11-22-03 - Horlick Dam, flowin' again! Gotta love the Yohoo water!

Looking downstream into the Upper Stretches of Quarry Park.

Later on at the Milwaukee, we had Estabrook all to ourselves.

Chromeseeker receives the affectionate moniker of "Mutha FN Bait-Tosser" from Jim and I as he hooks up with Steel on the centerpin.

MFBT scores the only fish landed! Nice Steelie!

Upstream all the way to Kletzch; not many folks out, water was CRYSTAL yet stained, and NO FISH sighted anywhere.

11-22-03 - Time for MP to stop spoiling himself and put in his dues on the local tribs!

Waters Fished: Root River, Milwaukee River
Fish Caught: 1 (by Chromeseeker)
Outing Date: 11-22-03
Weather: Rainy, cold and overcast
Air Temp: somewhere in the 40's
Water Temp: Milwaukee -> 42F
Water Level: Normal
Water Color: Root = Mud, Milwaukee = clearer as you went upstream
Fish Species: Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, Coho?, Browns?
Pattern Fished: Speys and Eggs
Pattern Color: Assorted
Fishing Quality: Tough

As always, gotta start early! I was "supposed" to meet FAT and buds in Racine at 5:30 am; I didn't even get to sleep on Friday night until after 1:00 I think! Oh well, somehow I managed to wake up "early" by my standards and met FAT and his buddies up at Horlick on the Root around 9:00 am.

It was a relative madhouse, with eight anglers working the run underneath the Rt. 38 bridge! Plenty more downstream in Quarry Park, and a few upstream too. I believe only one hookup for "Team FAT" had occured by the time I arrived, so we all headed out to the McD's for some breakfast (man, if you haven't had one yet, you MUST have the Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagle!)

Jim (aka. Muskieslayer 2.0) had been out earlier and came back to meet up for some breakfast; after warming up some of us parted ways with Jim and I heading north to Milwaukee! Guppy's reports of bright Coho during the week had us salivating.

We started in Lower Estabrook; I spooked a couple of fish off a redd, likely browns judging from their pale color but I honestly can't say for sure. Jim spotted one king, as did I (they're all bad crusty by now).

After fishing for probably 2 hours with no luck having covered all the pocketwater, Chromeseeker made his way down and we all headed to the falls at Estabrook. Man, it was utterly deserted! Again, got reports of people taking fish in the morning, including 1 large steelhead and some coho, so this area felt promising.

Bart wasn't screwing around; he had the spawnsacks, waxworms and centerpin out and ready to kick our butts. 4th toss; bam, fish on. While laughing hysterically and cursing him out (yes, all in the same breath) I got a few good picks of CS with a nice smaller steelie! Hey, I think any angler out that day would've been VERY happy to land a fish like that!

Well, we kept moving; partially to warm up in the car between locations and partially in the hopes of finding better concentrations of fish. On up to Kletzch.

We found a few anglers out and about, trying the "usual spots" in the water. Downstream we had run into some turbidity, but up here it was crystal clear, just stained. "Windows" would occasionally appear in the chop, allowing good glimpses of the bottom...no fish here!

On down to the "secret spot" and I pulled a Red Hat (aka. "Caved and went to bait"). Jim stuck with the fly, while Chromeseeker took the deep pool and I worked the tail and long flat with my 9' 6" spinning outfit (built by Justin, Alaskan Rod Crafters). Man, put a Drennon Float on there, shot it up, and you can DRIFT A MILE! I think the words "Now I get it" sum up my new found understanding of drifting with a spin rod, let alone I know get how a 13'+ Drift Rod and Centerpin work even BETTER! Winter Steelheaders, I may still drift flies, but I like your gear! Let's see the fly guys get a 100 yard drift!

Well, a breif meet up with Guppy pretty much ended our day; no more fish seen or hooked up with or landed. I'm not sayin' they're not there, but they're probably spread out making things at the very least "tough".

  MP