Another Male Coho Salmon from the Pike! Taken immediately downstream from the Bridge at A. This fish literally LUNGED out of his hole into shallow water (ca. 6") after a black tailed, black hackled, red wolly bugger. One of the few Coho left in the River. Sorry, now he's in my freezer. Won't be back at the Pike until it rains.

11-02-02 - The Pike and Root, Chinooks are Crusty :P

Rivers Fished: Pike & Root Rivers
Fish Caught: 1
Outing Date: 11-2-02
Weather: Sunny Afternoon, Overcast Evening
Air Temp: 40's-50's
Water Temp: COLD COLD COLD
Water Level: LOW LOW LOW
Water Color: CLEAR
Fish Species: Crusty Chinooks & Coho
Pattern Fished: Mostly Wolley Buggers
Pattern Color: Black Tail, Black Hackle, Red Body
Fishing Quality: Poor to Fair

For the last two weeks the Pike River has been good to me, so I started out there. Arrived ca. 12:45 pm to find that it was COMPLETELY vacant. Not only of people, but of fish! I tried all my favorite spots; the water continues to be lower, but there simply wasn't ANY fish holding up. I tried the area between 13th Street and A; normally a great place to find a few holding. NOTHING.

I decided to scope out the Root considering that the water levels had remained higher in comparison to the Pike, and arrived about 2:30. When I got there I found that Lincoln Park was EMPTY. The Steelhead facility was CLOSED. Furthermore, it looks like the wier dam had been removed??? I thought that was concrete; I didn't think that came out? The few fish that were there were crusty, although there were some FRESH Coho moving up. However, in comparison to a month ago the Root was pretty bad. A couple kids were snagging and playing around in the refuge area, but really, at this point it just didn't matter one bit (other than they were rather annoying). You want to snag out a 1/2 dead Chinook covered in Columnaris? Be my guest. I did overhear someone out there talking to anglers, wasn't a DNR Enforcement agent, but possibly a grad student or a DNR Fisheries Manager. He said he hadn't seen any steelhead in the Root for 2 weeks now. I got the heck out of the Root!

Figured what the heck, I might as well spend the rest of my afternoon on the Pike. Got there around 3:45 and dropped in at 13th Street. Went downriver, searching all the little pools and holding spots. Made it all the way down to the bridge on A (it's only a few hundred feet) and hadn't seen anything. I did pass one angler who informed me that he had caught one Coho all day, and that all the fish were at the Dam in the Golf Course (Kenosha Country Club).

I continued, fighting failing light, and found my quarry immediately on the other side of the bridge (south side) about 10 feet downstream. A Coho was holding in a deeper pocket in the stream. I wasted no time in making a nice presentation with a red-bodied black wolley bugger. The first time I passed it down, the Coho snapped but missed. The second time was poor presentation, too far into the shallow water. The third time I dropped the fly down and stalled it in front of him. Slowly retrieving and stopping, retrieving and stopping, until it got his attention. By this point the current started to move the fly again into shallow water, but this Coho was pi$$ed now! He flew out of the pocket, into 6" of water and HAMMERED the fly. It was the most aggressive strike I'd ever had from a Salmon. With the water being so low there was very little room for this fish to run, and he was landed in short order. By this time it was just about 5:00, I continued to fish the other pockets adjacent in the hope that he may have a female hanging around with him, but as the light dimmed I headed out.

  MP