Fishing the Wisconsin River with Steve and the Jacquish Hollow Angler

Elephant Trunk Rock, this marks the turn to the B & B
 

Got an invitation from my friend Steve to go to the Driftless area of Wisconsin to fish with him.  No way could I pass up an invite like that! We left early Monday morning and arrived that evening.  Steve introduced me to his friend David Barron and Dave's wife Nancy. They operate the Jacquish Hollow Angler, a Bed and Breakfast and guide service near Richland Center.

The next morning, after a night of rain and a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausage and fruit, we headed for the river.  In route we passed deer, several sandhill cranes, and upon arriving at the put in, an eagle. The heavy rain the night before caused the river to be dingy and rising, but if you could put the fly within an inch of the bank, the smallmouth were eager to strike.

After a long morning, we had a nice shore lunch on a sand bar. The morning was made long by both good fishing and several trips to the shore to retrieve flies that ended up too close to the shore.

Along with the fishing, I enjoyed the listening to, and sometimes joining in with, the back and forth teasing  between Steve and David. I was laughing most of the day. Later that evening David gave me some much appreciated advice on my casting.  Whenever I remembered the next day, they helped.  I just need to remember...more forearm, less wrist until the final flick at the end.

Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning we got very heavy rain and lots of wind. At breakfast: quiche, homemade English muffins, and fresh fruit, we decided to wait until lunch time to start our float.  When we did go, the river had risen quite a lot and was moving fast.  The fishing wasn't as good as the previous day, but still lots of fun.  I managed a small smallmouth. We again had lots of trips to the shoreline to retrieve our flies.

 

 

We saw some different dragonflies. This one on my pants.

And a snake, a diamondback watersnake? that was trying to swallow a fish. I believe the fish was a grinnel. Unfortunately when the snake saw us he stuck his head and the fish behind the rocks.

Wednesday evening, we all went out for supper. The walleye was delicious. This was a very good trip, thank you Steve for the experience. In just two weeks...Canada!