Fuck This

Dates: July 25, 2010
Location: Warwick
Air temp: 80s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: fuck this

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

Xan

 

 

Still way to hot, but I decided to get a trout tune up before Montana.  I got off to a late start, and didn't roll out till about 8am.  I decided to first head to Lunds to stock up on some flies.  After getting there and finding it didn't open for another hour and a half, I was stuck in a pickle.  The Curd would be packed by this time.  The Canyon would be swarming with kayaks.  Warwick Falls?  Forget about it.

So, I went to my go-to runs on the Warwick, above the park.  Nothing.  High temps = no feedy.  The slow water was absolutely futile.  I did have a few on in some faster water, but lost them all.  I tried a few other spots downstream, same shit.  Nonetheless, the trip did get me prepared to not catch shit as usual out west.

Bring it.

Bass On The 4th Of July

Dates: July 4, 2010
Location: iRiver
Air temp: 80s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 3 bass

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

Quickdraw

Xan

 

 

Once again, the summer and hot weather turned our attention to bass.  QD and I decided to go to our usual haunt on the iRiver in search of smallies.  

It was revoltingly hot above and below the water.  The river felt like a bath tub, but seemed to have a decent flow.  We each caught a few small smallies, and also both landed a decent bass.  The fight was good, but unlike our trip last year, it just didn't satisfy my soul.

 

The raspberries were out and about, and we took full advantage.  There are few things in life as rewarding as eating things straight from the earth.  Once I master fire, I will be able to live off the land, and live well!  Or, die from a muskrat attack.  Regardless, eating wild shit is awesome.

Piece of Bass

Dates: June 20, 2010
Location: Warwick
Air temp: ?
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: a few trout and 1 smallie

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

Xan

 

 

It had been a while since I'd gone fishing, and an even longer while since I'd been downstream of Warwick park, so it was time to remedy those things.  After driving around town, I finally figured out how to get to the access point I hadn't been to in years.  Since it's that kind of year, I started downstream (explore!).  I ran into a couple mouth-breathers as I was making my way along the river.  A bit downstream of them I caught a small trout.  I fished my way back to the car, then continued on briefly upstream.  By the bridge I landed a smallmouth bass.  Not able to find a decent trail, I made my way back to the car and went to the waterfall.

It was a nice sunny day, and the waterfall was a zoo.  People were crawling around every level of the falls.  Some mouth-breathers were fishing the main floor, while swimmers were jumping down into it.  I started at the second level and caught a few dinkers.  As I cast, I heard the unmistakable sound of bagpipes.  I looked across, and saw a small wedding ceremony being performed in the shallows on the edge of the falls. 

I think the other fisherman got tired of people jumping into the river, as they left not long after I got there.  So, I took some pokes in there before leaving.  I caught a lot of chubs and a few trout.  Nothing of size landed that day, but a unique day nonetheless.
 

War-wick's A Pimp

Dates: May 22, 2010
Location: Warwick
Air temp: ?
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: low double digits

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

Xan

Scoot

I'll be honest, I thought today was going to suck.  The weather forcast didn't look so good.  Sunny, warm temps, shit.  Additionally, things had been slow.  Lots of new water, but few fish to show for it.  So Scoot, armed with cheap stogies, and I went to the Warwick. 

By the time we arrived, the weather was not conforming to the prognostications of the experts.  There was a layer of clouds, and it was a bit cool.  We started above the park, and found a fisherman in the first money run.  After heading a bit further down, it was on.  Rainbow trout.  Agressive?  Most definitely.  Stupid?  Perhaps.  Fun to catch?  You bet!  We couldn't lose.  Nearly every run we hit produced bows.  Nymphs, streamers, it all worked.  The hot spring day did not materialize, but a small storm did.  We smoked cigars under a light rain as the fishing slowed down.

We went back to the car and drove over to the waterfall.  Scooter caught a decent fish on level 3, while I landed a small guy on level 2.  The main floor was not very productive.  It didn't matter.  The weather and fishing forcasters had been proven wrong, and I didn't even have to use my AK.  Today was a good day.

 

A Noose

Dates: May 15, 2010
Location: Famous Original Ray's - downstream
Air temp: ?
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: a couple

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

TAFKAY
Boot
Xan


Mission Explore 2010 continued.  We went to Famous Original Rays, not a new spot, but headed downstream instead.  Usually, the furthest down we've gone is the pool directly below the bridge, but today we forged onwards, into the great unknown.

Most of it was fairly nondescript, until we arrived at a huge, lazy pool.  Believing the pool to be too slow for love, I continued on downstream.  When I came back, I found my compatriots were KILLING it there.  A small pheasant tail, drifting slowly, ever so slowly, through the dark water was landing trout after trout (and suckers).  The current at this spot was about as fast as a three legged tortoise, but the water was deep and murky, perfect cover for fish.

The hole had another nice feature, a noose like rope, strung from a tree high above.  Looking for a diversion from my rock-stick-ball game, I grabbed the rope, put my foot in the noose and started swinging above the pool.  Great fun.  If I'm ever back there while wet wading, I will be sure to get the full effect of launching myself into the water.

After a while, Booter let me take a few casts, and with one of his non flashback PTs, I too got in on the trouty fun.  Things started to slow down not long after, and we called it a day.

Eastward Ho...

Dates: May 14, 2010
Location: Eau Galle
Air temp: ?
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: a couple

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

Xan
Quickdraw

QD and I had Friday off, so it was time to keep this season's exploration theme going.  We drove out a bit further east to the Eau Galle.   

The day started ominously.  After we had set up, I jumped in my car to roll my windows down a crack.  Jumping out of the car and locking the doors, I left my keys in the ignition.  With the windows a bit open, QD was able to pull one of them down a bit further, enough to reach a stick in and hit the power lock switch, saving the day.

From there, it was time to explore, and as has been the case in most of the recent exploration, it was also time to not catch shit.  If you're wondering why the Eau Galle doesn't have a code name, it's because the river sucks my balls.  Shallow and generally small, we had a hard time finding any good water to cast in.  We did find a bunch of morels at the first spot.  My eagle eye spotted a large specimen, then QD found a treasure trove of smaller ones.

We drove up and down the river, trying out different areas, almost all of it shitty.  The only decent pool/run we found was in a small town the river flowed through.  We caught a few small trout there, but not much else.  After driving around a bit more, we gave up and returned with our fungal gold.

Whole Lotta Nothing Goin' On

Dates: May 9, 2010
Location: Club
Air temp: ?
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 1 brown

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

Boot
Xan

Booter and I went to the Club to get our fish and morel on.  Sadly, we came away with few fish and no morels.  Starting at the usual spot below the bridge, I landed an average brown right away.  It was a long and fruit/fungus-less day after that.  We hiked up to the big pool, fishing along the way, taking side trips into the woods, giggling like little girls about cute boys, the usual.  Booter caught a fish at some point, but who really cares?