1-12-05 - What's goin' on Locally?
Waters Fished: Root River, Pike River, Kenosha
Harbor
Fish Caught: 0/0
Outing Date: 1-12-05
Weather: Dense Fog + Thunderstorms!
Air Temp: 40's
Water Temp: Root 35F, Pike 37F
Water Level: "Up" for this time of year. Root est. 50-60
cfs, Pike 50-60 CFS and rising
Water Color: Root was clear, visibility 3-4'. Pike Muddy, visiblity
less than 1'. Kenosha Harbor murky, visibility 1-2'
Fish Species: Trout?
Pattern Fished: Eggs and Leaches
Pattern Color: Cerise and Orange Eggs, dark black on the leeches
Fishing Quality: more like "scouting" than fishing.
On a warm and foggy winter day I couldn't think
of a better way to spend my time than on the water - if I was lucky
I could even get a fish or two!
It all started at the Root around 1:30 PM. I had
intended to fish the centerpin through some deeper spots, but having
found that I left my spawn sacs at home, I went with the fly rod.
I spent around an hour working my favorite honey
holes, you know, those holes that every time you go to you hook
a fish, even if they're not immediately apparent. Well I guess things
just weren't going to shape up on the Root unless I wanted to ice
fish downstream...with the relatively crystal clear water I could
see the bottom in spots that usually are concealed. Suffice it to
say that I personally walked through enough of my honey holes and
didn't spook up a darn thing. If there were fish upstream, they
weren't showing themselves and weren't interested in my tiny offerings.
Next stop was the Pike; after scouting around a
bit I dropped in and fished the mid sections. Water temps were just
about perfect for me to find fish - 37F....maybe 37.5F. Runoff,
snow melt and rain had all brought the Pike up in flows from the
normally low winter state. Muddy water dictated that my dropper
fly be something large.
3 different big black wolley buggers and leaches
later, I was without a nibble. Again, I spent most of my time slogging
through the water, not kicking up a darn thing. Again, the honey
holes held nothing. For whatever reason, the fish weren't present
here either!
My last stop for the day was Kenosha Harbor. As
I pulled up, I found it free of ice - precisely what I was hoping
for since the lake, by my house, has been ice free all winter. I
ran into a guy down by the waterfront and stopped. He had a fishin'
pole leadened up against his car. I asked him "have you been
out fishin'?". He kinda looked at me and replied that he wasn't
there to fish. I thanked him for his time and drove by, only then
realized that the "fishing pole" was in fact his car's
antenna. Yup, laugh it up.
I recall having a good time in winter at Kenosha
last year, so I was hopeful that it'd repeat. Kastmasters were my
only available option, I tried a number of retrieves from fast and
violent to slow and deep. Surprisingly I saw two boils on the surface
while I was there...the 2nd one was a confirmed small trout of unknown
species.
Again, chalk it up to my need for a good skunking
perhaps, but Kenosha Harbor failed to pan out either. Between the
lightning and wind, I opted to call it a day around 5:00 pm.
MP

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