Wisco Smallies

[jbird]

Ive been hearing talk of this river for a year. It was one of the first places I fished when I moved here last summer. I found the water to be very warm with 0 visibility... just like most of the water in my general area. I recently learned it was like this because I was fishing too low in the river where the resevoire had influence on the water.
Today after work, I decided to go have a look further upstream (and actually closer to home). What I found was a boulder strewn river of very clear water. A very low gradient with mostly very still water interspersed with boulder runs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC01846.jpg

The river averages about 2 feet deep and I saw nothing over 4'. The fishing was flippin INSANE! Not being very familiar with smallie behavior, It took me a couple hours to learn their ways. Where they were, what they wanted to eat, the difference between big fish water and smallfish water. I cracked the code around 4:30pm and things were just silly. I had to have handled more than 50 smallies between 4:30 and 6:30pm. I was fishing one area where the trees cast a shadow on the water and I would guess 20 casts in a row, there was a fish on before I made my first strip. And they were NICE 14-16" chunks.

I accidently grabbed my rod with an intermediate line for this outing. Fishing 1-3' of water with a sinking line was a bummer, but I managed to make it work.

I could really learn to love these guys!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC01844.jpg

One of the smaller fish
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Good variety of color to these fish
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Serious shoulders
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC01851.jpg

[Darian]

Holy cats!!! You must feel like you've died and gone to heaven. Fishin' like that and all of those birds to photograph.... Whew!!!!

[BillB]

Nice. You lucky dog!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I love that kind of fishing JB

[David Lee]

Right !!

Just add a 8-foot , 5 or 6 wt. Rod , a dry line , a smallish Deerhair Bug . and clear the garage - make enough room for me , a cot , indoor plumbing ..... we're set !

Small stream Smallmouth in that size range are IT - work them for a few weeks and argue that point with me -

D.~

[jbird]

I just knew when the bite slowed down, it was top water time and I had no gear for it. Probably a good thing cause I woulda stayed out way too late. This place is only 30 minutes away so I hope to be going more often. It was a bit like Heaven! Fish were laid up in such shallow water they would push a mound of water when they charged the fly!
David, we've got plenty of room if you turn up on my doorstep. :-). There's supposedly deep runs in this river with good numbers of pike and musky too.

[Blueracer]

Jay, I warned you! I'm glad to see you continue to make progress! People don't really know until they've lived it - how bountiful good fly fishing is in the Midwest. To be honest I'm surprised you have to go 30 minutes to find it. Keep searching closer to home, the sweet ponds on private property that never get fished can be a 10 minute walk away.

Good job on the outing.

[jbird]

I live in a notorious dead-water area. (Go figure) Something about the soil and farm runoff that makes every drop of water near home poop brown. Add to that, the mid summer pea soup dinoflagelate blooms and the water litteraly STINKS to high heaven.

1/2 hour is just fine for me :-)

[jbird]

I couldnt resist and went back to this place today. I started upstream of the bridge I park at this time. The water is deeper and calmer up there. I was seeing incredible concentrations of huge smallies and carp the size of my leg. I couldnt get the fish to bite anything despite my endless flogging. I turned my attention to the carp and had a few knee-knocking refusals by carp way too big to manage if they did bite.
After a few hours of el-skunko, I went back below the bridge where I did well last Friday. The fihing remained very slow. The sun was bright and the wind was gusty and I was trying to analyze what the heck was going on. Dropping barometer? Colder water from cold nights this weekend? Or just fish bein fish?
I hiked way down river and saw a lot water and beautiful country. When I realized it didnt matter how far I hiked, the fish are just "off". I was picking up some dinks here and there, but nothing over 12". I turned back and headed upstream.
Things started changeing around 3:30 and I started getting decent action.
By 4:30 things were kickin pretty good (Nothing like the other day tho)

I threw some topwater with a few boils but no hookups. Even when the fish turned on, they were biting pretty subtley.

Thes guys are simply gorgeous...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3770.jpg

A couple fight shots...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3759.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3761.jpg

The last spot I fished was a shallow, boulder strewn indent. I started with a popper and a very nice bass flollowed but didnt bite. He waited patiently as I tied a new fly on, like a dog waiting for a ball to be thrown. Threw on the floating dragon. he rushed it and refused at the last second. I tie on a big black bugger while he wiats again. lol. I could almost hear him saying "Come on man, dont you have anything good?" I throw the bugger at him twice and he does nothing. I turn to look at something else and WHAMO! He takes it! LOL!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3777.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3779.jpg

Nice end to a long day...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3780.jpg

These carp are HUGE! all of 36" and fatter than dairy cows.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/JDS_3757.jpg

[Ed Wahl]

Good for you Jay! Smallies in the Hood!

Way jealous out here.

Ed

[Jay Murakoshi]

Jay,

Hook one of those carp, I need to see it in person. Those are PIGS. When and where do I show up. I don't need small mouth when I see those big fish.
Have you hooked up on any of those. I think you better take a 9wt and some heavy bite tippet

Jay

[jbird]

jay I havent caught any of these. I caught a bunch in another place last summer in the 8-10# range. These fish turned and followed my fly several times. They will eat. There was something about something on this day cause all the fish were just "off". I bet if I came back to these guys in the afternoon when things turned on, I may have had more success. But with a 6wt and no net... NO WAY! I no for sure a couple of these rino's were pushing 30#.