Trouterspace

Skam & Hopper Report

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Andrew Jaworski

Summer Steelhead are showing up a bit late this year due to lower Big Lake temps for this time of year. Things are in full swing at IN’s most famous Skamania Creek as I post. Skams started to move into the Joe in late July and I made a trip 2 weeks ago with Jim and we saw plenty of fish moving upstream, but they showed very little interest in biting due to low water and increasing temps. This has been a very mild Summer and the Skam fishing should be great if the trend continues, only we need some rain. I’m determined to see how the tributary fishing is this weekend for Skams if the weather cooperates but it looks sketchy at the moment.

After being defeated by the Skams last week I decided to head to the bushy Summer Driftless to see how the hopper fishing was. Nothing boosts your confidence like taking fish on large top water patterns. Turns out the hopper fishing is behind too due to cooler weather. They were around but not ubiquitous and jumping all over in plague like quantities. I probably fished a few different hopper patterns for 2 hours and had 3 misses. Luckily, the Driftless is very forgiving and I had no problem picking up fish casting size 16’s to the heads of pools. The first brown I landed was quite the specimen. I will definitely come back in a few weeks with a hopper/dropper setup and it should be great fun.

What a beauty

Categories: Driftless Area, fly fishing, steelhead | Tags: driftless area, fly fishing, summer steelhead | Comments Off

Bassin’ The Farm 2

Posted on July 22, 2014 by a_rosati18

Another short video edit from my friend Ben K. Enjoy!

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West Branch Delaware River

Posted on July 22, 2014 by a_rosati18

My girlfriends family organized a gathering near where she grew up in Connecticut last weekend, so like most fisherman I saw this as an opportunity to fish some new places out east. I was told by a friend who lives in central New York that the W.B. Delaware was the place to go in the middle of summer. Being a tailwater the river gets cold water releases from Cannonsville Reservoir to maintain an amazing year round wild trout fishery. Brook, brown, and rainbow trout can be found throughout the river with browns being the most common. I packed my inflatable pontoon and had my lady drop me off a few miles upstream from the cabin where we were staying at the West Branch Angler and Resort. The first hour of my float I had not seen any rising fish so I tried nymphing without much luck. I also tried an ant close the banks, but that didn’t work either. Once the sun started to warm up a bit I noticed my first rise, but not just one, many rises in a small area where a pod of trout had revealed themselves and their weakness…. a size 18 sulphur. I worked this group of fish for almost an hour landing only one and missing two others. As I floated down the river I found a number of runs with groups of actively feeding trout. It was indeed a great day to be on the river. The weather cooperated, the bugs came out, and the fish were hungry. I ended up landing a handful of trout. Most around twelve inches, but I saw plenty of 15-18 inch fish rising to sulphurs.

Categories: brown trout | Tags: brown trout, fly fishing, West Branch Delaware River | Comments Off

Perdido Key, FL Area

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Andrew Jaworski

I joined my girlfriend’s large family on their family vacation in and around the Perdido Key, FL area which is where FL & AL meet. I spent more time participating in the family vacation and taking leisurely walks than fishing. After failing to see any solid fish activity in many of the lagoons the locals recommended wading, I found about 3 hours after sunrise to be the best time to sight fish on the surf since the sun is high enough to give you good visibility and schools of larger fish are still in. I made it out right at sunrise one morning and realized I made a mistake. I really couldn’t see more than 20 feet out and only saw the odd Redfish casually swim by.

I’m very new to salt water fly fishing and the first school of larger fish took me by surprise. It consisted of 3 fish species: Redfish, Black Drum, and Spotted Trout. I didn’t realize different species would school together like that but I guess if they’re the same size that’s all that really matters. It was fun casting to this school and seeing one fish fade out of it to inspect my fly on each cast. In Marco Island last year with Anthony, most all fish were taken on a fast retrieve whether it was a one or two handed retrieve. These fish were fun because I had to experiment with each fish’s mood once it would break away from the school. I usually had to tease the fly and let them slowly approach it and at the last second make the fly dart with a sweeping motion of the rod tip to get them to commit. I went 2 for 6 on Spotted trout and all the Redfish came off pretty quick. They really didn’t commit much to the fly despite the reputation I’ve heard about them when it comes to taking a fly. The Black Drum were the least interested of the group. I filleted the trout, left the skin on, marinated briefly in fresh lemon juice face down for 45 minutes, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a garlic/herb Mrs. Dash, put pads of butter all over on top and baked for 30 minutes on 350 in the oven. It came out great!!!

I also stopped at the Intercoastal Waterway one day. I found about a 1.5 mile stretch where you could pull off anywhere and fish. After about 90 minutes of casting I got into the funnest fish I’ve probably ever caught. It was a Lady Fish that was about 21″. The fish had a half dozen solid jumps, one of which was about 5 feet. The take was very solid and the first run it made jammed my reel since the drag wasn’t high enough. I managed to recover and bring it to hand.

Categories: saltwater, Uncategorized | Tags: saltwater | Comments Off

Driftless Area Trout Fishing 6/13/2014

Posted on June 15, 2014 by a_rosati18

Not often do I get enough time to spend more than half of a day fishing in the Driftless Area, but over the weekend I was able to stay the night on a favorite trout stream in Vernon County. Brett had already been bouncing around creeks for a day before I had arrived and said the fishing had been great. I showed up Friday evening with enough time before sundown to go to a nearby brook trout creek that Brett had discovered earlier this season. I tried a couple dry flies without much luck before switching to a small streamer. First few cast with the streamer produced a few aggressive strikes from one of the larger pools on this small creek. Between he and I we landed maybe 6 or 7 trout in an hour or so and only 1 was a brown trout.

The next morning we started fishing our way back home and stopped at a place south of the Wisconsin River that’s known for having some larger fish. When we approached the pool right under the bridge Brett spotted two big rainbows casually rising. One of my rods was rigged with a foam beetle and since he spotted the fish I gave him the rod and he slipped into position. The first drift the foam beetle was grabbed by a 16 -18 inch rainbow. Brett set the hook, had a tight line for a second, and then it came unglued. He flung it right back out there and a 10 inch brown sipped it and was hooked well and brought to hand. Just up stream I noticed a group of browns feeding on the surface. I picked off a couple with a size 16 ant before I noticed a very different rise off to my right up tight against the bank under an overhanging tree branch. This was the unmistakable rise of a larger trout. First you see the head come up and break the surface followed by a 2 second delay, and then you see the tail cut through the water. This fish was comfortable where it was rising about every 15 seconds. It took me almost a half hour before I made the perfect back handed side arm cast to get under the tree branch, but when I did the fish slowly rose and ate my ant. It quickly charged me and jumped almost 3 feet out of the water, and that’s when I saw about 16 inches of beautiful rainbow trout at the end of my line. It fought like hell and was a perfect way to finish my day. It was hard to leave knowing that there were still more trout eagerly rising up and down that creek, but I guess I’ll have to get to know them another time.

Andrew was also out in the Driftless Area on Friday and his curiosity carried him pretty far north in search of new water. What he found looks pretty awesome. After stopping at many streams, some good, others not so good, Andrew found himself at a long deep pool under a tall bluff with trout steadily rising. I don’t remember if he said he caught one dozen or two dozen fish on the same dry fly. Either way it sounded like a great day of fishing. Here are some photos he shared from his outing.

Categories: Driftless Area, fly fishing, Uncategorized, Wisconsin trout | Tags: driftless area, fly fishing, wisconsin trout | Comments Off

A Trip Up North

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Andrew Jaworski

After some much needed time off, an artist friend and I made our way to the North Woods where I spent Summers with my Dad’s grandparents as a kid in search of scenic water and solitude. I’d ply the water, while my friend sketched. The plan was to fish the upper branches Sunday to avoid the paddle crowds, and hit the main branch the next day as all the paddlers headed home for warm water species. The plan was flawless; every access point the entire weekend (Memorial Day weekend at that) was void of any signs of human life. Rock formation, boulders, birches, pines and other vegetation beautifully littered the banks. There were terrific hatches while I plied the upper reaches but never saw a single rise. I eventually caved and nymphed a heavily weighted stone fly through the deepest rocky stretches without a single dip of the indicator. Of course I ripped a streamer with a sink tip to round out the assault. I didn’t see a single fish at all on day 1. I hit the lower main branch from about 6am – 11am the next morning for bass and pike. The main branch was even more stunning and provided the only action of the trip. A respectable pike followed my large yellow Dahlberg diver and when it made it’s move, so did I. The hook didn’t set and just came straight out.

I really wanted some positive reinforcement to venture further from home to hook fish on new scenic waters, far away, where a day trip is out of the question. Instead I left with a big ol’ skunk which is best handled by wearing it like a badge of honor, but yet I seem to go through the same psychological perfunctory dance from time to time when I get skunked. “Do I need to catch fish to enjoy myself ?” It’s a common complex negotiation we’ve all gone through and when it’s over, you circuitously arrive at the same conclusion you always have. “Of course not.” It’s the thought of packing up and all the promissory notes and drudgeries that go along with it that are a drag: The trips over, 5 hours of road to cover, you won’t be wetting a line anytime soon, and you have work the following day to name but 4. Once I’ve justified my sour mood, I start to remember all the things I enjoyed about the trip.

Scott did a ton of cool sketches and really enjoyed himself. It’s amazing to see a great artist render an object in such a short period of time. I’ll probably make it to the North Woods again this fall. There’s no end to the potential, solitude, and beauty up there.

We saw lots of skeletons in the large bird and squirrel range. I couldn’t help but think there must have been the handy work of a wild cat or Timber Wolf

Categories: Uncategorized | 1 Comment