my first trip to the driftless area

This is only my second year chasing inland trout in Wisconsin and I have to admit that I’ve become completely engrossed in this new fishing world. The satisfaction of the perfect drift, subtle takes, and self tied flies has become the pinnacle of fishing to me, so far... Last year I focused my trout efforts almost exclusively in Dane County which really was just enough to wet my whistle. I fished mostly in the heart of the summer and fought off heat exhaustion, overgrown weeds, and ticks with a thirst for blood. Even though I was a rookie with a few challenges to overcome, I still was able to put together a few meaningful trips last summer. I had a couple really good days where I caught lots of fish and some days I was lucky just to catch a few. Even worse, there were those humbling days where all I got was the skunk and a two plus hour ride home to reflect on my shortcomings.

It became apparent that the landscape and the stream quality only improved the further west I traveled. If it was a gamble to catch a trout within two hours of the house then why not expand the search for good trout water to four hours from the house? That put some of the state’s more famous trout streams in striking distance. Steelhead season has just recently ended but I made the switch to inland trout almost three weeks after Damien. He was sick of fighting the crowds on the local tribs long before me and has gotten a great deal of recon accomplished in just a few short weeks. It was great to go with him on my first trip west this season and he just seemed to point the car in the right direction. This was my first trip into the true “driftless” area and my best day ever catching over 30 trout. Check it out…