Yes, I am still fishing. Little stops me from seeing flowing water before too long but a series of events after my return from Oregon prevented me from documenting what fishing has been done. 1st, I spent a solid week prepping ground, installing deer fence and planting a rather substantial garden for my first undertaking. Things went slowly at first but now everything is humming along well and the hours spent digging in the dirt rather than fishing were rewarding. 2nd, I had a bit of a computer crash/issue resulting in a down period (thus the reason I didn’t finish the OR trip posts). After a week of no email, no blog, no screen I had been cleansed and have struggled to spend much time infront of this thing since, honestly I’m alright with less computer time when the sun is shining and the lawn needs mowing or dirt needs digging. 3rd, prior to leaving for OR I joined the volunteer fire and rescue department in my area. As a result I have been spending some fishing time training and attending to my neighbors in need.

With all that out of the way June was a hot but good month around here. Felt the urge to fish the Mississippi a bit and have taken a handful of nice Smallmouth Bass over the last couple weeks fishing poppers and clousers here and there. I’ve also spent a decent amount of time searching for carp I can present a fly to but have yet to find the spot I’m looking for. As July rolls on and the river drops a bit more I might get the opportunity to take a Mississippi carp on the fly. I’ve fished for trout a handful of times and kind of laughed a bit at myself. The past three years I’ve spent the majority of June and July trudging upstream casting in weeded up gin clear water under low flow conditions. This is not the ideal way to catch trout but it can still be a good time if you can stay cool andkeep the bugs off. Bugs…hint…the buff. Awesome for the bugs. Keeping gnats, black flies and other nuisances out of your face and off your neck.

Summer flies that have been particularly effective for me have been a #14 Stimulator in traditional colors of Orange and Green but also the Black and Pink version I tied up last year has been holding its own bringing many smaller browns to surface. I’ve been fishing a dry/dropper rig when I can and the #14 Black Wet Fly sunk 12-18 inches down has been deadly, trout just crush the BWF in the summer months. As usual the meaty #8 Black SMB has taken it’s share of June trout including a handful of larger rainbows that made their way to my dinner table. It’s been a good summer so far and we have Trico’s to look forward to… oh and be careful out there, the wild parsnip is approaching 7-8ft tall in some areas and is thicker than I’ve seen it in the past. Avoid if possible.

Slide Show

• Hook: Dai-Riki 075 #14
• Thread: GSP 50 Deiner White
• Bead: Craft Store Bead
• Weight: 10 Turns of .15
• Rib: SM Black Ultra Wire
• Over Body: 12 Strands of Black Krystal Flash
• Body: 85% Black/15% Peacock Ice Dub
• Hackle: Black Saddle Hackle (Oversized)
• Collar: Peacock Ice Dub

Begin the fly by crimping the barb, placing your bead and adding the turns of .15 weight. I prefer to prep a dozen hooks with the bead and weight before beginning, it will save you a bit of time. Begin the thread behind the bead, leave a gap between the weight and the bead so material can occupy this space later in the process. Secure the weight to the shank and work the tying thread to just past the hook barb. Tie in a stretch of SM Black Ultra Wire, then tie in 12-15 strands of Black Krystal Flash. In previous versions I have also incoporated 6 or so strands of peacock herl tied in after the flash and brought over the body then covered with the Krystal Flash. Prepare in advance a mixture of 85% Black and 15% Peacock Ice Dubbing, dub a “houseflyish” looking body, it can be a bit on the rounder side, this is supposed to imitate perhaps a drowned Black Fly, Beetle or other terrestrial that trout may be exposed to. Once the body is finished bring forward the strands of Krystal Flash and secure them to the top of the fly forming the overbody. Clip the excess Flash and wrap the Black Ultra wire forming the rib (3-4 Wraps), this keeps the fly strong so it is able to catch several fish before the body begins to disintegrate. Tie in the hackle feather and make 1-2 turns then tie off and clip the excess. To finish this fly I use a very small amount of Peacock Ice dubbing wrapped 3-4 times right behind the bead to force the hackle back a bit and to hide the tying thread. Whip finish and pull the thread tight behind the hook, this is why I use the GSP here. The strength of the thread allows me to pull it tight behind the bead without the thread breaking. This also keeps it safe from trout teeth so it does not need to be sealed with glue or head cement.

I was introduced to this fly through On The Fly Guiding, a local guide service that also provides helpful Driftless Area information including fly patterns for Southeast Minnesota. Hearing chatter of this productive pattern I had to tie my own, I put my usual spin on the situation and afterwards I had a very productive summer pattern at the end of my line. This fly imitates a drowned terrrestrial and during the summer months it can be particularly effective. Be prepared to have it hit right as it enters the water. Good luck.

My brother called me up again wanting to know if I was interested in taking him out again, I obliged thinking that an interest may be developing here. He drove to Winona the night before and hung out again, even if the fishing stinks it’s still a good reason to hang out with family. The night before saw Winona getting .54 inches of rain which isn’t much but has been known to throw a few systems near by off, picking the location for the day wasn’t going to be easy. In this situation I went with my gut and we drove South. Jake got a bit lucky again, the stream we picked was just stained from the rain making the mistakes and fumbles of a beginning angler less noticeable to the wary trout.

On stream at ~6:30am rigged and ready to go. I set Jake up with a two fly nymph rig consisting of a #14 Black Wet Fly for the lead fly with a #18 Pink Patrick trailer. Knowing that reports of fish eagerly taking terrestrials have been posted I felt it appropriate to tie on the BWF as the summer season and all the activity that comes along with it is here to stay for a while. The night before Jake and I tied leaders and worked on knots a bit which ended up helping throughout the day. Good to teach him how to do it so I can fish a bit while he is learning the ropes the hard way. That’s not to say I didn’t help him but today was a bit less instructional than the first time we went out, although I stayed by his side and watched I offered advice when necessary otherwise I stayed out of the way.

At the first spot we worked on getting the feel for a weighted two fly nymph rig, going over all the potential disasters that come with tossing this set-up especially when you consider the ever-growing jungle around us. Jake was working a smaller run with weeds on the side, the stained water allowed us to get in pretty close for a shorter cast. What he took away from this first spot was the notion of a good long drift. Casting across slower water holding vegetation can pull your line causing your flies to be pulled out of the deeper part of the run, to help extend the drift we worked on mending line. I turn around to grab my coffee mug and Jake is playing his first fish of the day, after about fifteen minutes stream-side. A smaller brown on a #18 Pink Patrick. Well the fear of a skunked day was set-aside, the sun was out and it was going to be an excellent day.

Water temp at 7:51 am was reading warm pushing 58 degrees, I wasn’t expecting it to be that warm before 9am. Between a few knots/tangles, one or two trees and the occasional snag Jake was getting the hang of casting this rig, trying to make sure he opens the forward cast enough to allow the flies, weight and indicator to land on the water correctly. He picked up a few dinkers, a couple of 10-12 inch Brown trout that were taken home for dinner and a Brookie all before 10am. The #14 BWF was taking more fish than the #18 Pink Patrick but enough were taking the pink attractor fly to keep it on and put a second one on after Jake busted it off on a fish setting the hook too sharply, alot of this comes with time and getting used to the feeling of it all.

The morning wore on and Jake was consistently able to pull a few trout out of each spot we stopped at, the stained water and active trout made for excellent day to nymph. A few rises were seen but nothing too exciting. Jake hooked into a larger (14-15in) Brown at the head of a run in the shallows, he had a great time playing the fish around the weeds and right as he got his hand around the fish to land it the fly let loose and the Brown knew it, forced a tail whip and away he went. By this point we were both fishing, I stayed behind offering a bit of advice as I watched but Jake was on his own for a good portion of the morning. I landed a few smaller Brown’s here and there as we went.

We pushed further upstream looking to get to a particular feature I wanted to fish, on arrival we noticed a shallow back water area that held the highest concentration of tadpoles I had ever seen. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of immature frogs. A sign of the water quality, frogs are good. Jake hooked into and lost a second larger trout as a result of just not being used to the rod/reel and entire feeling of hooking and dealing with a running trout. A few throughout the day were lost when excitement took over and the line was pulled to hard or he didn’t give the trout enough room but we couldn’t have been happier. Hooking fish every ten minutes for a beginning fly angler is good progress and practice. On the way out we stopped at a run we fished earlier, to my surprise Jake was able to hook and land six trout out of this one spot and once again as my back was turned he hooked the larger trout of the day. A nice 14in Brown nymphed from the deeper part of the run after he had already landed 5 others, not too shabby. I sat back and watched, again grinning. Photo’s were taken, the trout was released and we left certainty for uncertainty at a second location. The day had already gone well so I wasn’t going to be disappointed if the second spot was a bust. On the way out we were trudging through a mucky half-marsh section and Jake looks at me saying “is that a Turtle?” I turn around and sure enough Jake had seen me accidentally step on the shell of a snapping turtle pushing him down into the mud. Jake picked him up out of the mud to get his picture taken and then to be left alone.

Spot 2 wasn’t a total bust, Jake landed a few smaller rainbows while casting in the sun. We were looking for something easier, open casting lanes and the chance to fill the dinner table with stocked rainbows. There were a few about but all smaller, one as small as six inches? We fished in the sun until it was time to leave for home. A second great day fishing for trout in Southeast Minnesota, with a bit more time Jake will be a fly angler. Helping another learn to fly fish is a good way to test yourself, perhaps make you think a bit more about why you do some of the things you do onstream. All in all we couldn’t have asked for better, yet again. Thanks Jake, glad you had a great time. Again soon…

Slide Show

Working towards my goal of evening fishing I arrived stream-side with Sershen in the mid-afternoon to test a few pet fly options for the day of fishing this Saturday. Fall is fast approaching, this becomes apparent when leaves floating in the stream alter the drift you are attempting to achieve. Cooler night air temps have encouraged fish activity and streams are generally low but fishing well. Mayfly nymphs are on the rocks again (for those streams that don’t see many Trico’s) after the summer lull, another indication that it is later in the year. We started the day fishing a “hot spot” that has legend of large fair but for some reason has always turned out to be a bust for me, after a quick stop we moved to the main attraction and began the hike in. Read the rest of this entry »