7-11-04 - A random early morning Hex was found at FAT's base camp.

While I sat in the car tying flies, G-Man landed a 19" Brown Trout from Waterloo Creek while fishin' in the rain. (Copyright 2004 Brennon Schaefer)

Afternoon, the rain had stopped, I started scouting at Castle Rock Creek.

Kinda, sorta reminds me of parts of the Waterloo...but not really.

As I walked downhill to the Blue River, something in the rocks and grass caught my attention.

Can you see it yet?

By now I'm sure you know what I found.

Haven't ID'd it yet. Normally I'd just say "watersnake" but as it slithered away I noticed the markings were different. Maybe a Fox Snake? If anyone knows for sure, save me the time looking it up!

While you're at it, why not find out what species of dragon/damselfly this is.

I fished to risers eating junk off the surface of the Blue River. Turns out they were ALL chubs.

Muddy, slow, this is my first (and probably last) visit to the Blue River.

I guess the "word is out" that there are fish in Kenosha harbor...the typical mob has show up.

7-11-04 - I spoke too soon...rain yet AGAIN!

Waters Fished: Waterloo Creek, Borah Creek, Castle Rock Creek, Blue River, Lake Michigan (Kenosha Harbor)
Fish Caught: 0 @#$!
Outing Date: 7-11-04
Weather: Cloudy turning to Thunderstorms, afternoon and evening cloudy
Air Temp: around 80F
Water Temp: didn't take them
Water Level: creeks were rising
Water Color: All creeks were MUDDY...Kenosha Harbor visibility several feet
Fish Species: Brown Trout (Inland and Great Lakes), Rainbow Trout
Pattern Fished: Chicago Leech, Griffith's Gnat, Kastmasters
Pattern Color: Black Leach, per pattern, varying colors, silver and green was supposedly the best choice.
Fishing Quality: WTF?!!!!

So I got up maybe around 8:00 AM to find that G-man and T-Bone had already gone out and gotten a combined bag limit of Rainbows. UM, no one woke me up?!

Breakfast was quick as always....the primary concern is getting on the water! We did stop though, as FAT found a Hex fluttering about. A photoshoot on the hood of the Bitchin' Camaro was in order.

And then they were off to fish. I split up from the rest of the group to go back to the access point on the Waterloo...I had lost my last pair of Polarized Glasses either there, or on the way back from there. Then again they could just be buried in the car...

Well, no luck finding the glasses, but I did run into an angler who was doing well in the same hole I had landed my fish from the night before. No doubt one or two of those fish he landed might have been fish I caught just hours earlier. Catch & Release does work folks!

After no luck finding the glasses, I sat for a bit and tied up more flies...the water was clearing but still dirty enough that the Leech would work well. Finally, I got downstream into the fly only section and found the rest of our gang parked there. It had started to rain...first a drizzle I thought would pass but instead it became a full fledged deluge. Still dry, I sat in the car and waited for everyone to emerge from the grass...they came runnin, fully soaked. Just before the rain really started coming down, G-man got his best trout to date, a 19" wild Waterloo Brown!

We thought maybe that the rain wasn't so bad to the south, so we reconvened about 10 miles from the secret stream...after all that driving it was still a downpour! Um, didn't look like we'd be having good luck here, so T-bone turned around and headed towards MN (on the way he stopped at Little Paint and got a couple rainbows). Meanwhile the rest of the WI/IL crew drove to Fennimore...time again for Casey's Pizza. G-man, totally uninitiated in the fine cuisine that is gas station pizza, has now seen the light!

And from here I went solo..the rest heading home to accomplish other tasks instead of fish in the mud. I however, was convinced that if I played my cards right, I could still catch a fish. I tied flies for a while until the rain stopped and blue started poking through the clouds.

My first stop was Borah Creek. Small and TOTALLY muddy. I'm sure it would have cleared up relatively quickly, but I didn't have time to sit and wait. Heck, I couldn't even find the access point even though I had a map that clearly showed where it SHOULD have been!

Next stop, Castle Rock Creek. To make a long story short, the bugs drove me off. It sounded like an air raid. I am still scratchin. To top it off, I think I got some poison oak or sumac or ivy or whatever...I have some nice clear blisters on the soft side of my arm now!

I figured it was best if I continued homeward, so the next stop was the Blue River. I found an access, walked down, spooked up a certain reptilian beast, and after taking pictures started fishin. At this time, with all the muddy water, I had a HUGE Chicago Leech on (#2!). Under a bridge I noticed fish regularly feeding on the surface. I tried dragging my #2 leech through them and got nothing.

Back to the car, changed up to a Griffith's Gnat, a good choice when fish are feeding on the surface but there's no distinct hatch going on. First cast, hit and a miss.

Again, long story short, no need to get into details, I landed ooddles of chubs. I am now confident that every riser under that bridge was a CHUB, well except maybe the one fish that snapped me off?! Either it was a good trout OR I had simply not paid any attention to the status of my tippet.

So I got back to driving, got ahold of Chromeseeker between Dodgeville and Madison...he was headed to Kenosha Harbor. What the heck!

By the time I finally made it to Kenosha Harbor, Chromeseeker had literally just left. Apparently some morons, jealous that Bart was catching fish and they weren't, called the DNR to report them as snaggers. Heck I think they even took down a license plate.

What's even more surprising, apparently the DNR actually showed up?! Well, I guess they had pictures of the fish on the digital camera and showed them to the officer..spoon still in the mouth!

So if you happen to be those guys, well, in some respects if you REALLY thought Bart and Jacek were snagging...wait what the heck am I talking about?! IN the harbor? I guess, if you were throwing a huge treble hook and lead, you MIGHT snag some fish. And during the fall, if the fish are REALLY THICK, I guess you might foul one sometimes with a spoon. But SNAGGING in a 30 foot deep harbor with a small spoon in JULY?! You guys are nuts. I'll leave you with this - it's a link back to an earlier report (2-29-04) from the last time someone accused us of snagging in the harbors. Especially, I encourage you to watch THIS VIDEO. You guys owe my buddies a BIG, FAT, GROVELING APPOLOGY.

Ok, that out of the way, I did stay and fish for about 3 hours. NOTHING....I honestly can't say I had a single hit. Conversely, the guy next to me hooked into a nice brown...no net, no buddy, so I helped him bring it in.

That pretty much sums up the day. At a time when I really should have come back with a more successful outing, well, I think I choked!

  MP