Mid Week Milwaukee Area Day Trip

A couple weeks back, I took a day long fishing trip, visiting two streams in three different towns, stopping for sustenance and spirits in each town.  I got up early and I needed caffeine, so my first stop was a local one.  I stopped at the almost legendary Fuel Cafe in Milwaukee's eclectic Riverwest Neighborhood.  They have great cafe food, better coffee and several local bottled beers to offer.  I really enjoy the El Gato Mexican Mocha, and when I really need a boost, the Kevorkian Crush.

Fuel Cafe

From Fuel Cafe, I got on I-43 north and drove up into Sheboygan County to fish the Onion River.  I got a little lost when my phone lost connection and the GPS failed.  For this reason, it's always a good idea to have a map and understand how to use it.  Most of the good fishing destinations are probably far from a cell tower.  I found an alternative route without having to backtrack ten miles to the county road I missed.

Sheboygan County Country Road

The Onion River doesn't have a lot of access points, but they're well marked as public fishing waters when you find them.  The particular spot I went in is very close to a maple syrup producing facility with plenty of chickens running free.

I am always shocked at how cold this tiny little stream is.  I don't regularly wear waders in the summer months, and the Onion made me question that decision.  With my 5wt in hand, I stepped into the frigid spring fed water, working my way up to the next overpass. 

 

 I have not had a good day on the Onion, but I know they're in there.  I saw one really nice sized brown trout come out from under an undercut bank to investigate a dead drifted Bugger .  He came so close to taking it, then disappeared back under the bank and refused to budge.  My only fish on the Onion was the tiny creek chub below.  It beats getting skunked, but not by much.

 After leaving the stream and walking back to my car, I drove into Sheboygan for a light lunch.  The first place that caught my eye was Black Pig.

Black Pig had reasonably priced food and an interesting beer selection.  I was more interested in a drink than food.  I had two beers and an order of White Truffle Oil and Black Pepper Bacon fries.
 I had a Dubbel by Une Année, and a Rübæus Raspberry ale by Founders.  The Dubbel was good, the Raspberry ale was remarkable.

After some lunch and rest, I hit the road for Cedarburg.  There is a roadside park at an overpass of the Milwaukee River called Garrison's Glen.  I guess it's technically in the town of Mequon, but these are small details.  Garrison's Glen is no well kept secret, and I have never had the river to myself at this location.  Spinning gear with bobbers and worms, fly gear, centerpin guys, all in vehicles ranging from massive Ford F-350s to tiny Volkswagen Beetles all crammed into a parking lot that is meant to hold about six normal sized cars.  Be respectful and have fun out there.
I always go upstream at the overpass, casting streamers toward the submerged boulders.  There are some nice bass in  here, but they see a lot of angling pressure.  I only landed one fish, the smallmouth pictured below.  Not the largest fish, but these little smallies really put up a fight!  This scrapper gave my 8wt a great workout!

 I probably walked close to half of a mile against the current of the powerful Milwaukee before heading back down to the overpass and driving into downtown Cedarburg.  My first stop was Morton's Wisconsinn.

  Morton's is a strange place.  There were families with children there, Fox News was on in the corner, the bar was full of anti government propaganda and corny little knick knacks covering every square inch of space on the walls and ceiling.  The only beer they had on tap that I had never had was Bud Light.  When in Rome...
I was actually sitting next to the owner at the bar. A kind man, whose name i don't recall.  We talked fishing and beer, he gave me a shot of Jägermeister
Remember the bar fight scene from Terminator 2?  The whole place reminded me of that scene.  Just as I decided to get out of there before the T-800 burst through the front door and asked me for my clothes, my boots, and my motorcycle; The Dwight Yoakam song "Guitars, Cadillacs" came on.  I swear I can't make this up!  I got out of there right away!

I walked a few blocks to Maxwell's.  Maxwell's had a better beer selection, and seemed to be a local favorite.  I took the only open spot at the end of the bar and ordered a New Belgium Skinny Dip.  I only planned on one, and just as I was about to leave, I heard mention of their $1.00 taco Wednesday special! I ordered a beef and a chicken taco and a Rebel Kent The First by 3 Sheeps. The beef taco is the way to go, but for a dollar you can't really go wrong.

I originally planned on driving back to Milwaukee to fish the river in town and hit up some night life spots, but it was dark and I was exhausted before I made it into town.  Really, there is so much to do in Milwaukee, and so many overlooked fishing spots, I'll have to do an entire blog post on what to do in Milwaukee for a day.  But if you want to hit three spots in one day, the Milwaukee river provides great summer smallmouth fishing within the city limits from the Capital Drive overpass down to the North Avenue dam with many access points and very light pressure.  There are other species too.  I've caught carp, all sorts of panfish, northern pike, and even an occasional walleye.  In the fall, the anadromous species will start to run, with chinook showing up in good numbers starting in October and mighty steelhead showing up in good numbers (from my experience) in April and May.

A Slow Summer

I hardly fished at all this summer.  The early summer rains swelled the streams to unfishable coffee flows early in the season, and life got in the way.  When I did make it out, the time spent was usually short and I was greeted by the skunk.  I did have a great time fishing in Michigan on the annual trip.  Here is a highlight reel.

Big rock bass

my smallest fish

Dad setting the hook in the background.

This bass had taken both mine and
my dad's lures!

Unreal!

 One of the nicer fish of the week.

I only made in into the Milwaukee twice this summer.  I caught a couple fish both times

My happiest day fishing was just a couple weeks ago.  In the Menomonee, I had a light hit on a scud, so I set the hook.  I gave my rod to Cleo after I was sure she could handle it, and I let her bring it in.

Isn't she the cutest little thing?  Of course I filmed it.

Sorry it's been months again, I still don't have regular computer access.  I'll try to post more regularly.  I'm feeling like the salmon are going to run very soon!

Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Last Saturday we made the 500 mile drive to Fergus Falls to visit my Wife's family.  My in-laws live on the Otter Tail River, which has a healthy smallmouth bass population.

Unfortunately, this is mostly a story of loss, and a lesson in gear selection.  I have one fly rod in use, a five weight.  I had a hard time casting Woolly Buggers and Clousers far enough for them to be effective, but when I could get my fly into the sweet spot, the fish in this river, even with a 4x tippet would usually break my line when I set the hook.  I broke off 3 fish right away, and two other large fish threw the hook.  Eventually I tied on a scud and landed a smaller smallmouth bass just for the sake of not getting skunked, but the fish was so small, I was too ashamed to take a picture.

Monday morning I was taken out on Hoot Lake in a boat for some early morning fishing.  We were the only boat on the water, and we caught zero fish in the short time we were out.

I really want to invest in a 7 weight rod.

Rough Fish On The Menomonee, Patience On The Milwaukee

I went out fishing on the Menomonee yesterday upstream from the concrete.  The restorations are happening and I don't want to get too in the way.  My little girl and I threw some little spoons for creek chub just to kill some time.  We caught many chub, and a few really pretty sunfish.

This was a monster of a chub

same fish as above.  I think it probaby
came in around 9 inches.

A pretty cool trilobite fossil

This morning we went to the Milwaukee River.  We were on the water just after 9:00am.  The fishing started really slowly.  The water is low, the weeds are thick, and there was no feeding.  We walked downstream a long ways and only landed one fish, one other got away.

Then at approximately 11:20, they just turned on.  I hooked and lost a fish, then on the next cast, I caught a beautiful bass.

Next cast, my jig hits the water, and there is a fish on as soon as I flip the bail.  That fish throws the hook, and another fish grabs the jig! Then that fish throws the hook.  Finally, a third fish slams into it!  As the fish tires and comes in, I can see the bass surrounded by no less than three other bass that are biting at the jig in his mouth!  The fish isn't even acting like he's trying to get away from me, he's fleeing from other fish!  This was my nicest fish of the day.

I caught many smallmouth after this, but most were less than ten inches.  It sure was fun though.

It's crazy how they can just switch on like that so quickly.  I literally went from having two fish on in hundreds of casts to having five fish on in three casts.  That's a lesson in timing and patience.