West Fork Jason

The fish stink doesn't go away till I put up the fishing rods and get the long guns out for deer season just before Thanksgiving. mmmm...venison.... <----that's a venison popcicle emoticon, right??

Coasters used to be the main native lake run fish (coaster is to brook trout as steelhead is to rainbow trout)((Did I just quote the ACT??)) in the whole lake superior basin, prior to the introduction of; various salmon species, the rainbow trout, and brown trout. Now they have some serious competition from these surrogate species in the lake and the streams. There has been a push to try to restore the Lake trout and Brook trout populations lately through habitat restoration and stocking. The stocking is always a bit of a hot button thing b/c a lot of folks want the wild genetics instead of the fish pellet eaters. Large wild populations still exist around Isle Royal and northward into Canada. And yes, they get BIG in the BIG lake. (20+ inches) Big males in their fall spawning colors are one of the most beautiful fish I've seen.

It was the annual "Fin Clip Saturday". Wild Rivers Trout Unlimited and the American Fisheries Society volunteered at the Red Cliff Band fish hatchery to ready 100,000 brook trout for release into the big lake. http://redcliff-nsn.gov/divisions/naturalresources/hatchery.htm Join your local TU chapter if aren't already a member, TU does great work for fisheries conservation and restoration!

Oops... http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/31/us-exxon-pipeline-spill-idUSBRE92U00220130331

She's a pretty standard lower 40's fish, caught in the waters affected with proposed mine.

Not to hijack a thread about Arkansas conservation issues, BUT - http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/01/31/wisconsin-mining-company-helped-write-a-republican-bill-that-would-streamline-regulations/ Not fan of the Koch bros...They had a lot of influence in re-writing our state mining laws recently, not to mention all the funds they gave to our current governor that rubber stamped the bill when it made it to his desk. In a matter of days, there is going to be test holes drilled in northern Wisconsin. We are facing the potential to have open pit taconite mining in the head waters of the Bad and Chippewa Rivers. These streams are home to WILD and NATIVE brook trout, among other species of fish. If anyone has been to the Iron Range in MN, you know this type of mining CAN NOT be fixed. The first thousand feet of material has to be removed before even getting to the ore, and once rain water comes in contact with this material sulfurs will be in the run off. The trends in declining protection for our waters is in dire need of reform!

I really like the Airflo RidgeClear i just started fishing with on my 5 weight!

Congrats from the Wild Rivers Chapter!

I'm a little bummed with Cabela's customer support and product knowledge at the moment. I stopped at their store in Hoffman Estates on the way down to Arkansas a few weeks ago to purchase a transducer for my Lowrance unit. While hooking it up before heading out to Beaver, I discovered they had sold me a transducer that does not support down scan imaging. Having no interest in blind casting for stripers, I headed home a few days early. All the local stores in NWA, and even the Cabela's in Rogers said the correct transducer was a special order item. I should know better about going on a long trip with un-tested equipment, but still. Cabela's should know what the @#$% they are selling and how it works. And yes, they are a little pricey except if you can luck into something (I got some RIO MOW tips for a steal...) @ the bargain cave. Just curious, did any of you guys move some fish when it was in the 70's earlier this week?

camped @ the dam Tuesday night through Saturday morning, too warm for shad...

"The great lakes are off limits bc my wife gets sea sick real easy. We found this out the hard way at Green Bay in 2008." If you're still thinking about flying into MSP, don't discount Chequamegon Bay up in Ashland. It's Lake Superior, but more protected than Green Bay and has better small mouth fishing. You can check it out on google maps and see how you're protected from winds on all sides except from a strong North. Capt. Ouitdee Carson does a great trip, http://arrowheadflyangler.blogspot.com/ I'll PM you some more spots... J

Any reports of shad coming through lately? I hate to have my cheese and crackers dry.

What's the surface temp on Pomme these days?

It's time to head south. It's getting cold up here, and I can't seem to master casting a fly rod into an 8" hole. (Save your joke's, this forum is moderated.) The 2nd leg of this southern journey is going to be spent in Beaver, looking for Stripers. (Again, save your jokes b/c this forum is moderated.) A Lowrance is going to be "borrowed" from my Lund, and temporarily rigged on my drift boat. The drift boat is for the first leg of trip farther down river on the White... Instead of running one horse power on the oars, a 9.9HP will help aid in propulsion. If you have any knowledge of motors on drift boats, think PLOW instead of PLANE. Covering lots of miles by boat is not an option. But it should be fast enough to utilize the graph. Just a few questions-??? Any suggestions as to which launches to use? Start as far upriver as I dare and move down? Anyone else on the board care to throw some flies? (should be in NWA at the end of this Month) Any responses or PM's would be greatly appreciated and reciprocated with good info for up in this neck of the woods. Thanks J

Nice Red! Great way to start a trip. Keep us posted on your trip. My uncle has a place and a new (new-used....) skiff down by Rockport and I may visit this winter. Any beta would be helpful!

I have a lake master chip for wisconsin in my lowrance, it has great detail for the "premier" lakes in the area. For the less popular lakes the detail is much less. Some of the smallest lakes have no bottom detail at all. I've been in friends rigs that have hummingbird/navonics and I was a little more impressed with that setup than mine.

Well....musky season up here has been closed 4 days now... Did any of you guys end up fishing the river for ski's??? I'll be headed down sometime this winter, any one interested in fishing?

Nemo- That one's a freak! I'd mistake it for a rock bass if i caught it around here. Thanks for sharing that pic. J

Here's one that ran up from a clear water lake (Lake Superior) into a dark tannic water river (not telling the name of that one on the internet...)

" I know very little about bottom bouncers or trolling for walleye. " Here's one from our general warm water opener a little over a week ago, swinging an articulated streamer with a steelhead rod. I hate you guys down there and your "fishing seasons". Sam- good luck with the Waldo's! They are yummy... Alot of folks fish Lake Superior for them with downriggers, planers, dipsy divers, etc. and do well with the larger ones. Should be a good method when your lakes warm up down there???

One fish was from my home waters (tannic river in front yard...) and the other was from a clear Hayward area lake. They almost look like different species!

The lower Brule opens the last Saturday of this month.

I left Arkansas a little over a week ago, just in time to be welcomed home with 20" of fresh snow. Honestly, it was much welcomed. It's been a little too warm this winter, and the rivers need the moisture. But *&%$, ice in the guides sure is annoying...So is post holing through thigh/knee deep snow. Had a numbers day, no big fish like last year. Fished a black stone nymph, tied with a little timberdoodle that I shot from last fall for good juju. Air temp was around 20, and the water was a bit below 38. Cheers!

"extended follow from a GIANT Brown" Shhhhhh..... There are no big browns in the White anymore....they all swam out to the Mississippi, around the east coast, and into Lake Michigan via the St. Lawrence Seaway....

Stayed at Quarry Park for a long weekend (?16th-20th ish?). Super nice place to stay in the area! Especially, this time of year the campground is virtually empty. I asked the nice folks tasked with being caretakers when it starts to get busy, they said around the end of March. Super DELUXE having the river out the front door of the tent. TONS of shad came through during my stay. The attached picture below of the typical White River hatchery system rainbow trout and it's GORGED belly was indicative of a lot of the rainbows. Didn't notice the huge bellies as much on the larger cutties and browns. Even when wading at low water, I was amazed at a few fish eating size 18 scud patterns and then puking up shad 6 six at a time. (flashy scuds tied with some bright colors mixed in worked well that day, overcast conditions) How could they even be hungry? Pretty much fished the kitchen sink - Drift boat at falling water, drift boat at high water, jet boat, waders... - streamers large and small (white and naturals), midges and scuds at low water, shad patterns at different depths and on the surface. If something wasn't working, just kept switching it up. The morning I left, I sat at the campsite packing up, enjoying some STRONG coffee from the french press watching the gulls go to town on the shad. I remembered the steelhead rod that made the road trip down, an 11' 6 weight switch. The fast water by the boat launch was not getting touched by the couple of guys fishing nymphs. Running something white on the end of a big chunk of sink tip, down and dirty like sure seemed like a great idea. So I busted out the two hander, got it all rigged up, and....they shut off the water! I'll have to try it next winter I guess.... oh well....that's tailwater fishing...it's sure better than drilling holes through the ice to find open water back home in Wisco. (early catch and release starts next weekend, probably have to dodge ice bergs coming down the river...) Got to get out with Ham a couple of days, he's a super fishy local forum member. And thanks to the guys at Dally's, they are doing things right!!! J