Missing piece of the puzzle

[Driftless]

Joe and I fished an overgrown pasture at the out most head water of a stream we frequent.

It was obvious that no one had fished the area for quite some time. We were picking up trout

in water that had any type of depth. The median depth in the flats was about 2 feet. Everywhere

there was a corner or tree on the water there was a slight bit more depth and the trout were

stacked up in there. None of the trout were huge. Most of them were very skinny.

We kept going upstream and catching a trout about every fifth cast. I landed a skinny male brown

with a wound on its head. A heron had been fishing this stretch also. The water really started to get

skinny and the weeds were hanging over the stream making casting almost impossible. Joe and I

decided we would walk a little farther upstream.

We walked through a really skinny area and were about to quit when Joe heard some rushing water.

We decided to go find the source of the noise. We walked 20 more yards and we found a man made

structure. It looked like a flood control mound. It had a pond below it. There was a cement tube coming out

of the earthen mound. The pond had willows all around it and it is tight casting. The pond appeared to be

about 3-4 feet deep and about half the size of a small swimming pool.

I threw a panther martin in there with no luck. Joe hooked on his sure fire rig. A size 6 eagle claw with

a large night crawler hooked through it once. Joe threw up to where the cement tube dropped water directly in to the

pond. The crawler didn't even get a chance to sink and Joe had a trout on. The trout was about 16 inches.

Joe turned his head towards me as he battled the trout. Joe was gloating. He was dissing me for my pick

of trout bait. He told me that there was nothing like a night crawler for trout. I was watching the trout as Joe

battled it. Joe was still looking at me chirping. He was singing his own praise and how he was going to out fish me

again today. The water near the trout erupted and I saw the 16ish inch brown go sideways in the water. This got

Joe's attention and started paying attention to the trout on the end of his line again. Joe reeled a little faster and had

the trout about 15 feet in front of us. The water erupted again and this time the action was directly in front of us.

We both stared in disbelief at we just had seen. Joe let the trout rest for a moment. He asked me what I had seen.

I told him I saw a massive female brown run in to the side of the trout on his line and push it sideways. Joe had me get my

camera out in case the GIANT female brown did it again. I wanted to get a photo of the trout attacking Joe's trout. Nothing

happened. We landed the trout and let it go.

Joe was shaken. he asked me how big the attacker was. I told him a least double the size of the trout on his line and very

deep. We measured the trout that Joe had landed. It measured 16 1/4 inches. The trout that attacked it was clearly over 32

inches and the deepest trout I have ever seen in a small stream. It was a female brown. We both got a really good look at it.

We tried for that trout for 2 hours after that and not a whisper.

On the way home we made our plan of attack. We decided a return trip the next morning was in order. I rigged up three

poles and so did Joe. Joe took his 6 pound mono off his normal rig and put 20 pound power pro on his rod. Joe put 0x on his

fly rod and put a deer hair mouse on the fly rod. His other rod he put a black Mr. Twister on.

I sized up on my fenwick. I put 10 pound fireline on it. I decided this trout was landlocked and could not escape down stream.

I went to cabelas and bought a size 7 and 9 floating rapala in the brown trout pattern. My second spinning rod i put 8 pound clear mono on it and bought a mouse lure. The lure had 2 treble hooks and a slight bill on it. Lastly I put a size 2 black bunny leech on

my 6/7 fiberglass fly rod.

We were at the hole by 4:45am. We exited with our tails between our legs. Not a whisper of a bite. We talked on the way home.

Joe thought the next time we went he was going to try live chubs and chub tails. The hole was big enough that we couldn't cover the

entire hole with a fly rod. Good back casts are almost impossible.

We discovered this trout about 3 weeks ago. We have gone back approximately 15 times at different times of the day and night. We have not caught another trout in that hole since then. That trout is land locked it can NOT get out unless it jumps a spillway and negotiates 6 inch deep water for 60 yards to a tiny stream that runs through a long pasture. It is still in there.

This trout is quite a head scratcher. We have thrown the kitchen sink at it. It ignores everything we have tried. Joe was thinking about a live mouse on a harness. Couple of my friends have suggested a huge hopper when they come around or a big cricket.

I am open to suggestions.

This trout is quite a puzzle. I am 100 percent sure it is still in the hole. It is like having a jigsaw puzzle almost finished and losing the final couple pieces. This trout is soooo huge it is a no brainer on what we are going to do with it if we ever crack the code.

[goblueM]

toss out a 10 inch shiner

try a muskie lure like a suick, or a size 13 original floating rapala, something that'll imitate that huge brown she was trying to eat maybe

[fishface]

A 14" sucker or Chub on 8 lb florocarbon little trebles quick strike, 10 pm. Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, NO NOISE or vibrations at all Aloha.!

(I'm such a sucker! like Mr H doesn't know...)

Mr Harris will get him, or more likly, he will step aside and coach some fortunet soul on how to catch this monster. Mean-while the real Mr trout sits back smiles and writes us a fantastic story.

(with pictures)

[Muskie456]

I would definitely be there for the full moom rise on the 7th of July. I have really paid very close attention to what that moon rise and set does with muskies over the past five years and there is no doubt in my mind that big fish eat on a full moon rise and set. I wouldn't go too big on the creek chub or sucker either. I would go with 6"-8". Have you tried any huskey jerk-baits or X-raps for her. Maybe twitching and pausing a bait of that nature would trigger her to bite. Is there a Hex hatch on this perticular river? I would think she makes a pretty good living on those when they are coming off. I have done well on walleyes during a hex hatch fishing a 3" chunk of crawler under a bobber. I was tring to imitate an emerger and it worked really well. That's my 2 cents. Good luck and I hope you get her.

[so haaad]

Sounds like a night feeder to me. How about large streamers after dark? Say a gray ghost or black nose dace?

[Muskie456]

Any updates?

[Scudly]

You better get back there and catch that fish before I get there in August. Go catch some chubs or small suckers with some worms today. Then plan your attack. For the chubs use a #2 hook so you can get some bite into the fish. I believe you have yet to use chub or sucker tail this season. It worked for me last time I tried.

Can anyone tell me how the lunar tables work as they relate to trout? Do people really have the best luck at full moon?

July Lunar Table

According to the chart, yesterday and today are supposed to be excellent times to go? Obviously weather and water conditions have a lot more to do with it. More so is knowing where to fish and what to use and how to go about it -- stealth required.

In MN you can only legally fish one hour before sunrise and 11PM is the latest you can stay on the water. WI has 24 hour fishing.

Which would be better times to fish? Moon overhead or moon underfoot or both good times?

I'll be fishing Sat am and will be at my hole by 4:45 am. Moon underfoot runs until 5:30, so is this a good time? Or is this mainly a bunch of hog wash +/- fishing during a full moon?