resolutions

Resolutions: a commitment that a person makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. With every year that passes, people all around the world make resolutions for change. It’s almost a call to action to set out and make this next year better then the past. I have never been a big fan of these “new year’s resolutions”. I have always thought if there’s something...

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black prince

Noted as one of the worlds oldest steelhead flies, originating from the Umpqua River System. thread- black tail- red hackle rib- tinsel body-    rear- 1/3 yellow wool    front- 2/3 black wool wing- black bear hackle- black...

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a cool salmon sketch

turned this photo into a sketch I think I could have cleaned the edges up a little better but I think you get the point... Here's the youtube video I followed- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODco0Ew...

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early winter harbor trout

early winter milwaukee harbor steelhead It’s a pretty simple equation, the longer we go without cold enough weather to create any ice, the longer we can take advantage of the open water harbor fishing opportunities. Some anglers like Damien have been hanging around Southeast Wisconsin’s harbors all fall. On a bad day you might not get a single bite or maybe just a few. On a good day harbor fishing...

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estaz egg

It is a super simple tie for anyone and its deadly. This is our go to egg pattern, works especially well in stained or cloudy water. hook- size 8 mustad egg hook body- med chenille in pink, chartreuse, or orange are most popular tail- few strands of yarn ...

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an icy milwaukee river

Made it out to the Milwaukee River this weekend. Flows were perfect but the ice and slush being washed down the river certainly made fly fishing tough. The good pools were covered in slush and completely unfishable. The faster runs kept the water churned up enough to not collect the slush like the big pools. My fly always seemed to get caught on a piece of ice and never could make it down to bottom....

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a mid november recap

salmon bones - all that is left from the run I don't find myself having to play catch up here on my blog very often, well actually ever. This past November was of course filled with lots of hard work at the office, time with friends and family, Thanksgiving, black Friday shopping, launching a new website, and of course fishing. Despite all the things that go on in my sheltered little corner of...

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brown trout watercolor

Neal and I fished the Root River this weekend. It was cold and wet the entire day but we did manage to capitalize on our only bite. Neal was flinging some spawn on his fly rod in Lincoln Park, just barely bouncing bottom when this fish decided to take him for a ride. brown trout watercolor  I did my photo editing with gimp following this tutorial-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG5abY2NRKo I...

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Root River Brown Trout

This was some footage from last weekends fishing outing. We found a pod of fish sitting in a very tough pool to get a fly into. Two very nice males were moving in and out of the pool with on giant female holding down the gravel. We must have lost about 15 flies to the branches that over hung that pool. Neal actually hooked this male from upstream just floating the fly repeatedly back into the pool. So did we end up hooking that female? Sure did, after 3 hours of working her. She...

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the pike river

The Pike River is located halfway between Kenosha and Racine Wisconsin and most easily accessed from the highway E exit from I94. It very well could be the most finicky river in southeast Wisconsin. It is one of the few tribs in the state that doesn't actually flow into a harbor, its mouth empties straight into Lake Michigan. To make matters worse, the river has the tendency to silt its mouth...

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pike river steelhead and cohos

the pike river took a late run of salmon this year The Pike river has laid pretty dormant the first half of this fall. It never really got much of an early run of fish this year and its one of the rivers that flows have remained generally low so far. Well the last few weeks that previous scenario has changed. These last few soaking have really added a great volume to all the rivers in Southeast...

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corporate brown trout

milwaukee river brown trout During the fall while I work, mind begins to wander to places far more cold, wet, and trout like. I can picture the exact runs where the fish are holding. The constant buzz of the water numbs my brain. My fingers run through the streamer box knowing exactly where they will stop. The air smells fresh and clean on my lungs and drives my adrenaline harder and faster. I...

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so you wanna catch a harbor brown trout?

a healthy fall run harbor brown trout Even though I prefer fly fishing in the tribs this time of year, consistent fishing is also going on throughout Lake Michigan’s harbors. Now is about the time that the trout start to show up in decent numbers and anglers like Damien have a first crack at these fish before their instinct and rain push them into the rivers. Tubes and spawn seem to be a pretty...

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go get em steelhead fly

thread- pink eyes- barbel eye white tail- purple marabou with a few strands of crystal flash body- wraps of pink thread alternated with purple saddle hackle This is my adaptation of a popular bass pro shops steelhead fly. Not technically a hard fly to make but it is somewhat labor intensive. The eyes are easiest to secure first before you have all the hackle in the way. Figure eight loops around...

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wisconsins fall coho salmon

This fall Ive had a real tough time landing a lot of cohos. Sure I've caught tons of kings, but it still upsetting in some regards. I should be happy I caught 2 nice ones, right? Well, after the stellar coho fishing we experienced last year, I'm sure anything would pale in comparison. blake(2) with by far the coolest fish of the year The cohos enter the rivers shortly after the kings. While...

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egg sucking bunny leech

The egg sucking bunny leech is one of the best salmon or steelhead streamers around and its quite easy to tie as well. Lots of flexibility in color choices and the rabbit puts of a ton of movement in the water. head- bead tail- marabou body- rabbit strip There's about six wraps of lead under the rabbit strip to give it the extra weight I wanted. You can vary the hook size and some crystal...

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spawning coho salmon

Coho salmon spawning in the Lake Michigan tributaries in Wisconsin. ...

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wisconsin's late running king salmon

check out the eggs pouring out of her Not all of the kings enter the rivers at the same time. They come in waves that are spurred on by the rain and increased stream flows. On a good wet year numerous waves of kings will be pushed up into the rivers all at different times. What that means for anglers is that you have a lot longer time frame to find fresh fish that are eager to bite. fair...

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wisconsin's coho salmon are running

King salmon are still present in Wisconsin's Lake Michigan tribs but their numbers have seriously declined from the pinnacle of their run earlier this fall. Most of the early running kings have already spawned and since then, died. Their stinky corpses pile up in the slack water and it gives a good indication of just how far into their run we are. Late running kings are still present and some can...

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milwaukee river king salmon fishing

We’ve had only one good soaking of rain so far during this fall tributary fishing season and all the water has quickly run out from the smaller rivers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled we even got some rain this year after looking back at last years dry fall. But, I’m eagerly anticipating the next dose of heavy rain, maybe it can push some of these cohos that are currently staged in the harbors up...

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southeast wisconsin tributary update

The water we had last week caused some quick swelling in the tribs but a lot of the smaller rivers have dropped very quickly. Even though the root had a tremendous push of fish in the last week, flows have fallen to under 30CFS leaving most of the fish in the rivers spooked. This weekend tons of people were out snagging fish and keeping them and the fish currently in the river don't stand a chance...

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kenosha harbor salmon

kenosha harbor So it took a little bit but I’m happy to say I now have a Lake Michigan harbor salmon under my belt. Casting cranks with Wizzo the salmon wizard and Neal, we went 3-4 in just a few short hours. Kenosha harbor was jam packed with fish and there was a lot caught this weekend. We smacked them in the middle of the day throwing cranks and fire tiger was a great color choice. Reefrunners...

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here's some mid-week reading

Here's a little mid week reading to make the day go by quicker. Be sure to check out my friend Todd'd article on fishing for harbor browns. You can find his blog by clicking here! Open publication - Free publishing - More adam glickma...

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racine wisconsin, catching harbor salmon

todd's salmon from our trip to racine harbor To put it lightly, harbor fishing hasn’t been very good to me. The concept of catching salmon inside the harbors for someone who has never done it can seem quite overwhelming. Maybe the task isn’t quite as large as I make it out to be in my head, sometimes, but you certainly have to put in your time. I’ve been out this year with some of the true...

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kenosha and racine harbor salmon

For a great report on harbor fishing for salmon, check out a post Damien threw up on the DTA harbor salmon fishing in Wisconsin...

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the super sugar river smallmouth

This was my final attempt at river fishing for smallmouth for the rest of the year. Instead of beating up some familiar water, I decided to explore something new. The Sugar River has always been a big question mark for me. Every time I pass over, I always wonder what type of good fishing I’m missing out on. For those who aren’t familiar, the Sugar River is born in the hills of southwest Dane County...

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