I kicked off my soft water season this past weekend in by hitting a small Western WI stream in search of the wily trout.
I’ve been thinking about giving it a try for several years reading Len H’s awesome trout fishing posts so when I moved to the South metro last year, with closer access to many trout streams, I made it a point to finally get out. Reading through several IDO posts and a few PMs later I had put together a plan to meet up with a fellow IDO member from my area, Kendall (aka KWP), in pursuit of my first WI stream trout.
We planned to avoid bright sunny days and last Saturday were greeted by overcast skies and slightly stained water due to recent run off which would also hopefully play into our favor for fishing small, shallow water. For gear we were using medium-light fast action St Croix spinning rods and 6-8# 100% Fluoro. Kendall started with a small Rapala Husky Jerk 08 in Blue Chrome with and Orange Belly and I went with a Blue Fox #2 Vibrax in-line spinner in gold color because of the stained water. It didn’t take long and Kendall had our 1st Brown of the day in hand while I missed several short strikes and decided to switch up the color. After changing to a blue/red Vibrax I was also on the board in short order.
Several fish and multiple lure changes later we had put together a pretty solid pattern casting floating Rapalas into current upstream of likely trout holding areas and letting them float almost into cover before pulling them away at the last second, frequently with a trout close behind. Blue turned out to be our best color for the day but we also caught fish many other flavors. Original Floating Rapalas sized 05/07, 08 Husky Jerks, and both Vibrax or Panther Martin in-line spinners in gold/blue/red all worked well. Also, in talking with a few other fishermen, they were having their best luck on Fire Tiger which of course happened to be one of the colors we had neglected to bring.
Once again the knowledge and willingness of IDO members never ceases to amaze me. Thanks again Kendall for the great company and the invaluable advice you passed on by taking this greenhorn under your wing.
Tight lines and welcome to Spring!