Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 8 December 2025
Again, we find ourselves in a week where I don’t have a compelling story coming to mind as I sit down to write. Unfortunately, that means I will need to ramble on about what’s been happening with me here in Wisconsin. It feels culturally appropriate to mention that the Packers and the Bears are playing each other in football as we speak, and if you’re a Wisconsinite, you’re expected to hate the Bears, Illinois, and the people who live there. So, Go Pack Go!
The weather may have ended the migratory trout season for me before it even began. We had a month and a half of good fishing, but I was hoping to get through December at least before the rivers locked up. However, we’ve received nearly 20 inches of snow in the last couple of weeks, and temperatures rarely rise above 20 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, the rivers are frozen, the wind is blowing, and if my only option is to catch fish through the ice, then I’m not going. As you can imagine, the weather has also impacted my casting practice.
I’m still casting regularly. It’s surprising how a bright sun can make a frigid day feel comfortable if you’re dressed appropriately. I essentially don’t have a choice about whether to practice. The night before, I dug a path to the platform and cleared a foot of snow off the top. My wife and I had seen a video on Instagram of Mathias casting in three feet of snow. He captioned it something like “the snow can’t stop me”—at least that’s how I interpreted it. Talk about motivating! I’ve always taken pride in my effort to work as hard as anyone else, and this past week, my excuse had been, “Yeah, but it’s cold, snowy, and windy outside.” Then I see that video, and my wife chimes in with, “Well, he’s out there practicing.” So, if anyone has the chance to tell Mr. Lilleheim that I owe him for a foot with the 5 wt, please do so. Who knows—I might end up owing him more than just a foot once this winter is over.
There’s a team practice taking place this week, and it couldn’t come at a better time. I would love to find some local ponds to practice with teammates, but that’s not in the cards at the moment. Southern California, here I come! This begs the question—at least in my mind—“Well, how are you feeling about your cast?” I wouldn’t want to compete in the worlds this week, but I feel good about where I stand with the time I have left. I wouldn’t say I’m getting everything out of my distance casts, but I know what I’m trying to achieve and why I’m doing it that way. All that’s left is practicing until I feel like I’m doing what I intend to do. At that point if other casts are going farther, then I will start the process over. It may be to my detriment, but I keep up with different styles of distance casting. I have three casts that are close enough for me to execute well, yet different enough to yield varied results. I’m choosing this path just in case I can’t pull off the cast I’m experimenting with. We shall see.
I’m also comfortable with my current trout accuracy. Again, I’m doing things differently from my teammates, and I may need to adjust for the sake of weather, consistency, or other variables I haven’t accounted for, but I like what I’m doing. I believe my accuracy casts lend themselves to a lot of control over the fly, but I’m not sure if that’s more important than insane replicability. How blissful it is to be ignorant, I suppose. Speaking of ignorance, I’m giving spey casting a real college try. I dabble on the "dark side" while fishing, but I am by no means a spey caster. The only person who seemed interested in watching me fumble around with a 15-foot whippy stick was the Lady of the Lake herself, Whitney Gould (I could have worse luck with instructors, coaches, and friends). I just hope to maintain my dignity in her presence at the pond.
Other than that, the life of a desperate fly fishing nerd is pretty straightforward. When you can’t cast and you can’t fish, you ought to pay some attention to those fly boxes. Given how gnarly this winter has started, you all may hear nothing but fly patterns, recipes, and theories from me for quite some time. As a matter of fact, there might be a thing or two cooking in the oven already, but I will be forced to invest in indoor practice or take some trips south, because there is a competition in February. There are a few different places with indoor soccer facilities that will allow me to practice to a degree. I don’t think I can go all out sea-trout, but 5 wt distance should work. With a generous discount, it’s only $90 an hour. Luckily, it snows money around here, so I should be able to afford going maybe three times a year. Wish me luck in finding a way to do enough instruction in the facility to catch a little free practice in between.