According to the National Weather Service, water levels in the upper Mississippi drainage are at near-record winter highs. I was surprised at how high the streams were when I went out on December 10. A combination of a single major snowfall which rapidly melted (in November), saturating much of the pore space above the water table, and an unusual amount of winter rainfall is what’s responsible. Essentially, a lot of the precipitation that would normally infiltrate and become groundwater is instead running off into streams.
I aimed to fish on winter solstice, which falls late on the 21st this year, just to say I had. Academic responsibilities nixed that, but I headed out for a full day on the 22nd, somehow managing to get on the road on the right side of 7 am. My initial plan was to spend the entire day at STSNBN, which I hadn’t fished in earnest since August. I hoped the high water levels would actually help it, as it had been down to a trickle in the Fall. As I proceeded, though, I began to have doubts. Every trickle on the roadside had turned into a significant stream, far higher than I’d ever seen. When I crossed the Wapsipinicon at Quasqueton, it was raging, the steps upstream from the highway bridge not visible in frothing whitewater (well, more brownwater). I decided to stop at the closest potentially fishable water, which was the bridge over the Maquoketa I’d thought about fishing on the last trip. The stream was very clear, gin clear, but very, very high. I geared up and had a brief go. I got one follow from a trout in the first downstream pool, but soon lost heart. I don’t know the stream at all, and it felt like trying to box with a blindfold on. The Maquoketa has a mostly sandy bottom and not very much structure. The high water made a lot of marginal areas look like nice pools. I feel like I need to get a handle on it under normal conditions before trying to wring something out of it when things are stressed.
After that I headed to STSNBN. This stream has proven to be highly sensitive to increased runoff – it must have to do with the geometry of its upstream drainage and valley. Sure enough, it was pounding pretty good, though mostly clear. There was plenty of evidence that it had seen a major flood in the past week, with a lot of the dead streamside growth blasted out.
I made a reasonably honest attempt at the first pool, trying both olive and black woolly buggers and a hare and copper. I actually got two follows from a very small brown trout on the black woolly bugger. But I couldn’t even catch a shiner or chub. Experience has shown that when it’s like this at the first pool, it’s really tough sledding. I think if I’d made a day of it there’s a good chance I would have caught one or two browns downstream. But the work/reward ratio wasn’t looking too exciting on a chilly December 22.
Sooooo…I ended up back at the main stomping grounds. The forecast high was 40F and there was a 10-15 mph wind. My new long thermal undies and multiple fleece getup was right on the borderline of okay. I stayed fairly warm, could have been warmer, but my hands were the main problem. I have some Thermalite fingerless gloves with a mitten lid and thumb top you can deploy (they stay out of the way with velcro patches when you’re not using them). That was great until water started getting involved. Had to take them off to handle fish and my hands got so cold I could barely tie knots at some points. Have to look into this some more. I need some solution that stays warm when wet if possible.
Anyhow, there had been a really major flood here, too. Large parts of the valley had been underwater and several of the pools had been substantially reconfigured, for better or worse.
The first downstream pool was a case in point. The large gravel bank at its head had been washed mostly away, so instead of a narrow run at the head the water now enters along a broad shallow riffle. The gravel bank was mostly transported to the rear of the pool, where it piled up along the tree trunk that fell in during the summer. Then the tree trunk was washed away. So the rear part of the pool is now submerged tree-free, and the pool is bisected halfway along by a new gravel bank. It’s an improvement, I think, from a fishing perspective. The trout seemed to agree, as I caught four rainbow and lost two others at the net. For once, the two lost close in were the only ones of the day – the landing ratio was 12:2 when a lot of days it’s been 50:50.
Again, there were a couple of really tiny 8-9″ rainbows among the more normal 11-12″ size. There were also lots of fish in the downstream portion, which I hadn’t seen since early Fall. I don’t know if the DNR does some kind of winter stocking with some smaller fish or what. But I’ve fished this stream regularly all year and I’ve not previously caught rainbow this small.
The next surprise was just downstream from where the track crosses the stream. The stream turns against the valley side, and there’s a little plunge pool which usually yields a batch of creek chub. This time it yielded a batch of rainbows, the first trout I’ve ever caught in this pool.
I headed upstream after lunch, and immediately saw fresh footprints. Oh well. I didn’t see anyone as I went, so I guessed (correctly) that the other angler had headed directly to the large top pool. So I fished the upper pools fairly diligently, with very little result. I was especially dismayed when I got to our favourite pool to find it whacked once more, with a huge submerged log, complete with multiple branches, drowned straight down its length. I hooked one trout in the head (of the pool, not the trout) and caught one by highsticking to the far side, but until the log clears out this favourite pool is a mess.
At this point the other fisherman found me. Didn’t seem much pleased to have company, hadn’t caught anything on his western fly rig. The large pool (where he’d been fishing) didn’t yield anything, but I only caught a single fish at it last time.
At this point it was only 1.30 and I was thinking I’d have a good run at the upstream section, which I’d barely dented before darkness fell last time. I rigged up my brand new Tenkara Times Watershed 330, in the hope that it would be fun with the chub and shiners I expected to be landing. Unfortunately, the really deep water seemed not to agree with the cyprinids. I did catch a handful of shiners, but it was awfully hard work and slow going. They felt about the same on the Watershed as they do on the Rhodo, though it was a very small sample size. I’m planning to get a Suntech Kurenai HM30R for stream sections like this – the largest trout I’ve encountered on it was 10-11″ and the largest smallmouth around 10″. In the warmer months it’s hordes and hordes of rock bass and sunfish, with big (11″) creek chub. I want a really lightweight rod for it.
Anyway, by 2.30 catching one shiner every ten minutes was losing the battle to the increasing chill, so I packed everything up and walked back. There was really nothing to complain about, given the flooding going on everywhere and the fact that it was December 22. I fished mostly with the Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 39 and a #14 Hare and Copper. I only had one #14 left. When I lost it to a tree I tried #12s with no response – they made too much of a splash entering the water. I caught the final trout on a #12 peacock herl nymph. Upstream I used the Watershed 330 with a #12 peacock herl nymph. The final totals were 12 rainbows, 9 common shiners, and 6 creek chub.