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.

The Lapland Jam

If you have never heard of Jazz And Fly Fishing, you need to check them out.

 

 

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?

Exploring Outside of Milwaukee

Saturday, my friend Tony invited me to fish in some streams north of town near Manitowoc.  First we fished the West Twin River for smallmouth.  I caught one right away, but neither of us caught any after that.  It was the biggest smallmouth I've caught so far this season.

After pounding all the smallmouth structure, I saw some rising fish dimpling the surface.  I tied on an elk hair caddis and went after them.

I love catching anything on a dry fly. I caught half a dozen or so of these minnows, then we headed for the east branch to try for some trout.

I caught some chubs and minnows on dries, but nothing else.  Tony landed a couple browns.  I managed to snap some pics of one of them

On to the Manitowoc River.  We first stopped at an overpass neither of us had ever fished at.  We both caught a couple fish, but nothing overly exciting.  It seemed just to be an off day.

We hit one more spot a little further upstream.  I went upstream, Tony headed down.  I lost one smaller than average smallmouth, I don't think Tony caught any.  As I headed back down to meet up with Tony I took a nasty spill that left me reeling like Peter Griffin.  I stepped in a crevice between two sheets of concrete and tripped over another. The piece I stumbled over put its jagged edge into my thigh, and my attempt to brace for the fall resulted in another jagged edged piece of concrete finding the inside of my forearm.  My thigh is still quite sore, the arm is fine.  I must have been in some serious pain at the time, because I no longer wanted to fish, and I have fished in some pretty miserable conditions.

Back in Milwaukee, I have started fishing up above the concrete on the Menomonee River and found a healthy creek chub population.  Nice sized fish that bite artificials consistantly and are great fun when I don't feel like driving.  I've fished for these with fly gear and spinning gear.  The best lures seem to be tiny trout spoons.  A 1/8 ounce Little Cleo works great.  Spinners have been productive as well.  I'll try to catch anything.

Trailer

I threw this together for my youtube channel.

Scouting Waukesha Trout Streams

Early trout season is almost upon us.  Though I doubt I'll actually make it out for opening weekend, I'm itching to get out soon.  It has been a long time since I've actually fished a small trout stream.

I started asking questions about Waukesha trout streams on a local fishing forum and got some nice responses, though nobody else had fished them.  The verdict: Access is spotty, the trout are overlooked.  I circled a few overpasses and access points on a map, intent on finding nice trout water within an hour drive from Milwaukee.

This morning, I had some errands to run after work in Waukesha.  UnFortunately, everything is still closed when I get out of work.  With an hour to kill, I unfolded my map, and made way for the proximity of Rosenow Creek, this creek doesn't even show up on my map.

This is what I found:

There was a parking lot big enough for about ten cars (or eight SUVs) with a nicely developed trail.

The stream flows from East to West, mostly a dark bottom, rarely over two foot deep, and almost narrow enough to jump across.

Manmade tracks give way to deer tracks a few hundred yards downstream.

The fishing upstream looks to be a little more technical.

The stream looks promising. I didn't explore it too much, I'll come back and explore more thoroughly with my gear.  There were a couple other streams I wanted to look at, but they were rather far away.  I'll look at those another time.

Just a reminder, there are still a few days left to enter the giveaway!