Steelhead Starting to Happen – Southern Wisconsin

All the rain that passed through in the last month brought the rivers up and the fish have started to make their move.  On Sunday I took a look at several different rivers before settling at the Root.  The Milwaukee was running slushy and high in most places.  Oak Creek surprisingly was void of people, but after walking a good bit of stream and fishing a couple holes it seemed void of any numbers of fish as well.  After talking with one of the other few guys out there he seemed to have the same results.  When I arrived at the root I could see the water level was up and had the perfect stain to it.  We fished a favorite spot of mine for an hour or so and made our way to some of the more popular parks up stream.  At the last spot I could see a guy carrying two fish on a stringer up to his truck.  This was a good thing for two reasons – one, he was leaving, and two, there seemed to be some fish in this area.  My friend Andrew and I fished hard for a while and I was just about to call it a day when finally it happened!  A beautiful red male took a swinging fly in a slow foam line behind a downed tree.  The ten day weather forecast seems to show the temperature rising.  If true, the next 2-3 weeks is gonna be the best time to get at these fish before their focus completely switches gear from defensive predator to romantics with lock jaw.  Focus on the fish holding in deep bends and in pools below riffles and you’ll find the more aggressive fish.