Driftless Region Tr

[Troutnut69]

Took a little trip last week to escape the miserable heat here around home. Headed to one of my favorite destinations...the Driftless Region. Some beautiful country with some equally beautiful wild brown trout that inhabit the small streams that abound here. We caught some fish and just had a heck of a good time over the 4 days. I know this isn't an Ozark TR but thought some of you might enjoy the scenery as much as I did.

Full report on my blog for anyone interested....Jeff

http://highplainsflyfisher.blogspot.com/

[Guest]

Awesome. I haven't been up that way in a while. I need to make some plans to head up to NE IA.

[Tim Smith]

Sand County Almanac (Wisconsin, not Iowa, but the same geology) and Aldo Leopold made those native driftless brook trout immortal for me. Great blog post.

...the browns...eh...

A few years ago I helped the IDNR shock an ag stream in NW Illinois in the driftless. We turned up a brown trout in the middle of that channelized mess...bit of a surprise to find them since there was no stocking program for them in Illinois and the habitat was only fair. They're in to stay.

[ness]

Sweet! I love it up there. That's a nice fish in the picture.

I'm always impressed with the vast amounts of corn they grow up there. How did it look?

Edit: Just read the blog post -- very nice. Do you mind sharing where you camped?

[ness]

Tim -- I had to look that up. I knew the name Aldo Leopold, but didn't know why, nor had I heard of Sand County Almanac. Got it on the wish list now.

[Troutnut69]

Thanks guys...it was nice to see some green grass and trees that still had all their leaves. The corn up there was it's usual 8 foot tall and green as can be. They've been getting some moisture up there when we havn't.

We always camp at Bear Creek cabins and General Store in Highlandville. It's one of the most central locations to where we like to fish and the folks are super nice people.

[ness]

I thought maybe I recognized the road along Bear Creek in the photos, and when you said camping, I thought of Highlandville. That general store there is great. Not sure if they're the same folks as the campground, but awful nice and helpful.

Interesting to hear on the corn -- southern IA hasn't been as lucky from what I'm hearing.

[Greasy B]

Astonishing Facts:

1. Wild brown trout in the driftless area of Illinois.

2. An avid, outspoken, outdoorsman not having a tattered, worn and shared copy of A Sand County Almanac much less never having heard of it. Dude, this is the book that started a movement and inspired generations of enlighten citizens to work toward a future with wild place and creatures.

[Justin Spencer]

A Sand County Almanac was required reading in one of my english classes in high school. Need to re-read, and it might do a few on this forum good to read it as well, wish it was required reading in all schools but I'm sure some would object.

[ness]

Astonishing Facts:

1. Wild brown trout in the driftless area of Illinois.

2. An avid, outspoken, outdoorsman not having a tattered, worn and shared copy of A Sand County Almanac much less never having heard of it. Dude, this is the book that started a movement and inspired generations of enlighten citizens to work toward a future with wild place and creatures.

Hey, smarty pants -- cut me some slack, I've been busy!

BTW -- I've caught wild browns in the Driftless area -- so that's no news to me.