Matt:
There are some HUGE lake-run browns in the Root. The yellow-orange from the
fish plus the dirty water and it could have been one of those monsters, too.
A friend of mine landed a 27" one in the Root earlier this year, and there
are a lot bigger than that.
Kev
From: "Matthew Fuller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: [VFB] Trip Report - Root River Steelhead
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 07:42:56 -0500
After a long Chicago winter I decided it was time to get out and wet a line.
A couple years ago I built out a 7wt blank that I picked up at Dorber
during Sowbug. I wanted it for a steelhead rod, but had yet to ever pursue
these monster fish.
I made it to the Root River in Racine, WI at about 7:00 am. The water was
running about 200 - 250 CFM (high), and was very muddy. The word I had
gotten from a couple guys was that orange and chartuese were the hot colors.
I tied on a chili pepper, and spent about 30 min drifting/striping it in
the lower stretches of the river.
After that I headed up to the wier, where I found a couple guys who said the
fish had not moved into the river in heavy numbers yet. There were a couple
guys that had gotten a fish, but most had not had a bite. There was one
fellow who pointed me in to a bend in the river where he said was a good
spot. I tied on a yellow bellied/brown back woven stonefly that I had tied
a couple years ago for the beginer's swap. On the third cast, I thought I
had hit a snag, until my line started moving upstream. I was pretty worried
about this fish taking me for a long run, as my cheap reel has virtually no
drag, but he stayed within 20 yards. After about 60 seconds, he spit my
fly. Now I was fired up. I fished for the next several hours just on the
adrenaline from that one fight.
Boy I was proud of myself for hooking up on my first morning out, with a fly
I tied. But something didn't seem right. The first thing was no one else
seemed to be getting any connections. The other was, when I was fighting
the fish, I thought I caught a glimse of something orangish. Now I don't
ever recall seeing any orange on a steelhead or rainbow. After heading to
another park, I realized what it was that I caught, There were some kids
fishing for suckers as they were rolling in the shallows. So, I think I had
a carp instead of a steelhead.
All I have to say is I don't care if it was a carp of a steelhead, it was
bigger than anything I had ever had on the end of a flyline. What a rush.
I can't wait to head back, after the water clears a bit.
If there is anyone on that list that is interested is getting together to
fish the Root or area waters, let me know.
~Matt
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