Cloudy, with a high near 44. West wind 9 to 14 mph. Very odd waking up to snow this morning! Fishing will slow down with the cold front rolling in. There is a frost advisory for this evening. What this means is you get to sleep in a bit as there is no reason to be on the water until it starts to warm up! Caddis have slowed down a bit, they need warmer and sunnier weather. However, the mayflies and craneflies have picked up the slack. While there are not a ton of rising fish, you will see pods rising to olives and craneflies as well as midges in the later morning and through the day. Subsurface fishing has been best with fish eating scuds, pink squirrels, cranefly larvae, and hare's ears patterns well. We are still getting big fish to eat leeches in the deeper pools too. Creeks are clear to murky after last nights rain and a bit low with water temperatures in the mid 40s to mid 50s.
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April 2017
Showers likely, mainly before noon. Patchy fog before 1pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 58 by 11am, then falling to around 53 during the remainder of the day. South wind 7 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. That is a strange weather forecast... Fishing has been good lately and things will cool down a bit and we will get some light rain/drizzle the next few days. It should not be near enough to blow things out unless we get a freak storm rolling through, but we will keep you updated. The change in weather means a slight change in bugs. We will still see caddis mid day, but there is a high probability of seeing some leftover olives and other mayflies hatching too. Oddly enough, we have started to have success on the surface on terrestrials, specifically ants and beetles. Subsurface fishing has been good on caddis larvae, scuds, and leeches. The cloud cover should get fish feeding a bit more heavily throughout the day especially on scuds and pink squirrels. Creeks are clear and a bit low with temperatures in the mid 40s to high 50s area wide.
A chance of showers between 1pm and 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 68. South wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Spring in the Driftless has been great! Creeks are clear and a touch low with water temperatures in the mid 40s to high 50s area wide. Caddis are still the main source of food with the hatch coming off late afternoon and fish feeding on them until the evening. There are a smattering of mayflies around too. Subsurface action has been strong on thicker bodied nymphs and caddis pupae and when the sun is off the water the fish have been bonkers for leeches and buggers. Weather is changing one the next couple of days with clouds and rains coming in. This should help the fishing a bit and make fish more comfortable than they are on the bluebird days, but it will suppress the caddis emergence a bit.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Another gorgeous day in the Driftless! The sun is starting to be both a positive and a negative. It warms the creek bed and gets the insects going early, but by mid day it is starting to slow fishing down. The best times to fish are now 9-11 and 1- dark. We're still seeing caddis mid day, but with the wind the surface activity may be limited. Fish a heavy bead head with a caddis emerged tied behind it and you will do fine. Caddis are the main hatch, both black and tan, and subsurface fishing is best on thicker bodied bead head nymphs, scuds and leeches are still holding strong. Creeks are running clear to slightly stained with water temperatures in the high 40s to high 50s.
Sunny, with a high near 64. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Another gorgeous day in the Driftless! Look for caddis to hatch in the afternoon and fish eating subsurface on thicker bodied bugs all day. Nice weekends can get quite crowded so please make sure to follow the rules of Driftless etiquette. If there is a car at an access point, do no hop in on that water (unless you can check in with the angler and see which way they are fishing). Drive to a different access point, there is plenty of water to explore! High holing is frowned upon here.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. North wind 9 to 14 mph. Much better conditions today and into the weekend, The rains did not hit at all yesterday leaving our creeks clear to stained with the exception of only a couple creeks still running murky. Water temperatures are in the mid 40s to mid 50s. With the sun the next few days, look for the caddis hatch to return around mid day! We are seeing both black and tan caddis hatching as well as a smattering of mayflies throughout the day. Subsurface fishing has been best on thicker bodied patterns fished deep (brush hogs, beaded caddis pupae etc). Leeches and streamers are phenomenal on the waters that have color to them, and are a great way to entice fish after a hatch.
Patchy drizzle before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 51. Breezy, with a northeast wind 7 to 16 mph becoming west in the morning. An inch to two fell area wide last night, and it came quickly and heavily in some areas. Expect stained to muddy water this morning. Things will drop and clear pretty quickly as there is no more major rain forecasted. The smaller creeks will typically clear quicker, and the creeks with a large meadow for a flood plain will also start out much clearer than most. In the murky water fish large scuds, pink squirrels, san juan worms and leeches. As things clear out, look for fish to still eat subsurface on scuds, brush hogs, and other thicker bodied nymphs. Hatches will be a bit more sparse except on the clear creeks. With the dreary weather we will see a few mayflies (olives and even possibly some Hendricksons), As the sun starts to pop out again look for caddis.
Cloudy, with a high near 57. North wind 7 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Fishing has been a ton of fun lately. The caddis hatch, while not as heavy due to the cold weather, still has fish looking up mid day. Creeks are clear to slightly stained and running at temperatures in the low 40s to low 50s. Look for black and caddis and tan caddis.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph. After some rains, things are looking good here! We had rising fish yesterday and some crystal clear water. You will find various levels of clarity today from clear to a mild stain depending on which creek you are fishing. Caddis are still the bugs of choice with fish rising to them in the mornings, then sporadically feeding on egg layers in the afternoon and evening. Fishing is best mid day during the hatch, afterwards the fishing slows down a bit and is mostly subsurface. Subsurface fishing has been best on thicker bodied nymphs (caddis larvae imitations) with a caddis emerger tied behind. On the cloudier parts of the day, scuds have been awesome.
Isolated showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 61. Southeast wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Nice looking caddis hatch you have going on there, it would be a shame if it stared to rain and suppress it... We're keeping an eye on the rain as if it falls heavily we will be switching from dries (midges and olives are still about and the caddis showed up briefly but in a BIG way yesterday on some creeks) to subsurface patterns. The predicted rainfall will not be enough to muddy thing up for the most part. Subsurface fishing has been great on scuds, ice cream cones, and bead head pheasant tails. Creeks are clear and flowing just a touch low with water temperatures in the 40s to low 50s.
Cloudy, with a high near 56. East wind around 11 mph. The cooler evenings have fishing sluggish right now. When the sun pokes out and warms the stream bottom the fishing gets good. As things stay cloudy and cool it is fair. Creeks are low and clear with temperatures in the 40s to low 50s. Olives are hatching along with midges. The caddis are hibernating with the cooler temps. They are not as prolific right now. The hatch will return, but we need a sunny and warm day. Fishing has been best subsurface on scuds, midge larvae, small and thin bodied bead heads, and leeches twitched slowly through the holes.
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 61. South wind 5 to 10 mph. The cooler nights and cold front have slowed down the hatches a bit. There are still midges and olives about mid day, and as temperatures stabilize these hatches will get stronger again. The black caddis we saw were due to a super heating of the water and they will show up again once it gets warmer and sunny. Subsurface action is where it's at right now. Fishing emergers and soft hackles as well as smaller, thin bodied bead heads has been productive. Fish are deep early, then will push into the runs and riffles to feed right around mid day. Creeks are clear and a bit low with water temperatures in the 40s.
Cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 59 by 11am, then falling to around 54 during the remainder of the day. West wind around 10 mph. The super warm weather over the weekend made for some bug soup! We had caddis, craneflies, midges, and olives and fish eating different bugs on different sections of the creeks! The weather is settling down a bit and we may lose the caddis for a few days as it cools off a bit, but the midges and olives will still be around getting fish to look up in the late morning to early evening. Subsurface fishing has been best on midge larvae, scuds, and prince nymphs as well as the ever popular leech pattern! Creeks are clear and a touch low with temperatures in the low 40s to low 50s.
EDIT: We have confirmed reports of hatching black caddis on the Timber Coulee system yesterday. Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Breezy, with a south wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Excellent bug soup weather! Yesterday we saw midges, olives, spring stones, craneflies and even a couple reports of caddis! (We're not getting too excited about the caddis yet, we MIGHT see some this weekend, but the olives are still the main course for now). Creeks are clear and running a bit low with water temperatures in the high 30s to just at 50.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a north wind 14 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. It's still olive hatch time! This has been an excellent dry fly spring so far, and conditions over the next few days should not change that too much! (With as warm as it is going to be on Saturday we may be brushing off some caddis and stoneflies too!) We did not get the rain other places received last night. We're dry here in the Driftless! Creeks are clear to stained with water temperatures in the high 30s to high 40s. Look for fish to eat in the deeper pools in the morning, then as water temperatures start to climb and the midges and olives hatch, they will push up into the runs and riffles to feed. Around 3 or so when the hatches slow down, the fish will drop back to deeper water and happily eat leeches if all else fails.
A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 49. Light north wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Fishing is good all day long, but mid day is the best thanks to the Olive hatch going on around lunch time and wrapping up around 3. Fish are rising pretty much all day to midges and olives and will even eat small terrestrials and caddis dries skittered across the surface. Subsurface fishing has been really good on scuds and olive nymphs (thin bodied, dark, and heavy) as well as leeches and streamers. The creeks are clear to stained after light rains the past couple of days and have a water temperature in the high 30s to high 40s.
A 50 percent chance of rain before 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 56. North wind 9 to 13 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Rained this morning, now the sun is out and shining! We received about 2 inches of rain over the past 24 hours and some creeks are showing some color. Overall we have clear to murky water. It's still midges in the mornings and olives in the afternoon on the clear water and leeches and san juan worms in the murky water. Fishing has been great lately and as things settle a bit, look for the spring time dry fly fishing to pick up again!
Periods of showers, mainly before 2pm, then rain after 2pm. Patchy fog. High near 50. East wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Midges for breakfast, Olives for Lunch, Leeches for dinner. We've had some really fun fishing the past few days rain or shine. Creeks are clear and a touch low, but that has not prevented the midges and olives from hatching starting mid morning and lasting until late afternoon. After that fish are happily eating leeches and streamers. Water temperatures are in the high 30s to high 40s area wide. The rain we are getting today is an excellent light, soaking rain that is not predicted to fall heavily so it should not stain the water up significantly.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. Light and variable wind. It doesn't get much better than today for a spring fishing day in the Driftless! Look for olives to hatch around mid day along with midges. We should have a repeat of yesterday where fish were rising all day long! Subsurface fishing is still good on scuds and leeches as well as emergers and small bead head nymphs.
