Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 37 by 11am, then falling to around 30 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a west wind 9 to 17 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph. Happy Leap Day! The early preview of spring ends today as the warm front rolls out of the area and colder temperatures settle in for the rest of the week. Fishing was fantastic with the warmer water temps with fish happily eating leeches, scuds, an midges. We even had some dry fly and soft hackle activity in the afternoons. Although things are getting cold again, the good news is that most of the snow is gone, making parking and getting around stream side easier. Creeks are low and clear with water temps in the high 30s to mid 40s.
Driftless Angler Fly Shop
Wisconsin's Premier Fly Shop and Guide Service
Blog
February 2016
Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 34. West wind 6 to 9 mph. The wind has died down and the weather is getting absolutely gorgeous! Fishing has been good the past couple of days and should continue to get better into the weekend. Look for fish to eat leeches, scuds, and heavy czech style nymphs as well as midges. Hatch activity has been low, but with the warm day on Saturday they might show up. The snowpack is light, but there is still some snow on the ground. Make sure you use your thermometer. Water temperatures are in the mid to high 30s which is perfect for winter fishing. You just want to make sure that you are fishing a rising temperature as opposed to a falling temperature. Snowmelt puts icy cold water into the creeks and can slow fishing down quickly.
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Despite breezy conditions (which end tomorrow), fishing has been pretty good. Hatch activity has been slight lately with the clouds in the sky, but fish have been happily eating leeches, scuds, and midge larvae subsurface. The weekend is looking very warm! The snow pack is low with many bare spots on the ground so runoff will not be horrible even with temperatures hitting near 50 on Saturday. The shoulders of roads are clear and parking is easy.
Cloudy, with a high near 37. Breezy, with a north wind 10 to 16 mph. Windy today and tomorrow, but temperatures are still great for February fishing. Finding a sheltered area, or fishing leeches and streamers will help when the wind is up. Creeks are low and clear with no significant snowmelt the past few days. There is not a lot of snow on the ground with bare patches visible and shoulders roadside all clear (easy parking!). Look for fish to be most active from about 9 to 3 on most days. Dry fly fishing is spotty as we need the sun to bring up water temperature just a bit more. Once we get sun, we see fish rising steadily again in the afternoon.
Cloudy, with a high near 40. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Solid winter fishing is here! There is still just a little snow on the ground, making parking and getting around very easy. Creeks are low and clear to slightly stained with temperatures right around 40 degrees. There have been rising fish in the afternoon with midges hatching sporadically on pretty much a daily basis at this point. Most of the fishing is subsurface however, with trout feeding on midge larvae, bright bead head nymphs, scuds, and leeches.
Cloudy, with a high near 35. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph. After a a warm weekend of good fishing, our streams are running clear to slightly stained with water temps 38-45 degrees. Limited dry fly activity over the weekend, most fish ate leeches, midge larvae and scuds subsurface. The entire week ahead looks good, not too warm to muddy anything up with snowmelt, and not too cold to be outside!
Increasing clouds, with a high near 44. West wind 10 to 13 mph. Fishing has been solid with the warmer weather. Just be wary of runoff. Take water temperatures and if they are falling fishing will be poor. And some creeks might turn muddy if it gets too hot today.
Increasing clouds, with a high near 48. Windy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph becoming west 21 to 26 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph. Good news, the rain is out of the forecast, so runoff is not a major concern anymore, even the nights are cooler which will lock up any real runoff. Bad news, wow is it windy today! Find a stream where the wind is at your back, or somewhere sheltered. Leeches do not need a nice dead drift, so those are a go to on windy days. The bonus is that they are working incredibly well too! With the warmer temperatures, look for fish to move out of the deeper holes and into the runs. Tomorrow is warm and sunny, we should see hatches in the afternoon. PLUS, the wind dies down to normal on Saturday. Shop is open today from noon to five, all day Saturday, and Sunday from nine to noon.
A slight chance of drizzle after 5pm. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Breezy, with a southeast wind 14 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Water is incredible! Warmer temps have kept water temps at 40 degrees. It has not gotten quite warm enough for any real snowmelt. There is some so be sure to use your thermometer. When the water temperatures start to drop fishing will slow down. Although the weather is still excellent, and we have seen hatches of midges and winter stones, the thing to be wary of today and tomorrow is the wind. It will be gusting pretty heavily today and tomorrow, but looks like it calms down for Saturday. As usual, we will keep you posted if anything major changes, but it looks great for Saturday and Sunday!
Sunny, with a high near 28. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Creeks are in great shape with the warming weather! Fishing has been good for the winter the past few days, with anglers catching a few fish in the afternoon. Water temperatures are hovering close to and above 40 area wide. Creeks are low and clear, which means spooky fish. With the water temperatures warming, we have seen winter stoneflies and a few midges. There have been a few rising fish, but expect more as we head into a warmer weekend. Leeches fished deep have been the hot fly all winter long, and as things warm up we have been catching more fish on scuds, midge larvae, and other small bead head nymphs.
cloudy, with a high near 34. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40% Wow what a good week of winter fishing we have. Things started out strong yesterday with fish happily eating scuds, midge larvae and leeches rolled along the bottom of deeper pools. Water temps were 35-40 yesterday. With warmer weather coming, look for the fish to move out of the deepest spots and start feeding in the runs. The weekend weather is supposed to hit 40 degrees! If that happens watch for some hatches to come off mid day. Also when the temperatures get above 40 make sure you are using your thermometer, as snowmelt later in the day will drop the water temperature and cause fishing to shut down.
Glad to have that weekend behind us! Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 27. Southwest wind 3 to 7 mph. A bit more welcoming weather this week as things warm up. The weekend we're looking at 40 degrees. Fish are eating leeches and scuds well, and when the sun is out they will feed heavily on midge larvae and other small bead heads. Creeks are low and clear with water temps ranging from 35-40 depending on the influence of the springs.
Sunny, with a high near 9. Wind chill values as low as -23. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph. No fishing today. Shop is closed.
Mostly Sunny High 13 Wind NW 17-21 MPH Cold and windy, with windchill below zero again today. The good news is that the sun is shining and actually getting a bit of melt on the front of the shop! The solar warmth is excellent, but it is miserable to be out in the wind and cold. Sunday/Monday gets back to better temperatures. HEADS UP: We will be closed this weekend. Saturday's forecast is grim. Sunny, with a high near 9. Wind chill values as low as -23. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph.
Sun, then clouds in the afternoon High 16 Windchill as low as -12 Wind 6 MPH NW changing to SW Another cold day out there. Fishing will be difficult as your line will ice up pretty quickly. The good news is that the sun has been out and has kept stream side ice formation lower than it would would be on cloudy days. We're still looking at Sunday and Monday as decent weather and more fishable days ahead.
Sunny High 12 Windchill down to -15 I'm just going to stop after the windchill. Today is not a great day to fish! If you do go out today, make sure you are covered and warm! Doesn't look like it will warm up much until Sunday/Monday.
Cloudy and Cold High 13 Wind NW 14-16 Wind Chill down to -10 Cold and windy today. Time to tie some flies! The entire week looks pretty chilly. There is some sun in the later part of the week, but air temperatures remain cold.
Cloudy, Light Snow High 21 Wind NW 14-20 Creeks low and clear water temps 35-42 Not the best day to be fishing... The early part of the week looks cold. Later on the sun starts to shine which will get fishing moving, but the air temperatures stay pretty low. This week will be a gamble as the creeks will be warm, but the anglers will not! The warmer weekend got fish moving, but no real dry fly activity.
Cloudy, Light Snow High 21 Wind NW 14-18 Windy and chillier today, the entire week looks to be chilly. We will see what the sunnier weather does for the fishing later in the week, but colder than 25 with clouds is not the best to be out fishing in! The warm weekend gave us some pretty good fishing on leeches and midges. It has not been good dry fly weather as it has not been sunny enough.
Partly Sunny High 25 Wind W 5-7 Creeks Clear Water Temp 37-42 A decent day to be out fishing (rule of thumb, 25 degrees and sunny is decent fishing) but things get better tomorrow and Sunday when temperatures hit 33-36! Fish have been responding very well to leeches twitched throughgh the deeper holes and below springs. As water temperature rises and the sun warms the stream bed, look for increase feeding activity on midges and other small bead heads. Creeks are mostly ice free and flowing well for the winter. Snowshoes are helpful as snow is now boot to calf deep.
Mostly Cloudy High 25 Wind S 6-9 MPH Wind Chill as low as -4 Another fly tying day! We ventured out fishing yesterday and while the water temperatures were warm enough (38 degrees average) it was just cold to be outside! Fish ate leeches twitched through the holes, but overall fishing is pretty slow. The weekend warms up a bit and should be much more angler friendly!
High 28 Cloudy NW Wind 14-16 Creeks clear Water temps 35-40 Nearly a foot of snow fell yesterday and into today! While it temporarily made access to the stream, we were low on our snowpack and this is a much needed injection of moisture for the warmer part of the season. The weather remains pretty chilly until the weekend. Fishing will be pretty average until things warm up a bit or we get some sun. Focus on deeper pools and creeks that have heavy spring influence. The snow will not monkey with water temperatures too badly. Fish will be active mid day eating small bead heads, leeches and streamers. Time to get the snowshoes ready and scout the creeks, or stay home and tie flies!
Winter Storm Warning High 32 Wind E 15-21 Decent temperature today, but we are forecasted to get heavy snow and blowing winds! A good to day stay home and tie flies. Temperatures dip a bit mid week, but then get back to the mid 20s to low 30s and sunny for the weekend.
Sunny High 34 Wind W 5mph becoming calm in the afternoon Creeks low and clear Water Temps 35-44 Hurry up and fish today! After today, we are under a winter storm warning for Tuesday. We're forecasted for some much needed snow Tuesday to the tune of 6-10 inches. Fishing over the warmer weekend was fantastic with fish chasing leeches and streamers, feeding on midges and scuds, and even some eating dry flies! That will continue today until water temperatures start to drop in the afternoon as the sun drops in the sky.
