Deerfield River Video

Here is a quick video of the Deerfield River that I took with my camera, it is very quick because my camera dies at the end of the video! I landed 7-8 Browns & Bows within a two hour period. It was all top water w/ a mayfly emerger pattern in a creamish color. I wish I had pictures but, my camera was dead. On the way to this stretch of the stream we passed one of Bill Cosby's houses, and we actually had to walk a little bit to this part of the stream because the Red bridge was under construction. It was an awesome part of the stream and I wish the video showed it a little better!

End of the Season Trout Pictures!

Snowy days ahead...

With all these snowy days ahead of us in Wisconsin, why not pull out some good reading material! I am officially on Winter break and I will be reading my old fly fishing magazines, books, and online articles! When you can't be on the waters learning, grab a good read and learn! Two weekends ago I was up by the BG and some of the bigger/longer pools had a thin layer of ice on them, although the streams looked to be in great condition. One thing I will be addressing this up coming spring is; restoration that is greatly needed on some of the area trout Streams in SW Wisconsin!

Wisconsins Officially Closed Trout Season for the Winter.

So the season is officially closed and I have been very busy Bowhunting and filming with a trip to Gillette, WY with Jana Waller, Bruce Langer, and Dakota Case all fellow HCO partners. Honey Creek Outdoors also has a blog...http://honeycreekoutdoors.blogspot.com/ Here is the link to that, enjoy. The trip was Sept. 6th through the 12th and we were all bowhunting for antelope. Other than hunting I have been very busy with college! It's beginning to be the end of hunting season, so my mind will be turning to SCOUTING/SHED HUNTING and soon fly fishing again! Tricos were coming off good and the nymph fishing was fantastic as usual. Particularly on the BG I didn't have the greatest luck w/ Hoppers...but, I did find that I had good luck w/ beetles and ants! Stay tuned and I'll be posting some more... I have some left over pictures of some trout I have caught at the end of this trout season!

Getting Started in the Driftless Region

As a beginner, all of the options for gear can get pretty confusing! After a couple years of really figuring out what I need and don't need, it is all about being simple. To get started all you need is a 4 or 5 wt. fly rod if you are going to be fishing on these small streams. The length of your rod should be 8-9ft. long. A weight forward floating fly line is all you need on your rod. An expensive reel is not needed as most fish you catch won't be peeling off 50-60 yds. of line. I feel that the color of your floating line is a personal choice.(I prefer green)

--> Tippet & Leader- Leader is the line you will be attaching to your WF Floating line and the Tippet is used to make your leader longer (when you keep tying flies on, your leader will begin to get too short and you can use tippet to extend the life of your leader) I use Orvis leaders 9ft. 5x and I use Orvis Tippet Material in 5x.(The 5x or 6x and so on that appears on your tippet or leader package represents the strength/lbs. of your line. 5x is normally around 4lbs. and is the most commonly used tippet/leader.

--> Flies- You do not need an extensive amount of flies. Keep it simple- some basic nymphs, dry flies, streamers, and terrestrials.

Some choices for flies for each category would be: Nymphs-(pheasant tail,hares ear,copper john,prince nymphs.) Dry Flys-(Royal Coahman, Royal Wulff,Adams,Blue Winged Olives,Sulphurs,&Elk Hair Caddis) Streamers-(Wooly buggers,Zonkers,Clouser minnow,Muddler Minnow) & Terrestials(Daves Hopper, Letort Hopper,Black Ant,Beetles)

I also recommend getting a pair of Polarized glasses. They are a great help for spotting rising trout, emerging insects, and seeing yellow flashes as a big brown is feeding below the surface.

You will also need a pack to carry your arsenal- I prefer a hip/fanny pack over chest packs because I get warm very easily. I use a hip pack by Fishpond. William Joseph & Fish pond make great affordable packs!

All you need below:

Fly Rod-4wt./5wt. 8-9ft.

Fly Reel-4wt./5wt. WF Floating Line (any color line)

Leader/Tippet- Normally 9ft. 5x (Experience with different brands)

Polarized Sun Glasses

A fly box- that consists of Nymphs,Dry Flies,Streamers,& Terrestrials.

A good pack that is comfortable for your style & conditions.

Waders & Wading boots(Wet Wading for summertime conditions) You can find all kinds of waders by searching on the net.

Last but not least a couple of gadgets(Clippers,Fly Floatant,& a Retractable Cable to hold them!)

A quick video of a summertime brown!

Here is a quick video of a summertime brownie that I caught off the backend of a riffle/head of a pool. I knew there was a big rock next to the point of grass that stuck out so I just had to cast there. I just happened to be confident enough that there was a trout there that I broke out the video camera quick.

New England Fly Fishing

I moved from Massachusetts when I was 7 years old and came to Wisconsin! My very close cousin graduated this year so my family got together and we headed to Massachusetts. A 16 hour drive and we finally arrived. I set two days aside to just fly fish these beautiful waters and do nothing else. I hooked up with a friend of mine who guides on the Deerfield River (http://www.fishsimplepleasures.com/) and the other rivers in that area. My dad dropped me off and we were off to the river. We had a good 30-40 min. drive in the country where Marcus checked other streams as we drove by and what not. We finally got to a section that was the catch and release section where we hit it off really well. I've never been exposed to crowded fishing ( a fisherman 30 yds. on your left and right) It is a very neat experience and the other fishermen were very curtious and had great stream etiquette. Well, we pulled three good fish out of the run on a caddis emerger in a creamish/green color. The damn let loose around 10 or so and the rest of the day was chasing the flow down river. Marcus knew of a good spot by a bridge where he normally puts in the drift boat so we hit that section, and we had the whole stretch to ourselves. The river was crystal clear and the caddis/mayflies were hatching everywhere. I picked and chose fish that were rising and caught around 6 or 7 good browns and rainbows. I had a blast and learned a few tricks Marcus had up his sleeve. I can't wait to go back again and do a flot trip this time around!

Father Son Weekend

Itook my father out for his first time fly fishing adventure with me on the Driftless Area trout streams. We fished the big green river/Little green river in Grant county and had a great weekend. I was a little nervous that his casting might not be good enough to present flies well enough to these wary brown trout. A little coffee and a good breakfast and we were off to a private piece of a river that we had permission to fish on! I knew there were going to be some big trout in here and it was just a matter of time before we got into them. Well, as we started to work the stream up we noticed that we were spooking some good trout as the water was very clear. We went into stealth mode and found a good looking lie, a good cast, and a fast hook set left us empty handed. As you all know when you are anticipating a bite you might jump the trigger a little too quick and rip the fly right out of the trouts mouth. We both had a rod and I was mosty guiding so I had a 4wt. rod rigged with a nymph set up(for the runs) and the 5wt. rigged up with a streamer(for the deep pools). We came to a really nice pool and hadn't spooked any trout and that is when my dad caught his first brown on a fly rod! Here are a couple of the trout that we took pics. of-the one on the left is a brown I caught and the rest are my dads! All in all the trip was a success and I had a great time with my dad! I posted a video on my facebook but, the video did not upload the whole thing so there is only a 2 min. video that doesn't show much of our trip!

River Report

Aug. 15/16th- Streams were running crystal clear! The weather was mid summer conditions: foggy and a comfortable 60 dgrs. in the morning and warming up to the high 70's lower 80's. Trico fishing was on in the morning lasting till around 9 a.m. Fish were caught on tandem rig nymph set ups during the afternoon. When I set up a tandem rig I usually tie on a bigger fly (big for me/ the driftless area) usually a size 16 mayfly or caddis nymph. I attach my dropper with a Clinch knot and how long the dropper is all depends on what type of water I am fishing. Faster water is usually not as long as a big deep slow pool. In the afternoons tie on a beetle, ant, or a hopper with a dropper (copper john, midge, the list goes on) Afternoon I usually try to match the late evening hatch which at this time of year it was a yellow mayfly about size 22! Keep lots of floatant handy and a drag free drift should have you hooked up!

The streams S. of the Wisconsin River in Grant county were hit with some rains so some of the bigger/siltier streams may be still chocolate milk! Look to fish the smaller streams/tributaries.

*My go to fly for the weekend was a Black Trico with a white foam top for visability.

Driftless Area Fly Fishing

So I am brand new to this blogging and I wanted to blog about my trout adventures that I go on!