Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine April 2012

2012-02-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

My Fishing Spider will appear in the Reader's Photo Section.

http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/

Wisconsin Outdoor Fun Blog

2012-02-01T12:36:00.005-06:00

I have been blogging for Wisconsin Outdoor Fun for about 6 months now. Was unaware that many of my stories were being picked up and run in the newspaper group that is affiliated with the blog. Many were printed in the actual paper I was told by a reader from Oconto Falls.

Thanks Wisconsin Outdoor Fun for spreading the word about the outdoors to the entire state. I hope more new anglers will be inspired by the blog.

Ugly Place

2012-02-01T08:03:00.003-06:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There were cattle everywhere. They tromped down the banks badly. This stretch was not the postcard of a beautiful place. Sometimes the old adage of “Trout Don’t Live In Ugly Places” is wrong. There was one thing that really piqued my curiosity. There was a huge spring that emptied in about 120 yards upstream. I decided to give the stretch my due diligence .

My first stop was at the farmer's house. I wanted to get permission and to find out if there were any aggressive animals in his pasture. I found the farmer in his barn. He was more than willing to allow me to fish. He told me he wanted his fences taken care of and if I saw any garbage I was to pick it up. I asked him about the stretch. He told me the boundaries of his land. It was quite a big piece of land. He also told me that no one fished it. There were no aggressive animals either.

I geared up at the road and went in at his lower downstream boundary. The stream was really skinny and devoid of fish at the beginning of my adventure. I took a look under rocks to see if there was any invertebrates. The stream bottom was silty and I found no bugs on the rocks I overturned. I took the stream temperature and it seemed ok for trout so I fished on.

The first 100 yards were a real downer. No trout and not very fishy looking water. I decided to fish it right and try the entire stretch. I was taking the water temperature all the time. The water was starting to get cooler as I went upstream. The bottom was not so silty now. My anticipation began to grow. I was about 100 yards below the huge spring I mentioned before. The stream widened out but still had some depth.

Every little pothole contained a smallish brook trout. I was up to about 20 brookies in the promising water and then came the cattle. I was certain the cattle being in the water would ruin my outing. The cattle had tramped down the bank and there were numerous crossings dug deeply in the banks. To my amazement the holes in the most "ugly" part of the stretch were more productive.

I was up to 30 brookies and 5 browns in 120 yards of this fishing outing. One of the brookies was quite nice. I started adding two and two together. Browns and brookies in the same water and a huge spring. The light went off in my head and I thought there was a good possibility of catching a "tiger" trout in this stretch. I sized down my Panther Martin to a size four. Ten casts later I caught a tiger trout. This ugly place with eroded banks and silty bottom was really a producer.

I was a little bashful to fish through the cattle but I did. I was just pounding the brookies. Every eroded little stretch held five brookies. My trout count was up to about 45 trout. There were a few cows separated from the rest. There was an electric fence across the stream. I scratched my head and wondered why the farmer segregated these ten cows from the rest. Red flags went up and I thought maybe these cows were dangerous. I thought back to asking the farmer about the land. He said he owned all the way to the bridge. That was 80 yards upstream. He was very reassuring and said he had no aggressive animals in his area.

The electric fence was directly over the stream. There was a root wad stuck on the fence post. This root wad looked like it had been there a while. There was a deeper than average drop pocket under that root wad. I thought I would size up my panther to a size six. I under handed a cast under the fence tight to the root wad. There was a huge follow swirl and the trout followed the spinner in to the shallow and its back came out of the water. I could see most of the fish. It was a 20ish inch male brown. The next cast I nailed it.

I fished up and through the area. I also went about 50 yards upstream of the spring. My fish count at the end was 35 brook trout and 12 browns and one neon tiger trout. All the trout were caught below the spring feeding in. The 50 yard stretch above the spring was devoid of trout. On the way home I was smiling about the "Ugly Place" I had fished that day.

This brown loved root wads and electric fences directly in the middle of a cattle crossing

31 days until opener

2012-01-31T14:11:00.001-06:00

The way the weather is going I will be fishing with only a jacket for opener.

"The Stream Of Time" The BOOK"

2012-01-17T08:18:00.003-06:00

The Stream Of Time is a book of 24 short stories about the outdoors. The stories will make smile and they will make you miss the good old days. There will be a couple stories that make you feel like you are the angler in the story.

My book is available through Bramble Books in Viroqua, WI and Ocooch Books and Libations in Richland Center, WI.

My book can also be bought directly from me at:

Len Harris
419 E. South Street
Richland Center, WI
53581

Send a check or a money order for $12.00 total to me and I will personalize a signed copy and have it back to you the same day.

Any questions you may call me or email me.

len.harris1@gmail.com
608-647-5356

I will be putting up a book signing schedule soon.