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During the second week of October, I caught several large salmon in the Milwaukee River about two miles from my home.

The river was and still is loaded with big salmon. They are making their way upstream in an effort to spawn. They are a moving target. At times I could see up to five big fish in front of me. They aren’t eating but they will pick a fly up probably out of habit or irritation. The females, I think they are called “Hens”, are loaded with eggs. An egg fly and a split shot just big enough to get the fly down so it just ticks the bottom is all you need. If you are doing it right you will lose a lot of flies to the bottom and to big fish.

A simple Blood Spot Egg Fly. It is not an exaggeration to say that this fly can be tied in two minutes.
This is an egg fly with milt tied in over the egg.

Soon, when the water temperature gets below 50 degrees, steelhead will start their run up the river. I’m looking forward to taking a shot at them.

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Thursday, October 1, 2020

I live in Glendale Wisconsin, about a mile from the Milwaukee River. Sometime around the end of September and into October King Salmon (Chinook Salmon ) “run” up Lake Michigan tributaries in an effort to spawn. The Milwaukee River is a Lake Michigan tributary. They don’t spawn but they go through the motions. Sometime in October and into November Steelhead along with Brown Trout and maybe other types of salmon make their “run” up the river. The salmon showed up a week or two ago. I caught a couple of these monsters this week and hope to catch more and get some photos. I’ll take and post some photos of the flies I’ve tied and use.

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Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Went north a little over an hour into Montana to visit The Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument. They are taking COVOD-19 very seriously. Every other parking space is blocked. There is a sign instructing visitors to wear masks. Of course men were going into the bathroom without masks, tough guys.

The black marker is Custer’s marker. Custer’s brother’s marker is a little further down the hill.
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Sunday, August 16, 2020

Arrived at Tie Flume Campground in The Big Horn Mountains and Big Horn National Forest. The campground is at 8400 feet. The South Tongue River runs through the campground. It’s a beautiful river full of fish, 4000 to 5000 fish every mile. They are beautiful Brown Trout but almost all are very small, fun for a while.

During my visit I saw three young moose.

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Saturday, August 15, 2020

I’m camped for tonight at North Sterling State Park just north of Sterling Colorado where I stopped for one night a few days after I retired two years ago. Pretty flat country around the park but the park is a little higher in elevation. Each site has a picnic table with a windbreak next to it. Right now it’s 90 degrees but there is a pleasant breeze. Can’t upload a photo cause of the lack of WiFi.

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Friday, August 14, 2020

Staying tonight at a KOA campground just west of Omaha. Not my style but there aren’t many camping opportunities around Omaha. They sure pack em in here. Tomorrow night I’ll be camped for a night at North Sterling State Park in northeast Colorado.

When I was in northeast Iowa around Mount Vernon there were many damaged and destroyed silos and cornfields with corn bent at about a 45 degree angle. Then I remembered a Derecho went through Iowa a couple of days ago. Just saw on the local news that over a million acres of corn and soybeans were destroyed. The streets of Mount Vernon were lined with tree branches waiting for pick up.

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Thursday, August 6, 2020

The dates for the 2020 Sturgis Rally were changed to August 7th through August 16th. My reservations had me camping within 30 miles of Sturgis, South Dakota on August 14th and 15th. Sure don’t need that. A couple of days ago I canceled those reservations and changed my route. My original route went straight west from Milwaukee through Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wyoming to the Big Horn Mountains. Now I’ll go mostly west and a little south through Wisconsin to Iowa City, Iowa, then west through Iowa and Nebraska to North Sterling State Park in the Northeast corner of Colorado. My first night will be at a campground just west of Omaha, Nebraska. My second night will be at North Sterling State Park. This will be my 4th night at North Sterling State Park. Then I’ll head north across Wyoming to the Big Horns which will take me through Cheyenne, Laramie, and Casper. This route adds a half-day of driving but that’s ok. It’s one of the best things about retirement. Doesn’t matter if I need to add a day or even a week to a trip.

‘s

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

On Friday, August 14th I’ll be heading back to the Big Horn Mountains in north-central Wyoming. Sunday the 16th I’ll begin 5 days of camping at Tie Flume campground followed by 5 days camping at Prune Creek campground. The South Tongue Rivers flows through both campgrounds. Probably about the worst time to trout fish. Rivers are lower, slower, and clearer at the end of the summer. I’ll be at 8000 feet so it is cold at night. Hopefully, the cold nights keep the water from getting too warm.

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Sunday, July 19, 2020

Yesterday I just relaxed, read a book.

Today, Sunday after driving a half-hour northwest to see Devils Tower I drove west a few hours and then through Sheridan Wyoming and south about an hour to Tie Flume Campground 8400 feet up into the Big Horn Mountains in Big Horn National Forest. Very beautiful mountains and campground. When I made the reservation I was only able to reserve one night. There are many campgrounds in Big Horn National Forest. Each campground has a handful of first-come-first-serve campsites. My plan was to nab a site for another four nights. Not to be. The camp hostess was a real sweetie and tried to find me a site but nothing was open. I spent one night there and started home. There’s a beautiful large stream/small river that runs through the campground. Crystal clear gently flowing water in a gorgeous setting. The host told me they catch fish “they are small guys but fun”. It was about 6:30 pm when I walked down to the river. Many fish were rising. The river isn’t small and there are some undercut banks. Have to believe there are some decent size fish. Wishful thinking. Looks like you can walk and fish a long way upstream and downstream without wading unless you want to cross the river. The host told me moose walk through and check the campground out around 6 to 6:30 am. Made sure I was up at 5:30 to check it out but the host was making a lot of noise emptying garbage cans. I forgive her. She was so nice. I’m thinking of trying to make reservations for two weeks in August if a site is available.

Tie Flume Site
The South Tongue River
Fish rising
Three generations. Grandpa was helping a very excited boy.