Sunny Success

I made my way to Rosenow Creek right around 4:00 Sunday afternoon.  The temperature rose slightly throughout the day and it was perfect when I got there, about 50 degrees and sunny, a slight breeze out of the southwest.  I tied on a rather large white Woolly Bugger, a size 8 I think, and wet it before fishing at the pedestrian bridge.  I usually fish the south bank, but I made a strategic choice and crossed to the north bank to keep my shadow from spooking these native wild beauties.  I dropped my fly in just inches from an undercut bank and let it drift.  Just as I was about to pull the fly out at the end of the drift, my fly went darting under the bank.  This stunningly beautiful brook trout took my fly on the first drift!

That is probably the nicest trout I've caught on this tiny, tricky little stream.  I caught one more a little further downstream in a stretch that will be unfishable in two months.

I ventured just about as far downstream as one can go before trespassing on private property without catching anymore fish.  I let my fly drift through one particular pool that usually holds a fish or two and almost hooked up with a muskrat.  He scared the hell out of me, surfacing right at my feet as I pulled the fly out from under the bank where it had gotten hung up.  I hope it wasn't hung up on him!

I made my way back upstream and caught this one last trout in the same spot I caught the first one.  I also had a miss in this spot.

I crossed to the east side of the trail and headed upstream farther on the south bank.  I have not had as much luck east of the trail, and today was no exception.  My shadow grew long and let the fish know well in advance of my approach.  I saw a few fish dart for cover, but only had one hit that I missed.

Any fish you catch on Rosenow Creek is a fish you can be proud of.  My skunk rate on this stream is over 50%. One or two fish is a decent day.  I think three fish is my second best day.  There was a day last May that I caught a dozen or so trout.  Double digit days on Rosenow are few and far between, at least for me.  I still can't believe I can catch wild brook trout just a 45 minute drive from downtown Milwaukee.

First Skunk of the Season

Yesterday was a pretty rainy day, but the temperature wasn't all that bad.  I studied the radar and saw a brief opening in the rain at just the right time to give me approximately an hour of trout fishing time.

Rosenow flows clear and swiftly with virtually no signs of life.  I only saw two fish, one a nice size, and one very small.  They both darted under a log jam as I made my approach.

I seem to have better luck on Rosenow on sunny days. It sounds like the weather Sunday is supposed to be pretty nice.  I'm sure I'll find myself out that way again.

Rosenow is a tricky creek, but it's so rewarding when it all comes together.

Heading North

This morning I'll be going to Sheboygan County to fish the Onion River.  A friend's report says the action on the surface is pretty good. 

 

I always make these hand drawn color coded maps
for streams I've never fished.


This past weekend,  that same friend, plus another, and I went out to Waukesha County to fish Rosenow Creek.  I hadn't been there in about a month, and now it is almost unfishable. 

walking through this was rough

The grass is armpit high, and with the rain we got overnight, it felt like we were wading well before we even saw the stream.  Despite the rain, Rosenow runs clear yet again.  This creek is resilient in that way, it rebounds very quickly.  Then there are the weeds.  The creek was so full of them, I don't know how the fish can swim in there.  Despite all this, there were still fish caught. 



His first brook trout



Pretty fish

Busy Times

I went fishing a few times in the past  couple weeks.  Last Sunday my car broke down in Oconomowoc while I was fishing out there.  At least I caught a fish -- it was a nice one too!  Rosenow Creek was really amazing Thursday and Friday. Thursday I just fished a little while waiting for the tow truck to meet me.  I caught two fish right away.

The colors on that first one are so rich, it looked more like a dolly varden or an arctic char or something.

I took my daughter with me yesterday so she could see some trout.  Of course, she fell asleep on my chest instantly while I hooked up with trout after trout on spinning tackle.  I didn't even keep count, that creek was full of trout.  Fresh green grass is starting to show around the creek, and weeds are starting to grow in the stream.  It will be overgrown and almost unfishable soon.

All This Rain

When I went out to Waukesha County today, I was sure I would leave my gear in the car because the streams were unfishable.  As I drove, all the streams I saw were flowing through the trees, showing no regard for Man's attempt to tame them.
I had to see though, what Rosenow Creek looked like.
I parked my car and walked the trail, totally expecting the creek to be flowing over the narrow bridge, but it wasn't.  It was high, but not that high. And it was as clear as the Milwaukee River on an average day, if not clearer.
I went back for my gear.
I went downstream first.  The area around the creek was really swampy, and the fishing was hard, much of the prime structure was unfishable.  I went back upstream and fished the other side of the trail.
I'm less familiar with this stretch, so I explored a little more.  I found a pond back in the overgrowth that I had no idea existed.  I walked upstream  past the overpass on the north side of the stream and took the south side back, fishing the structure and the rocky banks.

I was making single casts at each fishy looking location, casually fishing while walking back to the car.  Finally, despite the high water, the wind and the rain, a trout took my bugger.

Eventful Saturday Morning

The past few weekends, I'd made it a goal to look at a couple trout streams I hadn't fished before.  This morning, I visited three.  Two new, one I'd fished before, but with no success.  The first was Coco Creek.  I looked at three separate places without fishing any of them.

The next stream was Mason Creek.  On my way to the stream, I saw many turkeys, geese, and sandhill cranes.  I love getting out of the city and seeing a little bit of wildlife.  Not too far from where the next pulloff was, I spotted a big dead roadkill turkey.  I continued on to one overpass, it looks tight and technical.  The next one is a little more open, but I think it flows through private property.  Maybe I'll wade it someday, but not today

I had to backtrack a little to get to my final destination.  On the way, I pulled off by the turkey.  Very dead, but still whole.

Those tail feathers were in beautiful shape, and to buy them, they might run up to $5.00 apiece.  I gleaned the roadkill of seven beautiful feathers for fly tying.  It would have been a crime not to in my opinion.

Now on to Rosenow Creek.  Thrice skunked, yet I return.  I was the only car there again, I made my way downstream.  Right away, I started seeing the occasional shadow of fish darting from cover and disappearing in the shadows, but no takes on my Bugger.  I tried some nymphs, still nothing.  I made it about as far as I could go before crossing the stream on downed trees piled up at the widest point, then headed back.  There were some really promising looking spots I just couldn't get to on the north bank.  I lost my scud in a tree, and tied on a bigger streamer.  I dapped it in along an undercut bank, and finally a fish darted out and took it, and quickly came ashore.

It's too bad my camera didn't have time to focus for that picture.  It was a beautiful fish, it felt like holding a handful of emeralds, speckled with occasional sapphires, rubies, and garnet.  Here is another shot from my phone.

The brook trout fell for one of my Black Barbers, how cool is that?  The sun really shone brightly from the red holo tinsel.

This is my first brook trout.  It is also my first fish on my new fly rod, and my first wild trout on a hand tied fly.  

Glacial Landscapes

Some pictures from today's trout stream exploration.  Note the lack of fish.

I had Rosenow to myself

I was actually behind a hatchery truck

Scuppernong River, Kettle Moraine State Forest

I thought I heard a trout rise.  It was ice falling in.

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!

How To Tie An Elk Hair Caddis

I had recently checked out Essential Trout Flies by David Hughes from the Milwaukee Public Library.  There are many nice flies in the book, but I was mostly interested in the Elk Hair Caddis patterns.  The book gives great instructions as well as advice on how to present the patterns.  I learned that if you plan on fishing calmer waters with the caddis, as opposed to heavy riffles and rapids, you can omit the hackle in a size 16 or smaller fly.  Omitting the hackle makes tying a caddis much easier, at least for me.  I can tie about ten an hour this way, which is about the same rate I can lose them in streamside vegetation in my backcast!  And seriously, you're going to use floatant anyway, right?

What you'll need

• Dry fly hooks, size 16 or smaller
• Tan thread
• Dubbing
• Elk hair

I like to use dubbing plus, well, because it's what I have-- and it can be teased out a little to look more like insect legs.  Working with elk hair is a little tricky when you're first learning. The trick is learning the "soft loop."  What you'll do is hold the tips of the hair tightly in your left hand directly on top of the hook, then wrap one wrap loosely over the bunch and back down under the hook shank.  then as you come back over, pull the thread tight and watch as the clipped ends of hair stand out at crazy angles.  

I don't have a hair stacker, so I just try to pinch a bunch of hair on the hide and keep the ends fairly even.  It's just one more step I can skip to make fly tying that much simpler.  And hey, the trees trout probably won't notice anyway.

here is a video of me tying a size 16 elk hair caddis in under five minutes.

A couple pictures of finished flies.

Size 16

Size 16 close up

Size 18

If you're new to tying, click on the "Fly Tying" label on the right, I have some previous posts for fly tying beginners.  I'm kind of a n00b myself, I just got the hang of working with the elk hair. It just takes a lot of practice.

Tie one of these with its inventor, Al Troth in mind.  Al passed this past August after reaching level 82.  You've reached Legendary status in the fly fishing world Al, you will be missed.

America's High Five

This March, if everything goes according to plan, we will be spending our little girl's first birthday in Michigan.  I am already planning on spending at least one whole day fishing.  I hope to hit the North Branch White River for an opener, and possibly Knutsen Creek a little if it's not closed to fishing.  From there a trek to the main branch of the White, and possibly a strong finish at the mighty Muskegon River.  I caught my first brown in the Muskegon.

The North Branch is out in the middle of State owned land.  Once the two-track ends, there's quite a hike involved in getting to the water, so pressure is light.  It is generally around ten feet across.  Knutsen Creek feeds in at a bend, offering cooler water into a pool that produces fish, if you can keep your fly out of the cedar.  My last trip in Michigan before moving to Wisconsin was spent camping in the forest and fishing this area.  These are some photos from that trip.

Cedars

Knutsen Creek

Bluffs along the creek

A buildup of sticks 

A fallen tree over the creek

Beautiful forest

Viking coffee

We always called this
stuff "snake grass"

The North Branch

North Branch White River

Beautiful river

It got cold that weekend!

Sunrise

The White River's main branch is probably my all time favorite salmon stream.  It's bigger than a creek, but not so big that you don't know where to begin.  I can cast across it with spinning gear with ease and accuracy.  I never caught trout in the lower stretch, it's too sandy.  As you get upstream, you find better trout waters.  Lots of oxbows, pools and uncercut banks.  I've never fished above the Hesperia dam, And I always kept a few miles below it.  I don't even remember the street names, but there was a general store on the corner that sold the best chili dogs and great trout flies.

White River at the Countyline Bridge

The lower stretch of the White, just
a few miles up from Lake Michigan

The Muskegon is an enormous river that is way overused.  I've almost come to blows with drunken tubers who want to offer me their "worms" for bait.  They never seem to take it too well when you tell them that you're fishing for keepers, and their bait isn't big enough.  Usually in the summer months, smallmouth bass are the main target but there are plenty of nice browns in there, rainbows too.  The best fishing is upstream from the Maple Island Bridge or even the Bridgeton Bridge.  There is a rest stop with a scenic overlook that I liked to fish at in Newaygo.  There are about twenty stories worth of steps to get down to the river, so pressure is light, if you get there before the tubers.

I'm so excited to fish in Michigan again!  I've started tying some flies, now I just have to work on getting a new fly rod.  I'll fish with spinning gear if I have to, but I sure hope to fly fish.