heading further up river

As I continue to explore the Milwaukee River going further north, my love for this water grows exponentially. Originally last year when I got started hunting smallmouth in this watershed, I was focused on areas just north of the city limits of Milwaukee. Every trip I have taken this year has brought me closer and closer to reaching its headwaters.

working a foam filled pool on the upper Milwaukee River

After exchanging upwards of sixty emails, it was finally nice to meet my new buddy Brian out on the river and to do a little tag team fly fishing. Recent rains have bolstered the flows back up to a moderate level. After such a long and dry summer so far, the fish have responded well to the increased water volume. I will say that the action was fast and constant and the fish were snapping. Catching well over 30 bass in a short morning was a serious confidence boost but our only complaint was the lack of that one big fish we were stalking.

small but average size for the day

As a side note, the pike have been more active recently then I have ever witnessed. Twelve pike in one day as well as a half dozen bite offs make me consider up sizing my leaders (but that probably wont happen). The second part of my day will be up later this week as I ventured even closer to the headwaters of the Milwaukee River.