Yesterday Stephen Rose and I did some exploring with our kids and my dog. We went to eastern Iowa county to take a look at Smith-Conley Creek. We checked out a parcel of land Stephen was curious about. And then we went to Donald County Park, a place neither of us had ever visited, even though we’ve each lived in Dane County for over a decade.

Donald County Park is the piece of land that spawns Mt Vernon Creek, at the confluence of Frye’s Feeder and Deer Creek. There are some great hiking trails, beautiful views, and of course, trout.

We had a great time exploring and relaxing in the February sun, sheltered from the wind behind a rise in the Driftless. It’s a neat place to check out, and I’ll surely be back with my fly rod when the trout season is in swing.

Shep and Joe at Donald County Park, Dane County, Wisconsin

Joe and Stephen relaxing in a Hennessy hammock, Donald Park, Dane County, Wisconsin

Shep, Joe, Bode, and Stephen, Donald County Park, Dane County, Wisconsin

Frye's Feeder runs through Donald County Park, Dane County, Wisconsin

Maybea-Dog enjoying her free time, Donald County Park, Dane County, Wisconsin

I got out this morning before work and fished a section of Mt. Vernon Creek in Dane County. There were some very nice holding spots in the section I fished and it looked like the streambank improvement project that was done in 1977 was in really good shape.

My fishing vehicle, affectionately named the "Jay Ford Thurston"

After being denied any action in the section near the road, which looked very “fishy”, I checked my position using my phone (don’t you love GPS overlaid on Google Maps?) and worked my way upstream past some straight sections to a series of nice bends. This was a taxing endeavour given that the grass was making every effort to keep my feet from making foward progress. But I got to a very nice plunge pool into a bend lie and made some casts with a “Yellow Squirrell” (which is a Pink Squirrell but with yellow chenille).

And then, I had a fish on! I retrieved line and then thought “Hey, this might be a sizeable fish! I’d better get this guy onto my reel!” So I got fancy and tried to keep tension on the fish while taking up the sizeable amount of slack with my reel, but guess what? I didn’t keep that line between me and the fish tight, and the numpty bastard wiggled right off the hook.

Oh well.

Wisconsin Fencerow

Back to it a little while longer, and being that I haven’t touched a fish with my hands even though I’ve made epic cast after epic cast with my delicious 4wt, getting incredible hopper drifts through the most enticing lies you’ve ever seen, I fished a bit too long and had to hightail it over the barbed-wire fence and walk-sprint between cornrows back toward the road. And just as I’m coming out of the corn I see the farmer in his pickup truck banging along through the pasture coming straight for me. And I think, “Shit”. But then he takes a left turn and completely ignores me and the fact that I’m on the wrong side of his fence. So that was nice.

Back to my car, strip out of wet gear, check the Google Maps navigator to see how long the drive to work is going to be, and it says “38 minutes”. But my meeting is in 31 minutes! So I texted my boss saying I’d be late for the meeting and I’m very sorry.

Then I’m sitting in my wet skivvies driving through rural Wisconsin following a Mini Cooper going 80 up and down hills, drinking my cup of coffee, eating cashews, putting pomade in my hair so it looks like I tried to look okay, and then I find myself on a slower stretch of road closer to the city and I think, “This would be a great time to change into my work clothes.” So I set the cruise control at 40mph and pull on my pants, socks, shoes and so forth. I waited for a stoplight to pull on my shirt, so don’t worry.

Finally, I pull into the parking lot, walk-sprint the 70-yards across the parking lot, and see that I’m not actually late. Turns out I was the first one to the meeting.

So you see, fishing is not completely about catching fish. It’s about the experiences, according to Burgess Meredith. I couldn’t agree more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CITa_pmox4&feature=player_detailpage#t=129s