the latest....

Couple of things of note...My email on Bigpikemike.com has not been working for a while it seems, but appears to be up and running now. Apologies to anyone who has tried to contact me via the site and got bounced back, if I can retrieve that data, I'll shoot you a reply as soon as I can.

Here's the latest on what's been happening close to home.

Pool 2 shore bite has been going strong, walleyes and smallies being caught below the ford dam on both sides of the river. Fish are relating to the current but time is best spent fishing off current area's looking for resting/feeding fish. I may head down this morning if I can get my home chores done.

On the trout front, fish are definitely waking up with the warmer terms. Fished the willow Thursday night with my buddy Fred and for once this season, got the best of him. The water levels are up and a little off color, just right really for swinging big flies. Water temp was hovering around 40 or so, and there's still some snow to melt in the woods so it might be a couple weeks till we see a spike in temp. Thursday night we focused again on the slower, wider tail outs and flats where we have been having luck in the past week. I hooked up early and landed a tough 15" brown in a long thigh deep run, swinging down and across with little or no stripping, just swing and let the current do the work. Be sure to allow the fly to "hang" below you on a tight line for a few seconds before you retrieve or reposition, this time of the year I find they like this presentation and tend to grab it when you least expect. I got a couple more nice grabs a few minutes later but the big payback came just before dark. Fishing a hole known to give up some nice fish, I picked up a 19-20" male on a 3" natural/brown lead eye bunny leech (see header photo). This time of year they fight like crazy and this fish gave me all I could handle in the fast water and the 6wt. couple of photo's to admire him by and off he went. I'll add some images of flies for my next post and Fred ordered some new flies to test from Schmidts in MI, looking forward to seeing what he bought.

I'll be on the Kinni Tuesday with Dave Carlson of Northland Adventures TV show(http://www.northlandadventures.com/), we'll be paddling and fishing the Kinni for an upcoming episode. This will be my first outing with Dave and first time on the Kinni for me this year, but the weather looks good and I anticipate some bug activity and hopefully we can get some fish and put together an interesting program. Dave is very conservation minded and I'll be sure to fill his head with TGFL thoughts and ideas. Look for this in the coming weeks.

It's Brule opener as well this morning, good luck to all that are up there and send me some reports. It'll be a couple weeks for me but I cant wait, the Brule is truly my favorite place on earth.

peace.

TU monthly meeting

Howdy!

I had a good night last night, but I wasnt on the water. I was given an opportunity to address the folks from TC Trout Unlimited at the REI in Bloomington for their monthly meeting. Although it was last minute, no way am I going pass up an chance for an audiance to hear about what's happening with TGFL. Things are progressing pretty rapidly in fact! We're in process of setting up with the state and both the website and newsletter are in process as well. Thanks to Steve Carlton for having me and to the folks who made it out. I appreciated the support and the good Q/A aftewards. Although the whole principal of what we stand for is and seems pretty simple, I think we have all been conditioned to believe the "fishing's always better somewhere else". The experiences I have had locally rival any I've had abroad and although the scenery might not be as spectacular, there's always something to be enjoyed and remembered. Like most things, it is what you make of it.

no fishing today, although I tried. Truck died on the way to the ford dam to fish with my buddy Ingy, looks like I need a new fuel pump, damn.... Last check Ingy had a couple bites but no walters landed.

Brule opener is this weekend, but my most recent report was the river was iced up from about Culhane on down, and I think I'll give it a week or two. Sounds like there's still plenty of deep snow in the woods to contend with as well. Snowshoes and waders anyone?

more to come, stay tuned eh!

Rush River Clean up Day

Good Morning Fellow Anglers....

Mark your calendar for the 2008 Rush River Cleanup day! Saturday April 19, 8am at the Rush River Rod and Gun Club on Highway 72, east of Ellsworth. Contact Sarah Sanford @ rushclean2006@yahoo.com if you have questions or ideas, or just show up, grab a bag and start picken! It's a great opportunity to make an amazing stream that much better, get involved!

Locally, the water levels are rising and most of the streams will be high and off color. I was at Kinni Creek Lodge yesterday working on the fly shop and the kinni looked rough, not overly high but chocolate milk like in consistency. The willow was also high (up a foot since tuesday) and not quite as murky but difficult fishing.

Regarding Kinni Creek and the shop. We are adding a number of things this year. Rods and reels from Temple Fork Outfitters and Flies from Montana Fly Co. The bugs from MFC are amazing and most of the patterns we'll stock will be geared to the Kinni and the Rush with lots of seasonal patterns to boot. Stop in when your in town and say hi to Paige and myself. We also have a complete line of leaders/tippet and fly lines. With the lack of shopping opportunity locally, this could be a great stream side stop to pick up some last minute items and some of the cool "tech nymphs" from Montana Fly.

The next couple days could find me shore fishing @ Pool 2 again. I might even drag the 7wt down and with a little patience, catch a walleye on a streamer..or not.

Peace,

BIGPIKEMIKE

Land of Plenty

One of the beautiful things about living in the Upper Midwest is the sheer variety of local angling opportunities available, particularly in the spring time. I've always considered myself a "seasonal angling specialist" and like to think I have a knack for seeking out the sweet bite close at hand, this week has been no exception. Tuesday on the trout stream and Wednesday catching shore walleyes below the ford dam.

Tuesday afternoon I found myself on the local trout stream with my good friend Fred Sparling. After the wet cold snow of Monday I honestly had low expectations, fearing the cold influx of snow would drop the stream temps enough to put the fish down, but as usually happens, they have to eat at some point and the key is being there when they do. This day was no different. We fished a couple hours with no action, plying some of the usual tricks we employ at this time of year but could not solve the puzzle...After some discussion on fly patterns and likely fish position we switched gears and we're rewarded with a nice bite over the course of a couple hours. Here's what we found....The increased volume and color of the river affords the trout an opportunity to roam a bit more from their usual woody haunts, today the hot ticket was flats and slower tail outs of larger pools. The first couple came from a 2' gravel flat, dead center of the river adjacent to a larger pool where we usually find them hunkered down. Fred got on board first with a nice 17" brown that snapped up a "whahoo muddler". Having seen his success I got energized, switched up flies and sure enough got tagged by a stout 15" in the same type of water. A pattern emerged and we focused our time on this type of water, rewarded well I might add. We finished the day off with a couple more @ 15" & 17" respectively and I had a losing battle with a tank that had my 7wt doubled over, felt like a brule steelhead to be honest and although I never got a definitive look, I'd easily say it was in the 20-24" class...

Yesterday afternoon the tele rings with my buddy Ingy on the other end proclaiming "they're here". They being pre spawn walleyes that stack up below the ford dam in st paul. I rallied some gear and the dog and got my ass down there. Nothing like catching 20"+ walleyes in the shadow of the city! This is a consistent and strong bite till the spawn ends and a great way to get out for a couple hours close to home....

here's a couple pics of the action. Think globally, fish locally!

Midwest Fly Fishing Show

Whew! What a weekend!
As some of you know, this past weekend was Tom Helgeson's annual Midwest Fly Fishing show in Bloomington MN. I have a booth at the show with Paige Olson from Kinni Creek Lodge, thanks to all who stopped by for a chat and goll darnit, pick up the tele and lets get that trip booked! April is looking to be a busy month so the sooner you can secure your day, the better.

Overall the show was terrific! Attendance was great and people were both engaged and interested in what we have to offer from a guiding standpoint. This year, I'm going to be trying a couple different approaches, most notably the 2 day booking. I'm currently offering 20% off a consecutive days booking. The ability to get out on consecutive days is a great idea for a couple reasons, the most important being the ability to see and experience a full days cycle of life on the river. That first day is instruction and observation, day 2 is about implementation of what we learned on day 1. I don't care how good an angler you are, time on the water, that is regular time on the water is what separates the folks who have success on a consistent basis.

The other idea is this. Brad Bohen and I are going to be putting up a sizable outfitter style wall tent at the property in El Paso, WI. The Little Whisky Trout Camp! We will offer a true "fishing camp" experience for our clients, complete with 2 days of guiding, lodging in the wall tent and food. Waking up stream side is an experience that no one should miss and this will present a great opportunity to enjoy a campout with your buddies and truly get tuned in. It'll also be a great place to host outings for your club or clients with Brad and I serving your needs as guides/cooks and dispensers of BS and perhaps a little whisky to boot! Stay tuned for more info, we're hoping to have it in place mid may for summer bookings.

As usual, this year I hosted a saturday evening party at my place in St. Paul. Thanks to all the fine folks who came over and helped drink up the Two Hearted Ale, but a huge thanks to the boys from Chasin' Steel for bringing over there strings and entertaining the crew with a couple hours of fine bluegrass picking. Dave Blackburn and my lady Jen J got in on the jam as well, it was something else! I'll try to load up some video edits here shortly! thanks again guys and we hope to have you back soon!

it's currently 36 and snowing, calling for 3-5 inches tonight but tomorrow will find me on the water from mid afternoon till dark. I'll post a new report tomorrow evening.

cheers!

sunday afternoon

welcome.....

ya know, it's funny. As I'm wandering down the stream on a Sunday afternoon I have all these terrific thoughts on what to spew about in my blog, but I sit down to write and poof... Need to bring a note pad. Anyway, this early season mission consisted of a couple elements most notably tree climbing. It's a neat time of the year, low clear water and no leaves means presents a good opportunity to scout out a couple favorite holes from a more arboreal perspective. and so I did. Brad and I have played this game before on the Rush, tree scouting and casting director but I did a solo mission seeing as it was mid day and I'd already fished the holes a bit. You can learn some interesting things from this view. I was looking for structural elements more or less, bottom contour, undercuts and the like. I was surprised to see a 30-40 foot long submerged tree in one of my spots, that explains a few lost fish but now I know a little more on how to position myself and play the fish to stay out of the snag..

I was also trying out a new line. I normally fish a 15 foot type 2 sinking line on a 6wt in the early season but I opted for a 30 foot type 3, on my old 5wt croix. nice medium action rod, although a little too light to pick up a lot of submerged line, more reason to strip it all the way in.
Likes: line sank like a rock and was in the strike zone faster from point of impact, and stayed longer on a swing and downstream hang. it did well in the cold, air temps around 30 or so and being new, plenty slick.
Dislikes: Need to throw a 6 or 7wt, preferably a 10 footer. Line sank so fast, mending beyond initial impact was minimal. seemed to hit with a thud, felt like I was beating the water to a froth.

I did manage to get one grab...In the early season I dig deep in the fly well and try out some things I may not fish in may and beyond. This outing was sculpins, olive and brown mostly and fished deep and slow...seemed like a good plan with the cold water and all..Granted it was mid day but still? 10 trips to the fly box later I finally relented, out came a big nasty. This big nasty is a seasoned double muddler, in a pretty sky blue/tan and silver. New, this fly was 5" or better but now at prime fighting weight it's about 4, a little sparse as well. Nonetheless, it's swimming just right and hanging in the zone like a champ. One the third or forth drift, whap, then nothing. Sometimes it's all about one big bite, and going with what got you there....

church....

I attended church yesterday. one of my choosing another out of respect for some close friends, the Kalmon Family of Hudson WI. The service was to honor the passing of a terrific man, great father, grandfather and and fellow angler, Dennis Kalmon. Dennis had been battling cancer for 5 years, but the aggressive nature of the disease finally took him last weekend. His sons are all good fishing buddies and close friends, and the service was almost an impromptu class reunion in itself. Had a great opportunity to visit with some of my closest friends and fellow anglers, and even caught up on a hot bite or two....He'll be missed on opening day, in the hudson channel drifting nightcrawlers for opening day eye's....

After the ceremony and quick lunch, I attended MY church, the willow river in Hudson. feeling the need to examine my own mortality, the mortality of my father who also struggles with cancer and just life changing so fast these days a couple hours at the alter seemed appropriate. As usual the river rarely lets me down. despite the less than stellar temps, frozen guides and cold feet, I managed to bank one nice brown of about 17" on a deep dredged strip leech...Having admired him for a moment, I thought of Dennis Kalmon, his journey and ties to the natural world..I wished my little brown buddy a good day and headed home to warm feet and a cold PBR...godspeed Dennis.

gear drift.....

Tis the spring time ritual, rounding up the gear from last fall's "rode hard, put away wet routine"...at least this year I managed to hang up the waders proper although I believe the neoprenes left me wet on the last trip to the Brule last fall, more aquaseal and bike patches. I'm not sure about you, but I dont trust a fella who's gear is 100% in place, right and tight. no sir, part of the fun is in the hunt..

Elsie and I did get out yesterday for a couple hours. I wet a line, however I find my first couple days out, on any water, are more about the hike, scouting new structure and reacquainting myself with the water and the walk. Chatted with a couple other anglers, Dustin and his bro from Hastings, younger fellas, slinging fire tiger raps, looking strangely like my buddies & I growing up near the river...The river looked about the same, not much color and with all the snow, still a little chilly. lots of interesting ice on overhangs and snags and more cars than I think I have ever seen in the general area, for any opener. It's 27 degrees @ 11 am, heading to 35? Might head back out and give another, or try to get a handle on the gear drift issue...

early season opener is here

Well the early season opens today in WI, to a chilly reception however....As of 9am it's 13 degree's but at least it's nice and sunny. Brad of the Brule is sipping coffee downstairs and conjuring up some wicked early season streamers, my request of a couple chartruece double muddlers, possibly the deadliest big brown streamers I've used. Not quite time to toss them yet but I'm guessing we'll head out today at some point to walk the stream and reaquaint ourselves with moving water again....

We had a terrific meeting with Paige of the Kinni and Brian our wizard designer to discuss the TGFL strategy for the upcoming season. First up will be a TGFL newsletter which we'll have available at the upcoming show in Mpls in a couple weeks. Send me off an email if you'd like to get on the mailing list. This morning we are off to meet with Tom Helgeson from Midwest Fly Fishing magazine to talk a little more about the direction and what we can and will present at the Show. My discussions with my industry connections have been nothing but positive and momentum is building for our movement. This should be a very exciting season, check back later for a quick stream view report and images of the ohh so deadly Double Muddler.....