Tenkara Trip Report: Browns, Bugs, and Brook Lampreys

A great day of early season tenkara in the Driftless

Well, for the first time this season Matt and I got to get out and fish in what most humans would consider comfortable conditions. We did have gusting winds over 20 MPH and bright sun to contend with, but that's still better than freezing I suppose.
 
We fished a lower section of one our current favorites, which I had not been on in a couple of years and I don't think Matt had ever fished. This creek is of the type Matt and I tend to favor: small, maybe 6-8 feet wide in most sections, but deep with pools waist deep or deeper. The water runs very clear but there is plentiful structure for the fish to find shelter. I fished this creek a fair amount before I started fly fishing with Tenkara, and I actually catch more fish on it with Tenkara than I did with "regular" fly fishing. You could argue that I am a more experienced fisherman now that I was then, but I think it has more to do with how well suited these types of creeks are for Tenkara.  I snagged on my second cast, and as is often the case, started to question my competence as a fisherman. Matt hooked a nice fish on his second cast, which should have helped me feel better, but did not. I should know better to despair, though. Once I worked out the kinks, I caught a nice size fish and everything was right with the world. The fishing was good for both of us several medium size fish brought to hand. Matt caught the largest of the day, about 12 inches and fat. I know there are bigger fish in this creek, but catching your fill of medium size fish is always nice.
 
We were having luck fishing variations of beadheaded killer bugs. There was a sparse hatch of caddis flies, but not many surface feeders. One small surface feeder hit my killer bug the instant it hit the water. Not how it is supposed to happen, but I guess that fish just wanted to eat.

After fishing a nice stretch of the creek, we decide to try another creek. I guess you shouldn't leave fish to fish, but we have been wanting to fish the improved section of another nearby favorite in better conditions. When we arrived, we found nothing short of a blanket hatch of small, dark colored caddis flies. These locally are referred to as the "Mother's Day Caddis", as they usually hatch around that time (though typically well before Mother's day). I thought we were in for the best fishing of the season. Neither Matt nor I are really "match the hatch" fly fisherman, but it is hard to ignore such a massive hatch. I tied on an elk hair caddis of roughly the size of the bugs coming of the water. I took some time to observe the creek before fishing, and surprisingly there were very few surface feeding fish and the ones I did see looked to be pretty small. I worked the caddis pretty extensively, but did not have much to show for it other than a long distance release. Matt had similar results. I consulted my fly fishing mentor as to why there were so few fish feeding on the surface with such a dense hatch. Our conclusions were that: a) it is very possible that the larger fish were feeding on caddis puppae subsurface, which might not be apparent and b) sometimes it takes time for the fish to really key in on the hatch. I was hoping that such a dense hatch would lead to fish feeding recklessly on the surface, which was not the case. It was still pretty cool to witness.

In one bend, I saw something snake-like move under the water. I really wasn't sure what to make of it. When i caught up with Matt, he told me he saw several critters that looked eel-like in one of the runs he fished. He thought maybe they were lampreys. I took our nets and managed to net a few. They sure as heck looked like small lampreys, but I have never seen them in a trout stream. It certainly made me reconsider my plans to wet wade next time we were out. Turns out they are American Brook Lampreys. They make run up the creeks in the spring. He tells me that they are not parasitic during this time, but I'm still not sure I want to wet wade that creek any time soon. We were running out of time that day, but if had more time, I think we would have kept a few lampreys and tried our keiryu rods.

We finished up by fishing the deep bridge pool where Matt had an absolute monster break off a few weeks ago. No monsters were caught, but we managed to get some nice size fish on the line.
 
So, we have yet to get that "perfect condition" day so far this season, but we are still enjoying some good success and having a lot of fun and process. Please contact us if you are interested in our guide service. We would love to share these creeks with you!

-Mike