A Week In The Driftless - Winter
This is the third day of a segment that I am doing called "A Week in the Driftless," where I tell short stories about fishing and exploring this incredible place. Today's post waas about fishing in the winter.
Winter can be grueling in the Midwest. I grew up in Iowa, and throughout those cold winter months it was always a process to bundle up and go outside. The winter months have begun to warm up over the past couple of years, and fishing in the Driftless is an idea that is feasible.
I had just returned from my semester in Patagonia, where I lived in the mountains and at sea for 90 days. I had put my body through a lot, but I was itching more than ever to fish again. After not touching a fly rod for a couple of months, I had to get back up there before I left for my spring semester in a couple of weeks.
As we pulled in to one of the many gravel parking lots on the Waterloo Creek, everything looked different. The flows were down, the grass was dead, and the water was incredibly clear. In the summer it rains ever so often so you do not get to see the water at full clarity.
As we fished different sections of the Waterloo, and other surrounding streams, we did not catch very many fish. We saw a couple of fishing rising to minute midges, but took to fishing nymph rigs instead. I found a nice fish who had packed on some extra weight for the winter that fought very hard. Catching fish is only a bi-product of getting out with my Dad and existing in this place of significance.
Being back up in the Driftless reminded me of the change that an area like this has seen. Yes the months of the year come and go, but thinking back to when this was all created millions of years ago in the glacial and ice era is incredible.
Next time I am home for the winter, I plan on packing up the car and making the drive north to my favorite streams, even if it means frozen hands and frozen fly rod guides.