Stream Report 3/19/2024

Forecast: 49℉, 20 mph gusty wind, sunny and clear, 51% humidity

Stream Conditions: clear/normal levels, water temp was 42℉

Insect Hatching Activity: Midge and BWO

Nate had a hunch. It looked good on the map and had a class A ranking, but in a relatively overlooked area. What could go wrong? It was a hunch worth checking. The weather went back to seasonal temperatures after a previous week of late Spring temperatures. Snow is in the forecast, so lets make today the day. To be clear, access to this easement water wasn't a cakewalk. Once the water could be reached, there were many obstructions, the least of which was finding decent casting lanes. I love streams like this – they become their own gate keeper. Not a boot print in sight; however also not a fish spotted. Not to be deterred, I bushwacked on until I came to a subtle run and made a self assessment that if there was no action there then this hunch might be a bust. Getting in the best casting position that I could muster, I sent a cast to the tail out of the pool only to be warmly greeted by a darting indicator and husky fighting butter brown. Once in the net, this heavy 14” brown wiped away any doubts that all this effort was worth it. And so it began, catching several more in that pool and working upstream to get into various positions to cast and then utilizing every type of cast to achieve the presentations. One particular run was alive to a hatch of Blue Wing Olives which would only take the emerger presented slightly under the surface but not on the surface. Sounds straight forward, but to get that cast to the fish you had to avoid fallen trees on the back cast and a root ball fortress behind where they were rising. I did manage to catch 4 before the final one got hung up in the root ball and spooked the rest. Further up stream was a total log jam and when I got above the obstruction there was a foam line prior to the blockage. I observed the area and could see a faint ripple coming out of the foam. I still had the emerger on and made a cast to the area of the rise and was greeted by a resounding battle and eventually landed a beautiful 15” brown which I affectionately labeled the blue cheek fatty – it was quite a trout. My mind wandered....If they are that big on the top what lies in the depths of that blockage?....Looking upstream was an unremarkable stretch of flat water but upon closer observation at the mouth of a small, barely flowing feeder stream was a school of these Driftless gems eager to take Caddis pupa. I won't tell you how many I caught in that pod as you might not believe me anyway. I figured that was a good place to finish up. The next pool upstream is always like a carrot on a stick to me. Anyway as I said that Nate had a hunch and this one turned out to be quite a jackpot.