Driftless weekend round 2

Winter is still hanging on in the Driftless region with snow still packed on the north sides of the hills.  Fishing is slow with water temps around 40.  Air temps reached the 50s during the day but got down to the 20s at night, perfect conditions for drinking in the woods. 

Driftless Opener 2014

So I guess I angered Old Man Winter by saying winter was over, it is very much alive and kicking.  

Conditions for the opener were some of the worst I have ever fished.  The battle for keeping your hands warm was an impossible one. Even with 2 sets of hand-warmers my fingers just would not stay warm changing flies or adding tippet had me questioning my mental state.  

Our average BAC was more than 3 times our average number of fish caught this trip.  

but fish (very few) were caught

Freezing our asses off for a few small trout may not be for everyone, but it was worth it as fishing always is.

No chubs were caught.

I cannot wait to fish above freezing temperatures 

Winter's Cum and Gone

The worst of winter is over. I know it is supposed to keep snowing, but the end is near early season opener is less than 2 weeks away.

Microchub

They say it's not the size of the chub, but how you use it

Caught on a #22 black midge emerger- put up one hell of a fight

Chubs Unlimited Memberships

Hello and welcome to Chubs Unlimited!
We have undergone major changes here, and I would like to welcome you to our newly titled blog focusing on the always overlooked chub, the fish no one targets, and no one ever wants to catch. We're here to tell you the  chub takes a backseat to NO other fish.  They're as hard as anything you've ever felt before.  They require the stiffest of rods!
 If you would like to sign up to be a Chubs Unlimited Member (C.U.M for short) please contact us here.  In the distant future expect this to be the place where you can get all your official CUM gear (hats, t-shirts, etc).

California Trouting

After long delay here is an adventure from late March.
Somehow the Banger and I found ourselves drinking Sierra Nevada, while fishing in the Sierra Nevadas.


our guide scouting for mountain lions and marlin


a good brown from the Walker river


After fishing driftless streams all spring every fish here seemed enormous, but apparently 16-20inch browns are the norm


I don't spend much time nymphing, I'm usually throwing streamers or dries, but this trip made me appreciate the skill involved in nymphing and how difficult mending line can be.

This was my first time on an actual guided fly fishing trip and I have to say it was pretty awesome, kudos to Lake Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters and our guide Peter, he kept us on fish all day and was a damn good story teller.

Driftless Doubleheader

Opening weekend was cold, we knew it would be cold, so we decided to camp. Every sane person I spoke to before the trip told me "you know its going to be cold up there" yes I am aware it is cold in Wisconsin in March. Wisconsin did not disappoint as we pulled into our campsite at a breezy 2 degrees F, but that's what beer, fire and most importantly firewater are for.

Fishing was tough, but we did manage to catch some

after a long wait it felt good to get back in the creeks chasing trout again

Our second weekend proved to be more productive, and more refined as we did stay indoors (even though our cabin flooded).  With the rain on Saturday water was still running clear and fish were pretty active, all of ours were taken on streamers. 

Its nice to catch one in the first 5 minutes

 This guy slammed a woolly bugger after feasting on another brown

 You know you have good friends when they hike around cold streams in the rain/35 degree weather with you for 6 hours

 Driftless Paradise

Sunday the same streams were running like chocolate milk but I did hear from another angler that several streams were still running clear 

 The Bishop branch was not one of them

When no one was catching anything Dan caught his first trout on a fly rod

There were midges and stoneflies hatching on the banks, but with fast and stained water no rising fish

In two weeks myself and our redfish aficionado bassbanger will be hitting up the East Walker river in the sierra nevadas in search of rainbows and cutthroat. 

The following weekend will be our Troutporn southern unit writer's first driftless trip and 

that will wrap up the most fishing I've ever squeezed into a one month.