Wisconsin Opener

"Mu Young Lee" wrote in message
cc.itd.umich.edu...
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004, Danl wrote:

I agree. I'm seriously considering the Owens Gorge for this weekend.

Anybody interested?

Heading to Australia this weekend.

Mu

Fair dinkum to ya, Mate. Have some fun and take some pictures.

Danl

Wayne Knight wrote:

The area I was thinking of was the Fennimore area.

Only thing I would request is that an area that I could drive back to Indy
in about 8 hours on Sun afternoon.

Let me know, will probably bring Ralph, the trout catching golden.

OK. We've got one recommendation for the spring creeks west of
Richland Center, which to me means staying in La Crosse. Jeffie
recommends Timber Coulee, ditto on staying in La Crosse, and one
recommendation for south of the Wisconsin River which means the
hotel room is where, Fennimore, Boscobel, Prairie du Chien ?

MapQuest says La Crosse is 7.5 hours from Indy, 6 from Urbana
and 4.5 from Christian in the north suburbs. Of course, having
chased you up the Tri-State once, I know that you could probably
get there in 20 minutes. ;-) So time & distance are within limits.

I wouldn't mind La Crosse, but I know absolutely nothing of the
area. If it's to be just us three, that sounds like a long way to
drive to find and fish unfamiliar water.

I am somewhat familiar with the area south of the Wisconsin, but
that's still a long way to drive to fly fish in March and I tend
to worry about traveling any distance on little two lane highways
that time of year.

I look at it like this, we are not going to have great, or even
good, fishing no matter where we go, so we may as well stay close
to home and be as comfortable as possible.

There's a Marriot Residence Inn on the west side of Madison that
is mere yards from Madison Outfitters, a decent enough fly shop.
Black Earth Creek is just to the west and Mt. Vernon Creek is
almost as close.

So I cast one lazy, same old, same old vote for Madison, but like
Iowans and Michiganites, I am always willing to caucus. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
. ..

...one lazy, same old, same old vote for Madison, but like
Iowans and Michiganites, I am always willing to caucus. ;-)


As you noted, the fishing will probably suck even if it's warm enough to
try. It's more about getting out and getting together as far as I'm
concerned. Then too, some of you guys know that part of the state better
than I do. I'm game for just about anywhere.

Wolfgang

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
. ..
recommendation for south of the Wisconsin River which means the
hotel room is where, Fennimore, Boscobel, Prairie du Chien ?


For Fennimore, staying in Madison is OK.

Of course, having
chased you up the Tri-State once, I know that you could probably
get there in 20 minutes. ;-) So time & distance are within limits.


And tripper thinks I drive too slow

I wouldn't mind La Crosse, but I know absolutely nothing of the
area. If it's to be just us three, that sounds like a long way to
drive to find and fish unfamiliar water.

I am somewhat familiar with the area south of the Wisconsin, but
that's still a long way to drive to fly fish in March and I tend
to worry about traveling any distance on little two lane highways
that time of year.

IFIRC, it really was not that far to Fennimore from Black Earth, as far as
the two lane roads that time of year goes, 3 years in Southwest Kansas will
make you over come it. (Tho i do remember one hell of an ice storm in
Madison opening day 1998)


I look at it like this, we are not going to have great, or even
good, fishing no matter where we go, so we may as well stay close
to home and be as comfortable as possible.


Dunno Ken, not gonna guarantee anything, and it's been 4 years since I last
fished the area, but I suggested those streams because of their holes and
the one spring I know of coming into it. Unless the weather completely and
utterly sucks, I can see at least one fish being caught.

There's a Marriot Residence Inn on the west side of Madison that
is mere yards from Madison Outfitters, a decent enough fly shop.
Black Earth Creek is just to the west and Mt. Vernon Creek is
almost as close.

So I cast one lazy, same old, same old vote for Madison,

fine with me, especially if they have a weekend rate. plus they usually
allow dogs. we could use madison as a base and if the weather looks ****ty,
hit black earth, mt vernon or trout creeks, of if not too bad of weather,
could go farther west or north.

On Tue, 3 Feb 2004 21:34:58 -0500, "Wayne Knight"
wrote:

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
...
Of course, having
chased you up the Tri-State once, I know that you could probably
get there in 20 minutes. ;-) So time & distance are within limits.


And tripper thinks I drive too slow

If you two had been driving the wagons, the West would still be
undiscovered...

/daytripper ;-)

"daytripper" wrote in message
...

If you two had been driving the wagons, the West would still be
undiscovered...


But look on the bright side, all those nice spring creeks would not be
private water yet.

On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 21:51:57 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Wayne Knight wrote:

There's a Marriot Residence Inn on the west side of Madison that
is mere yards from Madison Outfitters, a decent enough fly shop.
Black Earth Creek is just to the west and Mt. Vernon Creek is
almost as close.

So I cast one lazy, same old, same old vote for Madison, but like
Iowans and Michiganites, I am always willing to caucus. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry



Madison Outfitters went belly up this December. As did Lunde's fly shop in
Mt. Horeb.
If you stay in Madison you still aren't too far from some good spring
creeks. Trout Creek in Iowa county, about 45 miles west of Madison, has
always been a good early season stream. Later on it gets too weedy to fish
well. There are a couple other streams in the same area worth fishing. BEC
has been giving up some decent hold over 'bows plus a smattering of wild
browns, but its still pretty slow. Mt. Vernon Creek is o.k. but the fish
are fussy and a person can fish all day and walk away swearing there are no
fish in the stream.

But actually a person stands a pretty good chance of catching fish that
time of year. Scuds and Pink Squirrels down deep work well as do BWOs and
Little Black stoneflies on top, if the fish are in the mood..

And remember, if there's snow *don't wear felts*!!!


g.c.

Ken,
I'm clueless. Clue me...who are the "three" going?
You, Wayne and Wolf I assume. Or someone else.
I won't need my arm twisted to show up.
If the weather sucks I'll just watch :-)
Are you talking about March 6 & 7?
Let me know.
Joel
Joel Axelrad
**DFD**

"Joel Axelrad" wrote in message
...
Ken,
I'm clueless. Clue me...who are the "three" going?
You, Wayne and Wolf I assume. Or someone else.

Ken, Wayne, & Christian. I'll be number four. You are five. George,
should he decide to join us, would be six. I believe this would be the
largest ROFFian incursion into Curdistan to date. A cursory preliminary
investigation has failed to turn up anything in the state's statutes that
prohibits it.......probably best to do it quickly and quietly, though.

I won't need my arm twisted to show up.
If the weather sucks I'll just watch :-)

Don't forget your snakebite kit.

Are you talking about March 6 & 7?
Let me know.

Yeah, me too.

Wolfgang

"Greg Pavlov" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 04:32:24 GMT,
(George Cleveland) wrote:


And remember, if there's snow *don't wear felts*!!!


Is that some sort of Cheeseland proverb ?

Snow adheres readily to wet felt. If the snow is light and you take more
than a few steps in it, you'll have a ten pound snowball attached to each
foot. Most of it will fall off as soon as you step in the water, but some
of it will have frozen solid forming a block of ice close to the sole. Step
on a rock and.....well, you get the picture.

How are the streams likely to look in April ?

April is always iffy. Even in the southern part of the state, winter storms
are not especially unusual early in the month. On the other hand,
temperatures can get into the mid sixties on occasion. By the end of April
spring is pretty much undeniable in the extreme southern end of the state
while the far north may still be locked in winter......or not. Best bet is
to keep a close eye on the ten day forecast, hope for the best, and be
prepared to repack on short notice.

I'm going to be making a trip out to Madison.
If I stay over for an extra day or two, will
any of you be up to showing a line flayer
a spot or two ?

I'd be delighted. Keep me posted.

Wolfgang