Notes of Interest:

• Arrival at ~10:30am Water Temp 42 Degrees, Air Temp Upper 30’s
• Nymphed up smaller Browns on a #20 Miracle Nymph
• Swapped to Streamers at 12:30pm. Water Temp ~44 Degrees
• Landed ~10 Browns/Rainbows between 10-14inches
• Stream Clouded up quite abit around 3pm, Fishing Slowed (No Water Temp.)
• No bugs today other than a few scattered midges, minimal rising from the trout.
• I emailed the DNR regarding the concerning Dam, I was told it will be removed ASAP.

Slide Show

 

Parked 10am. 1/3 of a mile hike in some fluffy deep snow to get to the water then another mile upstream and the entire distance back out again. A total of close to 4,050 yards according to Google Earth. 40 football fields in 3-4 feet of snow. Reminds me of the crawling through sh*t line in Shawshank Redemption. Along the way we happened upon many sights, a pair of hawks flying above with a screeching mouse in tow for example. The hike in was slow, through some serious snow with nothing more than an animal trail over an old set of truck tracks from months ago to aid us. This would be worth it though. I expected to find warm gin clear trout water and that is in fact what I found. First water temp more than a mile downstream of two major springs held a temp of 46 degrees at ~10:30am.

Midge were already peppering the snow more than twenty feet from the stream when we began fishing. We nymphed, myself a #14 Pink Patrick with a #20 Beadhead Midge Larva. Simple, standard and effective patterns. The sun waited until late in the day to show itself, the photo’s reflect that aspect of the day well. We fished old H.I. work as we travelled to the source of this stream. We each managed a few takes on the way in but  water levels were down considerably through the section we fished. I wonder if the massive amount of instream growth this stream supports in the summer that shrinks in the winter might have something to do with it. The more instream vegetation, the more stuff to fill up the channel, thus making the stream look as if it has more water in it. Anyways just a side thought. We fished to source, hiked half the distance back out and fished up again.

At 1pm as we hiked downstream the midge began doing it, literally in the snow they would link up and the larger of the two would basically tow the other around in the snow. Interesting. We saw thousands of midge through the course of the day, with an initial water temp of 46 degrees and the fact that so many were already crawling around several feet from the stream I have to think a majority had hatched before we arrived, maybe before we woke to start the day. At 1:25pm I saw the first one float towards me. I had to stop for a second and really look to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was, as soon as I was sure I was diving in close to my waist to catch a few WINTER BWO’s? Yep. We watched as a good couple dozen emerged on the run I was fishing, float downstream and take off. Very cool, good day for bugs. Now to find a few trout.

We did eventually find a willing pod of fish that readily took a #20 Miracle Nymph like it was candy but it took nearly the entire day to find it and after swapping fish for an hour we were frozen and ready to head home. Heath had a nicer +16in fish on but as the net came out it spooked and bolted forcing a limp line and an empty net. I managed a few browns as well, typical winter fishing. It isn’t easy and sometimes you’ve got to work pretty hard to see your line tighten up but it makes those days in the spring and summer when it jumps upon a strike that much better. With frozen feet and smiles we hiked the last leg out quickly. It was 4:30pm. Potentially a top 10 day for 2010 and it’s not even March yet.

Notes: So we found Midge had already been hatching before we arrived, and BWO’s hatching as the water temp got up to 47-48 degrees at 1:30pm. The Miracle Nymph worked wonders today while the Pink Patrick did nothing and could have been split shot for all the trout cared, actually I think I’ve had trout more readily strike my splitshot than they did the Pink fly today.  Sometimes this thing can whack fifty trout, others it is a curse and is best left in the box. I learned this lesson today and will not forget it. Especially when the rocks showed about a million tiny nymphs, I was determined to feed them something twice as big and pink. I would have been better served fishing a WD-40 or a PT with the Miracle Nymph trailing. The BWO nymphs that were hatching were a yellow/cream color and were very apparent, I’m surprised and a little disappointed I didn’t take any pictures of them. Finally at the source of the stream we found a dead deer that was something’s dinner, when we hiked to a second spring we found a second carcass that had also been well fed on. I wonder if something large isn’t dragging them down into that valley, interesting… I apologize for the quantity of images but it was a day of things to see. Check the slideshow out on fullscreen.

Left the house at 9am and drove for 27 minutes. It doesn’t happen often but the weather forecast changed from 30 degrees with a 50% chance of snow with NO SUN the night before to 27 degrees and mostly sunny when I checked this morning. Sweet. Took off with hot coffee and nymph boxes ready, no real plan per-se just decided to let the road take me where I needed to go. The first turn in town nailed the destination down, snowshoes were needed. Just over a half an hour later I was pulling up to a minimum maintenance road that had seen a bit of traffic but only by deer, a few other animals and cross-country skiers. I hiked in just over a half mile to find myself staring at steaming water. I’ve fished this spot before but only in the summer when the forest is thick and grows taller than man, seeing it now bare and frozen gave it new dimension.

I took my time upon first approach, rigged my rod out of sight of the stream, approached slowly and on my knees to the waters edge. My options were limited as I had chosen not to wade today so I had my side of the bank and it happened to contain the least desirable casting locations, I tried a few options but nothing felt right. I could have sat around trying to figure out that hole but the sun was shining and I felt like moving around. I hiked for another half mile before settling on a spot I’ve fished a few times before. Deeper nymphing this time with spooky trout, spookier than the last time I was here for sure but that might be attributed to the fact that last time I was here the water was ever so slightly stained, later in the afternoon as just a bit of the melt begins some spots “tea” up a bit. This morning as I approached cautiously I kicked four decent sized trout down to the depths, clearer water than last time. Read the rest of this entry »

On the 20th of December the predicted air temp for the 1st was grim topping out at twelve degrees. As the days crept closer it only got worse, the night before while most were celebrating I was prepping gear, packing my winter box and tying the last few flies I wanted before the winter season began. I had a few ideas on where I wanted to fish but the weather often dictates my movements.  Knowing the temp was going to be low I chose to fish a spot that never freezes and almost always has rising trout. I saw this place and the fish that reside here last winter and as such I prepared several midge larva and emerger patterns for this situation. I knew I would be fishing mainly size twenty flies hoping to take one or two on or near the surface and probably not hanging around for too long after. My goals were to see a few happily swimming fish, shake the last month off my shoulders and enjoy some moving water. On site I rigged my rod and got into place, my first mistake would turn out to really hamper my first day of the season.  Read the rest of this entry »

Approximate arrival onstream: 9:00am. 100% clean and clear flows containing the same spooky trout, same as the last time I was here just less than a week ago. I wanted another crack at the fish in this stream, this time I came armed with another brain to bounce ideas off. The word for the day would be drift, proper drift. We started by tempting a smaller pod of trout holding in a shallower (3ft) run, using smaller lightly weighted scuds nothing would take, line and flies sent dozens of fish, fish dawning the best camouflage imaginable scrambling for cover. A recurring theme today was the super camo these fish were sporting, if you saw one be sure there were twenty you didn’t. It would serve me better to just trust that something might hold fish and rather than have to peer in, just make my presentation to where the fish may be holding. We hung on a super deep hole for a while after seeing the shadows below, the fish were again lethargic. I was hoping that due to the overnight low in the region dipping to only 43 degrees that the fish would perhaps be more actively feeding but this was not our observation. Takes were super subtle and several fish were hooked but lost due to this fact. The correct amount of weight and drift were the key to taking these fish, with a super deep (10+ft) dive in a short distance you have to weight heavy and let it go hoping your line may bounce, pull, stop, anything to indicate a fish. Sershen took a 13in Brown with a #14 Pink Scud but after close to an hour I had lost three takes and landed nothing, par for the course for me I suppose.

Read the rest of this entry »

The plan was hatched with little time to spare. The night before digging my gear from it’s hidden resting place, packing fly boxes, tying the last minute necessities and printing my stamp and license at home, sometimes you have to love the internet. We left with a few crappy maps (way to go Heath) to find trout in the state of Iowa, the place you go when your a Minnesotan in the off season if you want to scratch that itch that’s been nagging at you for seventeen days but who’s counting? We stopped off in La Crosse, Wisconsin to grab some winter gear that will be put to the test in the coming months (more on that later). After the stop we hit the road to ride the Mississippi down to our target. Read the rest of this entry »

I fished under sunny skies today, this the last day of my first full season fly fishing in Southeast Minnesota. The driftless area has been good to me, I’ve seen quite a few kick ass sights this season and to end the season here I visited two sites that have helped make me the angler I am.

Standing near gin clear water and with near record low flows I rigged one of the last two SMB’s I had in my box. I didn’t see any rising activity but I did see thousands of grasshoppers and perhaps I should have rigged one but I went with the SMB and picked up nothing. I had a few light strikes, all of which I missed. I watched a few fish think about it but if they think and turn my experience has shown me, especially in the slower water, that they arn’t going to give it a second thought. I moved upstream quickly as each fish ignored me. I managed one brown trout out of one of my favorite runs but not having been here in quite some time I was not prepared for the effects of the low water combined with the weeds, it just made everything more difficult. I lost a few more decent sized fish before I managed to catch my fly on a tree root under the surface, break off. I should also note that I only had the heaviest of the SMB’s I had tied earlier this season making everything even more difficult. It would have been wise to just go with something else but I’ll learn. Read the rest of this entry »

These last few days have seen me grasping at every moment to be near fishy water. The aggressive fish that begin to show spawning habits and the beautiful colors bring me to the water daily until the end. I stopped off at a spot I visit every so often for a short romp with the trout. I was looking mainly to get into something larger and not necessarily many fish. This spot just a month ago was so choked with weeds that it made getting your fly to the fish rather difficult, now as the cool nights make everything stay colder the weeds have receded leaving plenty of room to sink the SMB. Read the rest of this entry »

Took off after work and hit a quick stop hoping to get a look at a few spawners. I know there are brook trout here and I was hoping to get to see one or two but that didn’t happen. I did, however, get the chance to see a Male and Female Brown both full into the spawn. Upon arrival I rigged up an SMB simply because I didn’t have much time and wanted to target the larger hungry trout preparing for the next few weeks, also this spot has quite a bit of depth and a bigger fly was going to get to the fish faster. Read the rest of this entry »

Under cloudy skies with the occasional bout of rain and sunshine I fished Sunday. My plan was to return to a stream that I have fished several times before to see how it looked this late in the season. With little to no rain except only recently I was expecting to find low flows, what I wasn’t prepared for was the quadruple threat that made the first stop so challenging. To get a difficulty rating of 8+ combine the following: Extremely low flows, massive amounts of instream vegetation, crystal clear spring water and a micro trout stream often no wider than I can jump, oh then put it in a dense forest with little to no angler traffic. Now were talking.

Having been to this water before and knowing a fair amount about the life in the stream I rigged a Black Wet Fly trailed by a small Baetis nymph. This is a “Micro” trout stream and with the low flows and large amount of veg the fish would be very spooky so I opted to nymph a medium lengthed leader with no indicator. If the leader was too long I would miss every take, too short and the fish would see my fly line before my flies, also look at the pictures of the water, a long leader is just counter productive in such close quarters. I guess I wouldn’t rig anything longer than 8-9ft unless I had the opportunity to fish dries here. Read the rest of this entry »