Feeling Driftless?I have yet to step foot in the Driftless region but everytime my pal Clark brings it up -it helps if you live in Minneapolis like he does, about heading there to fish. I would love to and if my plans to fish monster browns in November out near there changes, I just may get lucky come Fall in Wisconsin.
Article- By Ben Pierce
I feel like a kid again, pedaling a single speed bike down a county road just outside Viroqua, Wisconsin. There’s a spring creek along the road, one I fished with friends a couple of days ago. Every so often I catch a glimpse of its flows through the roadside thicket.
I’ve got my fly rod in my backpack along with a couple boxes of flies. The sweat is trickling down the back of my neck as I push up a hill in the sweltering heat. I keep guessing the next rise will crest and reveal the open pasture we fished. But I’m wrong and wrong again.
Finally, I round a corner and the woods break and I’m there. I ditch my bike in the tall grass beside the road and walk to the bridge to rig up my rod. The brown trout are still rising in the pool a few hundred feet upstream. It seems as though the day past was just a dream. Something feels timeless here.
And Wisconsin’s Driftless area may be a land time forgot. Or better, a place to forget about time.
I came here from Bozeman, Montana, not exactly the most high-stress place I’ve ever been. Still, the country drive to Viroqua through rural farmland along the languid banks of the Mississippi River felt like a long embrace. And this bike ride, a remembrance of youth and innocence and things not too distant.
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4 comments:
I moved from St Paul last summer. The driftless is where I learned to fly fish, and is a great place to chase some trout. If you get the chance, you need to go.
Sanders thanks and I definitely want to make it there to fish, heard so many amazing stories about that place. Any months you can recommend that are better than others?
Tradd, Gotta say, Its a fun area, but if you make it out this way, skip the driftless, and go after the monster lake run browns. The fishing has gone downhill quite a bit in the last ten years since Trout Unlimited has started to put in a lot of wooden structures in the rivers, as they do not believe rocks hold fish. It has created some great habitat, but the fishing has gone downhill. Nothing compares to your neck of the woods!
Matt,
Thanks for the info and yeah I've heard the same thing. I would still love to fish there but heading out to chase some Lake tribs for big browns may get the nod. Can't wait to head out that way and fish with you guys'
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