11-30-03 - Great weather all over the place made up for thin fish populations; I had the mouth of the Pike all to myself on this gorgeous day!

Quarry Park was my last stop for the day on the Root after trying several of my favorite holes but coming up with only leaves and snags on the bottom.

This sunset stopped me dead in my tracks on the way home....

Not even a minute after the above photo and it just keeps getting better...

...and better.

I moved up the road about a mile and resumed shooting this ever intensifying sunset.

Sun-scorched clouds glow like burning embers in the sky.

The horizon caught on fire in a final gasp before giving way to nightfall.

11-30-03 - Who cares about the fish?

Waters Fished: Pike River, Root River
Fish Caught: 0
Outing Date: 11-30-03
Weather: SUNNY!
Air Temp: 50's
Water Temp: Root was 39F
Water Level: Back to relatively normal low flows
Water Color: Pike was clear, Root was clear
Fish Species: Brown Trout
Pattern Fished: Dark Speys, Eggs, Nymphs
Pattern Color: Assorted
Fishing Quality: If you were fishin' for nice weather, you scored big time!

I was really tempted to not even bother fishing after the last two days, but warm weather and a call from Chromeseeker got me back out again.

CS and Jacek started on the Root in Colonial; their reports weren't fantastic so rather than meet up with them there I decided to scout out the Pike. Stopped at a few places, saw no fish. I did however run into an angler who had been out there all morning with his buddies; they had 3 browns between them (2 his). I'm guessing he landed them with the lure he had on his spinning rod; looked like a large treble hook with two 9" soft plastic twister tail worms. All I'm going to say is "interesting rig" and move on.

I opted to try the mouth, now reduced to chasing steelies and browns with the 9' 4wt. SCIV St. Croix that Justin built for me. Hey, it's arguably the best casting rod left in my arsenal (So far this season I've broken 2 7 wt. rods and unfortunately twisted the cork loose on my 9 wt., and yes, the 4wt. casts better than the 6wt. or 8 wt. I still have).

Bart and Jacek met up with me down by the lake and told me they had sighted a few crusty browns on the Root but nothing else was going on. After fishing for a bit, they headed home and I contemplated doing the same. Then again, it was such a gorgeous day out that I headed to the Root.

I don't need to say much, I fished all my favorite holes, never saw a fish, and never felt the tug of anything except the leaves and the bottom (well, one crossed line up in Quarry; I think there was some silent miscommunication about who was fishing which seam...oh well). I left the river just a bit earlier than normal due to the call of nature.

Things just panned out perfectly I guess; while driving west on 50 through Kenosha County I ended my day catching one of the best sunsets I've seen in a LONG time. So enjoy.

Next week, the first Annual Pet Fly Smackdown; Rumble in Iowa, 2003. The Fat Tribe, Smokin' Tahoe, and new smack-talkin Team BLT lead by Red Hat. With names like Fruitbat, FMA, Mystic Mountain Goat Boy...oh you know this is just gonna be a frozen hoot (all while wearing blaze orange and trying not to get shot)!

  MP