looks like a trout to me.
Too sharp of head to be a carp.
Beiträge von LenHarris
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I have fond memories of southern germany.
here are some more stories and photos.
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Once In A Lifetime
Written by: Len Harris
Photos by: Len HarrisI really need to give some history to this story before I get to the actual story.
Two springs ago we had a huge flood in the southwest part of Wisconsin. Most
of the streams were dramatically effected by this flood. Many streams were widened and others had holes where there were never any.The water finally receded and I decided to go look at my streams to see if any of them were
fishable. Most of the bigger streams were still chocolate milk. I decided to take a look at a
couple of my brookie streams. I remembered one stream in particular that I had been fishing
with a friend at a huge beaver dam. The beaver dam was still intact.
I remember this outing because my friend Frank had a decent
sized brookie on and all of sudden the water erupted under the brookie and a huge almost flush of
a toilet happened under the brookie. The brookie was sucked under and all of a sudden the pole was bent in half.
What ever had the brookie was big and dove towards the bottom. The action ended as quickly as it began.
There was the brookie floating on the top of the water. The brookie was still hooked. We brought it in and took
a photo of the 10 inch brookie close-up. It had teeth marks the entire length of the fish. We decided it
had endured enough injury for the day and popped it back in the beaver dam hole. Frank and I did NOT see the
would be brookie stealer but we both knew it was large.
That beaver dam grew in legend that year. Frank and I went back numerous times and never hooked up on any trout.
Not a single trout. It was really odd. Prior to having that brookie almost stolen, we caught many brookies in that area. We
finally gave up and decided the brookie stealer had moved on.
This spring we had even a bigger flood. I did my traditional look see after the water went down. Again the bigger streams
were dirty and no fishing. The memory of that big fish trying to steal the brookie from Frank came back to me. I knew where
I was going. Hello Big Beaver Dam Hole. The floods had completely knocked out the dam. The once 100 yard long and 8 feet deep
beaver dam hole was about three feet deep. I was really disappointed because I figure the Monster Of The Beaver Dam has surely
moved on.I walked downstream first and all of the remnants of the beaver dam was down stream. I did a 180 and went up stream. Far in the distance
I could see some action on the water. I dismissed it at first as the beavers trying to rebuild their dams. The closer I got....it looked like minnows
scurrying in to the shallows with a big wake behind them. It was still a good 80 yards ahead of me.At 40 yards I could see that those weren't minnows in the shallows...They were good sized brook trout and they were begin chased into the
shallows by an enormous trout. The trout's back was coming out of the water as it chased the brookies into the shallows and ate any of them that
got to close. My camera was out and my point and shot digital didn't have a good enough zoom to capture the carnage from this fish. I
needed to get closer. I took 4 more steps and the action turned off. The big fish must have felt me walking trying to get closer.I told this story to quite a few anglers and they just smiled and nodded their heads and said " Ya....right...An enormous trout chasing brookies
in the shallows." To them it was just too much of a tale to swallow. I tried to talk a couple of them in to stalking the trout. They all had better
things to do. I tried for this fish minimum 50 times this year. I had not even a whisper of a bite.About a month ago my buddy Joe Chadwick and I went back to the beaver dam to fish. The beavers had repaired their dam and the massive beaver dam was
back there in it's full glory. Joe and I fished it hard for 3 hours. No bites. We moved on. We walked back downstream to my truck and took a look at the beaver
dam one more time. No action. The beaver had made many runs to make entry in to the beaver dam easier. They were hidden in tall weeds. I was leading
the way back to the truck. I told Joe to be careful of this one beaver run. Joe must not have heard me and he stepped in it and tumbled down the bank in to the
beaver dam. I asked him if he was OK and he just barked out " Why didn't ya tell me there was a run here?" After I stopped laughing at Joe treading water
in the huge eight feet deep beaver dam........I noticed a huge wake going up stream. Joe falling in the water had spooked the brookie stealer and now it had
shown itself to us again.
Joe and I went back another 20 times to try for the big trout. I always let Joe have the hole first because he said he had discovered the trout by falling in and he should
have first crack at it. We did NOT catch anything. Not even a tiny brookie. We decided we needed to try some different tactics. On the way home I told Joe
that BIG trout turn in to nocturnal feeders when they get really big. This one fell in to the big category. We decided night fishing was in order.We went back and pruned some of the willows and did some practice casting in the light of day to make sure we could cast properly during the night time hours.
The path to the beaver dam was manicured and any holes were noted so we would fall in to them during darkness. We looked for a good battle position on the water's
edge and an easy place for netting We went to Cabelas and got 2 headlamps.So now.......What were we going to use to catch this Leviathan ?? We decided to be prepared for many ways to tempt this trout. We were going to time our
assault on it during the time of the Hex hatch. The Hex were late this year because of the major flooding. A trip to a local fly shop was in order. We got a couple
Hex patterns and a couple mouse patterns. We strung up the 5 weight fly rod with a 3x leader and the Hex emerger pattern. We had heard of hex hatches in the area.We also got out a spinning rod and put 8 pound fireline on it and a size 6 eagle claw with a small split shot part way up the line. We decided if one method
failed we would try the other. I stopped at the local Kwik Trip and got a dozen night crawlers and went fishing for chubs. I caught 6 chubs and cut off their tails about
one inch up from the tail. So now we were ready. Nightcrawlers and chub tails and a readied fly rod. We had some size 9 floating rapals along too.The alarm rang at 2am. I picked up Joe and off we went for our night time adventure. I parked the truck quite a ways from the normal parking spot. I wanted to
have every possible advantage. We walked slowly to the woods edge. I put on my headlamp. I told Joe to leave his off. The approach to the hole seemed like
it took an eternity. I turned mine off also quite a ways from the hole.Joe wanted to get right in there with a chub tail. I told him we needed to look and listen for a while.
We actually took a seat for about 10 minutes.We both looked at each other had the same time. Joe said what the heck was that sound? I told Joe it was a slurp sound. I had read about the sound in many flyfishing
magazines. I had never heard the sound myself. We sat there a little longer the sound got closer to our battle station. I handed Joe the flyrod and said have at it. There
was a hex hatch going on and we had stumbled on it.
It was actually quite intimidating casting in the pitch black. I told Joe to cast towards the slurping sounds. Joe asked me how would he know when to set the hook. I told
him to set after he heard the slurp. The first cast in the large beaver dam was off target. Joe put his second cast near the sounds. It seemed almost instant...there it was...
The Slurp sound. Joe set it hard.The fish went directly to the bottom and hunkered down. It did a figure eight a couple times. I don't think it knew it was hooked. Then it realized it was hooked any went screaming
upstream at Mach 8. There was another small submerged beaver dam up there and I was worried the trout would get entangled in the beaver dam. I yelled at Joe................ "Turn it!" "Muscle it!"
It can't get into the other dam. The reel on the rod was just screaming and the rod was bent in half. Joe was kinda like a deer in the headlights. He froze. He yelled...... Can't control it!!!!!!!!I told him to take one step in to the water and invert the fly rod and stick it directly in to the water. I told him to keep the rod bent over. He didn't understand me. He wanted more
explanation. I just yelled "Just Do It!" He followed my directions to the letter and the trout turned and came back down stream. Joe was reeling for all his worth. He had it in the main
beaver dam again. It was showing no signs of getting tired. It was Joe's turn yell. "Get in the %^43^^7 water and net that fish!" I told him it wasn't ready to be netted. Joe said: "I don't care..Get in there."I took 3 steps out and was at the top of my chest waders. I told Joe to get it closer to me so I could net it. The trout swam by me and I made a half hearted netting attempt. I had not even seen
the fish yet. I thought I better get a try while it was near me. I tried and I missed. Joe was yelling. "If you cause me to lose this fish I will never talk to you again!" I took one more half step
out and the water was even with my waders. I told him he had to get it head up so I could see it to net it. He kinda brought it to the surface. I went deep under the fish and brought it
to the surface with the netting action. The trout would not fit in the net from the side and the net got tangled up in the line. I was certain i was going to lose this fish. I dropped the net
on purpose and the line came free from the net. I recovered the net. I decided I was going to go in up to my neck and net this thing. I took one big step forward and went deep...almost to my
neck and made a lunging deep netting attempt at the fish. I got it in the net by sheer luck. I lifted the net over my head and walked out of the hole. I did NOT know how big the trout was.
When I got to shore I turned on my headlamp. Joe met me at the shore. We just stared in disbelief at what was in the net.A small stream trout in these parts is considered big at 20 inches. This thing was way beyond that. I snapped a couple photos and we measured the male small stream brown trout with a tape measurer and a digital scale Joe had brought with. It measured an eye lash over 30 inches and it weighed 10.2 pounds. Joe Chadwick's Trout Of A Lifetime.
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spin angler for trout
I prefer panther martins in size 6 or 9
the deluxe models.
if you buy them in bulk you get a very nice discount.
Len
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Dog Days
Written by: Len Harris
Photos by: Len Harris
Bug spray is a must during the Dog DaysThe Dog Days of summer have you down? The trout are bummin' also. The water is too warm. Anything
over 70 degrees water temperature, the trout will probably die after a prolonged battle. Warm water equals
lack of oxygen in the water. Big Trout are nocturnal feeders this time of the year in Southwestern Wisconsin.
Eric from Cleveland Ohio with a driftless area monster he caught
late September. He caught it on a Black beadheaded bugger with red flash in collar and tail
(Bloody Bugger)The middle of July to early September big trout are as scarce as hen's teeth during the day. A thermometer
is a must during these days. There are many types of styles of thermometer. I opt for the cheap ones. The reason for
cheap is I lose so many....it is foolish to buy an expensive one.
Dress lightly during the Dog DaysThis time of the year you want the water temperatures to be below 66 degrees if you are considering release of that big trout. If
you are looking for eaters it is not so important. When you take water temperatures you should put the thermometer down near the bottom
of the stream. The top portion gives a false reading. You should keep the thermometer submerged for at least 10 seconds.
Make sure you don't hold the sensor part between your fingers because it will give a false reading.
The Dog Days bring out the color around you.During the dog days you need to size up your gear and minimize the battle time. Leave those ultra-lites at home and if you are using a
fly rod...not a good time for dries or anything under a 4 weight rod. The longer you battle that trout, the more lactic acid the trout builds up. The trout may appear to be fine
and you revive it and ten minutes later after you release it....it bellies up.
Wading can be the ticket during the Dog Days to cool down.The middle of September you should leave that thermometer home and get out the BIG stuff. Size up to Panther Martin size 9s and Mepps size 3s.
This is also a good time to get out those stick baits. Rapala countdowns and Yo Yuri Crystal Minnows. It is also time to put on a size 4 or 6 woolly bugger
or Turkey Leech. A long 5 weight with a backbone is required.
Jim Herald with this Beast caught on a copper colored coneheaded woolly
bugger during the Dog Days.The nights get colder and the MONSTER browns get that breeding itch. They start wandering to the outer reaches of their domain in search of a good locations for spawning. During this time they are opportunistic eaters.Because of their wanderlust they are very aggressive. They may be totally out of their deep holes and are much easier to catch.
Some of those in between areas might hold a Trout Of A Lifetime.
Joe Chadwick with a wide bodied brown from the Dog Days.
Joe caught this trout on a Mepps See Best size 3. Yellow spots
gold blade.If you do catch that Trout Of A Lifetime......Take some good pictures of it. Even if you are going to keep the trout to be mounted. The trout
will fade in colors within 5 minutes. The taxidermist will need good color photos to make that trout look like the one you caught. If you want a
fiberglass reproduction made, the photos are a must also. Fiberglass reproduction are typically 1.5 times more expensive than a skin mount.
Jeese Carter with GIANT brook trout caught on worms
during the Dog Days.
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Len Harris with a decent male brown caught on a Panther Martin
Deluxe size 9. Trout was caught in late August.Some taxidermists are very good artists and can make the trout look very lifelike. Don't be a cheapskate if you are having a reproduction made. Go
to the taxidermists office and see work on that specific species you want a reproduction or skin mount made of. Today's digital cameras do a good job of capturing that Trout Of A Lifetime....but don't be a slave to TC (Trout Correctness)....If you want to have a skin mount done...GO FOR IT!A good taxidermist can skin your trout and send that trout home for you to grill...so you are not killing the trout for the mount only.
Catch and release is a management tool ........not a religion
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Dave Johnson
Mike BarniskisThey had an OK day.
Both landed over 30 trout each.
Buggers and nymphs ruled today.
Not a bad day for Dave....His second time flyfishing EVER.
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Maybe you should stay in....
That air conditioning is really nice...
You know....I have lots of things on my honey do list......
What the heck......It really isn't that hot....
Tight lines...........
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they are from my old camera.
Sony W-7
Have a new Nikon...
still working with it.
Len
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...........you are on your favorite trout stream....you are day dreaming at work...
Crisp winter fishing is a faded memory...
The memory of the smells of summer tease your nose
Valleys shrouded in fog during your early morning crusade to the stream....
.................................the trip home afterwards.......................ring....ring....
Your phone rings at work ...It breaks the spell.......
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5 minutes later you are back on your favorite stream.
Who says you can't fish at work?
~ Len Harris
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the names are for the ones that catch them.
doubles are OK with me.
I don't use a name twice.
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Nagel
Mein deutsch ist nicht gute heutzutage.
Ich habe im Deutchland gewonet fer 5.5 jahre.
1978 bis 1984
Can read simple words....my spelling sucks.
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Beginner's Luck
Written by: Len Harris
Photos by: Len Harris
I met Jim Hawley at a Flyfishing show in Madison, Wisconsin. The local Trout Unlimited chapter puts on
an Ice Breaker Show in early February to help vanquish the long winter and get every one
fired up for the season that opens the first Saturday in march.There were very many excellent speakers and I ran in to Jim Hawley there. He was hanging on to
every word the speakers were saying and asked some questions of the speakers at the end of
each presentation.From his questions I could tell he was new to flyfishing for trout . We talked and he set up going out with me the second weekend of March.
I asked him what he wanted to target during our outing. He told me he had caught rainbows before on spinning gear and lake trout also.
He told me "Anything" on a fly rod would satisfy him.En route to our outing in March he was asking all sorts of questions. He was talking dry flies and smaller flies.
I told him I was a Meat & Potato fly angler. I believed in Big & Ugly flies. My "go to" fly is the bead headed bugger
in black with green crystal flash. I introduced Jim to the type of strike indicators I liked also. It is nothing
more than a Lindy Rig Float tooth picked to the line. I am a firm believer in strike indicators or "bobbers" as the
less informed call them. I read a study once that anglers not using a strike indicator miss 40 percent of the hits.I picked a stream for Jim's first fly outing that would satisfy his craving to catch a brown and a brook. Jim was even
lucky enough to catch a tiger trout also. Jim's total for a half day was 27 trout. A very good start. So Jim scored a
Trifecta the first time out in Wisconsin for trout. The brown and brook were no small ones either. Jim named his brown
from March after his wife (Suzie).Jim was sooo badly bitten by the by the fly fishing bug he called me early May and we went out again. The day
was not the same as the first. The sky was robin's egg blue and sunny. There was also a wind to contend with.
From 6am to 9am Jim brought 4 trout to hand. I kind of spoiled him with the first outing. He was questioning why the
difference in days. The first day there was a warm front in early March. The stream warmed up 15 degrees from the day before
and this turned on the trout. The May outing outside temperature went down to 33 degrees over night. Quite a
temperature swing from the prior day.The sun was warming the water quickly and the water went from 38 to 44 degrees. I told Jim the trout would turn on shortly.
I had him cast directly along the bank to try to talk a trout out from under it. I told Jim because of the sun they would be under the banks
trying to get out of the direct sun light.Jim made three strips of the woolly bugger when the indicator took off upstream like a shot. Jim set the hook and the
Leviathan took an immediate left turn and jumped skyward doing a complete body shake and hit the water with a HUGE
splash. I thought the battle was all over but the crying. Usually big trout don't sky like that. They hunker down and do an
upstream power run. Jim being a relative beginner I thought he was done.After two more power runs and some tense moments. The trout was ready to be netted. Jim was fiddling with his tiny net
on his back. The entire net measured 20 inches with handle. I stepped right in front of Jim and netted the MONSTER.
Jim was very thankful. He would not have been able to get the head in his net...let alone the rest of his body. He thanked me and
we took a couple of photos and sent (Sir James) back to the deeps. I have a tradition of naming trout. Jim took over that
tradition today. Jim also asked me on the way home where I got my net. I gave him the address and smiled and I
said: " You will NEVER hear anyone say, I wish I had a smaller net."~ Len
Note:
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