Driftless 2026: Track 5 – We’re Not Gonna Take It

Hair Nation

Track 5 ties back to Monday’s adventure in a roundabout way. During the long drive to our destination stream, Anthony was playing the “Hair Nation” satellite radio channel on his Subaru’s stereo pretty much the entire way. That sparked conversations about how Jon Bon Jovi screwed over Sebastian Bach & Skid Row, Cinderella sang a jingle for a local hot dog stand, and how awesome it would have been to see Van Halen live at their early 80s peak, well before “Van Hagar.” Anthony & I enjoyed the flashback, Dave seemed none too impressed.

I could have referenced a Poison, Whitesnake, or even Def Leppard song, but I’m going Twisted Sister. Just because it did play on the drive that day, I like Dee Snider, and fondly remember riding BMX bikes around the neighborhood singing this song as a kid. 🤘

The Fishing Blues

Today was going to be the last day Anthony, Dave, & I were going to fish together before the two of them needed to make their exits from the Driftless. We picked a stream Anthony had fished before, but was new to Dave & I. As we packed up the car to head to the stream, a bit of melancholy began setting in knowing it was our finale. Regardless, I was excited to give it a go.

After all the hair bands, and much like the other days, when we arrived at our destination we were greeted by cars already in the little parking area. We could see one group of anglers fishing their way away from us upstream, and one angler right by the bridge fishing a downstream hole. The gentleman downstream seemed to be wrapping up, which Anthony confirmed after a bit of awkward conversation. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, Dave & I send Anthony ahead for these interactions).

Now in the clear, the three of us were going to hike downstream a ways and work our way back up to the car.

Consistently Slow

After trudging back through the woods for about 15-20 minutes, the three of us spaced out on the stream. Dave dropped in first, I dropped in second, and Anthony went back in the furthest.

Being in the woods was nice as it was also the warmest day of the trip. The occasional shade tree kept the sun at bay. That said, those branches also claimed a few more flies than I would have liked. On the whole It was an interesting stream to fish. The banks were high in most places, so you wanted to be down in the water. However, the streambed was quite muddy. The kind of thick mud you can sink into up to your knees if you’re not careful. I may have not been careful enough once or twice.

The fishing was what I’d call consistently slow. I picked up a few, maybe 9 or 10 over the course of the few hours, but none were of any size nor put up any sort of ruckus once hooked. From what I understand, Anthony & Dave had similar experiences.

It was likely that this one deep hole that was the best for all of us. It’s where I first caught up to Dave, and where Anthony initially caught up to me. Good fishing usually creates bottlenecks as nobody wants to leave their spot. I probably pulled a third of my trout count from this timber filled sanctuary.

Know When to Fold ‘Em

Eventually, we could tell this wasn’t really going anywhere, so despite the length of the drive, we were going to cut our losses. As we headed back to the bridge where we parked, we fished a little bit more in the more meadowy section and picked out one or two more fish each before we just decided to chill out for a bit, grab some water and snacks, and figure out a plan for what was left of our day.

As we were chatting up on the bridge pondering our next move, I was mindlessly casting my line into the water below only half paying attention. Then my line went tight. Wouldn’t you know it? Likely the best fish of the day. I must have been evoking some Owl Jones powers…

Back To The Farm

I’d pretend like we came up with a good plan from there, but we really didn’t. The plan was to head back towards the farm, grab some food along the way, and give the stream that runs through the property one final farewell. Since Anthony and Dave had to pack up that night, we figured staying a little more local would make things a bit easier on both of them following fishing.

After meeting up with Matt and a few others that remained in the area at a diner, we eventually ended up back at the farm for the evening. So we briefly said hello to the pig and the chickens and then headed to the water. Anthony went downstream, so I went up and fished more or less the same section we had fished the very first night.

My How Things Change

Now, I don’t know what exactly happened, but from then on I found this to be possibly the best fishing of the trip. Some sort of switch turned on just before dusk and the trout were suddenly crazy active. They were not only taking wets and nymphs, but recklessly taking dry flies too. Every little crack and crevice I though there would be a fish, there was. Even in some ridiculously skinny water no more than two feet wide. I only fished for maybe two hours, but they were an absolutely stellar 120 minutes.

Once back at the house Anthony confirmed similar success. I was very happy he was able to wrap up his trip that way. It was more than a little redemption considering the otherwise frustrating day.

The Last Night

The rest of the night was mostly a blur. A mix of watching TV, drinking beer, and a lot of gathering of assorted things and stowing them in bags or suitcases. The finality started to sink in. I had a great time with Anthony and Dave, we were quite the trio for those five days of chasing trout across the Driftless.

Looking ahead to Track 6… Yes, the guys were getting in their cars and leaving first thing in the morning, but I’d have one more day on the water by myself to look forward to. Hopefully, this album ends on a high note…

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Tracks on the Driftless 2026 Album:

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