Driftless Overnight

At Bending Branches w/ Jason

Went for the hoppers stayed for the olives.  Light all day, then a full hatch in the evening.  Took tham all on Snowcone Wets.

A Monday Slip-Away

Beautifully overcast.

When I was here just 2 days before an olive Zen Scud was the ticket.  Tonight, no-go.  Luckily the answer alighted on my hand to tip me off to olives.  This brookie took an #18 PT to get things going.

The Olive Snowcone with one small shot was the ticket though.  These fish came from under the grass lining the riffles.  This cat ran down the whole riffle under the bank and finally into a pool.  Part of his zeal was being foul hooked.

This was a good, dark fish.  The photo does not do it justice.  Again took the Snowcone from under a cut bank in a riffle.  There was a nymph crawling in its mouth along with my fly!

Check out the scar on the nose. Fishing line? Heron?

Time to start home...

Gettin' The Itch Again

Why the Driftless is a magical place. Up exploring the headwaters of this creek.

Also why.

Was hoping hoppers would bring fish to hand, but there is just so much food to eat looking down, there's no reason to look up.
We've had a few nice overcast afternoons the past couple days and I decided to trout it.  Volcano Spring and Little Creek.  Took a while to get the touch, but the ones eating were taking olive scuds in the riffles.  Moved 3 nice fish on Little Creek: landed one, missed one and lost one.  Sometimes it's hard to fight them in tight quarters!
Kate asked how the fishing was.  "Good," I said " Challenging."  "Good," she said " It's good for you to be challenged."
These were two really lovely evenings back to back exploring unfamiliar waters.