March 15,1999

Finally got out in Wisconsin now that the season has opened and the snow storms have stopped. Went to Castle Rock. It was a bit windy so my idea of tossing big flies and retrieving deep fit in. First cast and I broke off a fish bigger than any I had on all of last year. Third cast and I broke off another. Then I had a long dead streak. Talked to another ffer who had gotten two 15 inches. I kept tossing them in and bringing them back deep and slow. I even watched a couple 18 inchers shake the tail of the fly like
a rag doll. The line didn't even move. Had several more hits at the spring. One almost as big as the one I did get; 27 inches of beautiful brown trout, complete with very sharp teeth. Had to tail it to get it in. It was a bit muddy, but I did get a picture, I hope. I got him back into the water and he took off. What a start to a season.


March 24, 1999 Wed.

Fished Borah and up William's Branch. It was sunny and windy, used the five wt.. Fished the 21" hole with an bead-headed-egg-sucking-soft -hackled woolly bugger (BHESSHWB) and caught a chub. Fished next hole, the deepest, with Borger leech and moved a very large fish. Went down to the intersection hole and caught and saw nothing.  Lost leech and put on a sculpin pattern. Moved up branch to flat. Spooked one fish.. Moved to the bottom of the riffle coming into the flat and cast just over a rock at the far edge. A brown took it instantly. male brown with kipe about 17". Moved a few around the big boulder and saw a nice one in there. Started back down, no real luck until the big hole in the pasture where I missed another one. Just above the 21" hole, 2 holes is a narrow deep hole coming off the riffle. Hooked a nice fish there. Just as I was bringing it to net the hook  pulled out.  There are two in that hole 17-18".

March 26, 1999 Fri.

Castle Rock was still clear. Started at the bottom of the spring pasture. Saw a nice fishing swimming about. Kept chucking and ducking my big streamers and finally caught it, a 23" hen brown on a Kiwi muddler. A few pools up there was a nice fish along the shore out in the open, my shadow scared it. Fished in the hole I did not get to last time and had several follows and missed strikes. Moved on up and had more misses and flashes. One pool has a fish that has to run 36". Met a fellow form the cities. He had been on Big Green that morning. There was a BWO hatch. He said he got 30 some fish before getting bored. I'd like to get that bored. There were also some black caddis on Castle this afternoon, size 18.

April 6, 1999

Fished the C&R portion of the Big Green. Mainly streamers on the way up. Has several flashes and a couple small fish. Fished back with nymphs, nothing. This stretch always gets to me.

April 8, 1999

Fished Big Green just above the C&R zone. Started at the bridge at the private property and fished up stream with a BHESSHWB and a dropper but lost the dropper to a tree right away. Missed several fish. The first I did get was 13-14" brown in fast current. Worked up to in sight of the next bridge and got a couple 11-12"  browns. Started back down with an attractor type elkhair caddis, orange body. Saw several rises. Did not get anything until I got to the bridge. It had started raining and there were fish hitting everywhere. Nothing big that I saw. I had two 10" browns in no time. Met a traveler from Chic., who had to stick out in the rain, since he had driven 3 hours. He at least had a jacket. He did get a brookie under the bridge before I got there, with a parachute Adams.

April 21, 1999

Castle Rock was a bit muddy due to recent rains, but definitely fishable. I started at the bridge just below the village. I was fishing big streamers again, mainly Borger leeches. I fished for some time only seeing flashes and loosing a fly. First fish was a 13" brown. At one nicely placed rock at a corner I had two vicious attacks without even getting bumped by a very nice brown. The fish actually came partly out of the water chasing the fly. I got flashes at every location without getting hooked up three out of four. All browns from 12 to 16 inches. Got almost to the next bridge. Fished back with a combination nymph rig. Got several more and lost 4 very quickly. They were taking a size 18 squirrel nymph.

April 28,1999

Fished the Big Green upstream from the second bridge above the C&R zone. I had been in the pasture there before, but had not worked the stream above there. I started with a small rock worm nymph without success. Then tried my beadhead egg-sucking soft-hackled woollybugger. Nothing there. The first hole is hard to work. The water goes all the way to the back before turning and there is a large eddy holding the line for most of the way across. Crossed the stream and moved one hole up and got an 8" brown. Moved on up and crossed the fence. Above there is a big hole that yielded nothing. The next area was a fast run. I fished it with a tight line nymphing technique. I got several hits and a 10" brown. The top of that run is a fence with lots of limbs hung up in it. I cast to the limbs and let it drift back. I crossed that fence and saw a flash in the even faster water there. Two casts and I go a 13" brown. Luck it didn't get down through the fence. I continued up stream catching a few more fish. Worked back with a small nymph rig, but got nothing until I got back to the first hole above the pasture fence. I missed one and lost a real nice one. No more activity, I had to get home.



May 3, 1999

Fished the Big Green from the last bridge crossing it up into the Collin's property. There were two gentlemen from IL at the bridge, so I went up about a hundred yards before starting. The first hole is left under tree limbs and is has two riffles into it. I fished an ugly black bodied white rubber legged thing in there and got a nice 14" brown. Missed another fish and then switched to a rock worm pattern. I just couldn't get it to drop into the hole fast enough, otherwise I think I could get more fish out of there. Moved on upstream to a flat. There were some caddis there. Little black ones. Not as velvety as the ones I have seen on French Creek in IA. Got two 8" browns on a basic EHC. Also put down quite a few by catching rocks and tree limbs. had to use a side arm cast to get under the trees. Moved up to a deeper area where there were more fish hitting surface. Got another 8" brown but couldn't interest the others. Tried a black EHC, size 18. Still no action, so I moved to the top of the run and fished it down and across. First cast and I got a 17" brown. Took his picture and sent him/her home. Moved again without seeing more rises. Got to a nice deep hole that I got a good fish out of last year, sharp corner and under a tree. Tried a turkey-marabou leech first. Missed a hit and thought I felt another bump. Put on a beadhead egg-sucking soft-hackled woolly bugger.  A couple casts got a strike and a heavy fish. The fish left the hole and went down through a riffle and into another hole, out of that hole and through another riffle. All this time I am trying to avoid tree limbs with the line and rod tip. This is the first fish I have ever had leave the hole I hooked it in. Besides trying to miss branches I was also doing a two step around the cow pies and muskrat holes. Finally it got into a slow run. I did a quick release without pictures because it was a tired fish by the time I got it in. Ran about 18". Then I moved into the Collin's property. This is land being purchased by the local TU I belong to. The WDNR does not buy  property that has improvements, so the chapter will buy it and either get a perpetual easement for fishing set up and resell or sell the land to the DNR and sell the house to someone else. They shocked the springcreek that comes off the property recently and got about 3000 fish. Many with heron marks. Anyway, I crawled under the fence and got to my knees before casting into the first hole where the SC comes in. First cast and a miss. Second cast and I got a 17" brown that stayed in the hole. If it had gone down stream through the fence I would have had serous problems. I tried a bit up the springcreek. Saw a few fish dash out from under banks but got none. Under banks seems to be the only cover they have. I moved a bit further up to a hole at the end of an island. The stream splits at an old beaver dam just up from there. Missed one and caught a nice limb in the water. Cleaned the big limbs out of the riffle and moved up to the beaver pond. The dam doesn't hold much back any more. Water was clear. The only place to hold fish had to be the downed timber in the middle. A couple casts and a fish bigger than the 18"one I got under the tree clipped off the fly without even putting tension on the line. I worked back down stream with another streamer but got no real action.

North Shore Trip

I  spent a week on the North Shore with my brother-in-law Mark during late in July. We paddled day trips into the BWCA. Caught northern, smallmouth, lakers, walleye and brook trout, but not many of any.

The last evening and the  morning we came home, we fished Kimball lake just outside of Grand Marie. Got a couple fish each time. This was the only fly fishing I did on this trip. I finished with a very nice 16" bow, the bigest I have gotten on Kimball.

One of the great things that happened up north was that we stood around and talked to Reuben Swenson and Dave Asproth (two north shore giants in the fishing world). More knowledge there on fishing and other things than most of us will ever come close to.

6/30/99

I fished the Big Green yesterday. A little turbidity, but not bad. No surface action. I got an 8" and 12" brown. Lots of swipes at various buggers. I probably should have fished earlier or later in the day.

7/8/99

Castle was very dirty this morning. hasn't been much rain for awhile either. Tried some dry fly stuff, but the only thing I saw break surface were a couple swallows and a muskrat. I switched to a SHWB and got a 9" brown.
Fished the pasture at the C&R area. Got back down to the point where Doc Smith comes in and got a 22" bow. Nice color but not real hard fight. Went to a Chernobyl ant. Looks more like a frog in the water. No action and I
think I should be using more rod than a 2wt to cast it. Fished or walked for 3 hours for two fish. Good enough for a slightly warm, very damp, morning.

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