A River Runs Down It

Dates: April 25, 2009
Location: Various parts of the Warwick
Air temp: 50s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: Lots, I didn't keep count


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

Xan
Quickdraw

Having missed the previous weekend due to what I thought was a cold (new allergies, yay...), it was time to get back to Wark. QD, who had been on the shelf for even longer due to child birthings, came with to try and capture the slab glory from my last visit.

We decided to hit the pool I had ended my last visit at, and then explore what lay downstream. The fishing started off slow. After we had each cast our way through the pool, with only a few small bows to show for it, we headed down. Unlike much of the area upstream of our starting pool, we found more frequent pockets of fish than I expected. Bow after bow came to hand, though the pigs were elusive.

As we made our way further down the river, we entered a small canyon, with occasional rock cliffs in place of riverbanks. Quickdraw began casting into a run along one such cliff, and hooked into a slab brown. It was around the 15" range, but plump, and a nice change of pace from the small bows.

At this point, we had the choice of calling it a day or exploring more. We had caught a lot of fish, though only one of girth. We would have to walk the river, as the trails had long since vanished due to the steep banks on either side. I guess the drive to find the slabs kept us going, and down the river we went.

I was a little ways ahead of QD when I came around a bend in the river. Looking downstream, the river dropped off. Figuring it was time to get out of the river, and curious as to what we were approaching, we ascended up one of the banks. As we made our way up the hill, we saw an observation platform near the top. Once there, we were granted a spectacular view of the waterfall below. Descending a huge staircase next to the deck, we were now at the base of the falls. The Warwick was cascading down five large steps to create the sight infront of us. Granted, it wasn't Niagra, but as trout streams go, it was pretty awesome.

Now it was time to find some fish. I cast out into the pool at the base of the falls and soon hooked into a nice fish. I have a feeling it was a sucker, but it broke off my rig before I could find out. After retying, I would soon hook into a slab of my own. It was then that the strong arm of the law came down upon QD. I happened to be closer to the bank at the time the DNR officer arrived and called me over. After checking my license and that my flies were barbless, he had me call over QD. While we were up at the observation deck, he had mentioned that he had forgotten to renew. Whoops. So, as the officer hauled him away to the nearest license vendor (and to fine him), I had the entire waterfall to myself.

I continued to fish the base, landing some more decent fish and a sucker. Then I began to wonder if there were fish on the other levels of the falls. I climbed up to the next level, where I saw a fishy looking run. Sure enough, I started hooking into some slabs. The first popped off. The second made a mad dash downstream where he popped off just before going over the falls into the pool below.

Eventually, QD returned, and we fished the area until things became quiet. We then made the long hike back to the car. As days go, it was quite eventful. We caught a ton of fish, including some decent pigs. We found a waterfall with two levels of fishing. And, QD learned the expensive way that WI licenses expire at the end of March.