Restoration Progress On Milwaukee's Menomonee River

I went down and checked to see what kind of progress was being made.  Only a small portion of the stream has been restored so far, but I really like what I see.  The picture below was taken early last May.

 

 

The next pictures are post-improvement pictures. One from almost the exact same location (note the matching blue graffiti) and one from upstream looking down. 



 

 

This is going to open up so much habitat for our anadromous fish!

 



Salmon Are Showing Up In The Streams

Not in great numbers, but with consistency.  I saw my first few salmon in the Menomonee River Saturday.  I had a strike on a white Woolly Bugger, but the hook didn't connect.

Monday I went out again in the late afternoon.  I saw a few fish, and made perfect casts with egg patterns, just to watch the the fly bounce off the face and roll down the body of the fish.  Something other than food on your mind pal?  I walked through the concrete and found one massive fish that looked like it had been hooked, landed and left for dead, such a shame and a waste.  I don't know how else it would have got there.  In the picture below, the butt of my rod up to the end of the cork measures 10" just to get an idea of the size of the fish.

I went out fairly early Wednesday and had the river to myself for awhile.  I only saw  two fish, a smaller salmon that tucked itself into an undercut bank and wouldn't budge for anything, and then one big Boss Fight of a male making all kinds of noise.  When I first spotted the big guy, he was basically out of the water, "swimming" over the shallow gravel heading downstream.

I made the decision that I was going to get wet, and I went in after him in my jeans and work boots.  After a couple hundred yards of wading downstream, I gave up hope of finding him and started to head back up.  That's when I saw him, when I turned around.  He was in two feet of water just ahead of another run of inch deep riffles.  Even in that two feet of water, his dorsal fin and tail broke the surface.  He was swirling and rushing all over, I don't know how I could have missed him the first time.

I only made a few casts before he lunged and slashed at my streamer.  I've never actually seen a take like that before, only felt it.  Then I had that "What have I gotten myself into?" feeling.  You know? When you realize that you just hooked into one of the biggest fish of your life on a size 8 streamer, a five weight fly rod with a 4x tippett? that's what most people would consider stream trout gear.  Oh yeah, I didn't bring a net either...

 I almost landed him right away actually, I reached down to grab him by the tail and he took off hard and didn't stop.  I could see the backing on my reel, but he never actually went into the backing.  I'm sure I would have seen it proper if I didn't run downstream to keep up with him.  He pulled me a few hundred yards downstream.  There were several more failed attempts to land him that resulted in reel hissing runs. But each run got shorter, until it seemed like I didn't even need to chase him anymore because he didn't get much more than ten yards away.

Finally he was beat, I brought him along the bank, reached under his gills with my reel hand, I must have set my rod down and grabbed him by the tail with the other hand, but I don't remember.  I lifted him from the water, and he made one last ditch flailing effort to get away, but he was mine.  When he thrashed, I got covered in fish slime, and I held him tight to keep from dropping him.  I think I kissed him at that point, I've kissed bluegill and sunfish with my baby girl because she always does but never a big slimy salmon.  I guess when you spend that much time with a fish, you bond.  It felt like I had him on for an hour, but I have no clue how long it was. 

I only snapped one picture so I could get him back into the water.  I wanted to show the perfect hook set in that mouth full of teeth.

 There was a spectator who took some pictures.  She said she would email me some, but in my adrenaline haze, I could have totally messed up my email address for all I know.  Anyway, if I get them, I'll post some.

The fish took a minute, but eventually swam away.  I have no upper body strength left, and I can still smell fish slime, but after an epic Boss Fight like this one, you level up!

Repost: Fishing For Big Trout And Salmon in The Great Lakes

The salmon run is fast approaching, and this old blog post of mine has been getting a lot of traffic.  I'm doing something I've never done and recycling some old material to help my followers get ready for the salmon and steelhead run. 

First off, I've added a couple new pages, a little bio about myself, and a page with links to the official fishing websites for every state, and Canadian province.  This could be helpful if you're ever planning a multi state or international fishing trip.

A couple enjoys the view on Milwaukee's
north pier

Fishing for salmon and big trout is one of the reasons I love living so close to Lake Michigan.  If you've never seen one of the Great Lakes, they're big!  My Minnesotan wife still calls Lake Michigan "the ocean."  As I discussed in an earlier post, most trout and salmon aren't native here, so the Great Lakes might be a nice opportunity to get out on a stream and catch a nice chinook without going to Alaska.  Fishing out in the lake with a boat is the obvious way to go, but I don't have a boat, and I'm going to assume you don't either.

Mckinley Marina in Milwaukee

What you are going to want to do is find a pier, or some structure that allows you to get out in the lake.  I think the wall provides cover for smaller baitfish, and big fish come there to be treated to a buffet.  When fishing off the pier or even just off a wall into the bay in Milwaukee, I like to use big, heavy spoons that cast far and get down deep.  In my opinion, Acme Tackle makes the best spoons, with my favorites being the Little Cleo, The K.O. Wobbler, and the Kastmaster.  I've caught more salmon on Little Cleos than on anything else, I even mentioned the name Cleo for my daughter, but the wife shot that idea down.  I like the silver and blue ones for salmon.  I've never caught a steelhead, but I hear that orange is the hot steelhead color, and gold is good for big browns.  When fishing the lake, I'll use a heavier one, the 3/4 oz size casts further and sinks faster.  The Kastmaster also casts very far, it's not just a clever name.  With these lures, just cast as far as you can and wait while the lure sinks.  Retrieve the lure just fast enough to make it wobble, you'll feel it.  You can also use Wildeye Swimbaits or Rat-l-traps for trout and salmon in the lake.  There is no telling what else might bite those though.  Fishing in the lake is great fun, the bites might be few and far between, but there's something about sitting along our gorgeous glacial sea all day with a sandwich for lunch, and a beer or three that takes you far away from the world while a million people scramble in the city just a half a mile away, completely oblivious to what a beautiful resource we have.

I found this Kastmaster in some streamside bushes

The Little Cleo is about the sexiest lure there is

My Rat-l-trap has seen some action!

In about mid August, the salmon will start to move toward their natal stream. This time is the best opportunity to catch them in the lake, or even in the channel if they start to swim upstream.  Any change in the weather will make them start to move and then you can try to catch them in the streams.  It might just take a drop in temperature, or a little rain and a few overcast days to make them start running.  I've caught salmon in the middle of August in the White River in Michigan, but this year, I didn't see any salmon in the Menomonee until the end of September.  In the streams, I'll still use Little Cleos in deeper pools, but I may use a 2/3 or 2/5 oz instead of a heavier one.  They move a little more erratically in the current than a heavier one.  I will also use some diving crankbaits in the streams; Storm makes my favorites, and they're reasonably priced too.  The deep diving Thunderstick Jr. and the Hot 'N Tot are the ones I use most.  You will find that fishing in the stream can be very frustrating.  There are days when the salmon are so thick that you could walk across them, but they won't bite a thing, then other days, they'll bite anything!  If you're on the stream and salmon are flying out of the water like ballistic missiles from a Russian nuclear submarine, that is the day they will bite anything.  You will probably get splashed by salmon jumping, and they'll scare the hell out of you, but they are angry at everything in the water.  All you have to do is put something in the water with some hooks in it.  The best days always seem to be overcast and rainy days.  I've had the best luck in the evening on overcast and rainy days; not a really hard downpour, just a steady rain.  In both the stream and the lake, using ten pound test line is probably adequate.  I've seen guys use 20, but that's overkill.  This season, I used 6 pound test and I only had one salmon break my line.

Two Hot 'N Tots and a Wiggle Wart

My Thunderstick, marred by salmon teeth.  Note the
scale just behind the front hook.

This is the first year I've ever spent a lot of time fly fishing for salmon.  I cut the tapered leader down to about three feet and just tied on about six feet of hybrid six pound test.  I used mostly Woolly Buggers, and egg sucking leeches.  I haven't had a chance to use my creation, the Force Choking Leech, very much.  You can find instructions on how to tie it here.  If you're a fly fisherman, you're probably better at it than I am, so I can provide very little instruction.

Egg sucking leech with flashabou in the tail

Kittie examines my fly tying skills

Probably the best looking bead head Woolly Bugger
I ever tied.

Salmon and trout can be hard to catch, but you'll remember your first one forever!  I fished for salmon for a few years before I caught my first one, It was October 1, 2002.  It takes time to learn how these fish work.  I can feel the change in the weather that brings the salmon into the streams now,  an instinct I can't explain.  The clouds look a certain way, the air has something different about it.  It took me years of fishing and lots of luck before I even had a salmon bite.  How bad do you want it?

Just Like Old Times

Back in Michigan, I'd go fishing with Josh just about every weekend-- and possibly one or two days during the week after work.  The economy did bad things and we chased dreams in different directions.  Me and my wife went west to Wisconsin.  He, south to Tennessee.  For only the second time in about six years our paths were one in the same for a few days.

We had big plans of spending an entire day on the water, starting at a trout stream, hitting some smallmouth water, and possibly hitting the harbor.  In the end, we were able to scrape up just about 3 hours to fish on Independance Day-- we headed to the Milwaukee River for some smallmouth action.

Josh hasn't fished since he moved out of Michigan, but he got right back into the swing of things by landing a smallmouth on his first cast!  He also caught a crappie, the first one I'd seen out of there. I think he landed one other bass and lost some others, all on curly tail grubs.

 

Six years between casts



Small crappie


I was more concerened with putting my guest on the fish, but I did manage to land one nice smallmouth and miss several others.  This fish put quite a bend in my 5wt, it's probably the biggest fish I've caught on my new rod.



The water is still high, fast, and dirty from the unusual amounts of rain we got throughout the month of June.  The current almost swept me off my feet more than once.  The fishing should get much better as the water comes down.

On another note, Saturday, I picked up a new toy at a yard sale .  I have to do some research to see exactly what I got, but i'm pretty excited about it.

My First Driftless Trip

I made my way to a couple of driftless streams on Wisconsin's western edge today.  My first stop was Mills Creek.  It was cold and windy, and the water was rather clouded.  I looked around and cast to some likely cover, but no results.

Back in the car to drive twelve or so more miles to Reads Creek.  I pulled off the road, assembled my rod, and walked down from the overpass to the bluest, clearest water I have ever seen, and watch fifty or so trout scatter in every direction.  I couldn't believe the number of fish in this stream!  I found a pool just downstream of the bridge that had a lot of trout in it, and one trout that looked to be between 15-18 inches.  I spent too much time trying to catch that Boss Fight of a fish, and he eventually took off.

I went downstream a little more, there was a tree down in the creek with a pool behind it, full of trout that wouldn't bite a thing.

Back up to the bridge, I made a couple casts with a wet fly, and finally had a hit.  A beautiful brook trout fell for it.

Now I'm feeling confident.  After I landed the brook trout, I had hit after hit, with every trout shaking the hook.  I ventured upstream a little more.  The creek came tumbling over some rapids, and in the pool below, trout were rising and dimpling the surface.  I couldn't see the bugs, I assume they were tiny little midges.  I really wanted to try out one of my hand tied Elk Hair Caddis though.  I chose the best looking one from my box, greased it up, and cast one of the longest, most perfect casts of my life.  The fly landed so gracefully upstream.  I slowly stripped the line back and let the fly drift for what seemed like five minutes, and then, the rise came.  I was dumbfounded, I almost forgot what to do, it had been so long since I caught a trout on a dry.  Eventually, I remembered to set the hook and reel in the fish.  A decent sized brown took the Caddis.

After that, I had many more rises to the caddis, but missed each one of them.  I could have fished for hours and never tired, but I had a long drive ahead of me.  I only fished about a thousand feet of the stream.  Next time I'll know long perfect casts are what these fish rise to more than any particular pattern.  Thanks, Damien for sharing these locations with me, I can't wait to get back.

I Can't Figure Technology Out

I was just looking through my phone and I came upon a lot of pictures of fish going back quite a ways.  I don't have a very smart phone, and I just learned how to get photos onto my computer by texting them to my email.  I need to delete some pics to make more room for pictures of my baby girl, so here's a bunch of random pictures!

I caught this carp in October
2011 on a black Mister Twister

I found this wild melon growing streamside just
before halloween.  I knew what I had to do.

This is the coho that broke my rod

That was a beautiful fish.  Does it look
like a steelhead?

Many salmon in the Menomonee that day

My Little Cleo watches crows fly over

My father in law takes it all in

Really? Budweiser?  this is Miller country!

I took this kid from work fishing I think I lost
2 that day.  I think he was using Thundersticks.

All the fish pictured that I caught were released, but the kid kept his two.  The Budweiser salmon probably died of natural causes and had the beer bottle added later.  There were many dead salmon at that particular spot for a long time.  That coho was probably the hardest fighting fish I caught all season.

How To Tie a Woolly Bugger

If you are only going to learn to tie one fly, it should probably be the Woolly Bugger.  I know that I can approach any body of water that holds fish anywhere in the world, tie on a size 10 Woolly Bugger and have a pretty good chance at catching a fish.  They are pretty simple to tie, and easy to modify with various materials.  Once you learn how to tie a Woolly Bugger, you can easily tie an Egg Sucking Leech, which is a productive fly for steelhead and other anadromous species in the Great Lakes.

Below is an 8 minute video on how to tie a size 10 black bead head Woolly Bugger.

If you're new to fly tying, I have a post about commonly used tools and materials, and another post demonstrating basic fly tying techniques.

I usually tie a size 10 Woolly Bugger for stream trout and panfish.  If I'm  going for smallmouth,  I usually start with a size 8, if I have a lot of short strikes, I'll go to a 10.  I usually tie size 6 Woolly Buggers for largemouth bass and for salmon migrating up the streams.

Sometimes I'll tie black Woolly Buggers with grizzly hackle instead of black.  I almost always tie olive Woolly Buggers with grizzly hackle.  The olive dye from the marabou will leach into the lighter grizzly hackle and make for an interesting fly.  A few strands of Flashabou in the tail of your buggers may increase their attraction.

Here are some Woolly Buggers and variations I've tied this year.

Size 6 conehead 

Size 6 beadhead with Flashabou

Size 10 Egg Sucking Leech

Size 10 Force Choking Leech, a fly of
my own design.

Here are some fish I've caught on Woolly Buggers.

Summer 2012, Minnesota's Otter Tail River 

fall 2007, Otter Tail.  Biggest smallmouth I've
ever caught

Grizzly hackle bugger, Milwaukee

Milwaukee River smallmouth

Olive and grizzly bugger, Milwaukee

That's a nice Milwaukee River Smallmouth
caught within city limits

Nice rock bass, Milwaukee River

Chinook salmon from the Menomonee

See the Bugger in her mouth?

If I were only going to carry one fly, it would be a black Woolly Bugger, they are just so effective for so many species of fish!  They are kind of like the fly fishing version of the Mister Twister curly tail grub.

feel free to ask any questions, have fun!

Milwaukee River Fishing Report

I managed to get out and fish today.  Does this count as ice fishing?

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all get everything you deserve!

I added a new page full of links that I regularly use for Wisconsin fishing information.  Check it out in the column on the right hand side!

Keepers

We went fishing as a family this Thanksgiving for only the second time.  My wife doesn't actually fish, but she makes a great photographer.  You can check out her blog if you want.

Lilyhammer hides from the sun

Christina does not like fishing

The Menomonee River

Lilyhammer loves daddy's hat string

Amazing graffiti

...F stands for failure

Not the most scenic stretch of river

The fishing was slow and I didn't even have a bite, but I still have a couple of keepers.