Two Week Long Slump

Wednesday was my day off of work, and I was determined to spend as much time as I could trying to end my slump.  I planned on fishing in the Menomonee for rough fish, possible late steelhead and whatever warm water species might be in there.  I got a new reel for my 9wt and I'm yet to break it in.

I picked up my little girl and started for the river just after 9:00.  It wasn't long before it was raining, but we continued.  As we got closer to the river, it became apparent that the crews were working at the improvements again.  And they were working right where we usually find access.  The rain really started to fall, and we were forced to seek shelter under the Wisconsin Avenue bridge over the valley.  The Menomonee would not be fished today.

The storm really raged.  Thunder and lightning, hail, and a raging torrent where the Menomonee flowed calmly minutes before.

With my morning plans ruined, I dropped off Cleo for her nap and made for the Cafe Hollander for lunch.  I had a wild boar sandwich with ginger sriracha barbecue sauce, sweet potato fries, and a Chimay White.  Truly a world class beer and a great meal all around.

Round two, we headed out to Oconomowoc for some trout fishing.  All I could do was hope that all the  streams in Southeast Wisconsin weren't totally blown out by the storm.  I know this stream rebounds quick, but how quick?  We were going to find out.

The stream flowed clearly, but the surrounding land was swamped.  Walking along the stream was a miserable experience.  I was ankle deep in muck much of the time as spot after spot failed to yield any fish.  

Finally, the stretch above gave up one trout.  Cleo said "I love that brook trout."

The slump is over.

It Begins

It's been a few months again.  I have a place I call my own now, but it is far from where I want to be.  Things are continuously looking better in my future every day.  

This winter has been brutal!  I'd normally use the winter months to concentrate on tying, but I have not found time with my constantly evolving situation.  My stocks are low from last season, but I think I can manage to venture out soon.

I think I'm going to fish my favorite Waukesha County trout stream very soon.  They may be hard to find this time of year, but those wild brook trout are absolutely gorgeous!

My go-to streamer on Rosenow

Tony's first brookie

My first brookie

That is a beautiful fish

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!