The Legend Of John Henry's Fly Rod

Dates: March 29, 2009
Location: Club
Air temp: 40s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 1


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Xan
The Lawyer


It was a bright and sunny day, with a light wind and a shit load of fishermen. When we got to the Club, we didn't see many cars, but the river was hopping. We fished here and there, walking long stretches upstream to get away from the many anglers. Eventually, we made it past the boulder field, where many a mouse excursion has gone down. Water levels were very, very low. It seemed as like late summer, without all the vegetation. This might be a short trout season if conditions don't improve. I might have to resort to slumming for bass, or buying some new gear to fish for musky. That or get a lobotomy and fish for suckers.

On a more positive note, the Lawyer, a staunch mouth-breather, got skunked. As I caught one fish, I was victorious, with two consecutive wins versus the mouth-breathers in as many trips (see the March 21st post). Much like the mighty John Henry, I have shown that the inhuman technology of the lowbrow is no match for the fly rod (even if the mouth-breathers had no idea such a contest was being held).

An Ill Wind Bloweth

Dates: March 23, 2009
Location: Upper Warwick
Air temp: 30s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 0


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Xan
QD


On a cold and blustery Monday, the Draw and I decided to hit the Warwick for the first time this season. It probably wasn't the best idea to go fishing, but I had already taken the day off of work, so why the hell not.

After stopping to purchase a WI state park parking sticker, we headed up the road to one of our usual upper Warwick locations. It was a nice, overcast day, and the water levels were healthy, but a constant wind sucked our balls.

QD was not far upstream from me, fishing one of the known money runs, when I heard him curse. The fish he had on had snapped his line. That would be the only fish sighting between us. After a short session in the biting wind, we called it quits and went to get some food and regain feeling in our fingers.

Geocaching My Balls

Dates: March 21, 2009
Location: Upper & Canyon
Air temp: 40s?
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 3


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

QD
Coach
Xan


I met up with Quick and Coach at the parking lot of a spot above the Canyon. It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning, and the only other folks around were a group of kayakers. Water levels were slightly low, with a bit of a tint. QD and I walked upstream a bit, where I began to fish. While casting and conversing with Quick, who was on the bank setting up, I noticed a plastic water bottle wedged into the crack of a tree by him. I pointed it out, and upon his investigation, Quick reported that it was a geocache. In true Guild fashion, QD left his signature mark on the cache, and we continued on fishing.

With little action, we decided to head to the Canyon. We found many other fishermen there, but pressed on regardless. We hiked and fished our way past the alpha hole, with little reward. Coach caught one, while I caught three, neither of us getting anything of size. Regardless, I was triumphant over the mouth-breather.

Early Season Cak

Dates: March 14, 2009
Location: EPB&G Spot
Air temp: 50s
Water temp: 40
Hatches: midges
Fish landed: 1 Brown


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

QD
the Lawyer(non UMFAG)

Well it was a great day, we started out by hitting the "Sportsman's Wherehouse" liquidation sale. it wasn't that great, 10-20% off i didn't end up buying anything.

We drove through the little unincorporated town to scope conditions, and found a shit ton of people fishing there for the second week in a row.

made it to the spot(cak), and started to get ready. didn't notice that many people fishing in that spot which is always cool. I did notice that the water was down a bit from where it was last week and fairly clear. Made my way down river and fished all of the good spots on my way, trying every early season fly that I had(no dries though). I had one strike all day on a red San Juan, pulled in a healthy 14"er that still had some spawning colors. Mark landed 3 browns and had around 10 strikes on kastmasters.

I fished my way up river back to mark and despite the slow fishing it was a beautiful day outside and I had a good time. we ended the day at "Sunsets" bar and grill, had some chicken wings and a turkey bacon sandwhich, with carmalized onions it was damn good.

-QD

Early Season, Fuck Yeah!

Dates: March 9, 2009
Location: EPB&G Spot
Air temp: 30s
Water temp: 36
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 15 or 16 browns


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

QD
Xan


I took the day off to join QD for some trout. Driving by spots around town, we were surprised by the number of folks on the stream. We arrived at the EP spot to find only one person in the parking lot and another two arriving shortly after.

Some considerable work has happened here since last September. An area between the parking lot and river has been cleared out, leveled, and adorned with three concrete mousin' stations.

A short hike downstream from the parking lot and I was into my first trout of the season, a brown around 14". The second fish took a while to materialize, and we then hiked down to fish between the crossings. Through the tea stained water came trout. Browns, in the 12-14" range. Hike down to the next run and repeat. I quickly hit double digits, and QD landed around 5. I was even able to get one while stripping a bugger, which makes me wonder what a non-fisher would think when reading that.

As the sun started to set, we went back to the parking lot and fished from the mousin' stations a bit, before calling it quits and getting some curry. Huzzah.

Put On Yer Boots

Dates: March 7, 2009
Location: Lawn
Air temp: 30s
Water temp: 36
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: zippo


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

TAFKAY
Xan
Booter
Quickdraw
Gutterball




We set out in a two car caravan on Saturday, the first day of inland trout season. This past winter was more reasonable than the last, so the ice was mostly gone or on the banks and islands, rather on top of the water.




Unfortunately, the water levels had yet to subside from the recent thaw. The river was running like B-Chubnut's stool after his recent colon blow, fast and brown. We fished from the lawn to the second, larger pool upstream. Nobody caught shit.

While the fishing sucked, the sun came out and made it a nice day to be in the woods and on the water. We devised a new game, where not only do we send ice chunks down the stream, we then throw rocks at them. I realize that it sounds simple when written out, but trust me, this is some good stuff. Between that and throwing snowballs, rocks and logs into people's casting lanes and at each other, we had a full day.

But, no day would be complete without a trip to the EPB&G. A good day of throwing rocks creates a hunger that only spicy curds can satisfy.