Notes of Interest:

• Adult Winter Stones and Midge on Arrival (~11am)
• BWO’s at ~12:30-1pm as the Water Temp Rose to 49 Degrees
• Despite Higher Water Temps Minimal Rising Trout
• Saw Four Deer When I Usually See None
• Found 3 Deer Carcasses, One Way Too Fresh To Show Here
• Attempted Bug Photo’s with Reference Tape in mm, worth the effort, will continue this practice.
• Flies that worked: #20 Zebra Midge and a #18 Pheasant Tail Nymph
• New Water Today With a Nice Trail, Google Earth Estimates 2.4 Miles Travelled One Way

Slide Show

 

Started the morning hoping to find trout rising to tiny Trico’s, the infamous “dimple.” Water levels seem low but rain last night helped to cloud the water slightly helping me out a bit. I took a water temp of 56 degrees, noting that 56 is ideal for hatching Trico’s. I moved upstream and observed steady dimples but no flies. I took a chance and rigged a 12ft. leader with 7x tippet and tied on the smallest imitation I had. I hadn’t gotten a chance to tie my own Trico spinners yet so I rigged a #20 Jujubee Midge and let loose. I could barely see the fly so I scanned the water looking for a dimple, I got a take and set the hook too sharply. I found you really only get one shot at each fish, they aren’t going to fall for it twice. Although I didn’t see any Trico’s I did get two more strikes on the Jujubee Midge before noticing a small yellowish mayfly come floating at me. The Little Blue-Winged Olive’s (Plauditus punctiventris) are out and in size #18-20. I need to tie some of these up, pronto. 

Although I didn’t land any fish on the midge pattern I was pleased that I was able to fool a few takers and as water temps rose I noticed fewer and fewer mayflies. I re-rigged with two caddis larva patterns, a larger #14 and a smaller #18. First run I got to with the new set-up made me feel like a rookie. Stumble to the water and immediately kick upstream a nice 18-20in brown, lookin’ healthy, then in an effort to get started I planted my two flies in a 6ft tall weed. Note: the flies must be in water to catch trout.  A little frustrated I retrieved my flies and concentrated on getting them down deep to fish lips. First fish up to bat was nice and it felt good to see one of these guys again, it’s actually been a week or more since I saw one up close and personal like.

Second fish went down like this…larger fish comes up the run past me, I don’t know why I thought I could cast to a cruising larger brown but I did and the first cast didn’t get anywhere. I made a quick second cast probably 4ft in front of his nose and what resulted next is one reason I love trout. He caught a glimpse of the larger caddis larva I had on as it hit the water and just nailed it, like a charging bull, no need for the strike indicator here. He faught well and was promptly released to fight another day. I worked upstream taking a few creek chubs and smaller trout when I happened upon a sucker that was still breathing turned upside down in a shallow pocket of water. Seeing him struggle I attempted to see if he could be released but to no avail, this fish was on it’s way out. Curious. I wonder what might have hit this thing, perhaps a big bad daddy brown, either way everything will eat well when he settles to the bottom tonight. 

Other quick note-ables: The nymphs are beginning to show up on the rocks again. I’m pretty sure the image above is of a Trico (Lower Right) and a late season BWO (Upper Left). Also, I was pissed to find a 4ft fire pit on the edge of the bank today with burnt trash and beer cans in it. Someone camped out on one of the best holes, go somewhere else and illegally camp (I was on WMA land) and make a mess. If I can’t trust you with making and cleaning up a campsite how can I trust you with our cold water resources? F*** You. I apologize to those of you who are respectful and would never do this, which I hope is most of you, sometimes the Fly Factory has to vent some steam or I may explode!

Slide Show

 

Making this a quick report due to two factors, 1 same stream from last report and 2 lack of time. I hit the stream at 9am and went through my ritual. I assessed the water temp and stream situation, the lack of rain here is keeping water levels low and crystal clear. I fished the leech almost all day but today was more about covering ground than fishing. I wanted to see as much of this place as I could. 

I fished as I went and picked up browns as I enjoyed the warm sun, I think fishing the leech has improved my casting. I ate lunch in the sun on a rock watching trout take what I believe were baetis nymphs from the drift. At noon the fish were active with water temps around 47 and the BWO’s were coming soon. 

I saw geological features that I didn’t know Minnesota had and saw beautiful fish as I went. Made it as far as I thought was good for the day and took a moment to take everything in, something about being in a place far away from others, far from cell phone reception. Interesting how something so peaceful can be almost freighting when you realize your so far from others.

I picked up these as I went and have a questions.

•  What is it?
• Is it native?
• Are the dots on its face/body/fins a disease?
• Why did I find them only in one section of stream?

My only opinion of these fish is they are a pain in the ass. Every time I get a strike and set the hook a little chub comes flying at me. It makes getting hit up less exciting I guess. 

The baetis came at around 1:15pm due to warmer air temp. It lasted until 3pm but I had a difficult time finding rising fish and I wasn’t spooking them. I fished a dry for a while and got no where but I still had a great day. I love this. Never did take a brookie but had another excellent day. Note: I do not take this time for granted, it is precious little and I look twice at everything so I remember it tomorrow.

“Sweet-As” is what they say in New Zeland when you jump out of a plane at 12,000ft or go over a large waterfall in a raft, this is how I would describe my time on Friday. I took off early (this summer I plan on spending a few days on the water at 6am) and got to the site at 9am, alittle later than planed but just fine. I hiked in and started, first an assessment of the situation. Water temp was 42degrees and crystal clear. Low flows and a breeze with the barometer at 28.82 (I’m trying to take note of changes in the pressure to indicate hatching conditions). With this I figured nothing much would be happening for a while, to be expected.

I took samples, a ton of Baetis just ready to blow, I also took a ph sample for my records. I rigged up the pink patrick with a smalled Baetis trailer and headed downstream to fish the section I knew. Made some good casts, really starting to love my roll cast and I’m looking forward to an 8′6″ rod when the time comes. Didn’t get much and decided to switch to a marabou leech and move upstream. First run I sent it through pulled a smaller brown, I knew I was onto something. The cooler water temps I think kept the fish from moving for a strike unless the meal was worth the effort. Going big was the ticket biding my time until conditions were right.

I moved upstream out of Dinosaur land and into the head water section of this stream. I’d been saving this for just this moment, my first day of the beginning of the rest of the season. Brilliant! So many excellent options for fish, runs, pools around every turn. I worked upstream fishing the leech pulling a few here and there, took a nice fat male brown and at least one over 16″. I made it finally to what I am going to refer to as “The Wall”. I just took pictures and looked around, I hadn’t seen anything like it and my pictures don’t do it justice. I could have fished it but I just figured I’d save it for another day. I hiked back out.

Picked trash on my way and made good time. I decided to stop at a favorite spot and I tried the leech again, nothing. Again, nothing. Hmmm….oh yea…water temp. 48 degrees, Baetis. Sure enough just as I was pulling the thermometer from the drink I saw one float past. The trout had keyed in on the Baetis and knowing they could get an easy meal sitting in feeding lanes there was no incentive to strike my leech anymore. This was awesome, I stood and watched them wriggle out of their shucks and float on the surface. I took some excellent photo’s and just watched the bugs, both midge and Baetis coming off, this was at exactly 1:23pm. I spent too much time standing in the middle of the hatch taking pictures and samples I actually ran out of time to fish it and headed out but I was very pleased with the day. It was fun enough to stand in the middle of the hatch with fish surfacing around me. I hiked out at 2:20pm, felt good to fish this again. Sweet-As.

On this day I woke with a smile knowing after I took the dogs out for a long run I would have the rest of the day to fish. Sershen took me to a spot of his that he has been frequenting for quite a while I would imagine. South we travelled in my beat up rusty pickup. We arrived at the stream at about 1pm. Upon seeing rising trout I rigged up a #18 BWO dry flythat I tied recently, Sershen rigged a #18 Parachute Adams with a Zugbug trailer. We took turns casting dries to feeding trout and we both came up successful. After about thirty minutes the trout seemed to hold up and stopped rising. Taking an initial water temp of ~50 we waited and watching hoping that as the sun helped raise the water temp that we might catch a few BWO’s coming off.

While we waited for a water temp above 52 we picked rocks and strained the contents. Flipping two small rocks over exposed many Baetis nymphs ready to emerge. We waited and watched enjoying t-shirt weather the entire time. As time passed we stood in the water able to see the shucks from emerging flies floating past. We found a few BWO’s and Hennies as the afternoon progressed. At 3:30pm the water temp was 52.5 degrees making for ideal conditions for hatching BWO’s. Unfortunately we did not see rising trout and so we both decided to switch to streamer patterns. I chose my trusty Marabou Leech and moved from run to hole. After casting a #18 dry fly the streamer seemed clunky but it worked. I pulled a few more brown trout from the depths including a nice 16in trout that fought like a log. 

As we fished we were accompanied by an old beagle that was content just to sit and watch. He followed up the entire length of the stream we fished. As we returned to our original spot we noticed rising trout again, I quickly switched back to my BWO dry fly and on the second cast picked up another brown. I worked my way up the stream but in my haste I think I spooked the trout. I fished until I was confident I wasn’t going to pick up another trout. I really enjoyed studying the water anticipating a hatch. 

So, I haven’t posted much, this is a good thing. I’ve been playing in the water with trout rather than staring at a screen of any kind. Busy work and fishing schedules combined with getting three dogs the exercise they need has worn me out this week. I’m excited for Liz’s return tomorrow, I plan to fish the 1st half the day until about 11am, this will complete a very long, educating first week of spring that I was fortunate enough to fish much of. Pictures of all the days will follow this week. I even got a good one of a BWO, they were hatching today in water temps topping out at 52.5 degrees. Peace

-The Winona Fly Factory

The Winona Fly Factory Fly Tying Radio:

1. 30 minutes of Minnesota Public Radio
2. Tommy The Cat: Primus
3. Opiate: Tool
4. Holdin’: Yonder Mountain String Band
5. Walk The Line: Johnny Cash
6. Loser: Beck (Wendy, I laughed)
7. Sin: Nine Inch Nails
8. Daylight: Aesop Rock
9. Bleed the Freak: Alice In Chains
10. General Tso’s Chicken: The Northwoods Band
11. Soul Jacker pt. 1: The Eels
12. Bring It On Home: Led Zeppelin (Awesome)

Thinking to the not to distant future and knowing how long it could take me to complete my task I started the day tying BWO’s to Minnesota Public Radio. I listened to news and then set the ipod to random tunes to finish the afternoon. 

I tied these BWO’s in size 18 with two different types of tails. I personally think the Micro Fibbet tails look better but the hackle fiber tails  take me less time. I am planning on testing both under semi-scientific conditions to determine which I like better, and I guess I will let the trout weigh in on the subject as well.

I must admit I was reluctant to start these due to the fact they arn’t as easy for me but it needed to be done and I’m fairly pleased with the end result. I used a razor blade to demolish an old dozen I didn’t approve of. Keep your hook eyes clear, I did not on my previous attempts.

Things to note: Use the smallest amount of dubbing, I really think its better to add some more after the fact, especially the dry fly dubbing, it tends to clump. Work on tying in your hackle, I find that having it at the correct angle with relation to the hook shank helps keep the fibers neater when palmering. Buy quality hackles…they are worth it.

Working on dry flies is working my tying skills and I think one major area I’m having issue with is the hackle portion of most dries. I have been working with capes and necks not the pre-sized expensive hackles I see in shops/internet. I found this hackle gauge a while back and never printed it off, tonight while trying to tie para-bwo’s I decided I needed to print it out and check to see. I did so and used a bare size 14 dry fly hook to compare the measure on the gauge and it was pretty much spot on. So I pose the question between the two BWO’s seen in the pictures below. Is the size 14 the right size or does it look too big? Should I tie the para’s in size 16? Does the size matter that much with this particular fly or should it matter more with the non-Para dries? Oh, and forgive the poor tail position on the size 16 BWO, I wish I would have noticed that before I took the shots. Oh well…

After rooting around in a few of my favorite spots from last season I found a few has two or more varieties of Baetis(BWO) nymph. One of which stood out to me and as such I’ve tied essentially a Hare’s Ear nymph with a different color body and wing case. I tried to tie these as close as I could to the original size of the nymph and I think I came pretty close, next sample I get I will compare. I decided to dub this fly the Yeller Belly Baetis. So here it is: 

The Yeller Belly:

• Hook: #16-18 2xLong Nymph
• Thread: Yellow 8/0
• Tail: Lemon Woodduck Fibers
• Rib: Silver SM Ultra Wire
• Body: Yellow/Pale Yellow Dubbing Mix
• Wing Case: Pearlecent Krystal Flash
• Thorax: Yellow Dubbing

The Swimmers

The Darting Swimmers Families Baetidae, Siphloridae and Metretopodidae.

The two main species found in S.E. MN are two forms of the ever popular BWO. We have the Baetis and the Plauditus punctiventris. These are both found in the Baetidae family when identifying these nymphs from the other two families size is the best indicator. Siphloridae and Metretopodidae fall into the Large Swimmers while Baetidae fall into the much smaller size category. All have gills on the abdomen sections 1-7. One more overall comment about the Swimmers, they are the most varied group in the mayflies and emerge in cases all year round based on water temperature. One will find swimmers in almost every stream.

Little Blue-winged Olive (Plauditus punctiventris) 20-22 Pale yellow olive Late June-Oct.

In Hatches 2 this is listed as Pseudocloeon anoka but has changed since publication. These are still swimmers and so they will have similar nymphal traits to the other swimmers but one quick way to distinguish these from other Baetis is the tail. Plauditus punctiventris has only two tails while Baetis has three, also the abdomen is thicker on these nymphs. These nymphs are 4-5mm in length, I’m noting this size for my own reference. These nymphs will most likely crawl on grass or other items to get out of the water during a hatch. They are less likely to swim to the surface and then hatch. Fish downstream of extensive weed beds.

Blue-winged Olive (Baetis) 16-22 Grayish olive to dark olive March-May & Sept.-Oct.

These nymphs will be found in underwater foliage. The slender bodies as well as legs make them ideal for swimming through aquatic plant life. The baetis nymphs have three tails like most other but the center tail is much shorter than the outer two. Note that the baetis will emerger early in the season and late in the season. One thing I’m finding is that the exact species of Baetis is not listed and as there are several this will be a task for me this coming year to determine which exact species inhabit the waters around me. The greatest numbers of these nymphs are found in alkaline waters with a ph. of 7.5 or greater. Hatching will occur between 11am and 4pm in March-April when water temp exceeds mid 60’s. Typically one will see these on overcast days and as a general rule overcast provides some of the best BWO fishing.