11-12-04 - Gerry Battles Coho #1

Gerry with Coho #2. I gotta love the Red Bucks...beautiful fish.

At least 25lb..the belly on this hen brown trout was enormous. I'm SEVERAL feet above her.

Quarry and the shelf..one little fish was rising mid-pool but that's it.

11-12-04 - Gerry gets busy with da ho's.

Waters Fished: Root River, Milwaukee River
Fish Caught: 0 that were "worthy"
Outing Date: 11-11-04
Weather: Windy, Partly Cloudy
Air Temp: 40's?
Water Temp: N/A
Water Level: Low, 20 CFS
Water Color: brown, a bit improved with visibility at 1' or so
Fish Species: Coho Salmon, Brown Trout
Pattern Fished: Eggs, Dragon's Tooth Spey
Pattern Color: all color eggs and Orange worked Best
Fishing Quality: less fish compared to yesterday.

Another day back on the Root, this time with FAT, Gerry Greene and two of FAT's clients, head honcho types over at BASS PRO. It had been my personal call that the Root fished better than the Milwaukee yesterday, so we should fish the Root again. Who would expect 20CFS to be better than 250??!?!

Well, I arrived on my own schedule, long enough to basically suggest to Gerry that we head to Colonial and look for fish up there. Sure enough, the same darn fish that had been there yesterday were, for the most part, in the same darn spots again. This tells me one and only one thing - if the same Cohos are in the same spots, they are done running, in fact they have most likely spawned, and now are on their way out.

Gerry managed 2 before we had to part ways...nature called me back to the Gas Station. Once I had gathered myself up, I checked out downstream water from Island to Washington and only turned up one NASTY but HUGE, 25lb at least (I really, really do not kid) brown. Believe it or not I had her on fair too, on the Dragon's Tooth, but she threw it. Afterwards she sat in the middle of the river, and I got to shoot her from above. Nasty indeed, but man, it was the largest brown I've ever seen in real life.

Upstream proved to be no better; no active fish running around, not even in the usual spots at Quarry. I ran into some guys who work for a company I've done work for in the past, which was kinda cool...suggested they go look at Colonial if they wanted to SEE a fish or two. I can't believe it, but I actually gave up the day again without a clean fish to my name.

  MP