I managed to get up to the Driftless Area of Wisconsin twice in the last two weeks and had great success. Last week the conditions were cool and wet, but the fish didn’t seem to mind. We landed several fish around the 15-18 inch mark on leeches and woolly buggers; some which came out of creeks small enough to jump across. Don’t be fooled by the small creek= small fish theory! Although streamers got the bigger fish’s attention, caddis pupa and emergers were taking fish consistently. Justin has most of the photos from last week, but I will be sure to post them when I get them. Here is one of the nicer browns.
This week we experienced some heavy rains that put water levels above the banks on most of the creeks in Wisconsin. Fishing smaller streams and feeder creeks to larger rivers is not only still possible, but very productive. When the rain had passed and the sun came out the insects started to take flight. After a few minutes of watching large caddis flutter around me I tied on a stimulator to match the size and started pulling fish out of every riffle on the creek. Mostly brook trout with a few browns mixed in here and there. Large nymphs, san juan worms, and streamers were also getting bites, but I couldn’t resist the dry fly action.
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