Beiträge von LenHarris

  • Complaint Department

    Complaint Department


    Written by: Len Harris
    Photos by: Len Harris


    I was walking stream side the middle of April and I ran upon a HUGE snapping turtle sunning itself. I estimate
    the turtle's weight at 30 pounds. I had never seen such a HUGE snapper close up. My camera was out instantly.
    I determined this turtle to be between 20 and 30 years old from data I researched on the internet later. The world record common
    snapper was 86 pounds. Common snapping turtles take their scientific name (Chelydra serpentina) from their long snake
    like neck.


    I attempted to roll the turtle over on its back to take a photo of its underside. It was not happy with my first attempt.
    After three attempts I got it on its back and bent down to take this photo. I glad I did NOT get any closer to the
    turtle. I was kneeling to get a good photo and the turtle righted itself almost immediately and took two steps towards me.
    I quickly backed up.




    More research found that Snapping Turtles have legendary reputations for their powerful bites.
    Human Bite: 120 pounds pressure
    Great White Shark: 600 pounds pressure
    Domestic Dog: 315 pounds pressure
    Snapping Turtle: 1,000 pounds pressure


    Snappers are also opportunistic feeders meaning that they'll eat anything they can overpower and swallow.
    While their principal prey are crayfish, fish, and aquatic larvae of all kinds they have also been observed
    eating baby ducks, snakes, small mammals and even smaller snapping turtles.




    My curiosity got the best of me and wanted to test the bite of the snapper. I witnessed that snapping turtles
    close their eyes when they snap to protect their eyes. Every little stick in the area was shredded by this
    massive snapper.


    More research revealed this snapper to be a MALE snapper. The 2 determining factors on male or female are
    the girth of the tail at the shell. Wider tail at shell means male. The distance of the waste disposal unit on the
    tail is the over riding determination on male or female. The further down the tail it is....The more likely it is a Male snapper


    ~ Len


  • The Ocooch Mountains

    The Ocooch Mountains



    Written by: Len Harris
    Photos by: Len Harris




    The Ocooch Mountains shrouded in fog. The fog hides the "Hidden Treasures" of the Kickapoo River Valley.



    Ocooch Mountains are not really mountains .They are a region of timber-covered hills, secluded valleys and sandstone formations in unglaciated southwestern Wisconsin. The name comes from a band of Indians called the Ocoche. Ocooch is generally defined in their language as a place to hunt or fish or find nourishment.This tribe is related to the Winnebagos . The tribe was wiped out by smallpox brought by the earliest white people The region's boundaries are defined by the Kickapoo River watershed. "Kickapoo" is an Algonquin word meaning "that which goes here, then there". An excellent name for the river which flows for 125 miles over 65 miles of land, with a fall of nearly 350 feet. The Ocooch Mountains are located in Crawford and Vernon counties..


    The Kickapoo River begins near Wilton, Wisconsin and flows south through a deep valley cut into the hilly Driftless Zone of southwest Wisconsin. The Kickapoo empties into the Wisconsin River near Wauzeka, Wisconsin. The river is very crooked, frequently doubling back on itself as it flows through the Wisconsin landscape. The crooked path of the river is about 130 miles (210 km) long, its source at Wilton is just 60 miles (100 km) from its mouth at Wauzeka. The Kickapoo is the longest tributary of the Wisconsin River The river itself has a relatively low capacity for water, leading it to quickly and frequently flood after heavy rain.




    The First dam on the Kickapoo River is located in Gays Mills, Wisconsin.
    "In the year of 1847, James B. Gay, a civil engineer and a native of Indiana, journeyed to the unsettled Kickapoo Valley in southwestern Wisconsin.
    James built this Mill on the Kickapoo River.Hence the name of the town "Gays Mills"


    The dam in Gays Mills is the "ONLY" barrier on the Kickapoo River. Many spawning game fish migrate from the Wisconsin River up the Kickapoo and are blocked from passing upstream because of the dam.
    This makes the area below this dam an "Anglers Paradise". The dam is located at the interesection of STH 131 and STH 171. The last 16 years in a row a 30 inch walleye has been landed below the dam in the first 3 weeks of May season. Many northern pike and small mouth bass are caught below this dam also.



    The author with a large Northern Pike caught below the dam in Gays Mills. The pike was caught on a Mepps Black Fury Spinner size 5.



    The author with a respectable walleye caught below the dam in Gays Mills
    on a Husky Jerk Rapala Size 13.


    The Ocooch Mountains are a favorite place for small stream trout fishing. Every small stream that empties in to the Kickapoo River is teaming with trout. The water quality in the main river and all the streams that feed it have improved in the last 10 years. There has been a general decrease in the water temperatures of 6-8 degrees in all these waterways. The decrease in the temperatures has caused a "rebirth" of the native brook trout population to this area.




    This stream in The Ocooch Mountains has a thriving population of Brook and Brown Trout


    Due to the rebirth of the brook trout population there is a new arrival to the Ocooch Mountains.The streams in this area have native Tiger Trout now. This interspecies cross is unusual, in part because each fish belongs to a separate genus (Salvelinus for brook trout and Salmo for browns). It happens rarely in the wild, but can be (and is) easily performed by fisheries biologists or hatchery technicians. The tiger trout is a sterile hybrid cross between a female brown trout and a male brook trout. The fish exhibits unusual markings found in neither parent. Tiger trout are rare in the wild, appearing only in areas where brook and brown trout share spawning grounds.




    This resident of the Ocooch Mountains is very rare. Feel very fortunate if you land one of these beauties


    The Ocooch Mountains are calling you.


    ~Len

  • The Little Things

    The Little Things


    Written by: Len Harris




    My buddy Bob is 74 years old. Bob and I have fished together for about 15 years. On almost every outing he talks about his neighbor. Bob talks about the "Old Timer" that lives right next to him. I usually crack a smile when Bob calls someone an old timer. How old must someone be.... to be called an old timer by a 74 year old guy? I asked Bob this exact question. Bob told me that he has lived by the same family for 40 years. His neighbor and he have swapped fishing stories for the entire time.


    During my 15 years of fishing with Bob I had heard many stories of his old timer neighbor. The stories seemed magical. Bob had a neighbor story to share each time we fished.For a couple years I thought that Bob's neighbor was a character in a book that Bob read and shared a chapter with me each time we fished. Bob reassured me that his neighbor was real and that some day I would have the privilege to fish with him.The stories were all trout or salmon related. They varied from the brule for steelhead to the upper peninsula for tiny brook trout.


    About 6 years ago the "oldtimer" stories weren't part of our fishing outing. I waited the entire trip for Bob to tell me one of the magical stories. Bob told me that his neighbor was really busy nowadays and didn't have time to share his tales from the past. The neighbor's wife had developed Alzheimer's Disease and he was taking care of her at home. She was "not" going to a nursing home.


    Two weeks ago Bob and I fished. At the beginning of our outing Bob told me that I was finally going get to meet his elderly neighbor. I was looking forward to meeting this Patriarch of the fishing world. I would get to put a face with the many tales I had heard about in the last 15 years. Bob said that his neighbor finally had time to go fishing with us. His bride of 66 years had passed away 2 weeks prior. He had taken care of her by himself for the last 6 years at home.



    Bob rolled up in his big silver suburban. The passenger door came open and Don slowly exited the vehicle. Bob introduces me to "Donnie" ...This is what Bob called him. I decided I would call him Don to show respect.......He stands about 5 feet 6 inches. Father Time has caused him to actually stand about 5 foot 3. He has osteoporosis and he has a humped over posture. There are small tufts of white hair on each temple. . He told me that he lost most of his hair in his early 40s. He chuckled and said he had lost most of his hair before I was born. He has the classic frame round gold wire rim spectacles They sit on the end of his nose and he looks over them more than through them. His face is road map of many years of smiling. His forehead is engraved with deep furrows from the long journey of life. At the beginning of our fishing adventure Don asked me "not" to take any photos of him, so my description of him will have to suffice. We all got back in the vehicle and we were on our way to the "Best" brook trout stream I knew.


    We got out and geared up. I told Don we were going after brookies. He asked if there were any obvious hatches lately and told him no. He smiled and said: "Good, I can hardly see those little flies anymore ...let alone tie one on.:" Don took out his 5 weight and strung it up. I watched him struggle when gearing up. His vision was quite poor and he looked over his glasses the entire time. Don finally allowed me to set-up his rod. I put a size 12 beadheaded Biot Bug on for him and blaze orange strike indicator about 4 feet up. Don asked me what that the orange thing was. I told him a strike indicator. He had me take it off and put a dry on instead as an indicator. It only took five minutes to walk across the open pasture and get Don on the water. Don's casting abilities were still there and he had a couple hits quite quickly. He missed the hits. Don told me he didn't even see the hits. I started alerting him to bites by saying "Bite...bite..." After about two more misses, Don asked for the blaze orange strike indicator to be put back on.


    18 brookies and one brown later and Don with a huge smile allowed me to take a photo of him. Don said: " I haven't fished for at least seven years." "It is amazing how much you can really miss "The Little Things" in life. Bob and I had decided that a short outing was the best idea for an old timer. ....... On the way home Don told me that he had an excellent time and when we went again that he preferred if I would call him "Donnie". I told him absolutely. Donnie said all of his friends called him Donnie and that he really wasn't that old......


    Donnie is only 89 years old.



    Photo by: Len Harris

  • Trout Don't Live In Ugly Places (revisted)

    Written by: Len Harris



    Snow means closed season for me...





    Sometimes it ends the cycle of life....




    When it melts........




    It means brown grass and the trees will bud soon....




    I guess snow is ok.....




    As long as it means rebirth of the world .....




    As long as means flowers and butterflies........are coming soon...




    And of course with all of that ..........

  • Trout Don't Live In Ugly Places (revisted)

    By Len Harris



    Its the 9th of January





    Early Season Is 52 days away...





    You are longing for those warm days just before dusk...





    You can visualize your favorite hole...





    The water is almost over your waders!





    Why do I do this to myself every Closed Season?





    I think you ALL know why.




    Photos By: Len Harris

  • Tactics?

    the person in photo has fished water infront of him already.


    The water clarity this day is poor.


    The water infront of him is very shallow.


    Todd did pick up a small brook trout on the left bank behind the angler.


    Top left at end of the fast water is where he is trying now.

  • Tactics?

    You come up on this hole from downstream.


    What is the first thing you do?


    What is going through your mind when you are 15 yards downstream of this angler and walking up on this hole?


  • Find Elmo the trout

    I scouted NEW water this morning.....


    When I came around the corner and saw this.....


    I said Ohhhhh........


    My season is not opened until March......


    Where would you cast?



    Will let you know next March when my season opens where i found Elmo.