Headwaters...

are sacred.  Or, should be...I fished the upper section of my favorite spring creek, today.  Lots of smaller trout but I lost a brute.  In the headwaters thats a 15 inch fish...but, we've caught them up to 27 inches here.  Bigger fish move up to spawn...and sometimes stay there.  They'll be on the move, soon.  Be careful, wade the stream not the bank, and check out the wildflowers.  Its not everyday you catch a trout with two royal trudes in its mouth, either.  I only went through four trudes, today.  And, got one back just minutes after losing it...

                                                                         

         

                                     

Wisconsin trout regs...

...are a changin'.  For the better, too...we've kept the color coded system I worked on developing back in 1987.  At the time we came up with four classes...then went up to five.  Now, its going to be three...like a stoplight.  Green is go...standard five fish regs.  Yellow is three with a size limit...and, red is check for special regs.  I pushed for three back then but, I was one of the few laymen on the committee of Wisconsins top trout researchers.  Bob Hunt, Larry Claggett, and many state fish managers...including a couple I've previously written about, were part of the Trout Workshop that published and put on a presentation to the cold water personnel of five midwestern states, that had me tying flies with the editor of TROUT magazine and other local tiers.  Many locals showed up, too...including an octogenarian who said he'd taught flyfishing in the local high school before the second world war.  An art that seems to have been lost around here after the war with the advent of returning soldiers bringing the new french made spinning reels with them.  That and the general degradation of watersheds...But, back to those regs.  Confusion seemed to reign supreme after and regular changes didn't seem to help things.  Most of the changes were founded on social issues other than biological, and, even the barbless hook law was proved unsound.  As, is the five day closed season between April and May before the regular season...the only compromise between those that wanted an early catch and release season, and, others for an early catch and keep season, could come up with.  Its still going to be catch and release in the early March to May season but the five day closed season will be gone...I have railed against that closure for years.  Even to those that caused it.  The best fishing of the year...closed.  Idiots.  I was right...

I'm right about the driftless early season, too...it should be catch and keep on most streams.  Early season anglers are mostly out of towners who seem to enjoy having streams to themselves.  Selfish...many locals do not think trout or fish are something to be toyed with.  And, are thus kept off the water...and don't like it.  A social construct.  But, in the driftless, we have too many trout in most streams.  They would be doing us a favor and possession laws are only a two day limit.  Stunting is documented here over 5 decades...numbers are up but size and numbers of larger fish is down.  I've seen the research...Do we really need 5-7 thousand trout per mile in small to medium size spring creeks.  Is this just another social construct to promote the new found driftless flyfishing industry and lots of trout for all?  Even small ones...What ever happened to the challenge of difficult trout?  And, larger ones...It is my opinion that a limited harvest in the driftless early season would be biologically beneficial AND have social benefits.  Standard disclaimer here for those in the great up nort' of Wisconsin.  Their mileage to these new regs may vary...but, thats the purpose of streams with regs tailored to them individually.  That was the purpose back in 1987 and now.  Many of our streams in the driftless are simply carrying too many trout.  Pardon the rant...standard payment.  Yellowstone river at Buffalo ford in the park.  Americas first special regs water...

Home waters...

...are a state of mind.  They can be anywhere...for much of my life it was a fertile spring creek just a few miles west of Madison.  In some ways it is still, though I haven't fished it in a decade.  For just as long it seemed my home waters were out west...the Yellowstone, Madison, Beaverhead, and the spring creeks of the Paradise valley were a strong pull.  For longer than any of them its been the water I've lived on for the last twenty two years...and fished and dreamed of for fifteen before that.  Looking back it seems this has always been my home water...