Date: March 11th, 2007
Location: Canyon
Air temp: mid 40s
Water temp: ??
Hatches: a few little black flying things, some larger brown flying things
Fish landed: 1 (brown)Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:
Fruit Booter
Scooter Mac
Xanner
The daylight savings time change and large quantity of beer from the night before a bleary morning make. After releasing the hounds twice, the second time at Dick's gas station bathroom, resulting in the inevitable, "mean cup of mud," some stream time was much needed.
A busy day on the Canyon saw many fishers and an armada of canoes. Fruit showed off some late drift skills learned from the Brule and landed a couple of nice trout on the San Juan worm.
Scooter christened his new 3wt with a solid brown at the Beta Hole.
Date: March 10th, 2007
Location: Bridge & Club
Air temp: mid 40s
Water temp: ??
Hatches: a few little black flying things
Fish landed: 7 or 8 (brown)Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:
Xan
Quickdraw
Tim
More sun, less snow, (King Of) beer(s) (great call by Tim), and gin clear water greeted us at the Bridge. It was another slow day, but I was able to pull out a nice 14"er. Tim landed the first Brookie of the season. Quickdraw once again had good results with the Bugger.
Another great call by Tim was to wedge our (fly) rods underneath the windshield wipers of the Saturn as we drove to the Club, after exhausting the Bridge spots. Even at speeds of 50mph, the (fly) rods didn't budge.
After landing some tiny trout and flipping some others with a streamer, we headed for the EPB&G to cap off the expedition with some curds.
We received a cellular communiqué from the knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers (KDMB) that they landed a bevy of trout in a separate trip elsewhere on the stream. Sadly, their ilk, with their "power" worms and ape-like shuffle, may never realize that while they "caught" a lot of trout, none of them counted.
Date: March 4th, 2007
Location: Canyon
Air temp: mid 20s
Water temp: ??
Hatches: nope
Fish landed: 2 (brown)
Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:
Tim
Quickdraw
Xan
Day 2 of opener was much like day 1. Lots of snow, slow fishing, but nice to be out. A couple fallen trees in the Alpha Hole have changed its drifts. Water levels looked good and the water was fairly tinted. Quickdraw killed them with buggers and large nymphs. No one had much luck with small nymphs, but #12s seemed to attract a strike or two.
Date: March 3rd, 2007
Location: The Original Spot
Air temp: mid 20s (I think)
Water temp: ??
Hatches: nope
Fish landed*: 1 (brown)
Like Christmas morning or the day you get your nitrous tank refilled, Wisconsin inland trout opener is a magical time. The first day of the fishing season is usually memorable, even if the events that unfold are not. It is dreamt of for 5 months. It is especially longed for when the last of those months turns out to be unfuckingbelievably cold. The promise of a new year of fishing and spicy cheese curds embiggens the occasion, if you will, with a spirituality and jalapeño zestiness that no other fishing trip of the year can match.
There are other small but nifty perks to the day. The trails are the clearest they will be all season. The fish, who haven't seen a fly or lure in months, are as dumb as they'll be all season. However, if there is a foot of snow on the ground, the water is clear and the sun is shining, both of those perks disappear right quick.
Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:
Fruit Booter
Scooter Mac
Xanner
It was an absolutely gorgeous day to open 2007. Blue skies, snow everywhere, and only one car at the parking lot. Despite the mid 20 temps, the sun shine made the day quite bearable, though the fishing was slow. Here are some comparison shots:
Summer of 2006
Opener 2007
2006
2007
Fruit Booter and myself both got on the board this fine day. Here is a look at Fruit Booter in action:
The snow made for a good workout, and ice shelves along the banks gave Fruity and Scooter a new game to play: "Let's see if we can break off chunks and send them floating down the river." Retards.
In other news, it was revealed that Fruit Booter was using a flash back nymph. It was discovered by the keen eye of Scooter, while he was performing the Scooter Mac Memorial Walkaround (even though he is back, it is still a "Memorial" as he is dead to Fruiter). He claims he was just "curious," but seasoned Fly Angler Guilders know that those who malign something the most are only trapped in a closet of their own shame. The sub plots of the new season are already materializing.
As the day drew to a close, we headed to the EPB&G for the first spicy curds, pitcher of Miller Lite and burgers of the year. Their deep fryer is still in fine form. I broke even (total investment of $3) on pull tabs, and that, my friends, is the start of the season.* Fish landed denotes only fish that I (Xan) caught. Don't let the others tell you how many they caught. They are degenerate liars, the whole lot of them.
