2014 Trout Reports

[Lunker]

I guess I'll kick off the stream trout season reports.

Was a decent enough day (finally) to hit the streams in Vernon and La Crosse Counties. Temps in the low 30's but with a stiff wind. The first spot I headed to was frozen over pretty well so I headed to a tributary stream that holds some good numbers. Fished a long stretch there for a couple hours landing 17 browns. Moved and fished a short new stretch on a main branch stream only landing 1, but it was a decent brookie. Ended by checking out a large deep pool on a lower stretch that produced nothing except one missed fish. So the total for today was 18 fish in about 3 hours. Slow to medium presentations, smaller worked better. Most fish were 12-15 inches. Active fish above holes and at the tails of them, numbers congregated in the pools but not committing to baits well.

Deep snow made getting around tough, but some had a good crust that i could walk on. Some nice runs were frozen over on the long stretch I fished so that probably affected my success as well.

Fun day though, great to get out and a nice feeling to be the first foot prints on a stream for the year.

[Lunker]

Decided to fish only unfamiliar waters today to learn some new areas. That translated into more than a few miles on the old truck. One of the stretches I was eyeing up was frozen solid, another had lots of anglers on it already. Fished two new short stretches of streams I already know and did poorly, catching a few small browns. Fished a long stretch of a beautiful stream I've never fished before and caught lots of brooks and browns. Caught more brooks then browns today. Streams still low and clear, but one of the short stretches I fished was way downstream and starting to get some stain to it. Ended up landing 21 fish total.

[Ctrl_Alt_Dlt]

A buddy of mine went to Kinnie. Caught close to a dozen during the warmest part of the day. Everything was working it seemed. Deep snow made it difficult.

[Lunker]

Went today with a friend for a couple hours. Upper stretch of a rocky stream that stays clear even during melt. Slower bite than the last couple times I have been out but between us we caught 20+ browns, nothing over 15".

[Lunker]

Enjoyed the nice weather today and hit a couple of stretches. I've been limited recently by a bad back but put 3 hours of fishing in today before I had to call it quits. Caught 34 if my count was good. 10 brooks and the rest browns. A half dozen browns around 15"+ . Stream conditions were great.

[Lunker]

Made a quick two hour trip this evening. Even with the last two days of rain around here, the stretch I fished was only very slightly stained and pretty low. 13 fish in the two hours, 8 browns and 5 brooks. biggest brown went 15".

[Lunker]

Got out for the afternoon and targeted 3 different stretches of the same larger special regs river hoping to find some bigger fish. Didn't quite work out, caught about 10 fish, 4 being brooks. Nothing big, largest fish was a brown at 15". 1 brook had gill lice. Various presentations, nothing worked better than anything else. Slowest day of the year so far.

[Lunker]

Fish were not cooperating today. Caught some small browns but they just weren't as active or committing to baits. Did see a lot of fish surfacing, so I'm guessing they were targeting a specific hatch today. I kept two small browns to pair with the morels I found, and both were stuffed with insects. Water was very low.

[hookncook]

I've been checking around some of the north end of La Crosse and Trempleau Counties and seeing low water as well.

Do you think the sand mines are starting to have an impact on the aquifers that feed these trout streams?