Menomonee River Restoration Is Underway

It's been talked about for a few years now, but actions speak louder than words.  I've visited the stretch a few times since the machinery has breached the wall and moved earth.  It's pretty insane to think about the amount of water that has to be moved to get to the concrete beneath it, and I always wondered how it was done.

The workers constructed a makeshift dam with boulders, gravel, and a thick plastic sheet above the section of the river to be restored.  A powerful pump was placed in the pool above the dam to move the water through a pretty large pipe.  I'd say 30 inches in diameter.

The water is pumped through the thousand foot pipe to a point below where the restoration is occurring.  A similar pipe is constructed on the opposite bank, so when the south bank is complete, the pipe is detached and connected to the pipe on the north bank.

I'm not sure what will happen to the salmon run this fall during the restorations.  It appears the water is only pumped through the pipe when the crews are actually working, so fish will still be able to swim through at night and during the weekend.

On another note, I've finally caught fish on dry flies in the Menomonee, unlocking another Menomonee River achievement.  I was walking through the concrete section with my little girl, and I had my fly rod just in case I saw some fish.

My Little Cleo loves smelling flowers

I started to see some fish rising, so I tied on a tiny little Elk Hair Caddis and made a cast, hoping for a bluegill.  It took a few casts before I finally got a take.  It was a common shiner, I believe. Some sort of minnow that's for sure.  It was fun, and I caught a few more.

She loves to pet fish

I found a spot above the concrete where I can catch green sunfish pretty consistently.  It's so close to home; any time I get the itch I can walk down to the river and catch fish.

Be careful of the spines!

I'm sure ready to see some salmon in the streams here in Milwaukee, are you?  I hope to see you out there.

I Don't Know How Much Longer I Can Hold This

All this time we've lived in our new apartment, I would always go upstream to fish the more natural stretches of the Menomonee River.  Keep in mind, "more natural" is a relative term, meaning, much less concrete and spray paint.

I had errands to run, which brought me near a park along the Menomonee about two miles farther downstream from where I usually fish.  I parked my car, got my gear,  jumped the wall, and saw fish everywhere.  Suckers, salmon and pike all over among the piles of "evidence" of so many unsolved, possibly unreported crimes.  Fish finding cover amongst skateboards, refrigerators, a stop sign, construction barrels, bicycles, chef's knives, chef's knives?  CHEF'S KNIVES!  I start casting, but it's a tough crowd.  The pike are amongst the suckers, why would they chase a swimbait?  I walked a ways up and down stream, amazed by the size of the fish I saw, but time was short, and after this, I knew where to find fish.  This kind of water is all new to me!  It reminds me of the motorcycle chase scene from Terminator 2.  The lower urban stretch is still within walking distance, I've always just been walking the wrong way, a return trip would be necessary.

A pair of northern pike.

Click to enlarge.

The weekend found me in the concrete canyon of the lower stretch of the Menomonee River an awful lot.  I had never seen another person down there, but apparently the word is out that the autumn salmon run has begun, despite the catastrophically low water levels.  Instinct can overcome low water, log jams, even miles of concrete and mounds of forensic evidence.  I wasn't ready to fish, I was just there to observe, as were many others.  I only saw one guy catch a fish, a beautiful female.  Saturday evening while walking with my baby in the carrier, we found a sweet fossil.  Weekends are always crazy for salmon fishing, I waited to wet my line until monday.

This guy caught her on a spawn sack.

Pretty awesome trilobite fossil.

Catching a salmon on a fly was something I've always wanted to do, so I tied some egg sucking leeches over the weekend.  I waited until mid morning to hit the stream with my gear, there were salmon everywhere -- and I had the stream to myself.  It wasn't long before I was hooked up with a big female.  She was tired, but still had some spirit!  I landed her and released her above the rapids she was struggling to get over.  A male followed, also released above the rapids.  The third fish fought the hardest; a nice male that ran downstream, forcing me into a thousand yard chase; the concrete bank makes for a great sidewalk.  The fish eventually tired and came in.

One of my hand tied #6 egg sucking leeches.

Fish on!

Nice female

Not as pretty as the female.

Action shot, I was just along for the
ride with this guy.

I love the color of
a spawning male

Resusitating the fish.

Such a beautiful sight, seeing
him swim away,

Three fish landed on the fly, three fish released.  What a great way to start the week.  I followed it up by catching and releasing three more Tuesday on spinning tackle with my baby girl, landing two of them by hand.  All of them were caught on Thundersticks.  One had a gold Little Cleo stuck in its tail that I took out.  Wednesday, I caught and kept a 34" female.  Seven fish in three days, those accomplishments are coming along pretty nicely.

34" salmon 

Achievements unlocked

1. (*) Gold Hook (Catch a game fish over the minimum length requirement)
2. (*) Baby Bear (Catch a member of the family: Salmonidae)
3. (*) Mama Bear (Catch a member of the family: Salmonidae that measures over 30")

ITEM Pickups

1. GOLDEN LITTLE CLEO
2. TRILOBITE FOSSIL

Skunked

Last week I got to spend an evening with my beautiful little girl.  She loves being outside, and I had not taken her fishing yet, so I decided we needed to find out if the salmon were running in the Menomonee River yet; maybe I could unlock some of those remaining achievements.  She's just six months old, so I wasn't planning on doing any really serious fishing.

After her nap, we made the two and a half mile trip to the more natural stretch of the river, and she was already being fussy and crabby.  I put her in the carrier on my chest, grabbed my gear out of the trunk and walked to the river.

This picture was taken at an earlier date,
the water is even lower now.

The water is terribly low still, but there is a pool where the water cascades over rock, if there are salmon this far up, they will be bottlenecked up in the pool for sure.  My little angel had a good time when we got to the bank, she loves the water, and there were some ducks and frogs for her to see.
I didn't anticipate how much wearing a baby on my chest would effect my cast, but I still managed to get my lure where I wanted it.  I think my girl's favorite part of fishing was watching the reel spin as I retrieved my line.
I managed to fish for ten or fifteen minutes before baby turned into crabby pants and we stopped fishing without so much as seeing a single fish.  We started walking, and she calmed right down, so I dropped the gear back in the trunk and hit the nature trails.  My sweetie fell asleep instantly, I continued to explore the beautiful Jacobus park as she napped.

Tiny stream.

Very nice trails in the park.

She wakes up! 

Baby had a fun time

She eventually woke up and was a happy, cute little angel.  Even though I got skunked, that was the best fishing yet this season.

Leveling Up

The first thing I like to do when my family moves into a new area is find the closest body of water and come up with a list of achievements to "unlock" on said body of water; like playing video games.  Looking for special "ITEMS" to add to your "Inventory" is also fun.  There are two bodies of water within walking distance of our current apartment, the Menomonee River, and the Washington Park Pond.  My achievements to unlock and ITEM pickups are listed below, I'll list the conditions that need to be met to unlock these achievements as I complete them.

Menomonee River

Achievements

1. (*) Blue Heron (locate three areas likely to hold fish)
2. (*) Eagle Eye (visually locate fish)
3. (*) Bronze Hook (catch a fish)
4. (*) Silver Hook (catch a game fish)
5. (*) Gold Hook (Catch a game fish over the minimum length requirement [Achievement unlocked 10-1-2012]) 
6. (*) Cleanup Crew (catch a rough fish)
7. (*) LATFH (catch a fish on the fly)
8. (*) Elitist (Catch a fish on a dry fly [Achievement unlocked 09-02-13])
9. (*) Baby Bear (Catch a member of the family: Salmonidae [Achievement unlocked 10-1-2012])
10. (*) Mama Bear (Catch a member of the family: Salmonidae that measures over 30" [Achievement unlocked 10-3-2012])
11. ( ) Papa Bear
12. ( ) Hungry Bear

ITEM Pickups

1. FOSSIL FRAGMENT
2. FOSSILIZED CORAL
3. DISK GOLF DRIVER
4. GOLF BALLS

The stretch of the Menomonee River that I live by is very urban, right on the edge of the Menomonee Valley.  People might ask, "Why are you gonna fish in there?"  Because it's there!  It apparently has decent salmon and steelhead runs, and in the past it was stocked with rainbow trout, bass, and pike.  It's too tempting not to fish, and it's a fun place to hang out.

Very urban.

The Menomonee is kind of tucked away and
out of view to most.

My brother Shane throws a golf ball.

After a little rain, it muddies right up.

Looks like dirty dishwater.

As you go upstream, it becomes more natural looking.

So pretty in this stretch.

It doesn't seem to take long to clear up after the rain.

Beautiful remnants of an old bridge

Nice undercut bank.

I found these beautiful flowers.

So pretty, I couldn't bear to pick
one for my wife and daughter.

Some kind of shiner.

Bluegill on a beadhead scud.

FOSSIL FRAGMENT.

FOSSILIZED CORAL.

Washington Park Pond

Achievements

1. ( ) Garden Hackle
2. ( ) The Conqueror Worm
3. ( ) It's Super Effective!
4. ( ) For Beginners 
5. ( ) Pond Scum
6. ( ) Matador
7. ( ) Pot O' Gold
8. ( ) Pond Lord

Washington Park Pond is stocked with some gamefish and catchable trout.  The urban ponds have some different regulations, they're posted around the pond on big yellow signs.  I've never fished it, but I have noticed a lot of surface action in the evening when walking around the pond.  It gets pretty crowded at certain times, but now that kids are back in school, a mid-week fishing stroll might be in order.  When I finally do get a chance to fish the pond I'll post some pictures.

Coming up with lists of achievements is a fun way to fish.  It gives you a goal, something you can check your progress against.  Each time you unlock an achievement, you'll level up for that body of water!  I know it's super nerdy, but I'm a pretty nerdy guy.  My wife calls it "Karping," like Larping-- get it?