Man vs. Wild
There’s no question that I fancy myself an explorer. But in reality, my sense of adventure is often tempered by things like, parenting duties, work, and the certainty of my urban existence. The fishing community is rife with like-minded travelers searching far and wide seeking what experience “isn’t” in their own backyards. Exchanging pleasantries with...
This Must be Just Like Living Paradise
I went out today with the intention of fishing for bass on the fly rod. After an hour fishing one of my go to spots, it just wasn’t happening. I wasn’t even finding the little guys that I expected to find in reasonable numbers. My mind began to wander, which got me thinking about going after...
Trout Season 2011, We’ll Miss You
Fished for an hour or two late morning for brookies. The bite was decent and the water was low (big surprise) I got most of my fish on a large bead-head pheasant tail fishing under and indicator and a few on a small brown bugger. I have done very little nymphing under an indicator this...
All Style and No Substance
I had a meeting this morning that had me going less than 50 yards from Brown’s Creek north of Stillwater. I felt obligated to take a look. I had very low expectations for Brown’s based upon my internet research and word of mouth. This stream lived up to it’s lackluster reputation! I didn’t see or hook...
Tour de Pierce
School starts on Monday, so yesterday I decided I’d pile the youngsters in the car in search of trout and other trouble. I had been meaning to get deeper into Pierce county this summer, but hadn’t really made it. Our first stop (not including Dairy Queen in Ellsworth) was a quick stop to pay our...
It Just Wasn’t Meant to Be…
You ever have one of those trips where nothing seems to go right? This weekend was my turn to be Clark Griswold taking the family to Wisconsin Dells for my wife’s family reunion. The original plan was to venture a bit further away from the waterslide capital of the world to do a bit of...
Hot weather, ice cold trout
I Ran over to Plum Creek for some brookie fishing with Jack, my 4-year old son on Friday. Fished downstream near the water treatment plant. Upstream of this stretch were massive piles of rip rap for the yet to be “improved” section (sorry I forget to snap in pics). We pulled a few fish out...
Introducing the Unloved Trout of Waukesha County
For those who haven’t studied their geography map of Wisconsin lately, Waukesha County is suburban Milwaukee. I have family in the area and get there fairly frequently (including this weekend). In my 12 years of visiting there I’ve always bypassed the local stream trout water because I’ve been told by everyone I’ve chatted with that...
Touring the Heart of the Badger Beast
I Started the morning optimistically before dawn on a pasture section of Black Earth Creek with the fly rod. This was the first of many stops on my attempt to tour the streams of the greater Madison area on a half day outing. Threw a mouse just for fun in the dark until it was...
A Winona State of Mind
We made the run down to the Winona area for the Memorial Day weekend, as my wife is a Winona State alum. The kids had a good time at Farmer’s Park on Garvin Brook. Not a prime location from a hardcore fishing standpoint, but a solid choice for a picnic with the family and...
Little Trout, Big Smiles
My 4-year old son Jack got his first brown trout in about 30 seconds on his first cast with a worm. I opted to start his inaugural trout outing on the golf course like ease of the big numbers, little average size Upper Kinni. Hold on tight Jack! You’ll remember this one for awhile!...
