Curd Hoss

Dates: August 22, 2009
Location: Various parts of the Curd
Air temp: upper 70s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 6 (3 brooks, 3 browns)


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

Xan
QD


After scrapping a planned float due to bullshit hot weather and wind conditions, Quick and I decided to canoe the Canyon on this day. But, QD wasn't feeling well in the morning, so we decided to keep it simple and do a normal outing.

We went to the Curd instead, first going to QD's favorite run. We soon discovered it was really friggin' cold to be wet wading, but pushed ahead anyways. We didn't catch shit there.

Next up, was the Great Lawn. Finding a mouth-breathing family fishing from the bridge, we walked upstream to the first pool, where I was able to land one or two. We hiked up a bit, but low levels and the bright sun made for more futility.

To end the day, we decided to hit the EP spot. I started casting from the mousin' stations, and landed a brookie right away. QD went downstream and I went up. Landing a few more fish here and there, I made my way back to the stations, were I met up with QD, who unfortunately had gotten the skunk.

After the fishing was done, we went to town, where they were holding their annual summer festival. We saw the largest horses I've ever seen, paired up and pulling sleds laden with huge concrete blocks. We sampled various culinary delights, and then went back home, to tell all of the feats of strength we had witnessed.

Guilty Pleasures

Dates: August 2, 2009
Location: iRiver
Air temp: 80s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 2 (1 bass, 1 pike)


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

Taffy
QD
Xan

As the heat of summer reached its shitty apex, it was once again time to leave the trout alone and focus on fucking with bass. So off to the iRiver we went, to taste its sweet fruits and do battle with stupid fish.

I was most excited for the raspberries, which I ate with frolicsome abandon as QD and Taffy were still setting up. After repeating last year's misguided path to the river, we finally got our bearings and found the spots with the goods.

While QD went downstream to fish some runs, I took Taffy, an iRiver virgin, to the area of my past conquests. Things started slow, as we flogged sections of a pool with our streamers. After tossing around my green bugger with no action, I decided to put some split shot on. My next cast landed by the bank, infront of a submerged branch, an area I had hit only minutes ago. I let the added weight do its thing for a moment, then a strip... boingo! As I fought the fish, it became clear that it was neither bass nor trout. It sported a beak-like mouth, long and lanky body, and darted through the water like a true killer. Getting it to the net, I found a 17" pike or muskie (fuck if I can tell the difference, probably a pike though). Neither of us had a camera, so we examined the beast for a moment and then let it swim off, hopefully to grow into a big and strong gosling eater.

A short while later, QD was by us when I began to drift an egg sucking leech through a run. I saw a flash go after the purple fly, and the showdown with Billy Bass was on. True to form, the roughly 16" bass put up a solid battle. It was Quick's turn next, as he fished a pool upstream from us, taking on a few bass of his own.

Things slowed down after that, as we cast here and there in vain. With all said and done, even though they weren't trout, I'd do it again.

Dog Days of Summer

Dates: July 19, 2009
Location: Warwick Falls
Air temp: 70s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: a few


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

Xan
Booter


Sorry for the lapse in posting. On this day, Boot and I went to the waterfall (again). Caught a few dinkers, only fished for a few hours, nice to be out, yadda yadda yadda. Like most things in life involving Booter, it was only mildly satisfying and ended prematurely.