TR- Last Day 2009

Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. I got home at 6:30 am and got about 4 hours sleep before
getting up at 1pm. I meant to nap when i got home so as to be a
productive worker last night but I never did. And now instead of going
to bed I'm posting this. Oh well...

I started out by fishing a stretch that has become my traditional
last day beat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2117a-1.jpg

Nothing much happening when I got there about 2pm. Tried several
variations of dry and dropper, with minimal luck (a few missed
strikes). Finally a few fish started to rise. I happened to have a
Pass Lake on (big surprise there, eh?) and a few of the risers thought
it looked o.k. to them. I was hoping to get a bright, pre-spawn fish
but I had a fisherman work up behind me making me feel crowded and I
ended up thinking that this speckled but not especially vibrant fish
would have to do for my last-fish-of-the-year picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2125a-1.jpg

Not wanting to share the water I left. Having a couple of hours before
I was due home I drove around looking for an empty pull out. I was
surprised when I found one at a fairly popular spot. Walked down to
the River and was confronted by fish rising all over the place to
BWO's. I still had the Pass Lake on and made a couple of casts before
switching to the small stuff. Took two, including this old black
mouthed, hook jawed campaigner. Bright orange belly with a shredded
pectoral fin and a missing mandible, he probably won't make it to next
Spring but hopefully he'll contribute that beautiful DNA of his to the
River one last time this October.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2128a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2134a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2135a.jpg

Afterward the fish started to ignore the P.L. and I switched to a #22
Fuzzball and caught a handful of small fish before my hands got too
cold to comfortably hold the line and rod.

And that was it.

Another season left behind me.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2120a.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2138a-1.jpg


HTH

Geo. C.

George Cleveland wrote:
Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. ...
snip
And that was it.

Another season left behind me.

Nice. Thanks for sharing, George.

You can still get some fishing in if you want to fish
the Bois Brule up in Douglas County.

I'm getting ready to go fall steelheading and I thought
I'd do the same old, Manistee/Pere Marquette/Muskegon
thing on the Lake Michigan streams. I got to thinking
that when my wife retires and we move on from Urbana
the Michigan streams are going to be too far away. So
I started looking at the Bois Brule. And then I thought,
hell, if that's where I'm going to be doing my fall
steelheading in a couple of years why don't I start
going up there now instead of waiting for the move ?

I'm still mulling it over. Change does not come easy to
geezers and learning a whole new river seems daunting,
not to mention fishless ;-), but we'll see. I may just
pull a changeup this year.

Have you ever fished up there for steelhead ?

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Oct 1, 6:32*am, George Cleveland
wrote:
Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. I got home at 6:30 am and got about 4 hours sleep before
getting up at 1pm. I meant to nap when i got home so as to be a
productive worker last night but I never did. And now instead of going
to bed I'm posting this. Oh well...

*I started out by fishing a stretch that has become my traditional
last day beat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2117a-1.jpg

Nothing much happening when I got there about 2pm. Tried several
variations of dry and dropper, with minimal luck (a few missed
strikes). Finally a few fish started to rise. *I happened to have a
Pass Lake on (big surprise there, eh?) and a few of the risers thought
it looked o.k. to them. I was hoping to get a bright, pre-spawn fish
but I had a fisherman work up behind me making me feel crowded and I
ended up thinking that this speckled but not especially vibrant fish
would have to do for my last-fish-of-the-year picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2125a-1.jpg

Not wanting to share the water I left. Having a couple of hours before
I was due home I drove around looking for an empty pull out. I was
surprised when I found one at a fairly popular spot. Walked down to
the River and was confronted by fish rising all over the place to
BWO's. I still had the Pass Lake on and made a couple of casts before
switching to the small stuff. Took two, including this old black
mouthed, hook jawed campaigner. Bright orange belly with a shredded
pectoral fin and a missing mandible, he probably won't make it to next
Spring but hopefully he'll contribute that beautiful DNA of his to the
River one last time this October.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2128a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2134a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2135a.jpg

Afterward the fish started to ignore the P.L. and I switched to a #22
Fuzzball and caught a handful of small fish before my hands got too
cold to comfortably hold the line and rod.

And that was it.

Another season left behind me.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2120a.jpg

*http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2138a-1.jpg

HTH

Geo. C.

Beautiful little brookies. But the fishing year is not over. You need
to come out West this Winter and chase some steelhead half frozen.
Dave
I still owe you for that aspirin. ;=))

On Oct 1, 10:04*am, DaveS wrote:
On Oct 1, 6:32*am, George Cleveland
wrote:





Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. I got home at 6:30 am and got about 4 hours sleep before
getting up at 1pm. I meant to nap when i got home so as to be a
productive worker last night but I never did. And now instead of going
to bed I'm posting this. Oh well...

*I started out by fishing a stretch that has become my traditional
last day beat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2117a-1.jpg

Nothing much happening when I got there about 2pm. Tried several
variations of dry and dropper, with minimal luck (a few missed
strikes). Finally a few fish started to rise. *I happened to have a
Pass Lake on (big surprise there, eh?) and a few of the risers thought
it looked o.k. to them. I was hoping to get a bright, pre-spawn fish
but I had a fisherman work up behind me making me feel crowded and I
ended up thinking that this speckled but not especially vibrant fish
would have to do for my last-fish-of-the-year picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2125a-1.jpg

Not wanting to share the water I left. Having a couple of hours before
I was due home I drove around looking for an empty pull out. I was
surprised when I found one at a fairly popular spot. Walked down to
the River and was confronted by fish rising all over the place to
BWO's. I still had the Pass Lake on and made a couple of casts before
switching to the small stuff. Took two, including this old black
mouthed, hook jawed campaigner. Bright orange belly with a shredded
pectoral fin and a missing mandible, he probably won't make it to next
Spring but hopefully he'll contribute that beautiful DNA of his to the
River one last time this October.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2128a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2134a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2135a.jpg

Afterward the fish started to ignore the P.L. and I switched to a #22
Fuzzball and caught a handful of small fish before my hands got too
cold to comfortably hold the line and rod.

And that was it.

Another season left behind me.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2120a.jpg

*http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2138a-1.jpg

HTH

Geo. C.

Beautiful little brookies. But the fishing year is not over. You need
to come out West this Winter and chase some steelhead half frozen.
Dave
I still owe you for that aspirin. ;=))- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thought I was responding to Ken's TR. Sorry
Dave

On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 10:06:44 -0700 (PDT), DaveS
wrote:

On Oct 1, 10:04*am, DaveS wrote:
On Oct 1, 6:32*am, George Cleveland
wrote:





Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. I got home at 6:30 am and got about 4 hours sleep before
getting up at 1pm. I meant to nap when i got home so as to be a


Beautiful little brookies. But the fishing year is not over. You need
to come out West this Winter and chase some steelhead half frozen.
Dave
I still owe you for that aspirin. ;=))- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thought I was responding to Ken's TR. Sorry
Dave


No problem. And if you ever do need some aspirin, I'll be happy to
share. I got the good stuff (enteric coated , 325mg).

Geo. C.

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:17:04 -0500, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

George Cleveland wrote:
Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. ...
snip
And that was it.

Another season left behind me.

Nice. Thanks for sharing, George.

You can still get some fishing in if you want to fish
the Bois Brule up in Douglas County.

I'm getting ready to go fall steelheading and I thought
I'd do the same old, Manistee/Pere Marquette/Muskegon
thing on the Lake Michigan streams. I got to thinking
that when my wife retires and we move on from Urbana
the Michigan streams are going to be too far away. So
I started looking at the Bois Brule. And then I thought,
hell, if that's where I'm going to be doing my fall
steelheading in a couple of years why don't I start
going up there now instead of waiting for the move ?

I'm still mulling it over. Change does not come easy to
geezers and learning a whole new river seems daunting,
not to mention fishless ;-), but we'll see. I may just
pull a changeup this year.

Have you ever fished up there for steelhead ?


Yes I have gone up there. No fish yet, though. If you already have
experience you might do better than me, of course, but its like muskie
fishing. You've got to put in the time to learn the ropes and the
stream before you start collecting fish on the end of your line. (Or
at least thats what I've been told. Maybe the advise came from folks
who didn't want to hurt my feelings by telling me the truth... that I
suck at fishing.)

Anyway, watch the weather. Stream levels are down and there are just a
few fish in the feeders. It usually picks up in late October. Rain
would help. A lot.


I'll still be fishing. Just not for stream trout. I overlined my 10wt
with a Teeny 11wt line (it castys like I tied on a half ounce sinker
to my tippet) and I'm interested to see if I can get my pike flies
farther out than 40 feet. I may fish for smallies yet. But they
generally quit hitting topwater stuff, which is my passion, and so,
again, I may not. I may even fish for trout. Some of the stocked lakes
stay open all year and I have a friend who swears by the ladybug/Asian
beetle "hatch". That usually takes place in late October, so I may
strap the canoe onto the station wagon in a few weeks and catch some
stockers.

The sad truth is, after the stream trout season ends, fishing becomes
a diversion not a focus in my life. Maybe I'll start running and get
in shape for skiing.

Geo. C.

"George Cleveland" wrote in message
...

I started out by fishing a stretch that has become my traditional
last day beat.

HTH

Geo. C.

Nice TR snipped.

Thanks,
JT

George Cleveland wrote:
Yesterday was the last day of the Wisconsin inland stream trout
season. I got home at 6:30 am and got about 4 hours sleep before
getting up at 1pm. I meant to nap when i got home so as to be a
productive worker last night but I never did. And now instead of going
to bed I'm posting this. Oh well...

I started out by fishing a stretch that has become my traditional
last day beat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2117a-1.jpg

Nothing much happening when I got there about 2pm. Tried several
variations of dry and dropper, with minimal luck (a few missed
strikes). Finally a few fish started to rise. I happened to have a
Pass Lake on (big surprise there, eh?) and a few of the risers thought
it looked o.k. to them. I was hoping to get a bright, pre-spawn fish
but I had a fisherman work up behind me making me feel crowded and I
ended up thinking that this speckled but not especially vibrant fish
would have to do for my last-fish-of-the-year picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2125a-1.jpg

Not wanting to share the water I left. Having a couple of hours before
I was due home I drove around looking for an empty pull out. I was
surprised when I found one at a fairly popular spot. Walked down to
the River and was confronted by fish rising all over the place to
BWO's. I still had the Pass Lake on and made a couple of casts before
switching to the small stuff. Took two, including this old black
mouthed, hook jawed campaigner. Bright orange belly with a shredded
pectoral fin and a missing mandible, he probably won't make it to next
Spring but hopefully he'll contribute that beautiful DNA of his to the
River one last time this October.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2128a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2134a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2135a.jpg

Afterward the fish started to ignore the P.L. and I switched to a #22
Fuzzball and caught a handful of small fish before my hands got too
cold to comfortably hold the line and rod.

And that was it.

Another season left behind me.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_2120a.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MG_2138a-1.jpg


HTH

Geo. C.

nice stuff george...see ya there again next year.

jeff