Spinning for Trout

We were vacationing up in Marquette, MI this week and I took one morning to try my luck in the Chocolay River. It has been very productive for me in the past, but I slept in too late this time and when I got to the river on Thursday it was already bright and sunny and the trout were in hiding.

I did flush a couple of nice fish, but only hooked one brown.

It was a really nice day, not spoiled until Friday when I realized I left my favorite rod behind. And St. Croix doesn’t make that model anymore! I guess it’s time to move on to a new rod design.

Wednesday I stopped to fish a favorite section of the Mecan River. This stretch often hosts big browns, and they are where you expect them to be. The challenge is drawing them out and getting them to strike.

This trip, things worked out well. I caught 13 browns, including three nicely sized.

After leaving the river, I headed to Hartman Creek State Park for dinner and a cozy night of camping.

On Saturday I got up, cooked a nice breakfast, and headed to a favorite section of the Pine River. This stretch hasn’t been open in April before, so I wondered what it would be like.

Another angler walked by while I was pulling my waders on and said he’d fished through about an hour earlier. He mentioned clear water and skittish trout, and he was right.

Trout streams don’t get much more scenic than this one. I saw a bunch of trout, but the only chance to catch them was to cast stealthily from a long distance. I landed the nice one shown here and one other before I stopped and called it a morning.

I’m still not used to fishing all the Central Wisconsin streams in April like is now allowed starting this year.

I started a weekend camping trip with a stop at the West Branch on the way. Recent forest thinning by the DNR was still evident. I kind of miss the brush that made this section seem more of a hidden gem.

I caught four browns, but no rainbows or brookies, before heading up to Hartman Creek to set up camp.

I hit Mount Vernon Creek on Thursday. The weather was great, with blue skies and temperatures in to 40s °F range. The water was reasonably clear. Several trout hit my lure, but I caught and landed just one brown trout. Even just that one made it all worthwhile, though.

I stopped for lunch at Brix Cider in Mount Horeb, one of my favorite hangouts, capping off a pleasant excursion to the edge of the Driftless.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon wading in Lawrence Creek.

Temperatures were mostly just below freezing, and I had to periodically chip ice off of the rod guides. The fishing started slow with multiple follows but not many hits. Finally, it got above 32°F and rod maintenance was easier and the trout started to bite.

I caught seven beautiful brookies, and logged a pleasant trip on a pleasant stream.

My first trip for 2026 happened on Wednesday, when it promised to be above freezing in central Wisconsin. There was still plenty of snow on the ground, and the day started out cloudy. But the sun peeked out a little in the afternoon and there were even some intervals of blue sky.

I got excited when the first trout to follow my lure were big and fat. But I never landed one of them. In three hours of wading upstream I caught just two medium-sized browns.

But I was happy to get the new year underway and enjoyed the day back in the river.

2025 was a great year to be a trout angler. I got out more often, but made shorter trips and caught fewer fish. There are getting to be too many other ways I enjoy spending my time, and that has led to fewer all-day wading sessions. 

I again took advantage of the early catch-and-release season and experienced some relatively warm winter days and some cold ones, too. 

I took  both one-day and overnight trips to some of my favorite spots in Wisconsin, and I especially enjoyed a great backpacking trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains with friends. There was some pretty nice high country lake fishing in the Sawtooths. I also completed two other backpacking trips closer to home in the Porcupine Mountains, but the fishing there wasn’t very good this year.

I used my handmade spinners exclusively, most often in silver. Recipes for my spinners can be found at  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WOLUNWQFHr2K3nk8QurXhX5nlpq-pDCZ/view?usp=drivesdk

Stats since I started trout fishing 19 years ago are tabulated below. This year, I caught 73 brown trout, 35 brookies, and 8 rainbows.

2025: 30 trips, 2 skunks, 116 fish 2024: 23 trips, 1 skunk, 185 fish 2023: 34 trips, 0 skunks, 268 fish 2022: 32 trips, 1 skunk, 235 fish 2021: 31 trips, 2 skunks, 227 fish 2020: 23 trips, 2 skunks, 135 fish 2019: 47 trips, 0 skunks, 361 fish 2018: 43 trips, 0 skunks, 369 fish 2017: 51 trips, 1 skunk, 469 fish 2016: 43 trips, 1 skunk, 411 fish 2015: 36 trips, 3 skunks,194 fish 2014: 35 trips, 3 skunks, 230 fish 2013: 38 trips, 3 skunks, 245 fish 2012: 36 trips, 1 skunk, 253 fish 2011: 27 trips, 0 skunks, 216 fish 2010: 36 trips, 8 skunks, 168 fish 2009: 36 trips, 3 skunks, 167 fish 2008: 33 trips, 5 skunks, 135 fish 2007: 23 trips, 1 skunk, 80 fish 2006: 1 trip, 0 skunks, 1 fish

I had a fun morning in the Waupaca area today. I rode my bike 22 miles round trip for lunch in town and had a nice swim in Hartman Lake when I got back.

I snuck in one more round of fishing in the afternoon, in the Tomorrow River. I had a great start - a bump on the lure on my first cast and a nice brown to hand from a second cast to the same spot.

After that initial excitement, though, I only managed one more small brown trout. I did enjoy spending the time in the river on such a pretty Fall day. It’s a long time til Spring!

I’m back in Central Wisconsin for one last round of trout fishing to close out the 2025 regular season. I hit a favorite section of the Pine River on my way up to Hartman Creek to camp for a couple of nights.

I saw lots of fish, but I only caught one brown trout. But what a beautiful day to be out in the river!

I picked a beautiful place to get skunked this morning. I wanted to stay close to home, so I headed over to Paradise Springs. Fishing is open year-round there and I’ve never tried it this late in the season before.

Fishing for the trout there is always tricky. The water is crystal clear and catch-and-release fishing pressure is fairly heavy there over the course of the year. The most I’ve ever caught is two.

Today, I had one bump early on, and that was it. The trout got really smart in a hurry. I could see them, and I even cast so the spinner passed within an eighth of an inch in front of their noses, but after that first one I couldn’t get them interested at all.

But I did enjoy a great morning in a pretty place.

On Friday afternoon during a break in the music and jamming, I made a quick foray to Radley Creek. Radley holds a special place in my heart because it is the place I caught my very first trout in a stream.

I saw some big ones and even got two to hit the lure, but I couldn’t hook them. I ended up catching one small browns trout. I had to cut the trip short because the sole was falling off of one of my wading boots.

Still, it was a very pleasant wade and I got to enjoy playing some more music when I got back to camp.

The Mecan can’t be beaten for water clarity. I made a stop there on my way up to the Green Apple Folk Music Society campout last Thursday.

I saw some big ones, but caught only a couple small browns. The wade sure made for a nice afternoon, though.

Last Wednesday on my way up north, I stopped just for a bit to try my luck in the Prairie River. In the past, I’ve caught some big browns in that stream, but all I managed this time was one little brookie.

But it’s a pretty river and it reminded me of many trips I’ve made in the U.P. of Michigan.

Last Tuesday I got the chance to fish the Sheboygan River with my musical friend Lil Rev. His wife kindly provided us with a pass for the day to fish on the Kohler property.

It turned out we didn’t even see any fish. We were there way before the fall run, it was warm, and the water was silty from recent rain. But it was still a lot of fun to explore the river and its surroundings, and to dream of returning during a salmon or steelhead run.

I think I’ve said it before - if you don’t chalk up a skunk once in a while, you’re probably not exploring new waters enough.

After supper and our farewell toast on our last night in the wilderness, I went down to the lake to wet my line once again. I caught two brookies, capping off a great week of backcountry fishing.

We started packing up before bed in order to get an early start on our hike out in the morning.