Driftless report

[Flysmallie]

Cool stories and pics Ness. Wish we had video of that swim! Glad you are okay. 

[ness]

38 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

Cool stories and pics Ness. Wish we had video of that swim! Glad you are okay. 

Thanks.

No video exists of the actual plunge itself. 

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

In the last year or so I've been watching videos about the Driftless.   I'm very intrigued by it.  I would like to spend a few days there.   Most people don't know anything about it when I have asked around.   Any suggestions on where to start as I know nothing.  Lodging?  Laws?  Thoughts?  Things you wish you would have know to reduce the frustration curve?   @fishinwrench, what's wrong with mop flies?  I see people put them down, but I don't understand the hate.  (Honest question).

[Flysmallie]

12 minutes ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

I'm very intrigued by it.  I would like to spend a few days there.   Most people don't know anything about it when I have asked around.   Any suggestions on where to start as I know nothing.  Lodging?  Laws?  Thoughts?  Things you wish you would have know to reduce the frustration curve?  

Me too. 

[Terrierman]

4 hours ago, BilletHead said:

  Ha we appreciate that 😀.  Dignitaries? More like hobos.

Milo?  Dignitaries?

 

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, ness said:

We’ll, look who’s trying to spoil my little party

Sorry for taking the conversation temporarily away from hearing-aid drama....and back to fishing, but I was just curious what they were biting on.  👍 

No major Cicada hatch up there this year?    😅

[fishinwrench]

42 minutes ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

@fishinwrench, what's wrong with mop flies?  I see people put them down, but I don't understand the hate.  (Honest question)

It was a joke.

ill received, apparently.   

[ness]

@Daryk Campbell Sr, @Flysmallie
Driftless Area is in NE Iowa, SE Minnesota, SW Wisconsin and a little bit of Illinois. Its name comes from the absence of drift, which is rock, silt, etc. left behind as the glaciers retreated. I like their motto, ‘The glaciers missed us, don’t you.’ It’s hilly terrain with lots of valleys and spring-fed streams. It is the westernmost native range of brook trout. There are dozens of small/medium spring-fed streams with trout. It’s beautiful country.

I’ve only done Iowa. Well, except about 5 miles into Minnesota.

Iowa has a unique arrangement with landowners in which they allow public access to streams while maintaining private property status away from the stream. Farmers will build stiles, which are ladder-like structures that allow you to go over fences without the need for a gate. 

Iowa DNR stocks rainbows and browns throughout the area and does restoration work for the native brookies.

I’ve always based out of Decorah. It’s a cool town with a lot of other stuff going on. I’m not a fish all day, fish all week kinda guy. I like to do other things as well.

Decorah has a few good restaurants and a couple good breweries. There’s a new cidery that does a good job too. We’ve done a couple B&Bs there, but our favorite closed down a couple years ago. Seed Savers Exchange is up there, and I always enjoy a visit there. I like their story and their mission. I buy most all my vegetable seeds from them.

So, that’s what we do and why we do it. Tons of info and a couple books at least if you want to focus mostly on fishing in the Driftless. 

I’ve done at least 2 other trip reports in this forum if you want to read more about my trips there. 
 

@BilletHead  and @FishnDave may have something To add. 

[Quillback]

11 hours ago, ness said:

Like a lot of things, you'll probably wish you'd done it sooner when you do. I'm sure glad I finally did it. I don't have to have the TV on 25 when Kathy only needs about 10. Now, the soft-talker at work is still a problem, but I'm not alone in having that issue. 

Yeah I should get it done (sigh).  All those birds I shot and shot at are getting their revenge.

[FishnDave]

Depending on proximity to the streams you wish to visit, I've enjoyed staying in Decorah, or Boarders Inn & Suites in Fayette, or Boarders Inn & Suites in Waukon, or Sportsmen Motel in Dorchester.

Been to Seed Savers a few times, fished for the native Brook Trout there, and there are also Brown Trout there.

NE Iowa's Driftless Region is pretty cool.  Unlike much of the rest of the relatively flat & featureless state, it's beautiful there, not too dissimilar from the Ozarks region.