Last Outing for the Early Catch and Release Wisconsin Season

Date: April 26^th

Weather: 60’s

Stream: Clear but low

Hatch: A few mayflies

Water Temp: Cold

Beer: Summit Dunkel Weizen

Missed the fiddleheads by a few days

            The Kinnickinnic River in May is a sight everyone should see. The beauty found in its clear water, high canyons and the new lime green leaves is stunning. However, April has been so busy this year with school and work and I haven’t been able to make it out as much as I have wanted. It’s a shame because you only get so many Aprils in your life and in a perfect world I would be outside the whole month. I had to make it out fishing because the early catch and release season was ending soon and the streams would be closed until the regular season opened May 5^th. To my surprise the parking lot was empty and I had the stream to myself except for the annoying kayakers who always spook the fish and throw empty beer cans on the shore. That's how it goes in Wisconsin I guess.

Dead brown with a nasty bite I found
in the stream

            There were a few mayflies hatching and coming off the water. The trout were somewhat aggressive feeding but weren’t rising with great frequency. I drifted a dry fly over a  deep run without much success. A few times I had a bite but I was so excited I set the hook before the trout swallowed the fly. I think I missed around five fish doing that. Usually I am a little slow setting the hook because I am usually daydreaming while looking at the beautiful scenery. Missing a fish is frustrating especially when the water is so low because they are extra wary and don’t bite as often.

Dead sucker, a nasty fish

            I spent some time looking for morels along the river while I was moving upstream to some other spots. If I had been here a week earlier I would have had so many fiddleheads but I just missed them. Same for morels, it’s still a little early so they should be popping as soon as some warmer weather comes around. While I didn’t catch any fish the weather was beautiful and the regular season is a little more than a week away. Fish or no fish Summit's Dunkel Weizen is still the best beer out there.