Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 4pm and 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. While on the calendar the dog days of summer are on us, the rainy July coupled with a week of temperatures reaching only 80 degrees (only predicted to hit 70 as a high later this week!!!) and some clouds later on this week will continue the excellent trout summer we have had so far! Creeks are clear to mildly stained and flowing at good temperatures across the board. The mid day sun is still the limiting factor. Trout just are not happy when the sun is directly overhead. You are far better off fishing early (chasing the trico spinner fall) and late (midges and mice!) and avoiding the mid day sun. Tricos on the surface in the morning, terrestrials mid day, then midges and mice in the evenings. Subsurface fishing has been best on smaller, thin bodied flies sub surface and on leeches, scuds and even San Juan Worms subsurface.
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July 2017
Sunny, with a high near 78. Northeast wind 6 to 9 mph. We have a nice summer weekend ahead of us! Creeks are in good shape with clear to medium stained water area wide. The rains in the past week have pushed down bankside vegetation, and scoured out the creek bottoms as well as kept water temperatures lower than average for this time of year. The thing that will influence the fishery negatively this weekend is the sun. Fish early, fish late, and find shade. Trico spinners are showing up on some creeks in the mornings. Fishing hopper/dropper throughout the day has been very successful, then having some midges and mayfly dries for the evening rise is a good idea. Subsurface fishing has been the most successful lately however. In the stained water, fishing a leech, larger scud, pink squirrel or San Juan Worm under an indicator has worked very well. On the clear creeks a frenchie, brush hog, or pink belly pheasant tail will do the trick.
Sunny, with a high near 79. Northeast wind 6 to 10 mph. A gorgeous string of days heading into the weekend! Creeks are clear to mildly stained with good water temperatures for July and some happy fish! Surface fishing has been mediocre lately with a few fish rising to the handful of tricos spinners available in the mornings. They are far more willing to eat a small grasshopper or indicator fly right now. In the evenings simple parachute patterns in smaller sizes (18-22) are also working. Subsurface fishing has been the way to go lately with fish eating San Juan Worms, Leeches, Pink Squirrels, Scuds..... etc. The sun will be your limiting factor right now, so fish early and late and find the shade. Hot Flies: Royal Stacker Midge: Brush Hog Magic Beetle
Cloudy, with a high near 79. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Rain showers moved throughout the area yesterday bringing some mild to heavy rains. It was not enough to do any permanent damage to the fishing and the creeks remain flowing unseasonably cool and clear to mildly stained. Fishing has been quite nice lately, especially with the stain on the water making fishing a bit easier as the fish are feeding better thanks to the safety the stain gives them. Hatches are mild right now, with a few creeks getting a trico spinner fall in the mornings, and a handful of midges and mayflies hatching. The real surface activity is on terrestrials and attractor flies. Subsurface fishing has been really fun on the off color water with leeches and san juan worms being very effective right now. It isn't pretty, but the fish are responding well. On the clearer water fishing a smaller, thin bodied bead head underneath a hippie stomper has been deadly. Bankside vegetation was pushed over and wiped out last week with the heavier rains, and fishing is pretty pleasant now compared to a normal July!
Cloudy early, then gradual clearing, with a high near 75. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Incredible weather for July! Creeks are clear to a few being still muddy enough to be virtually unfishable. Most creeks are slightly to mildly stained and running a touch high after heavy rains late last week. This stain gives anglers an edge as you can get closer to fish, and they will eat all day long! On the stained waters; leeches, San Juan worms, and larger scuds/pink squirrels are doing well. On the clear creeks, frenchies and pheasant tails are fishing well subsurface especially underneath a hippie stomper or training wheel. Hot Flies: Hippie Stomper Leeches Pink Belly PT
Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the morning. The big storm missed us last night! We're in best case scenario as of this morning with a couple of creeks clear already and many more dropping and clearing. It isn't perfect area wide, and you will run into unfishable creeks, but it isn't a total waste of time to be out this weekend. Look to be fishing San Juan worms, scuds, streamers and leeches in the stained to murky water. In the clearer creeks, a hippie stomper or training wheel with a pink squirrel below will clean up.
Wow! We may have dodged the bullet. The major evening storm passed well south of us. The weekend isn't a complete write off any more. We will be up early and scout some waters and update the report as soon as we can.
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 85. Light east wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Things are still pretty muddy here in the Driftless. We did have a couple of headwater creeks that were stained last night and even saw some rising fish! But before you get too excited about the weekend, we are predicted to get some heavy rain again this afternoon and evening. Best case scenario is we have just a handful of fishable water by Sunday. If your travel plans allow it, Monday and Tuesday are looking to be fantastic with stained water and cold temperatures. It isn't worth the drive as tonight and tomorrow will be ugly if we get the rains. After Saturday, stock up on San Juan worms, leeches and scuds as the fish will put the feed bag on in the stained and cloudy water! The silver lining in all the heavy rains is that the creeks are flushed, water temperatures colder than normal for this time of season, and the bankside vegetation is knocked down or uprooted completely in some areas!
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 84. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming northwest in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Another heavy rainstorm hit last night dumping anywhere between 2-6 inches. Things are muddy to very muddy. We will keep you posted as conditions change. Looking at the silver lining, this unusually rainy July keeps filling up the springs which means as things clear up water temperatures will be lower than normal!
Sunny, with a high near 85. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Major storms passed us by in Vernon County last night. We received half an inch to an inch of rain total with no major gully washers. Creeks remain clear to stained. Fishing has been good in the mornings on midges and tricos. The trico spinner fall has not been predictable with the humid mornings, but on the creeks that they show up fishing has been fun! Mid day fishing has been best on terrestrials with a small nymph dropper. On the creeks with a stain, San Juan worms, scuds, and pink squirrels have been deadly. These creeks are fishing a bit better thanks to the stain hiding the sun from the fish. With the recent hot days, it is a good idea to check water temperatures. 65 degrees means poor fishing, and anything much above that can be lethal to land trout in.
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Heat index values as high as 95. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. We're in the summer pattern now. Tricos early in the morning on some creeks, on others fish will be rising to midges. Mid day, either take a break (or a nap!) if it is sunny, or fish hopper/dropper against the overhanging vegetation and undercut banks. The sun and water temperature are going to be your limiting factor right now. In the evening, fish are rising to a handful of lighter colored mayflies and they will continue to eat terrestrials on the surface. Subsurface fishing has been best on smaller and thinner bodied patterns. Creeks are clear to slightly stained in our area with water temperatures in the mid 50s to mid 60s. The recent rains have kept water temperatures cool, but make sure to use your thermometer. Anything over 65 will be poor fishing and much higher than that can be lethal to trout.
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Southwest wind 5 to 11 mph. Still very mild weather for July this morning. Creeks are clear to mildly stained after the heavy rains earlier in the week. Fishing has been solid subsurface on scuds, pink squirrels and leeches on the stained water, while a hippie stomper or foam hopper are getting the job done on the surface on the clear water (especially when you tie a small bead head as a dropper below!) Hatches are sparse and most of the surface activity is on terrestrials and attractor flies. However we are still seeing some mayflies and midges hatch especially when the sun is off the water early morning and late in the day. We are in the summer season, so it is not a bad idea to use your stream thermometer often. Water temperatures over 65 degrees mean poor fishing, and much higher than that can be lethal to a hooked trout.
Partly sunny, with a high near 73. North wind around 7 mph. With a break form the rain, creeks have finally had a full day to drop and start clearing. Expect slightly stained to medium stained water area wide with a handful of creeks running clear. Fishing is still best early and late when the sun is off the water. You may find some fish rising early and late to midges and some lighter colored mayflies, but the majority of the surface action will be on small terrestrials. Subsurface fishing is really good on san juan worms and leeches in the stained water, and on frenchies and pheasant tails in the clear water. Temperatures are supposed to get warm again this weekend, so make sure you are utilizing your thermometer. Anything over 65 will be poor fishing and potentially lethal to fight trout in. The good news is that all the rain will keep the springs pushing a good amount to cold water into the system for a while, and water temperatures should be cooler than normal for this time of year!
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph. We did receive more rain last night, about an inch or so overall, but it fell heavily. There will be limited fishable water this morning, with more coming into play later on in the day. Fishing leeches, larger scuds, and san juan worms will be effective in the stained and murky waters. Attractor terrestrials with small, thin bodied bead heads trailed below will be effective on the clear to slightly stained creeks. We are not forecasted to receive more rain through the weekend, and in the long term these summer showers will keep the springs flowing well and keep water temperatures lower but for the next day and a half we will not have lots of options of fishable creeks.
Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Heat index values as high as 96. Southwest wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Muddy water today as we had a storm front drop 2-4 inches throughout Vernon county. It was 1-3 inches over in Richland county as well. As long as we do not get much more rain today, things are supposed to cool down over the next couple of days which will mean more comfortable summertime fishing!
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Summer fishing has hit. Early fishing has been good on midges and a few mayflies (tricos are starting to show up, but not in big numbers yet), mid day terrestrials, and then a few fish eating adams in the evenings. Subsurface fishing is best on small, thin bodied flies such as midge larvae and pheasant tails. If the clouds are overhead, smaller scuds and pink squirrels are effective too. Creeks are clear to stained with temperatures in the high 50s to mid 60s. A few of the larger creeks are warming up mid day, so make sure to use your thermometer. Anything over 65 degrees will be pretty slow fishing!
Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65 tonight. Southeast wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. We're still getting out early and hopefully seeing some PMD's, resting mid-day, then going back for the evening bite. Terrestrials, and scuds are working. Try a streamer or a mouse for evening fishing. Water is clearing and levels are pretty good, but streams are starting to warm up, so put a thermometer in the water before fishing.
A few storms the last couple of days, most went north of Viroqua. Some streams are clear and the larger streams have slight to heavy stain depending on location (last night's storms). No real hatches coming off, terrestrials are starting to fish well. Try a Hippie Stomper or Training Wheels with a Pink Bellied PT, or small Brush Hog dropper. A few Crane Flies are hanging around. Water is warming up some, so please make sure and drop a thermometer in the stream before fishing.
Partly sunny, with a high near 74. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Happy July! Creeks have had ample chance to drop and clear with only a handful still showing a heavy stain. Clear to mildly stained and flowing with good water temperatures for July, this weekend could be quite a bit of fun in the trout world! Midges and a mix of mayflies are hatching in the morning and evening, while surface action mid day is on terrestrials especially ants and beetles. Subsurface fishing is back on track with success being had on pink belly pheasant tail nymphs, ice cream cones, and brush hogs. Leeches and streamers are getting some nice fish, especially in stained water and at night, and mousing has started up again now that things have dried out.
