To take a trout with one of these. I picture it going down something like this… After a good long day of fishing the Driftless Area during spring/summer I will migrate towards home, along the way I will make a mental note of any and all areas I know to hold larger trout. I’ll pull up right as the sun is setting behind the bluffs, rig up and head to the spot. I’ll get there earlier than needed but that’s the kind of guy I am. I’ll scope the situation out, put myself in the right spot and wait until the light fades.  When the time is right I’ll plop one of these guys near the head of a pool, throw in a big upstream mend to counter the pull of the strong current. I’ll let it drift a bit maybe half way through the pool, then I’ll twitch one of these furry beasts to my feet hoping for the opportunity to take a Driftless Area trout on a mouse. This should pose a decent challenge, I’m sure I’ll let you know how it goes but first it’s got to warm up a bit around here.

Otherwise known as Garlic Mustard, a plant brought by European settlers, cultivated for use as food and medicine which now poses a great risk to our native plants and animals. I have been working on the side as a mild-mannered citizen of Winona with no connection to a Fly Factory and as such I am involving myself in a few “side” projects. One such project could find me and others dealing with the harsh realities of this plant and the havoc it can exhibit on the natural eco-system. As angler’s we have a responsibility to know and protect the watersheds that provide us with the necessary components for the activities we love. Find out what invasive species are in your area, know how to identify them and do so on a regular basis so that you may avoid spreading them. Also, once you can confidently identify invasive species please contact appropriate agencies and let them know where you were and what you came across. http://www.vimeo.com/2855779

To a Mr. Brian Sather. I was invited to talk trout with a group of students at Winona Senior High last year as a part of Brian’s Fish and Wildlife class. I brought a slide show and some stuff to tie a few flies. I know I had a blast talking about trout and the resources we have in our area. Brian stopped me just before the winter break and handed me a small wrapped gift. I opened it later when I got home only to think it was perhaps a perfect gift. Good thinking Brain, I will carry it with me and I’ll let you know if I ever have to use it.

Note: We do have Rattlesnakes in Southeast Minnesota be they few and far between but I tend to travel to areas where they may have higher concentrations. At the size of my palm and very light there is no reason this shouldn’t fit in my day bag squished between a baggie of toilet paper and my lunch for the day, underneath the water supply needed for the outing, right where it belongs. Thanks Brian

Slide Show

 

For the winter season that is. A tip was passed on to me that some great gear could be purchased ridiculously cheap if one was punctual and willing to drive half an hour. The stop in La Crosse to pick up these snow stomping treads worked well with our migration south of the border to catch a few trout. I won’t say exactly how cheap these were but I will say I sprung for a smaller pair for the female of the house, a good winter activity together with the dog. Depending on the conditions these can drastically change a longer hike especially if your trying to get to your favorite winter hole with a bit of daylight to spare. I plan to bust these bad boys out for more than getting stream side in four feet of the white stuff though, it will be fun just to be outside with the dog and the girl.  Warranty against defects, light weight, rugged and meant for the winters around here these kick snowshoe a**. Read the rest of this entry »

Liz’s father who is largely responsible for starting my fly fishing journey recently dropped off a mug that has several flies painted on it. I dig it very much and have added it to my tying bench where it will hold something useful I’m sure. I can always put coffee in it as well! Thanks Jeff, its very cool.

Slide Show

 

Tomorrow I will be seeing for the first time what a section of stream that I drive by on occasion holds between its banks, this is private land and I’ve been thinking about calling this guy for a while now. I finally did and the landowner on the other end was more than willing to allow me access to his property and the stream, he gave me a place to park and granted access from two points on his property. I asked for his name and if he would be around tomorrow so I could introduce myself and meet him in person.

I stopped by the bridge just upstream of the water I was granted access to and took a water temp and samples from the riffle to give me an idea of what I might find tomorrow. First thing I noticed was a lack of any Mayfly nymphs other than Ephemerella Rotunda/Invaria, I might find some hatching Light Hendricksons tomorrow. I caught my first Caddisfly pupa today, looked exactly like some of the pictures I’ve seen, pretty interesting, other than that the riffle contents were to be expected mostly free-living caddis larva, scuds, and the Ephemerella nymphs. The water temp was kind of interesting, only 54 degrees at noon over my lunch, on most other streams the temp would be in the higher 50’s. It might take this stream longer to warm, might find bugs hatching a little later tomorrow than I’ve been seeing.

I need to continue to work on these situations, there is plenty of water even closer to my doorstep to fish if I can continue to build relationships with landowners. I have two other streams that I have been granted access by landowners but I have yet to fish in those locations, tomorrow will be the 1st private section of Southeast Minnesota trout streams I’ve fished. Wish me luck, if it is as good as I’m hoping it might be I will have a wonderful new place to visit close to home and if it turns out to be a bust then at least I won’t wonder about it every time I drive by.

So as of June 1st I have been offically fly fishing for a year. I went out a few times prior to June 1st, 2008 but I was hooked right around the start of June and although I didn’t start the Winona Fly Factory until September, June holds the marker for me. I’ve learned a few things this year, funny how the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know shit, but I know I’ve been getting better so here is to another year of fly fishing in Southeast Minnesota! 

As a point of interest, the new rod I’ve been showing off is to replace the Cabela’s Prestige 7′6″ 4wt. that I’ve been fishing this entire time. Now if you read this regularly then you know how much that rod was worked. I used it almost daily last summer and froze the crap out of it during the winter season and I couldn’t have asked for more. I hate the thing now, I know it feels like casting with a broomstick but there is something to be said for a 50-60 dollar rod/reel combo that held up as well as it did. So to celebrate a year I figured a new rod was in order. 

This beauty cost a fair penny and I can thank my mother for help purchasing my second fly rod (she bought the 1st one too for a Christmas present). She sent me a gift certificate that significantly cut the cost of this rod down to something I could manage and damn does it feel great. I’m currently using the Eastfork Reel with a 4wt line so I’m over weighting the rod a bit but it casts so well. I feel my accuracy and feeling improving greatly, like buying a quality musical instrument, the right fly rod can really help. I chose an 8′6″ rod for alittle more length now knowing the areas I fish, I wanted more distance with my roll cast and the 3wt was a great choice as it feels even more fun to catch Minnesota trout. The rod is a 4pc which makes it more packable, a feature I really wanted. The rod loads smoothly and shoots line very well, snake guides and all. I am pleased and confident this rod with serve me well.

Something to think about. This is my life now, I used to fanatically play guitar. I own a Gibson Les Paul Standard, beautiful, but since this journey started, of which I am convinced I have little control over, it along with other things have been set aside. I choose between free time spent tying flies/fishing and all the other things I used to do. For me right now this is an easy decision as it occupies my brain a significant amount of the time. I will return to those things for that I am sure but for now… I believe slight tendencies towards OCD and loving the beautiful things I’ve seen has kept quick the pace at which I’m attempting to devour this adventure.  I’m fortunate to have Liz who puts up with alot of crap that comes along with loving a fishing bum, you other guys know what I’m talking about. In conclusion I should note that I am fishing as this is being automatically posted, I’ll be back with pictures and probably a story too. Peace

 p.s. Thank you, to everyone who has contirbuted to this over the past year. I’ve been given gear, I’ve been given information, friendship, ideas and a damn good time so if you’ve affected me thank you, especially Elizabeth Oliver.

-the Winona Fly Factory

Stopped by another stream near by and took these the other day.

We’ve all seen it. I’m sure we’ve all left something behind. I’m not one for boy scouts anymore but the one thing that stuck with me was the whole leave no trace, leave only foot prints and take only pictures thing.

When I go to a stream I do so usually in a 1995 Ford F-150. She’s got almost 250k on her and runs great but she doesn’t get great gas milage. As a result of my non-eco friendly friend and my desire to make up for it I will be collecting trash from the streams I visit this summer with an end goal to fill the back end of my pick-up. I have a topper so trash won’t blow out. Recently I began collecting….Humans.

I love going to trout streams, with or without my stick. This, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful places in the state and it could be better but I know we all know this. Do you leave trash behind? I think its bad enough that my lost leader and tippet won’t bio-degrade for a good 500 years, I would never leave anything on purpose. I am just writing this to encourage those of you who see it, but don’t create it, to help pick it up. It won’t be as easy for someone to leave a bunch of trash behind if the stream looks pristine, unlike my coffee table which self-perpetuates a mess.

I was invited back to speak with students from Winona Senior High’s Fish and Wildlife class. I did my previous presentation with alittle bit of new information that I have added since the last time I gave my trout dork speech. This time, however, I found I had to fight alittle to get students to respond but they came around towards the end when I got into tying. 

I discussed trout in Minnesota ranging from species, location, and behavior including spawning and feeding. We also discussed habitat, conservation and my desire to start volunteering for the MPCA which I plan to begin spring/summer. 

I tied two flies for the students explaining how each would be fished under different situations. The PT nymph because of its wide range of application. I explained how it is fished is related to the behavior of the trout and the habitat in which they live, understanding both will enhance your fly fishing. I also tied a size 20 Midge Larva to explain how trout will take such a small meal when that meal comes in large quantities and requires few calories to acquire, but that at the same time (as I learned with the Marabou Leech) when the fish are holding and there is no single food item they are keyed into, that fishing something larger providing more incentive to a holding trout may be better, maximize calorie intake while minimizing output. 

I hope I left a few with something they will want to look back on, if anything perhaps they will think about the area they live in a slightly different way, I know when I began to fly fish I began looking at this place in a different, better way.