Well, I dragged my lazy butt out of bed at 3:30 this fine A of M to truck it
up to Madison to fish the Black Earth Creek. I hadn't been up there in a
while, as most of my troutin' has been on the PM this summer.

Anyway, a beautiful drive. If you're at all familiar with the area, you'll
know that as US 14 goes west past Madison, it starts to get downright
pretty. This particular morning was especially nice, as a pretty good patch
of fog was lying in the various valleys of the driftless area. Entering
Cross Plains, the road takes a turn and what passes for mountains in the
midwest come in to view. Very nice, fog shimmering as the false dawn took
hold.

Pulled into the South Valley Road access about 6:30, set up and wandered to
the water. First fly was my humble submission to the DDFS. Nothing. Today,
that fly was as useful as tits on a bull. So, next up, the Picket Pin,
expertly crafted by Stan Gula. Tossed it around a bit, may have gotten one
small hit. Not a good day for that one, either. Next up was the Madam CDC.
Kind of hopper-esque, and nicely tyed as well. After about ten minutes, I
got my first fish of the day. Nothing too exciting, an 8 inch 'bow, but a
fish nonetheless. Yup, tossed that fly around for a little longer than the
previous two. Round three was the swap-meister's CDC caddis. Wandered the
banks for a bit flickin' and tossin' said fly, but alas, today was not it's
day. Decided to continue down the hopper-like-substance path that worked
well previously, so I tied on Big Dale's Klod Hopper. Fine Fly. Fine card
that it came on. I have learnt that I need to get a better tagging system
for the next swap. But I digress. Anyway, Mr Klod takes honors for the day
with a 10 inch 'bow and a really fat 14 inch brownie. This fish was La-Z-Boy
sittin', NASCAR watchin', KFC eatin' fat. Really regretted not bringing my
camera along.

A fine day on the creek.

Anyway, many thanks to the swappers for their fine efforts. I hope to try
out the rest next week, assuming the weather holds.

Dan