Driftless 2026: Track 1 – Ride Like the Wind

Okay, let’s start the Driftless 2026 recap posts. Last year’s were Hobbit themed, but instead of the Shire, this year I’m making an album playlist. Music always seemed to be part of the conversation, especially during drives from stream to stream. So most of these posts will derive their titles from songs that came up in the context of that banter. Maybe consider hitting “play” below and listen along to get in the mood as you read this first installment.

Early Morning Travel

The first day was quite the epic adventure. Actually, let’s call it what it was, a damn long day.

My flight from Jacksonville, Florida to my eventual destination in Wisconsin was scheduled to leave at 6:00 AM. Flights never seem to be punctual, but this one decided to be. I received a notification the night before that departure was going to be moved up to 5:45 AM!

As such, I was up out of bed at 3:00 AM to shower, drive to the airport and check my fishing luggage to be at the gate in time for the first flight to Chicago. Oh, did I mention that I was up until after 12:00 AM watching the Flyers beat the Penguins in a first round, Game 7 thriller?

So yeah, ridiculously exhausted before the trip even began. Let’s just say sleeping on a plane had never been easier.

Fortunately, the connection to Rochester, Minnesota was also on time, so after grabbing my rental car and cruising down the highway a bit, I was in Coon Valley, Wisconsin before you knew it.

Rod’s Farm

The accommodations were a pretty sweet Airbnb. A “trout lodge” on a farm that also happened to have a stream running right through the property. I had stayed on the grounds in the smaller one room cabin a few years ago, but this time we were staying in the larger house. What a score!

I got there around 2:00 PM and started unpacking all my stuff. My fishing buddies Anthony & Dave filed in shortly thereafter. As we exchanged pleasantries and further unpacked, we couldn’t help but notice the lodge was very well stocked. And I’m not talking about the trout… It didn’t take long for the scotch to find a glass.

But We’re Here to Fish!

Once you get three anglers in one spot situated, it also doesn’t take long for the fishing itch to set in. No later than suitcases and duffel bags were emptied, waders and boots went on, and we walked down to the stream that ran through the property, even though we knew we’d only have at best two or so hours of daylight to fish.

Once at the water, Anthony & I went downstream, while Dave started upstream, although we all eventually ended up fishing together at some point in the outing.

Fishing Was Sloooooow

I’m just going to cut to the chase, the fishing was tough. Did we catch fish? Yes. But it wasn’t the typical “Driftless” fishing any of us were used to or hoped for. The trout were more than a little sluggish this particular late afternoon. Clearly not as active as they usually are to a twitched wet fly. It was basically beadhead nymph fishing, and you had to get it down and right in front of the fish for them to take.

It had been fairly windy and chilly both today, and the days prior, so I guess it wasn’t too surprising to see the trout just not interested in playing our games.

Personally, it probably didn’t help that I was having some gear issues I’d need to work through as well. First, I had bought a new action camera to mess around with shooting some video of us fishing. This was the first time I was using it, so I was fiddling with the camera settings almost as much as I was with my fly box.

Second, I found myself “long distance releasing” far too many of the fish I was hooking. I eventually figured out the problem and slightly widened the gap on the nymphs I was using, but I probably lost the first five or six fish before I remedied that issue.

Despite all that, I would say it was a positive micro session of fishing, if nothing more than to shake off the rust and work through some of the equipment kinks before the longer, and potentially more productive outings of the next few days. The weather was also to get gradually warmer each day, topping out in the mid 70s, which figured to liven things up a bit.

A Nightcap At the Stockyard

After fishing, it was time to find some food. It may come to a surprise to you that there are not a lot of dining options available in Coon Valley at around 8:00 PM on a random Thursday night. We chose The Stockyard Grill & Saloon right along the main street.

I feel like it’s always a gamble if the kitchen is still going to be open when we roll in on the later side of things. Fortunately, they were still serving food. The Stockyard also has some mean outdoorsy taxidermy on the walls, like this trout that was hung directly over our table.

Some combination of burgers, wings, and cold beer were ordered and I think I recall them tasting good, but I really don’t remember much from that point on. Once that Miller Lite hit my lips, I started to crash from exhaustion. See, at this point, I had probably been awake for 33 of the last 36 hours and just wanted to get back to the house and get a good night’s sleep. Yeah, I’m evidently that guy.

And with that, day one (or maybe day 0.5) was done, with much, much more to come.

---

Tracks on the Driftless 2026 Album:

---