You ever get that burning desire to go out and get lost?

Safely, of course. The Driftless is a great place to do just that. No cell phone reception, no calls, no music, off the grid. Detaching from the world for a brief period is part of the allure of fishing for me. The Driftless is a great place to do that.

I had been up to the Driftless a couple times. Similar to the other times I had been there, I immediately felt at ease trading the busy city streets of Chicago for the country roads and bucolic landscape of Western Wisconsin. I couldn’t help but envision the hungry trout I was soon to encounter amongst the changing leaves of October in the Midwest.

Upon my first visit, I got some very helpful recommendations from the guys at Driftless Angler and decided that I would hit the same spots I had been to previously. That was my thinking as I made the trip up there, why potentially waste time fishing areas I’m not sure hold fish?

When I got up to Viroqua in the early afternoon I stopped by Driftless Angler to pick up a few flies. One thing I’ve found helpful when visiting a (relatively) new area is to ask the fly shop to be pointed in the right direction. Nothing too specific, not asking which rock to stand on in which riffle, but rather a general compass on what I should be doing. This trip was no different and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The shop owner told me the water had been super low all summer but the forecast for the next couple of days looked good with lowering temperatures and some cloud cover, which sounded like good news. Although I had been there before and had my spots in mind, I asked the owner for some areas to fish. I was slightly puzzled when he smilingly said, “just drive.” I mean, I had been there before so I wasn’t clueless, but a little juice would’ve been helpful. Nothing. Not wanting to keep pushing him, I got my flies and headed out to one of my known spots.

I rigged a hopper dropper setup at a creek I knew held good numbers of trout. There are so many creeks up there it’s almost overwhelming and I decided to stick with ol’ faithful.

First cast, fish. Hooked up to a small little brown which promply spat the hook with some aerial acrobatics. Off to a solid start. I was initially happy with my decision to stick with my known spots. The Driftless is known for miles of accessible water but either my stubbornness or fear of “leaving fish to find fish” kept me in the same areas that I was familiar with from my previous ventures.

With what felt like a flick of a switch, the fishing came to a frustrating stall. I began to ponder if fishing somewhere other than my honey holes would be the right move. On my way back to the hotel I decided to heed the shop owners advice and get off the beaten path.

I looked at my phone that night, found a bridge that crossed what looked like fishable water and made up my mind that I was going to explore. I was going to just drive.

The following day was one of the more non-stop action days of fishing I’ve ever had. Started the morning with enough creek chubs to feed a small village but as the day continued, the trout got hungry. Hopper-droppers all day long, fish feeding in pools, riffles, and off undercut banks. I went to about a dozen different spots, all of which were new to me.

Bouncing from creek to creek in the beautiful amber scenery of the area with no real sense of direction other than trying to find trouty looking water, I achieved a new sense of fulfillment that only came with an unscripted adventure. The name “Driftless” became an oxymoron as I drifted from stream to stream, satisfying not only my need to fish, but also the feeling of wander that I didn’t know I needed.

Throughout the day, I was reminded of the shop owner’s advice that I was originally confused by. Dozens upon dozens of creeks to fish, how do you pick which one? The Driftless can be daunting with all the options especially to someone with little familiarity there. But exploring and discovering new places, new water, new fish makes the experience all that more gratifying. That’s one of the best things about the Driftless- it gives you the opportunity to explore and figure things out own your own. While I was initially frustrated with the answer of “just drive,” after a day like today, I realized he was right.