figured. I still had all day Sunday to head north and find the other streams where the DNR put in over 30,000 rainbows. The streams were going to be so full of fish that if you put in one more, another fish would pop out on the far shore.

Sunday was even nicer than the previous day. Almost 50 degrees and as sunny as it was going to get. I thought it would be good to hit the one local stream that has been known to have some browns, and also occasionally holds some steelhead earlier in the year. As I got out of my car at a popular wayside, I caught sight of another angler walking toward the water with his 8wt rod in hand. James, was his name. And ironically, I had met him at that same exact spot about 3 years earlier. We walked the bank, futility looking for any sign of fish life. A quarter mile up and back produced absolutely nothing. And this was another stream the DNR recently stocked.

So we both hopped back in our vehicles. I'm not sure where James went, but I headed north toward Manitowoc. The DNR website showed three or four streams between Manitowoc and Kewaunee that would hold more trout in a hundred yards than I'd seen all season. Which would require only three. But at this point I'd be really happy just for those three.

I had my iPod in the fishmobile and was listening to the latest podcast by Fly Fish Radio and generally enjoying the day. It's a good thing I was out for a drive more than out to catch fish. Five hours of driving, with bridge stops about every 20 minutes convinced me that aliens have been showing up in the middle of the night to remove not only the trout, but the water itself. Half the trout streams that the DNR has been stocking with thousands of fish are little more than 3 feet wide swaths of frogwater. The water I scouted out the previous day looked ten times more promising.

I'm not such a bad fisherman that I need a map with a big red 'X' on it, and words underneath saying "Fish here, idiot!" But I'm starting to wonder about the accuracy of the DNR website.

First day out.. first trout in

Saturday was a discouraging day for fishing. I set out to check the conditions on several streams in the Sheboygan area. It has been a while since I've fished locally. The DNR had stopped stocking streams with trout after 2003, and what remained were quickly removed by the local baitchuckers. But the DNR must have been reminded that we trout fishermen are paying extra every year for our trout stamps, and maybe the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was feeling guilty. For whatever reason, they're back to stocking streams in the eastern side of the state. Reports from the WI DNR website show stocking of rainbows being done in many Lake Michigan tributaries, and other inland streams. Let me be the first to say thanks!

So I decided to see what the fishing is like, and get acquainted with a few of the listed waters. I talked to a few fishermen on various Sheboygan County streams, but the waters are unusually high and dark and no one had seen a fish all day. We've had rain for at least 4 days in the past week. The rain is melting all the snow that we got over the previous two weeks, and turning trickling streams into full blown rivers. The fish are in survival mode right now. Hopefully things will calm down in a week or two. As I was doing some streamside reconnaissance, a nasty storm blew in, replete with lightning and hail. I don't need to go fishing that bad.

Sunday was a bit different, however. I ventured farther inland and did a drive-by on a few very well known streams that have benefited from stream improvements. Other than the high water, the weather conditions were beautiful for fishing. An overcast sky and air temperature of about 50 degrees. I parked the fishmobile at a bridge, right behind an SUV, and thought I'd see how the owner of the Explorer was fairing. He was busy pulling in a nice little 10 inch rainbow as I walked up... it was the first trout I've actually seen this year. I talked with the fisherman (unfortunately, I didn't get his name) as he slipped the silvery fish back into the murky water. He was from Green Bay. The fisherman, that is. Not the trout. It was his first time fishing the area and was surprised to catch a rainbow instead of a brown trout. The DNR stocking, I explained.

On his insistence (ok, he didn't have to twist my arm), I geared up and took over his spot. The water was dark, cold and fast. I tied a prince nymph on my 4wt Thomas & Thomas rod and went to work. Ten minutes, two tree branches, six underwater snags, and 38 casts later my line went tight. A quick tug set the hook into either a trout or another log. But in this case the log tugged back. A trout!

It wasn't a long struggle filled with many near escapes. Instead, the fish came to hand very easily. But it was gorgeous. A fat 14-incher. Honest. He waited very patiently for me to remove the fly, and then swam off to warn his buddies.

And warn them, he did. Another hour produced absolutely nothing. But it was a very good day. Hell, I'm batting a thousand. Or should I say, fishing.

Prince [beadhead] nymph

The prince nymph is a searching pattern. It is a great pattern to use when fishing new waters or when you are unsure what the trout are eating. In still or moving waters, the Prince Nymph is always a good fly to start with.

Try stripping this pattern with rapid jerks in still waters and lakes. Small split shot can be added to achieve more depth. This pattern is also available without a bead head.

Recipe:
Weight: Lead wire
Hook: Standard nymph hook #10-#16
Thread: Black 6/0 or 8/0
Head: Brass Bead
Tail: Brown Goose fibers(biots)
Body: Peacock Herl
Ribbing: Fine gold tinsel
Hackle: Brown
Wing: White Goose Fibers(biots)

Just what we need.. smarter trout

According to LiveScience, a simple hatchery trick can produce trout with bigger brains.

Trout bred in captivity have smaller brains than those born in the wild, but scientists have recently discovered how to put hatchery-born fish brains on par with fish born in rivers.

All it takes is a few stones.

A little variety in the tank also produces fish that behave more like those born in the wild, which could increase the success rate of restocking rivers and streams.

In the wild, steelhead trout lay their eggs in gravel nests on the riverbed. When the eggs hatch, the baby trout stay near the nest and live off their nutrient-rich yolk sac until they can swim freely.

Hatcheries raise fish in tanks filled with clean, well-aerated water but without environmental features or enrichment.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis scattered a few stones on the tank bottoms of some fish and measured brain size 10 to 12 days after hatching.

Fish reared in tanks with stones and in tanks without had similar brain size. But the fish that grew up with stones had significantly larger cerebellums, the part of the brain that controls movement and body position, like those of fish born in rivers.

Researchers videotaped the fish and found that stone-reared fish also moved around less, perhaps because they used their yolk sac more efficiently.

The findings could affect the design of hatcheries for breeding fish better suited to restock wild populations, the researchers say. The results were detailed last month the journal Experimental Biology.

PEZ dispenser for live bait

I know that fly fishermen have a few interesting things in their equipment arsenal. Tippet dispensers and straighteners, all sorts of knot-tying utensils, thermometers and fly-drying gizmos.

But I have yet to see something as goofy as the Quick Minnow for bait-drowners. I'm picturing somebody out on his bass boat around midday.. the sun beating down.. a couple beers later he starts to get the munchies.. I think you know where I'm headed.

Solunar Fishing Calendar - March

Courtesy of Troutlet.com

Looks like we made it! (cue Barry Manilow)

Today is the day that all Wisconsin trout fishermen have been waiting for. The early season opener. Weeks have been spent preparing. Cleaning out fly boxes. Tying new patterns (and even more of the proven favorites). And digging the waders out from the basement where they've been sitting for months, and making that wrinkled-up nose look when you realize you forgot to wash them before packing them away.

For weeks it seemed that the calendar was stuck on February 2nd. And it doesn't help when your dry, brown winter suddenly turns into the ANWAR drilling site in Alaska two weeks before the season kicks off. But the blizzard and temperature drop into single digits at least made you aware that the days were slipping by. Suddenly quicker than you liked.

And then it happens. You woke up and the day is just like any other. Cold and windy. But at least it's sunny. It would be a perfect day for fishing, if the temperature were only 20 degrees warmer, and the white ground was green, instead. But that will happen soon enough. At least you can throw a nymph out into the water and legally catch a winter-starved trout.

Congratulations. You've survived another off-season!

Head South

In case it's too cold in your area to go fly fishing, you might want to think about a trip down south.. South Africa, that is.

Good Advice

The friendly folks at Game and Fish Magazine have a little advice for the lucky (and mashochistic) few who will be heading out to their favorite waters this weekend.

It's not easy to entice a trout to strike a fly early in the season, but to a few dedicated fly-fishing enthusiasts, wetting a line on a favorite stream on opening day is an annual ritual.

The occasional trout can be caught on a fly under most stream conditions, but trout seldom strike flies consistently until the stream thermometer registers in the mid 40s. If you arrive at your favorite river and find the water temperature around 40 degrees or lower, head upstream to the river's headwaters. You may discover that the water temperature in the small headwater streams registers 45 to 50 degrees, and you may be able to creel an enjoyable catch of trout.

Don't be too anxious to arrive on the stream at daybreak in the early season, when the water temperature may be too cold for most trout activity. By late afternoon on a warm, sunny spring day, the temperature may rise five degrees. As a rule, the highest water temperature and best spring trout fishing will occur between 3 and 5 p.m.

There may be a few mayflies coming off the water around opening day, but there won't be any major hatches. However, the swollen streams of spring will carry copious populations of nymphs, insect larvae and minnows. Once the water temperature rises to 45 degrees and above, trout will be on the lookout for this wealth of nutritious forage. The flyfisher should offer fur and feather imitations of these on a fine leader tippet. You won't need a vest full of flies to catch trout at this time of the year. Five or six favorite nymphs, wet flies and streamer patterns should do it.

Fish the dead flies by casting across and slightly upstream. Let the fly settle briefly to get it deep, then strip in all slack line, and continue to keep up with the fly as it drifts downstream. It is essential to keep a tight line between the fingers of your rod hand all the way to the fly throughout the drift in order to detect strikes. Otherwise, a trout may inhale your fly, detect it as a fake, and reject it without you ever being aware of the take. When using a nymph or wet fly, a take may occur anywhere in the drift. The majority of the strikes on a streamer occur at the end of the drift when the fly rises and swings across the current.

Short casts in the 15- to 25-foot range, are a better choice than longer casts early in the season. It is easier to control the drift, detect strikes, and to set the hook with short casts. If you wade upstream an extra step or two as you go, you will be in perfect position to cover all of the likely trout lairs with short casts.

And don't forget... C&R and barbless hooks, only!

My current computer wallpaper

Courtesy of Globalflyfisher.com.

Upstream: a unique view of fly fishing

Last spring, the Two Brothers had an opportunity to view an exhibit of photos taken by Charles Lindsay. The exhibit, entitled "Upstream", allowed the non-fly fisher a glimpse into the world that we marvel at each time we cast a line, and yet take for granted as we've seen it so many times.

The travelling exhibit itself consists of 27 images, enlarged to 40"x40", that eschew the grandiose views and beautiful sunrises and sunsets that have become photographic cliches. Instead, Lindsay focuses (quite literally) on the details that make up a day on the water... a rod bent by a fighting fish... a cichlid hatch... a fly snared by streamside vegetation... and even a few photos of the fish themselves.

For anyone who has futily tried to explain the joys and frustrations of our favorite pasttime to uninitiated friends and family, this is likely the closest they'll ever get to being able to see as we do. The photos are vivid and haunting in a way that will make you dig out your fly box and start cleaning your lines.

And for those who won't be able to see the exhibit itself, you're still in luck. Lindsay teamed up with Thomas McGuane (yes, THAT Thomas McGuane) to put together the book. You can get it here.