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.

Rough Fish On The Menomonee, Patience On The Milwaukee

I went out fishing on the Menomonee yesterday upstream from the concrete.  The restorations are happening and I don't want to get too in the way.  My little girl and I threw some little spoons for creek chub just to kill some time.  We caught many chub, and a few really pretty sunfish.

This was a monster of a chub

same fish as above.  I think it probaby
came in around 9 inches.

A pretty cool trilobite fossil

This morning we went to the Milwaukee River.  We were on the water just after 9:00am.  The fishing started really slowly.  The water is low, the weeds are thick, and there was no feeding.  We walked downstream a long ways and only landed one fish, one other got away.

Then at approximately 11:20, they just turned on.  I hooked and lost a fish, then on the next cast, I caught a beautiful bass.

Next cast, my jig hits the water, and there is a fish on as soon as I flip the bail.  That fish throws the hook, and another fish grabs the jig! Then that fish throws the hook.  Finally, a third fish slams into it!  As the fish tires and comes in, I can see the bass surrounded by no less than three other bass that are biting at the jig in his mouth!  The fish isn't even acting like he's trying to get away from me, he's fleeing from other fish!  This was my nicest fish of the day.

I caught many smallmouth after this, but most were less than ten inches.  It sure was fun though.

It's crazy how they can just switch on like that so quickly.  I literally went from having two fish on in hundreds of casts to having five fish on in three casts.  That's a lesson in timing and patience.

Help me identify this fish

In earlier posts, I referred to this fish as a bluegill.

I was just looking at it though, and I thought to myself, "that doesn't look like a bluegill."  All those species in the Sunfish family are kind of the same looking.  Sunfish back in Michigan have bright yellow bellies, but maybe this is a species we don't have in Michigan.  I've checked my Field Guide to North American Fishes, but nothing really looks all that similar.  I caught it in the Menomonee River on a bead head scud.  I'm sure it belongs to the genus Lepomis, but I can't figure out the species.

My Favorite Fishing Trip of 2012

My dad makes a trip to Magician Lake in Dowagiac, Michigian with some family every year.  The trip usually happens in the middle of June, but this year it was bumped up to the end of May.  I have always wanted to make this trip, but I was never able to because of work, school, or whatever else.

This year, with our little one being just two and a half months old, we decided it would be a good practice trip for our much longer upcoming trip to Minnesota in July.  It should have been around a three hour drive, but it turned into a five hour drive with all the stops our baby needed us to make for her.

We got to the cottage, hauled in stuff, hugged and greeted family before I put together my fly rod, strung it up, selected one of my size 6 olive and grizzly bead head buggers and made for the end of the dock.  My cast had become rusty because I didn't get much of an opportunity to fish the year before.  There was a stiff breeze, so I tried to use it to my advantage and cast with it a good twenty yards or so and started stripping back.  I couldn't believe it when I had a strong strike on the first cast, and neither could anyone else.  My 5 weight had a nice bend in it as the fish took a little line, but it tired quickly and came in.  It was one of the biggest, brightest sunfish I had ever caught, probably close to ten inches!  I had another hit on my next cast, and a foot long largemouth bass cleared the water and broke my tippet.  I decided to stop because I had not yet purchased my license.  When my brother finally showed up, we took a trip to the intersection that the locals refer to as "town" and got our licenses.

The next day we didn't hit the water until late morning.  My wife and baby relaxed in the grass with some books while we were out.  My uncle Paul played the role of the drunken guide.  We drifted in circles and fished for a few hours, everyone caught fish-- mostly on Bass Stopper worms.

My dad and brother Shane

Uncle Paul, brother Kyle and aunt Lollie

Baby and mommy relax

Shane always crashes hard

Later that evening, I paddled out to the raft in the paddleboat and fished with a worm under a bobber with my spinning rod, and cast buggers with my fly rod.  I landed some sunfish and bluegill on the spinning rod and lost some nice bass on the fly.

The following day we hit the water much earlier.  Paul's brother Lloyd played the part of a much more professional guide on this outing.  Only my dad, Kyle, Lloyd and I were going out, so we all piled into one boat, and we were on the fish right away.  Between the four of us, we kept like fifteen bass!

Nice sized bullhead, we all laughed about that

That bass is smaller than the lure!

That's a little better

Dad with his two biggest bass

It sure was hard to leave for Wisconsin, but I'm sure we'll make it again.  Lily cried most of the way home, but she slept some too.  She's much better at car rides now.

I can't believe how tiny she was!