A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Light north wind. Summer weather! Hot, sunny and humid mid day. Concentrate on fishing early and late and avoiding the mid day heat for the best fishing. Tricos in the mornings, then a hopper/dropper all day long. Fish will be in the feeding lanes and pushed right up to the riffles early and late, then will retreat to deeper holes and beneath undercut banks during the mid day sun. Creeks are clear and a bit low with temperatures in the low 60s. It is time to start using a thermometer again, as a couple creeks are hitting the 65 degree mark. Once above that temperature, fishing pretty much shuts down.
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July 2018
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Light north wind. Summer weather is back. While water temperatures are still well below normal, the sun has become a limiting factor again. Fish early, fish late, and find shade mid day. Tricos in the morning have fish rising. The spinner fall lasts from anywhere between sunup and about 10-11 in the morning. After that, fishing a hopper, beetle, or any is key. The terrestrial bite is still quite strong and fish will come out form under cover to smash a hopper lately. Subsurface fishing is best with small, thin bodied bead heads. Bouncing a tungsten fly on the bottom can be quite effective even when the fish are sluggish mid day. Fishing picks up again in the evening with fish looking up again. Into the night, the big fish come out to play and have been eating mice and larger streamers.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. A bit more normal summer temperatures the next couple of days. The good news is that water temperatures are still in great shape after the cold front, and the tricos have showed up in a big way. Fishing early and late is key right now. Finding any kind of shade is key when the sun is high in the sky (or taking a nap mid day is acceptable too!) Tricos are around from first light to about 9/10. After that we have been fishing a hopper/dropper with great success. Get your hopper as close to the bank and overhanging grass as possible. Fish will be tucked under the shade on sunny days like this. Overall creeks are in great shape. They are flowing clear and have water temperatures right around 60 area wide. Only a couple of larger creeks are getting to 65 degrees in the late afternoon.
There is a big fish holding in the pocket under that grass. How do you get a dry/dropper in there? Summer terrestrial fishing in the Driftless is in full swing right now with hoppers, beetles, crickets, and ants being the main course on the surface for our fish. This time of year is perfect for fishing a larger terrestrial or attractor pattern with a bead head dropper tied below it. Not only will fish aggressively eat the surface fly, but it also acts as an indicator for the subsurface pattern. Essentially a bobber that the fish can, and will, eat! Two problems inevitably come up when fishing dry dropper. The first being that the larger, wind resistant flies tend to helicopter, especially when fishing a lighter tippet material, and cause a huge twist and snarl that can be a nightmare to untangle. The second is that the dry/dropper rig tend to be very difficult to fish with accuracy. Here in the Driftless, we are fishing very narrow spring creeks with quite a bit of bankside vegetation and overhanging grass. It can be a game of inches where the flies need to be placed just right in order to get a fish to eat. Casting a larger fly followed by 3-4 feet of tippet material with a heavy bead head accurately is not an easy thing to do at all! The dry may land perfectly, but the dropper ends up snagged on the bank, or everything looks great until the dropper kicks to one side or the other at the end of the cast blowing the perfect drift. Using a bit of imagination and tinkering a bit we came up with the Driftless Dropper rig! Here is how it works. Short, stout leader (Rio Big Nasty 10lb, or any 7.5 2x) Tippet ring 3 feet of 4x tippet with your terrestrial threaded on (not knotted, it needs to be free moving) tippet ring 4 inches of 5x tippet Bead Head nymph With this system, the dry fly is pushed up against the lower tippet ring while casting. When your flies land, they land together. The short 4 inches of tippet prevents the flies from tangling during the cast. As the bead head sinks, your tippet material slides through the free threaded dry fly the entire 3 feet. The dry fly is stopped at the upper tippet ring giving you a tight connection with the subsurface fly like a normal dry/dropper. The added bonus is that the free moving dry fly will not helicopter and twist your tippet. Rigging this way makes fishing a dry/dropper close to the bank far easier, and much less frustrating! Give it a try next time you are out on the creek!
Sunny, with a high near 74. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph. Still feeling the mild summer in the Driftless! It was only 60 degrees when I opened the shop this morning. This continued cool weather is more than comfortable to fish in, and has water temperatures well below where they normally are this time of year. Creeks are in great shape flowing clear with temps in the high 50s in the mornings with only the largest creeks hitting the mid 60s mid day. The trico spinner fall has momentum now and our early morning guided trips are finding spinners on quite a few creeks with rising fish. Afterwards we are fishing small terrestrials in the late morning, then switching to larger terrestrials (hoppers, hippie stompers) mid day and fishing them through the evening. Don't forget to tie on a dropper below! Subsurface fishing has also been great as fish are still responding well to smaller scuds, brush hogs, perdigons, and midge larvae. At night, larger streamers and mice have been getting very aggressive eats and there have been some larger fish showing up again.
Increasing clouds, with a high near 70. Northwest wind 6 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. No, that is not a typo. The high is only 70 degrees today!!! This cooler weather has summer fishing in the Driftless going strong. Creeks are clear (the rain missed us last night) and flowing with water temperatures in the high 50s to 60 area wide. Only a couple creeks are hitting the mid 60s at the end of the day (Bad Axe watershed specifically) Tricos are doing their thing in the morning and we have found pods of fish rising to the spinner fall. Once that fades we are fishing terrestrials with great success. Plopping a hopper or beetle next to overhanging grass has been extremely effective! Subsurface fishing is best on smaller, thinner bodied bugs. Think pheasant tail and midge larvae instead of a bushy hare's ear this time of season. It is rare we get these water temps this time of year. Tie on a hopper/dropper and take advantage of these conditions if you can!! Also, the summer clearance continues. 50% off men's and women's clothing and apparel as well as sales on select rods/reels/waders etc,
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 80. Light west wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Another cold front rolling in today! Tomorrows high is not supposed to top 70 degrees. Incredible summer weather. Creeks are clear and flowing a bit low. Morning temperatures are in the high 50s. Evening temperatures are in the low to mid 60s. We're seeing tricos in the mornings with rising fish sipping spinners until around 9-10 on some creeks. After that we are fishing a terrestrial with a dropper. Ants, beetles, hoppers, and larger attractor flies are great on the surface, while subsurface fishing is best with smaller bead head nymphs and midge larvae. At night, the mouse fishing has been lots of fun with some aggressive eats and a few larger fish being landed lately. Remember our summer sale is going on too, with gear, apparel and accessories 25-70% off!
Sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind around 10 mph. The sun is our limiting factor right now, otherwise things are great for mid July! Tricos in the mornings, take a break mid day, then terrestrials with a dropper Creeks are clear and running right around 60 degrees. Get out there and take advantage of this incredible cool weather!
Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Northwest wind 3 to 8 mph. Looking at the forecast, today is going to be the warmest day all week! We can say it enough, this weather is unbelievably trout friendly for mid summer! Creeks are in excellent shape with great clarity and water temperatures that are just around 60 degrees. A few degrees cooler than average. We've been seeing trico spinner falls on some creeks in the mornings, and overnight temperatures have been cool enough that the spinner fall is a couple hours past first light instead of at dawn. Mid morning we are switching to fishing terrestrials and attractor flies on the surface. Tying a dropper on one of these is THE way to fish right now. Fish will rise again in the evening time to simple parachute dries and emergers.
A 20 percent chance of showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. North wind 9 to 11 mph. The cool weather continues and the fishing is responding!! Creeks are flowing clear to stained with water temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s area wide. This unseasonably cool weather has trout in a very good mood! The trico spinner fall is on us! They spinners are showing up a bit later in the morning due to cooler overnight temperatures. As they start to slow down, fish start to switch to feeding on terrestrials on the surface. The hopper bite has been a ton of fun lately! Subsurface fishing has been solid on smaller, thin bodied patterns such as perdigons, pink belly pheasant tails, and purple zebra midges. With the cloud cover lately, leeches and scuds have also been effective. We don't normally get this good weather in July, and it is forecasted to last into next week as well!
Partly sunny, with a high near 76. North wind 9 to 14 mph. Incredible mid summer conditions this weekend. Mild weather with scattered cloud cover will keep fish in a great mood. It rained less than 1/2 an inch here since yesterday evening. We're seeing some tricos in the mornings with fish just starting to key in on them. Mid day through the evening is all about terrestrials. Hippie stompers, ants, beetles, are all working on the surface. Coupling them with a dropper can be deadly! Creeks are clear to stained and flowing at high 50s to low 60s area wide.
Cloudy, with a high near 70. Northwest wind 6 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. The rain fell very gently last night. We received about an inch total area wide. The major storms missed us meaning the rain had a chance to soak in leaving our creeks clear to stained this morning. The weather is about as good as you can ask for this July. Water temps are cool and the daytime temperatures are more than pleasant. Tricos have arrived and we are starting to see the spinner falls in the mornings. It is the very early stage of the hatch, and fish are not yet laser focused on them, but give it a day or two and the early spinner fall fishing will be excellent. For the most part, fish are keyed in on terrestrials on the surface. Ants, beetles, and hoppers have all been fantastic! A hopper or larger attractor pattern with a small bead head tied below as a dropper is the best way to fish right now. With the cool and cloudy weather, we have a chance of seeing more rising fish to some sporadic mayfly hatches (parachute adams hatch!) today. Subsurface fishing has been excellent on zebra midges, brush hogs, perdigons, and pink belly pheasant tails. Today, with the clouds, also fish a scud or leech.
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. South wind 7 to 13 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, Another great summer day in the Driftless!! If you can, this is the weather to take advantage of in our fishery. It is cooler and cloudier than normal and the fishing when the sun is off the water has been quite good! Clouds should be overhead all day today, and a bit of rain in the afternoon means fishing all day. The sun has been the limiting factor. Even with water temperatures staying pretty stable, a cloudless sky shuts fishing down. Normally we're fishing very early and very late and avoiding the mid day sun. Today we don't have to worry about that! The cloud cover means solid subsurface fishing all day. Smaller, thin bodied bead heads are the ticket as underwater fish are seeing midges and trico nymphs. Sprinkle in a few scuds (they are much more active on cloudy days) and you should have fish eating all day. On the surface, attractors will be key. Terrestrials will start up later today and be slower if we get the rain. However, a bigger, bright fly on the surface will entice fish to eat. Creeks are clear and a touch low with water temperatures hovering right around 60 degrees on average.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Fishing remains great for this summer! Creeks are clear and flowing at about 60 degrees thanks to the cooler nights and mild days. The sun is still the limiting factor, so make sure you fish early and late, then grab a bit to eat and take a nap mid day! It is all about terrestrials and attractor flies right now. A hopper, beetle or ant on the surface is doing very well. Subsurface fishing has been steady especially when fishing deeper with heavy flies, or tying on a bead head as a dropper below your terrestrial. We have started to see some fish rising in the mornings and the first few tricos are showing up. It isn't the full blown spinner fall yet, but we should see that very soon! If you are chasing big fish, now is the time to fish a mouse or large streamer at night! Don't forget that our summer sale is going on right now too! 25-50% off pretty much everything in store!
Sunny, with a high near 79. North wind 3 to 7 mph. All is good in the Driftless! Opened the shop with 60 degree temperatures. The cool nights and relatively mild days means fishing has been solid lately! Creeks are clear and flowing with water temperatures right around 60 degrees. Terrestrials are the ticket right now. Ants, beetles, hoppers, crickets, hippie stompers.... Fish are keying in on them on the surface especially when fished near undercut banks and overhanging grass. Subsurface fishing has been hot on anything with a slimmer profile (we're usually dropping them below our terrestrial or attractor fly). Brush hogs, pheasant tails, purple zebras, zikas, and Liberace have all been catching fish! Creeks and fish are in really good shape and will continue to be so this week as we are not forecasted to see a air temperature hitting 80 for the next week!
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 80. North wind 6 to 10 mph. Temperatures remain pretty cool this week for mid July. We're still in summer so make sure you use your thermometer. Water temperatures over 65 mean slower fishing and anything much over 68. Aquatic insects are slow right now which is normal for this time of year. We're waiting for trico spinner falls to show up. While we have not seen them yet, we have started to see some rising fish in the mornings. In other words, they're coming.... Terrestrials are the main course on the surface right now. Fish are happily eating hoppers, crickets, ants, beetles etc especially near overhanging vegetation and fished right up against undercut banks. Subsurface fishing remains solid, with fish eating brush hogs, perdigons, midge larvae, and ice cream cones.
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph in the morning. Another round of rain yesterday mostly missed us! We have had about an inch in the past 24 hours which means creeks will be stained but not unfishable (with only a couple creeks running muddy this morning). They will be clearing quickly as well. These rains have cooled things down immensely with a pleasant weekend ahead and next week's highs do not top 80 degrees! Look for fish to eat attractors and terrestrials on top. Training wheels have been excellent lately as have hippie stompers and small hoppers. Subsurface fishing is all about the brush hog right now. With the cloudy weather and stained water, scuds have also been quite good. Do not neglect to fish a San Juan worm or leech too, when there are clouds in the sky and a stain on the water, fish will look for these bigger meals!
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. West wind around 6 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch Brief but heavy rains last night have creeks stained up this morning. They are already fishable and clearing with only one or two blown out. The rains were a blessing as they dropped the major heat we were experiencing and dropped both air and water temperatures a bit! We're looking at the low 80s to 84 for highs this weekend, not too shabby for mid July. The creeks are running with water temps right around 60. It is still a good idea to carry a thermometer as if they warm up much past 65, things start to shut down. On the stained creeks, scuds, leeches and san juan worms will be effective, while on the clear stuff terrestrials with a dropper is key. Most of our aquatic insect hatches have slowed down (which is normal for this time of year as we wait on the trico spinners). But, surface action has been very solid on ants, beetles, hoppers, hippie stompers and other attractor flies. Subsurface fishing has been all about the brush hog and pink belly pheasant tail. Mousing at night has been fantastic, but will slow a bit for a day or two as the rains have things pretty soggy bankside.
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 88. Heat index values as high as 96. South wind 7 to 11 mph. Hot and humid today, Potential relief in rainstorms tonight and into tomorrow. We are in our standard summer cycle. A few hot days followed by rain to get rid of the heat and humidity, then a few comfortable and cooler days. Saturday through Wednesday look pretty good right now! The good news is that the water temperatures are still holding on. We're seeing mid 60s peak on some of our normally warmer creeks in the evening time. Remember your thermometer as anything over that 65 degrees will mean poor fishing and can be lethal to fish much higher than that. Fish early, fish late, and avoid the mid day sun! Fish are far more responsive early in the morning when water temperatures are coolest. Action picks up again in the evening time when the sun leaves the water and things cool down again. Aquatic insect activity is slow this time of season, which is normal. We're waiting for the tricos to show up for our next major match the hatch moment. In the meantime, terrestrials have been fantastic! Ants and beetles and smaller hoppers are very effective on the surface, and fishing a buoyant pattern with a bead head below (brush hog, pink belly PT, perdigon) is deadly this time of year.
Hot and sunny weather continues a couple more days. Fishing is still solid, but things warm up a bit mid day. Make sure you use your thermometer as anything over 65 will be poor fishing. Creeks are clear and flowing in the low 60s. Morning fishing has been decent on tiny things both surface and subsurface, but the evenings have been when things turn on. Ants and beetles are hot, and fish are also eating small grashoppers. Fishing a terrestrial with a dropper has been very effective with brush hogs and pink belly PTs below being the best. Mousing at night has also given up some nice fish and some aggressive eats too!
Sunny, with a high near 79. East wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon. We're looking at excellent weather for the weekend! Low temperatures in the 60s, highs hovering right around 80. Creeks are clear and flowing well with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s. The limiting factor will be the sun, so fish early, fish late and find shade for better fishing. Hatches are sparse which is normal this time of year. You have a chance to run across some caddis when the sun is off the water, and we have seen fish rising even in the mid day sun to some midges! The main action is on terrestrials. Even when we have seen fish rising, throwing a beetle or ant at them can get them to eat! Subsurface fishing has been solid on perdigons, brush hogs, pink belly PTs and purple zebra midges. Early and later fish are in the shin to thigh deep water. In the mid day sun they find shade under undercut banks or deep in pools.
Mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 82. Light west wind becoming northwest 8 to 13 mph in the morning. Wow, a perfect sting of summer weather the next few days. Highs in the high 70s and nighttime temps around 60, The heat yesterday was wiped out thanks to a couple rain showers. The rains here were not enough to blow things out and creeks remain clear to stained with water temperatures right around 60. The few creeks that are stained will clear up quickly as the storms hit early evening yesterday. Fish have been feeding on the surface, even in some cases mid day, on a mix of bugs including caddis, tiny mayflies, midges and craneflies. The major surface action has been on terrestrials. Small hoppers, beetles and ants (floating and sunken) have been the main course for a while now. Fishing a dry/dropper with a foam pattern on top and a brush hog or pink belly pheasant tail has been excellent. Subsurface bugs have been best with a tungsten head and typically thin bodied. Fish them in the shin to thigh deep runs as well as underneath undercut banks. At night mousing has been a ton of fun, and some big fish have been caught fishing larger streamer and leech patterns.
A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Heat index values as high as 99. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Hot and humid today until the clouds roll in and hopefully dump some rain and get things back to normal. The past couple of days have been very good fishing as long as you were not out there mid day. The fish are definitely more interested in feeding early and late when the sun is off the water and water temperatures have dropped a degree or two. Overall creeks are in great shape flowing clear with temperatures in the low 60s. While we are seeing a few caddis hatches and some lighter colored mayflies, terrestrials are the main course right now. Beetles, hoppers and ants are getting fish to eat all day long. Fishing a dry/dropper rig near grassy undercuts and right below riffles has been a ton of fun. Late at night, mousing has been quite fun with lots of fish willing to swipe at a bigger meal.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Summertime in the Driftless and the fishing is good! Creeks are clear to slightly stained as the rains mostly missed us last weekend. Temperatures are in the low to mid 60s area wide. The sun has been the limiting factor lately. Morning fishing has been great until the sun climbs higher in the sky. Mid day fishing means fishing deep, or beneath undercut banks. We have also had success casting hoppers and other terrestrials tight to the grassy banks mid day. Hatches have slowed down a bit which is very normal for this time of season. We're still seeing some caddis and lighter colored mayflies, but the major surface action is on terrestrials right now! Small hoppers, crickets, ants and beetles are all working well on the surface as well as sunken just below the surface. Subsurface fishing has been great on brush hogs, squogs, scuds and other heavy nymphs fished below riffles. Just remember to fish early, fish late, and find the shady spots for better fishing during the sunny periods of the day!
Sunny, with a high near 85. Light and variable wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. After another couple of abnormally hot days the later weekend got things back on track. The rains we received Saturday were perfect. Nice, gentle soaking rains (in vernon county specifically) that did not significantly stain the waters up. It also dropped temperatures and put the fish in a much better mood. We're still a little warm so continue to use your thermometer. If things are above 65 degrees, fishing will start to shut down rapidly and can be harmful to trout. Find cooler creeks, find shade and you will find happier fish. Overall creeks are clear and a touch low with temperatures in the low 60s. Hatches are sparse, however we are still catching fish on caddis and craneflies. On the surface terrestrials have become the main course. We have been doing very well on ants and beetles and you can have quite a bit of fun fishing a hippie stomper or training wheel with a brush hog tied below! Subsurface fishing is also still solid, especially when the sun is high in the sky and the surface activity tapers off. Heavy flies such as perdigons and squogs as well as pheasant tails and purple zebra midges have been effective both as droppers off of terrestrials as well as fished deeper under indicators.
