Review: The Sporting Road

With another Tropical storm falling this week, and more predicted, Trout fishing (or fishing of any kind ) has pretty much been halted. You know it's bad when Al Roker is referring to your storm as a "Midwest hurricane." So what's an outdoors man to do in this "slack time?" Why its time read about and live vicariously through someone else's outdoor experiences. I just finished the little known about second installment of the Jim Fergus's "ROAD" series. Most all know of his first installment "THE HUNTERS ROAD", sharing his 4 month trip across the country with his yellow lab in a airstream trailer. This book is literary gold, and if you haven't read it, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. His follow up is just as good, sharing more stories of him and the loyal "Sweetzer" chasing everything from desert quail, to more grouse in Wisconsin and upper Michigan. With only a few months left to go before opening day, reading this book will get you amped up and ready to go.  Jim does a fantastic job of capturing the smells, sights, and moods of every upland hunter. He's an award winning writer, and doesn't disappoint with this follow up. It's a bit tough to find, but after a few days of searching the amazons, and Barnes and Nobles online, I found a great used copy. Good reading and enjoy!

SEARCH, SCOUT, SCORE

Sorry,
Its been WAY to long since my last update on here, but after the MONSOON of July, trout fishing has been blown out on almost every weekend, grouse broods have been hiding under anything they can find to stay dry, and my golf game is still crappy. SO, its time to do my SECOND favorite thing when it comes to grouse, ASPEN SEARCH 2010.
I become a google earth aficionado this time of year. When its 95 degrees with a a dew point in the 60's, the only place to be is in an air conditioned suv, following up on what my head tells me are suitable grouse covers. I'm happy to say over the past three years, my diligence in computer work and mapping has really paid off. I now feel I have almost every aspen cover on any form of public property in the areas that i hunt . It's really led to a much more relaxed experience, as now I ALWAYS have somewhere else to go if someone is already there. I went to a new cover only about an hour from my house I last night in hopes of connecting the dots between one of my google earth photos. Its didn't disappoint. It's a small cover, but found one nice young mother and 6 of her offspring. the itch is coming, only two months to go! Aspen, and grouse always raise my blood pressure, no matter what season it is.

Going Down, but Not SO BAD!

The much anticipated drumming counts of Wisconsin's GROUSE PEAK were supposed to be reported this week, much to the dismay of hunters statewide, the best was last year. NOT to worry, after speaking with our DNR biologist last week, he left me with confidence that even with an AVERAGE brood survival this season, our hunting will be as good as last year. The brood survival of the past two seasons was terrible, in his words. so while were "going down", its still pretty darn good! LIFE IS GOOD.
Here's their "official release"


Annual survey indicates slight drop in Ruffed Grouse population
Weekly News Article Published: June 15, 2010 by the Central Office


Three out of four regions show decrease
MADISON – Wisconsin’s ruffed grouse population appears to have deviated from its four-year rise, according to data that state wildlife managers collected during the 2010 spring drumming counts.


“Statewide, the ruffed grouse population decreased about 5 percent between 2009 and 2010,” said Sharon Fandel, Acting Upland Wildlife Ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources.


“The southwest showed the greatest decrease in drumming activity over the last year with a 21 percent decrease,” Fandel said. “The central and northern regions showed a slight decrease of 4 percent and 6 percent, respectively, whereas the southeast region experienced a large increase of 60 percent more drums than in 2009. The southeast region contains the least amount of grouse cover in the state and minor increases in grouse drumming numbers can have a large influence on the drumming index.”


For reasons not well understood, grouse populations cycle up and down over an 8- to 10-year period. The previous high was in 1999, and it would appear that Wisconsin has reached the peak of the current grouse cycle. Biologists note that while the 5 percent statewide decrease from last year’s drumming survey results supports the idea that the ruffed grouse population may be on the downswing, the change is not statistically significant and may be due to random chance or smaller samples sizes representing a given area.


Ruffed grouse are one of Wisconsin’s most popular upland game birds. Their characteristic “drumming” noise is readily recognized and is produced by males during the spring breeding season. The male grouse will stand on drumming logs and rapidly beat their wings with the intention of attracting female grouse.


Ruffed grouse drumming surveys are divided into four regions around the state. Each spring since 1964, wildlife biologists, wardens, foresters, members of the Ruffed Grouse Society, and other volunteers have driven survey routes, stopping to listen at predetermined locations for the unmistakable sound of drumming ruffed grouse. These drumming counts and observational data on breeding success are used to estimate grouse population changes.


“Ruffed grouse drumming surveys are helpful in tracking statewide population changes over the long term,” says Krista McGinley, Assistant Upland Wildlife Ecologist. “However, they are not good predictors of local harvest or hunting opportunities. The most successful hunters are usually those who spend the most time in the field and cover the most ground.”


There are two ruffed grouse management zones (pdf) in the state. The hunting dates for Zone A are Sept. 18, 2010 through Jan. 31, 2011. The dates for Zone B are Oct. 16, 2010 through Dec. 8, 2010. Daily bag limits are 5 birds per day in Zone A and 2 birds per day in Zone B. Possession limits are twice the daily bag limit. Additional information can be found on the ruffed grouse page of the DNR website.


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Krista McGinley, Assistant Upland Wildlife Ecologist (608) 264-8963 or Sharon Fandel, Acting Upland Wildlife Ecologist (6

I'm BLIND, thanks midge

OK,
Now I know its been a few years since I tied with any "regularity", but this is ridiculous. I put on my first pair of "cheater glasses" today after struggling to put beads and tie on size 22 midges of  various styles and colors. I have always been a huge fan of the zebra midge ties in black and silver, but after a little bit of experimentation trying the BLOOD MIDGE this Spring, I am also a believer.
So back to grind of whipping out a few of these guys. I have to be pretty proud of myself, I only managed to have 5 small plastic beads shoot across the room  at Remington speed during this tying session, three lost hooks, and three "gorilla breaks" of 8/0 thread. For those of you that don't know, my fingers are the size of small Bratwursts, and combined with my "spunky" attitude, each break of thread  is called a a "gorilla break."
The good news is I've decided to tie NOTHING smaller than a size 22 for the remainder of my life on this planet, the bad news? I KNOW there is some Elk hair that needs to be stacked!

Good fishing!

The Heat Is On

Good heavens, 91 degrees? in MAY?
Yep, and with the water temperatures in unison, no trout today.
Back to the smallie grind, except no wading this time. We used Scott's low pride Hyde to 'drift the river in style."
Here's what we learned today.

• I am the UNDISPUTED rock bass bassmasters grand champion
• Nate likes Maxima, and doesn't like Scott's boat position from the stern
• Scott likes to row, and doesn't care about what boat position Nate likes
• Even Smallmouth think its just TO DANG hot right now

We caught enough fish to give us some nice line burns on our fingers, but the average fish was a little smaller than what we were accustomed to catching. We took fish on everything from Murdichs to Poppers, and even some new minnow patterns (tiny) that some of the fish seemed to prefer.
WE REALLY need some precipitation right now. I heard through the grapevine  from a reliable source that a few trout rivers are at their LOWEST recorded marks in HISTORY, of all time. That could spell disaster for some of the streams that have a harvest as all but a few of the largest fish will be "easy pickings" in the deepest holes in the river.

Don't get me wrong, I'm "ECSTATIC" that we have probably had the absolute BEST dry spring for grouse broods in the past 20 years, but everyone involved in water care or preservation is starting to press the panic button, and rightfully so.

Big flies, Big fish, and Big Remorse

Ah well, shucks, Dangit.
All three of these words along with a few choice others left my lips as I realized it might be a little to late for the bronze backed beauty as it swam away from me and a small pool of blood trailed right behind it. What can you do, it's all part of this "catch and release thing" that sometimes happens. I just wish it didn't have to be on the biggest fish of the afternoon. Sometimes things in life happen, even when we have the best of intentions.
I should be on my way to Canada instead of writing this, but an unfortunate emergency surgery in my immediate family forced us to cancel our father/son trip. Such as life, the lodge was extremely accommodating, and will save our deposit till next year, so all was not lost. So here I sit, with the remainder of the week off with 90 degree weather and a few flies begging to get wet. Figuring the mosquito's on my trout rivers would be a bit to hot, I opted for a SMALLIE run.
I caught a variety of fish on the barteax minneaux, from a tiny rock bass to a long nosed gar which scared the absolute CRAP out of me, thinking i was starring in the next installment of the crocodile movie, "Lake Placid."
I then had a small lunch consisting of two granola bars and a handful of almonds. It was time to head back upstream. I decided to tie on a popper and see if I couldn't pull something off the TOP of the water. After fighting the large current for about twenty minutes, I finally connected. I had lost my hemostats somewhere in the river on the way down, and had tried to pinch my barb with my nippers. I thought I had done a good enough job, but this monster inhaled the popper all the way down to the gullet. I stuck my whole hand down his mouth trying to free that hook and JUST couldn't get it. I felt terrible. So I decided to try and give him the best chance I could. Cut the line as close to the popper as I could and hopefully he could make a go of it.
 Ah well, shucks, Dangit
 Sometimes things in life happen, even when we have the best of intentions.

The Blackwater

After getting the "bright idea" to try a new stream this morning, I've come to a basic conclusion regarding what should or should not be my fishing mantra.
"STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW"
I've been hearing about what a GREAT brook trout haven the "E C" is, and how even a blind man could catch a Brook trout in this river . Well consider my vision worse than Ray Charles, because Mr. Jones and me (Counting Crows reference) got our Arses handed to us in a MAJOR way. I don't know if I was fishing a bad stretch, if someone had just gone through before us, or if I'm just a terrible fisherman. What I CAN tell you is that it is an EXTREMELY narrow, weed choked river, that is loaded with chubs, mosquito's, and a 3 inch brook trout.
After about an hour of throwing streamers and wet flies, we had simply had enough. We were somewhat close to a road, so we tucked our tails between our legs and started our trek back to the vehicle that brought us to this Godforsaken stream. Upon arrival to the SUV which singlehandedly sparks a steep upturn in Exxon stock every time a turn over the ignition, we had a realization.
Neither of us had awoken at 5 am to fish for an hour, so we went to the OLD muddy.What it lacks in wade-a-bility,  it makes up for in cast-a-bility, and trout. Being a Saturday, all of the usual put ins were occupied, so we chose a less likely and "off the beaten path" entrance. This stretch of water is usually WAY to deep to wade, but our current drought made it it perfect. We caught many brookies, including this colored gem that resembled a char, from its brilliant white under fins.
While today certainly wasn't "hammertime" which has been described so brilliantly by Mr. Paite, we always had enough action to keep it interesting. We took fish on beetles, adams, stimulators, and streamers, but nothing of substantial size.
Sometimes the best water isn't the furthest from home.