11-08-03 - Tim works a bend of the Root where a fish was rolling.

3 out of the 4 fish sighted on the Pike are all visible in this photo!

The mouth of the Pike was cold, windy, and deserted!

Looking to the south we could see some precipitation event occuring; turns out it was probably snow. SNOW?!

A 180 degree of Kenosha Harbor - absolutely devoid of anglers!

11-8-03 - Minnesota Mountain Goat Boy somehow DRIVES to WI to fish! Goats can drive?!

Waters Fished: Root River, Pike River, Lake Michigan at the Pike River Mouth and Kenosha Harbor
Fish Caught: 0
Outing Date: 11-08-03
Weather: Overcast with brief breaks of sun
Air Temp: started at 18F, got up to just around 34F
Water Temp: Root - 39F, Pike - 39F
Water Level: Root - UP, Pike - NORMAL
Water Color: Root - MUDDY, Pike - clearing up
Fish Species: Cohos, Chinooks, Browns, Steelhead
Pattern Fished: Tucker Nymph
Pattern Color: original gold BH pattern
Fishing Quality: Hours of hiking with sporadic fishing

So Minnesota Mountain Goat Boy (as Brennon was dubbed by Red Hat) shows up on Friday night and Saturday morning we meet up with Tim S. on the Root, again pretty early, around 6:30 am. We fish for a while in Lincoln Park and I spot a brown surfacing in the fast water. FAST WATER? It was 39F! All the fish should be pooled up!

Well we worked our way down into Island Park and checked these areas too....all in all it was cold and the action was nonexistant. Getting close to 10:00 am we decide we've had enough and we head to the Pike.

Between yesterday and today I've basically checked the ENTIRE RIVER for fish, and let me tell ya, the Pike was empty! Upstream we came upon a trio of spawning cohos. As Brennon had driven the farthest we gave him first crack at them. He slid down the bank upstream and started laying out line with a flourescent red wolley bugger as his offering.

Tim and I both coached Brennon from our vantage point on the bank. As his fly came closer we'd shout directions like, "Two feet down and a foot to your left!" Brennon got a few chases but didn't connect. A couple recasts to get back into position and finally he had the perfect "HOLD" about a foot away from the bright red male that was dominating the redd.

Ordinarily what follows next is the word "WHACK"! This time though, the male just slowly came up, his jaws opened and gently closed on the tail of the wolley bugger. It was all happening in real-time slow-motion! Tim and I are slow to react to this mind-blowing take, by the time we start shouting "SET THE HOOK" the coho releases the fly just as gently as he took it...then leaves the redd and chases the other male into a pool below. We wait for the fresh male to come up but he doesn't; only the crusty male is brave enough to come back to the female.

So Tim hops in and gives it a shot, but eventually both fish spook off the redd. The female goes upstream and both males are in the pool. I spend some time swinging MP's Egg Spey in Chartreuse and Black. I might have gotten a hit in the pool, but it may have just been a rock too.

Well, we head downstream to E and go up and down. Right upon our arrival we sighted a lone Chinook moving up the river, but nothing else is seen after that. The lower Pike is devoid of fish. Brennon and Tim want to try the golf course; upon arrival we come across 2 anglers with 2 fish each on the stringer; 1 stringer of King + what looked like a steelhead, and the other having a King and a Coho (kid thought the king was a brown?!)

I check downstream of the Golf Course and find nothing. Brennon and Tim make their way through the golf course and find 2 anglers on every hole. I went back to check out the cohos and find an angler who has just landed one of them and a brown. @#$^#@$%!

Well, what next? Let's keep going downstream. We plan on fishing the mouth, but the winds have put a chop in the water. It's all murky; hardly fishable. We move on to Kenosha Harbor by about 3:30 pm and find it deserted! Unbelieveable, I figured this would be THE place for anglers on a day like today. Well, an hour later we've seen a couple browns jump but NOTHING else. So chalk this day up as one of those "Character Builders".

  MP