TR Thanks Al & Bob

Short version:
Went to Wisconsin, had forgotten much, remembered it. Joined the
West Fork Sportsman's Club, drank some beer, tied some flies,
taught the hound dog to stay downstream (again, he'd forgotten
much too) and met some nice folks along the way.

Long version to follow when I have the time.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:09:59 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Short version:
Went to Wisconsin, had forgotten much, remembered it. Joined the
West Fork Sportsman's Club, drank some beer, tied some flies,
taught the hound dog to stay downstream (again, he'd forgotten
much too) and met some nice folks along the way.

Long version to follow when I have the time.

Isn't that a great place? Pretty, clean (well, the showers could use
some renewal) and nice managers. With the stream right _there_. Oh,
yeah, quiet, too.
--

rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Only a fool would refuse to believe in luck. Only a damn fool would rely on it.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

lid wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
... West Fork Sportsman's Club, ...

Isn't that a great place? Pretty, clean (well, the showers could use
some renewal) and nice managers. With the stream right _there_. Oh,
yeah, quiet, too.

Yes, it is a nice place. I didn't check out the showerhouse,
I wimped out on the camping and rented a nearby farmhouse.
Speaking of showerhouses, you know the Driftless 'Clave
campground doesn't have one. If I can make it to the 'Clave
ya'll better plan to stay upwind of me after the second or
third day. ;-)

My usual stomping grounds for Wisconsin trout is centered
around Spring Green, Wisconsin. Spring Green has many attractions
that cater to Volvo-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, Illinois tourists
like us which means that SWMBO can always find pleasant diversions
while I'm off fishing. This trip coincided with SWMBO's ALA Annual
Conference so I decided to check out a strictly fishing destination
the West Fork of the Kickapoo River which I had read about here and
on the Wisconsin Fly Fishing Board.

First stop is the Avalanche General Store where I met R.L. Widner
of the West Fork Sportsman's Club. Mr. Widner owns most all of
Avalanche, Wisconsin, the quarry up the road and a good sized
farm on Seas Branch Creek and he is happy to sit right there in
his rocking chair and tell you about those and many other things
at length. And I do mean at length. ;-) His rants are entertaining
and obviously well rehearsed. He got off on a riff about people
from Illinois when I interjected that I was from Illinois. No matter,
can't let a trifle like that get in the way of a good rant, he
carried on as if I were a lifelong cheesehead. Real nice guy and a
trout fisherman's best friend in that part of the world. He and the
others of the West Fork Sportsman's Club have done a lot of stream
restoration and other good work in the area and I was happy to add
a $10 annual membership fee to their coffers.

During the grand tour I'd stood on the bridge over the West Fork
with Mr. Widner and watched a fish working at the tail end of a
pool. The good news is that fish were rising, the bad news is that
the only thing coming off were bwo's, tiny little bwo's. I did
manage one nice brown on a size 20 before I snipped off the 6X
tippet and tied a 16 on what was left of the leader. We all say
it's not ALL about catching fish, but generally we say that AFTER
we've caught some. ;-)

Eventually sulphurs started coming off in sizes big enough to actually
see. I never really did see that size 20, just kinda guessed where
it was supposed to be and set the hook at rises anywhere close. Kinda
cool in a Zen sort of way I guess, but I much prefer to see the fly
I'm fishing. The sulphurs were nice size, 16's and 14's, much easier
on the aging eyes.

The fly of the week turned out be a sulphur comparadun. I used to use
comparaduns a lot. Don't know why I got away from them other than my
fly boxes now contain way more western bugs than Wisconsin bugs. A
comparadun is ideal for small spring creek Wisconsin dry fly fishing.
You want a real good floater that will float when slung up into the
roiling current at the head of an undercut bank because that's
where big brown is gonna come hurtling out of his hidey hole to
snatch a morsel before it floats down to become a snack for the
smaller fish. Comparaduns are easy to tie, float like a cork and if
you get size and color somewhere in the ballpark will catch as many
fish as painstakingly crafted dry flies with standard hackle & wings.

My other "re-discovery" was micro-drag. I spend so much effort
mending and reaching and otherwise trying to keep the fly from moving
faster than the current that sometimes I forget that the fly moving
SLOWER than the current is just as off-putting to the fish. To make
matters worse it's often almost indiscernable to the angler. Once I
remembered to leave a little wiggle in the tippet I started catching
more fish.

I took a look at a couple of other area streams, one hard by what
looked to be a ski ramp and a golf course and some that were already
approaching too warm to fish for trout. The West Fork was a brookie
friendly 58 degrees cool and that's where I spent most of my time.

Fun trip, good to get back to Wisconsin and to explore something
other than the same old, same old.

--
Ken Fortenberry

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
My usual stomping grounds for Wisconsin trout is centered
around Spring Green, Wisconsin. Spring Green has many attractions
that cater to Volvo-driving, Birkenstock-wearing...........

My honor has been besmirched sir, I must challenge you to a duel.

Charlie Wilson wrote:

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:

My usual stomping grounds for Wisconsin trout is centered
around Spring Green, Wisconsin. Spring Green has many attractions
that cater to Volvo-driving, Birkenstock-wearing...........


My honor has been besmirched sir, I must challenge you to a duel.

I accept your challenge sir, and as the challenged I shall choose
the weapons.

Please present yourself on the field of honor armed with a 3wt
fly rod and a pleasant but unpretentious Pinot Grigio.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 15:21:14 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
... West Fork Sportsman's Club, ...

Isn't that a great place? Pretty, clean (well, the showers could use
some renewal) and nice managers. With the stream right _there_. Oh,
yeah, quiet, too.

Yes, it is a nice place. I didn't check out the showerhouse,
I wimped out on the camping and rented a nearby farmhouse.
Speaking of showerhouses, you know the Driftless 'Clave
campground doesn't have one. If I can make it to the 'Clave
ya'll better plan to stay upwind of me after the second or
third day. ;-)

They _have_ to have one tucked away somewhere. Maybe just not
mentioned that they're in the toilet rooms? Otherwise good old Maple
Springs campground just can't expect people in tents to stay a week
and come back again. Not at $15 a night. Most people. I don't happen
to care. If I get dirty or ordinary smelly, I do the sponge bath
thing on the offending spots or just let the air eventually wear the
odour away.

Upwind of me after a week (or even a day, if wearing neoprene) is a
good thing. I've formed some very bad habits doing solo camping /
canoeing. My idea of a bath tends to be lying in a river for an hour
or so to cool off in hot weather. I doubt I'll be trying that in a
trout river / stream, though. And if the weather's not hot, there's
no chance of the river thing anyway.
--

rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Only a fool would refuse to believe in luck. Only a damn fool would rely on it.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

lid wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Speaking of showerhouses, you know the Driftless 'Clave
campground doesn't have one. If I can make it to the 'Clave
ya'll better plan to stay upwind of me after the second or
third day. ;-)

They _have_ to have one tucked away somewhere. Maybe just not
mentioned that they're in the toilet rooms? Otherwise good old Maple
Springs campground just can't expect people in tents to stay a week
and come back again. ...

I called them right after you posted the URL of their website
to ask about bringing my dog and the subject of showers came
up. Kipper the hound is welcome, but there are no showers.
They're mainly a trailer park and don't see a lot of tent
campers.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 12:55:43 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:


I called them right after you posted the URL of their website
to ask about bringing my dog and the subject of showers came
up. Kipper the hound is welcome, but there are no showers.
They're mainly a trailer park and don't see a lot of tent
campers.

Gack. Well, I have a State Park sticker, so I can drive a mile down
the road and drive in for their showers. But it'd cost you guys a $4
day sticker to do that.
--

rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Only a fool would refuse to believe in luck. Only a damn fool would rely on it.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli