5-30-04 - The springhead at McKeawn Springs is still not flowing...it's a mud puddle!

Between Mosquitos, Rain, and non-existent fish McKeawn is currently on my "avoid at all costs" list.

Finally found the Scuppernong where it crosses N....

Another view of the black ribbon of Scuppernong River as it comes down from upstream (and private lands).

Hee Hee....Paradise kinda give you no good reason to go anywhere else....

One of the 3 rainbows landed today.

%@#%^@%^@$^@#~!!!!!

First Aid for Hook Removal...do this at your own risk!!!!!!! I wouldn't personally suggest this for a hook closer to vital organs OR a bigger hook. The technique requires 2 free hands...I only had one, so Rich would have to do this! Rich first doused my finger in Hydrogen Peroxide.

FAT makes a loop of heavy mono and gets a firm grasp on it by winding it around his fingers.

Bring the mono loop underneath the hook shank....

....and back to the bend.

PUSH DOWN on the hook eye....this changes the angle of the barb and bend in you flesh.

While pushing down on the hook eye, a quick tug at the base of the hook bend (where it enters your flesh) brings the hook out. The forces involved pull the point and barb in a direction that keeps them from hanging up inside your flesh.

Didn't even spill a drop of my own blood....THANKS FAT!

5-30-04 - Just another day in SE WI

Waters Fished: McKeawn Springs, Scuppernong River, Paradise Springs
Fish Caught: 3
Outing Date: 5-30-04
Weather: Cloudy, occasional rain
Air Temp: 60's?
Water Temp: didn't take it
Water Level: McKeawn was LOW, Scuppernong was HIGH, Paradise was normal
Water Color: McKeawn = heavily stained, Scuppernong = BLACK COFFEE, Paradise = Clear
Fish Species: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout
Pattern Fished: Tucker Nymph, Elk Hair Caddis, Red Midge, Griffith's Gnat
Pattern Color: as per the original patterns
Fishing Quality: normal

So once again, I'm sitting around in SE WI. We originally had plans to hit Port Washington in a whole group (Travis, Jerry, Craig, Bart, myself)....watching the weather things just went from bad to badder to baddest to even worse still. Most of Sunday morning it was raining at Lake Como, and that rain was moving west. To the north though, the rain was rather constant and they had HIGH WINDS on top of that. One by one we decided we'd have to skip Port Washinton and save it for another day.

There I am, sitting on my "arse" in the afternoon...rain has stopped....Travis is heading to the Kettle Morraine to look for Morels...it hits me...Paradise Springs! I call Travis and ask if he's ever fished it...he hasn't! SWEET, I can be there in 45 minutes! I take a quick shower and get ready to head out.

Then Travis calls me back...he knows why he hasn't fished it...he's in the NORTHERN UNIT of the Kettle Morraine. Well, I probably should've realized that earlier on. Still, at this point I'm all jazzed to fish, so I can still go solo.

What the heck, I'm already out, I might as well scout some of the other area waters. My first stop is McKeawn Springs...this time last year Bass and Bluegills were on their beds and it was a great time.

This year....um.....I'd only say go there if you're fishing for MOSQUITOS. The Spring, despite all the rain, is STILL not flowing. There definitely aren't any trout there, at least none that are going to be worth the bites you'll get while standing around.

To make matters worse, the bluegills and largemouth aren't around either! The water color of the pond has dramatically changed, for all purposes the place looks like a death zone to me. Hardly worth wasting any more time after I gave it a thorough search cast along its entire length. "I'm outta here" I thought as I swatted yet another mosquito.

Since I was around, I thought I might look for the Scuppernong again where it crosses N. THIS TIME I found it rather than just blowing by it...upsteam is private posted land, but downstream looks like it's part of the adjascent public hunting grounds. Good to know should I decide to go back and put forth MORE effort. However, I wasn't in the mood to "suit up" so I mostly fished immediately above and below the road without seeing so much as a chub.

Screw this, time to spend my remaining day at a KNOWN honey hole, back over to Paradise Springs. The DNR was out checking licenses....after that I landed 3 of the stocker rainbows. Tried putting the Chicago Leech in front of one of the big browns that once again are cruising the pond, but NO LUCK! And the Tucker was back to it's usual unproductive self at Paradise....this time it was back to Griffith's Gnats, size 20, either on the top or stripped under. I tried an Elk Hair Caddis and a few midge larvae but it was the good 'ole Griffiths that once again brought 3 fish to shore.

So I'm standing on the pier when it starts raining...I had a couple used rigs with droppers on the railing of the peir...time to pack it up as this is not a rain that's gonna pass. In my haste I grab the Elk Hair Caddis with dropper between my thumb and index finger....the dropper catches on the railing and pulls the Elk Hair Caddis out of my grasp and deep into my middle finger.

SHIT! Yep, that's uncensored exactly what I said. Of course to make matters worse I had to tug on it again to see that yes, it really WAS stuck in my finger. Totally Pissed Off, I cut the dropper of and litterally ran back to the car...there's a couple of my flies sitting around for anyone who wants them ;)

Back in the Bitchin' Camaro I surveyed the damage....a #14 EHC in my middle finger...could be worse. I tried pulling it out...it wasn't going to budge. I know how to pull the hook through, cut the point and barb off and then slide it back out, but this one was already so deep I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have worked. I think I've done that pull-it-through trick once before....I remember it being "unpleasant".

I remembered a trick that FAT had told me about...something with a loop of mono. When I got cell phone reception I called Rich up and asked him, "Hey, you know that thing with taking the flies out...".

Rich replied, "You mean that Katchum Releaseum tool?"

"Um, no, I mean taking a fly out of your own finger..." I said.

"Oh...um, maybe you should drop by the house..." was Rich's suggestion.

About 30 minutes later I'm there, having called Jim K's wife to tell her she is no longer the only one to have hooked herself this year. I had the camera and tripod with to take "First Aid" pictures.....no way I'd ever STAGE this so I figured we should take advantage of the situation.

All told I had that fly in my finger for about an hour...Rich's kids were playing with it...didn't hurt at all unless you tweeked it a certain way but man, I know I was slightly in shock...I think LOOKING at it all the way along the drive was giving me just a bit of a sweat.

One shot of Whiskey (totally ceremonial) and the assertion that I wouldn't sue Rich over a botched surgery and POP...out came the fly ;) I joked, "Alright, now lets put it back in and show the pull-it-through method...."

The lesson? Don't rush yourself streamside. Enjoy the pics LOL!

  MP