8-10-03 - my newest trophy, well deserved. Some passers-by took the shot (THANKS GUYS!)

Another shoot. Now, some guys say it's around 15". but in reality this is a 17"++ The reel is one indication; compare this to 15" browns from befoe and you'll see this DWARFS THEM!

Great color, great proportion, all around a trophy fish worthy of a replica in my book! The only reason I haven't already decided is 'cause I know there are even BIGGER Browns to be caught!

Another two fish day at Paradise...Trout Hell is slowly giving up its secrets!

Kenosha Harbor was host to "Tall Ships Kenosha"...the activity level was insane.

I KNOW there is a huge brown in the picture, but for some reason I can't find it!

8-10-03 - KILLER DAY! Time for another replica already LOL!

Waters Fished: Paradise Springs, Kenosha Harbor
Fish Caught: 2/4
Outing Date: 8-10-03
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Air Temp: around 80F
Water Temp: 56F in Paradise Springs, 60's in the harbor
Water Level: just a touch low on Paradise, harbor normal
Water Color: crystal clear
Fish Species: Brook Trout, Brown Trout (both inland and Seefollen), Rainbow Trout???,
Pattern Fished: Olive Scud, Griffith's, Kastmasters (Silver)
Pattern Color: see above
Fishing Quality: AWESOME

It's taken time, but I've finally figured out Paradise to my own personal satisfaction...now it's a matter of keeping after the triple slam here! The big rainbow has been absent for probably 2 months now...either the victim of poaching, heron death, or old age. However, another rainbow was recently caught by Alex, so although I haven't seen any personally it's still possible that they're in there!

This was an awesome day...there were several anglers out crowding the common spots, but as I mentioned before there are PLENTY of spots to hit this small water from. I didn't screw around, today I put things I had learned from my past outing into use and came up a major winner; here's how it went down.

Toss toss toss under the overhanging trees. An olive scud was attached; ordinarily too large (the splashdown would normally spook fish) but under the trees it got attention. And after repeatedly POUNDING the water I got attention, and a BITE. I reared back to set the hook and met more resistance than usual...as I worked the fish out from underneath I saw the largest brown I've probably ever hooked up with at Psprings...a monster to say the least.

Landing this fish was a pain to say the least, but I got him in and took numerous pictures while keeping the fish wet and cool. Afterwards I set to reviving the fish...at first all was going well and he got up strength and managed to escape my grasp...only to settle on the bottom 10 feet out and roll over on her side. I gasped. "CRAP". I watch for a minute but this fish wasn't getting up. So I ran to the car and grabbed my aquasox (no time for waders) and came back...nuts she's still on the bottom. I'm not about to let this fish DIE so I took the plunge (literally). I was already screaming by the time I was knee deep..and when the water hit my crotch I shrieked...this was COLD!

After re-netting the fish, and rereviving it, it managed to squirm free again. I figured everything was good at this point...but then she settled on the bottom AGAIN. This time however, she remained upright so I stood and watched (while rapidly freezing). Might as well take a temperature..only to find out I was in 56F water. Not lethal unless I stayed submurged for quite a while.

Eventually the big brown took off, although I remained nervous for a while until I saw it cruising later. All that effort paid off so that someone else can catch this now even SMARTER big brown :)

The remainder of my time at Paradise turned up another smaller brown and a couple more hits...at that point I called it a day (3:30 pm) and was heading home; Bart was at the harbor so a detour got me there around 5:00.

The harbor was FULL of surfacing browns but to make the story short, we didn't land any. Only saw one landed (nightcrawlers) but we did get to watch the "tall ships" and all the friggin' people EVERYWHERE! Overall it made for a nice day, but I think the random CANNON BLASTS put the fish down (heck I'm sure they sparked at least one heart attack!).

  MP