5-5-06 - an evening crash course in fly fishing on the Little Paint.

Iowa Brookies like this put their Wisconsin counterparts to shame!

Mike was upstream - first Rainbow Trout for the year! (Copyright © 2006 Mike Otte)

Mike quickly follows up with a brookie! (Copyright © 2006 Mike Otte)

5-5-06 - Back to good 'ole Iowa!

Waters Fished: Little Paint Creek
Fish Caught: 3 (1 personally)
Outing Date: 5-5-06
Weather: Overcast
Air Temp: low 60's at best
Water Temp: N/A
Water Level: normal
Water Color: pretty clear
Fish Species: Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Brown Trout
Pattern Fished: Various beadhead nymphs, #18-20
Pattern Color: Assorted

It's an unofficial "fly school" weekend; this would be Mike's 2nd trip to Iowa (he first came out over the weekend of 5-14 - 5-15 in 2005); it was Derek's first. We all got lucky enough to depart well before Chicago's rush hour. We met up just west of Madison, and by 6:30 PM we were on the water at the Little Paint!

I sent Mike ahead to ply some pools upstream on his own. I stayed back with Derek and fished a pool holding several fish (mostly rainbows, but a couple browns too) that was relatively open...less of a chance to get caught up in brush and trees.

It was truly a crash course...we both missed a few hits before I finally connected with a big, KYPED Brookie! As the last light faded, Mike showed up. He was definitely excited, having landed 2 trout in the pools upstream. Not a bad way to kick off the weekend.

After dark, we made our way to NEW lodging as the Sportsmen's Motel was booked solid. My GPS took us on a wild ride through some of the craziest gravel roads I've encountered in Iowa. In the end, we passed it but found it when we turned around - Big Joe's Campground. Let me just say it was DEFINITELY worth the drive...more in tomorrow's report.

  MP