A sweet hour or two

Howdy folks. Just wanted to pass on the latest stream news and wax philosophical. yesterday I walked down to the lower Kinni and found the river running clear. It took less than 24 hours to return to normal after the last rain event. Naturally, I was excited to do a little fishing, so late in the afternoon I geared up for a bit of fishing, hoping I might catch the Hendrickson hatch. Unfortunately, it cooled down and clouded over. The Hendricksons were nowhere to be seen, but the blue wings made their usual appearence.

At first I did not see any activity on the water, but when I stopped to switch flies, I noticed the swallows diving near the riffles. Upon closer inspection, I saw the blue wings, not thick, but definitely present. The fish weren't rising, so I put on a beadhead P.T. with a march brown soft hackle, (one of Roy's, I think) and I immediately started hauling in trout. At one point it was on every other cast. Because I am such a swell guy, I called Chris from the stream, (Yes, Jeff, I know it's a crime) and within minutes he was fishing with the same set up, catching just as many fish as I. It was a great way to end the weekend, and it reminded me the importance of being observant. Just because I didn't see fish rising didn't mean they weren't feeding toward the surface. Sometimes, in the riffles especially, you can miss this.

On another note, I went for a drive with my brother Jim on Saturday, pointing out some of my favorite spots on the Rush. He is fairly new to fly fishing, and it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, just driving and marking spots on the map. The Rush was blown out on Saturday from the rain, but I did see a few people throwing streamers, or perhaps worm patterns. Lost Creek, on the other hand, was fairly clear, and while I did not stop to fish it, I was reminded of what a pretty little stream it is, worthy of consideration when the Rush is filled with people or you just want to catch a few brookies to admire their color.

The Wisconsin catch and release season has now officially ended, and the stream will not be open to fishing until this coming Saturday. I'm not sure why this odd little rule exists, but I suspect it has something to do with a compromise between fly fisherman and bait fisherman. I may be wrong, so if someone knows why this is, please set me straight.

Hope everyone has had a chance to listen to episode 11. The music is fabulous, so if you want to skip the talking parts, go ahead. I understand completely.

We're still looking for feedback, so don't be afraid to write in or blog. Andy and Neil, if you're out there, we will be featuring your comments in the next episode. And Nate, you're about due for an email.

That's all folks. Be well.

Joe

murky waters?

Howdy folks, hope you had a chance to check out episode 11. The music is outstanding. We've asked listeners to drop a blog or an email on any of the following: Fishing hats, What's in your vest, Best excuses to go fishing, Road tunes, or just a friendly stream report. Check out Ken's response to fishing hats (still trying to envision the cammo thing) and his success with the # 20WD40 pattern on the kinni. I've had good luck with this pattern as well during midge hatches. I've tied them in red, but I'm not sure what Ken is using. Perhaps he can share a recipe.

Checked out the Kinni this morning and she seemed a bit off color in the early morning light due to the recent rain. I'll look again later today. If anyone would like a report, send an email to joepaatalo@gmail.com.

If the rivers hold, I'll be on the Rush this weekend. There are a few spots I haven't visited in awhile. I think I'll put my hiking boots on and do a little walking. The Rush can get a bit crowded in those well known spots on the weekends, so I suggest trying the lower Rush below Highway 10. Not as many fish down there, but they can be awfully big. I've had my best success down there in the spring. This year I plan to do some late night fishing down there with streamers, preferably on a clear night with a full moon. If someone is interested in trying it, let me know. Perhaps we can coordinate an outing.

That's all for now.

joe

Dry fly time

Howdy folks. Been awhile since I've blogged. I'm currently coaching baseball at the high school here, so it's cut into my fishing and writing time. I'll have to work on that. It's all about priorities, eh.

For those interested in the stream conditions, the Kinni and Rush are runniing great and the dry fly action has started. Chris and I saw hendricksons the other day on the kinni and got pretty excited. This is one of our favorite hatches of the year. If you get out, you can try a standard 16 or 14 Adams, and that should work. I tie a pink sow bug soft hackle as a dropper and take just as many fish on that. Make sure to have your blue wing patterns as well. They've been coming off on the Kinni and Rush, especially on overcast or rainy days. no surprises there. I would also suggest the midge patterns for early mornings. I'm becoming fond of a cluster pattern for midge. If interested in what that means, please drop a note.

Good friends Roy and Ken were out the other day and had some success. I'll contact them and they can blog on what did and didn't work on the lower Kinni.

In other news, we recorded episode 10 last week, so if you haven't given it a listen, please do so. As always, we had fun. We teased Roy pretty good, but he's a good sport. We plan to record the next episode in the next day or two. We're always looking for suggestions, so please keep them coming. In particular, we'd like some pictures of fishing hats we can post. Or, we'd settle for good fishing hat story.

Also, if you have music or story suggestions, we'd love to hear about that as well.

Hope all is well out there and you've managed to get out on the stream. be well.

joe