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.