Subhead
For families, groups of friends and organizations spring rituals are a common practice, as is the case with the Trout Unlimited members of the Fox Valley. Fox Valley Trout Unlimited (FVTU) has an annual spring event – April Angling Adventure (AAA). The event is held in Vernon County, in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin, because of the region’s trout populations which reflect the unique topography, geology and water quality of the area. Members, whether current, former, new or just friends, gather from all across Wisconsin and neighboring states to camp or occupy local establishments in the hope of great fishing and comradery.
We do not need to talk of the weather we experienced, as Wisconsinites, we know this has been a rough spring for the most part. The AAA was a successful event and fairly well attended. Several outcomes are worth recounting, like an old fisher can still learn new tricks and shared experiences with new members are rewarding.
I am the old fisher, having fly fished for about 35 years, and a person that follows the practice of tying flies and casting them well enough to please oneself. Meeting a younger fellow and being open minded enough to listen was my blessing. Not to belabor the details too much, the learning was the river sections I have driven past for years, thinking them not worthy of exploring, actually were treasures hidden in plain sight. The seeing was accomplished through the lenses of a method of fly fishing coupled with the desire to fish where others avoid fishing. The location was what some people call “frog water”, that typify the lower reaches of watersheds where the river is wide, slow, and mucky between high banks.
The method employed was streamer fishing with a six weight flyrod capable of casting a weighted three inch jointed double hooked fly (a weighted articulated fly with a trailing stinger hook). It took only one afternoon and I was taught well. We fished in an upstream direction since wading through muck stirs clouds of sediment that would drift downstream to alert trout had we fished down.
Casting was directed to the opposite bank into undercuts scoured by the current, and to tree falls and log jams. The retrieve was swift and varied in speed to maintain a shallow and visible presentation that easily displayed a rising flash of butter-yellow flanked brown trout refusing to be fooled by the fly. When fooled though, the take was aggressive, fast, and deep running. The relief felt by a bulgingly full net does not need words to describe, just revel in the admiration of the beauty of a creature that remained hidden for years in plain sight. An old fisher did learn new tricks – it just took listening and a willing young fellow to be himself (see picture).
Sharing continued through the weekend as I had the opportunity to share my favorite fishing streams and means of fishing with a new FVTU member. The locations and methods were more traditional which is always a good place of starting. Shared streams that offer shelter from the storm when winds rake and thrash maple ridges and snow flurries dash hope of rising trout. Such streams occupy deep coulees formed in a north / south orientation perpendicular to the prevailing westerlies.
Also know hungry trout do not care about snow flurries, they just feed subsurface. And it is OK if the wind guides your flies into bank side trees, some of our best flies are ornaments signifying our practice. It is uplifting to understand that home-tied flies, no matter how ugly, catch beautiful brook trout.
So it is largely about showing up even when conditions are not as expected and becoming yourself. Spring fishing gatherings are always more than just fishing. Fishing may be the voiced reason, but we learn it is the doing of life that draws us together.
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