So it went that the last day of the catch and keep season I went George hunting. I had spied this trout several times throughout the latter half of this summer season, I watched her come out twice on previous attempts but hesitate at the last moment only to slink back to the hidey hole thus eluding my net. Armed with a #6 Black Kiss My Leech, one large splitshot, 3x tippet on a 6ft leader and a big net I made three casts before I saw her come out. She moved and again hesitated, I thought I missed my opportunity but decided to cast to her again as she had not tasted hook. On a down and across swing (she had moved downstream from me after following my fly on the first attempt) I watched her come up and nail my fly ~3inches under the surface. This fish felt like a hog, I didn’t realize how much of a hog until I got her into the net. She taped at exactly 22inches and was probably the largest fish I’ve caught in terms of girth to date. And so it went that on the last day of the catch and keep season I nailed a George, smiling in the sun, knee deep in the creek I let this fish swim from my hands, splashing my face as she returned to the place she came from. Flies will take big trout around here, persistence helps, so does a big net and 3x tippet. Note: the crappy out of water photo was taken in a heart racing moment with adrenaline pumping, a typical scenario that I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy a handful of times in my short career fly fishing the Driftless Area.

Slide Show

This came in the mail a while back. I know the physical stamp is a novelty but one I dig even though my first one was of a Chinook Salmon. Tomorrow begins the Catch and Release season for trout on all S.E. Minnesota creeks, this is an essential piece of gear to carry with you (license and stamp). Keep in mind the fees (license and stamp) we pay go to support our DNR staff who do more with less and have done an excellent job with our fisheries. It is important to ensure they continue to be well funded and although this is not a big place for politics I know I would pay way more than 10 dollars for this thing. Virtually priceless to have the resource I have around me. 4/1 remember to pause and enjoy it (between hook-sets)…

Day two began onstream at ~11:40am under clear sunny skies with an air temp approaching 13 degrees. With minimal wind predicted I knew today would be a bit more comfortable, sweet. I love the winter sun. The few hours when it hangs highest in the sky everything seems to wake up, birds are making noise, the trout are up, bugs might be hatching. A sunny 13 degree day can feel like 35 if your prepared and the wind isn’t blowing. We hit a different stream with perhaps two loosely set goals for the day and maybe a third that is always there and is never really acknowledged. 1st, to hike, to keep moving, maybe see a couple miles of stream. 2nd, to bring to hand a brown trout then a brook. The 3rd unspoken goal of every trip is just to smile and remember that some days you are stuck at work, fish or no fish this doesn’t get much better.

Parked and rigged I made a short hike through the snow covered forest floor to the stream. I remember thinking how the snow isn’t much of an obstacle when compared to 7-8ft tall weeds that grow obnoxiously thick  through this section of forest and make this place very un-inviting in the summer months. Approaching slow and low I knew the water here was going to be gin clear and it was. I waited several minutes looking for any sign of a rising trout or skittering midge but none were seen, even later in the day only a scant few midges were observed and only a handful 3-4 risers seen. The trout were holding deeper so I opted for the Orange Hot Spot Scud again today in a #16 thinking that I might trail it with a #20 Midge Larva pattern later. Again takes were very subtle, I lost the first two definitive strikes but a short time later I was netting a 10in Brown trout. We each managed a few from this first hole before our coffee got cold and we began the hike upstream.

The sun really made the day as we hiked, nothing was cold and infact had I kept the pace full steam we would have been sweating quite a bit before we finished but thats why we stop and fish. I hit a few narrower sections (2-3ft wide) of old habitat improvement as we hiked upstream loosing a few flies to tree limbs and snags on the banks trying to get that perfect cast to the trout before I fumbled and gave my position away. I did eventually add on a trailing #20 Midge pattern to give the trout a second option. I ended up losing a few strong strikes as I was not anticipating such a quick and sharp reactions as my flies entered the water, like the trout knew they were coming and had already commited to the take without my knowledge.

Looking to the 2nd goal for the day we moved upstream in search of beautiful brookies. I’ve fished this stream enough to know where the brookies hide out and I wasted little time finding them sitting in the same spot they’ve held for a very long time. We each attempted deep drifiting nymphs to the smaller trout but failed to bring a fish to hand. We got a few strikes but were un-able to set the hook in time and after thirty or so minutes attempting to get the longest and deepest drift possible produced nothing, with that the sun had passed the peak for the day and was on it’s way out. We gathered our things and began the hike out, along the way I stopped to swing a fat streamer through a few of the deeper sections but other than a few looks I was out of luck. I should note that every trout I got to hand had the #16 OHS Scud in it’s mouth. So no brookie and thus I have a goal for next time but still an excellent day and a good way to begin the new season with back to back days fishing the Driftless Area.

Slide Show

The 1st of January opened catch and release season for stream trout in Minnesota and for me began my 3rd full season fishing the Driftless Area creeks that surround me. Although I did manage a trip to Iowa in the off-season it truly felt like it had been forever since I tied on tippet, flies or made a cast. At ~11:30am we arrived at the spot that you can find myself and a friend of mine every January 1st no matter the conditions. Last year saw a high air-temp of 5 degrees and this year was similar with estimates topping out at 9 above during the height of the day with a fairly strong wind. The proper gear was prepared and we hiked to the spot to get comfortable.

Gin clear water with rising rainbows is what was expected as we peered over the bank, however, the ironic and perhaps fickle Minnesota winter had given us a few days of above average temperatures topping out over 40 degrees at my house just prior to the opener, this prompted the melting of close to a foot or more of snow pack muddying the creek and likely lowering the water temp a bit. We only saw two or three rises all afternoon and only a scant few midges on the surface, with the muddy water and minimal midge activity I opted for a recent winter tie. The #18 Orange Hot Spot Scud, a single fly at the end of my 9ft leader. I fished without an indicator due to the varying depths I wanted to reach without having to play with my line and thus freeze my fingers any more than necessary.

Within the first half an hour each of us had managed a smaller rainbow to the net, with air temps this cold we don’t mess around, a simple photo or two quickly and back in the drink. Fishing no indicator on a slower section of water often means loosing over 50 percent of the strikes and those are just the ones you think you see. The fish were slow, a strike was often just your fly line slowing in the column rather than bouncing or jolting. My advice is set the hook often, when you think your line has done anything to indicate something below lift your rod tip in a quick but not sharp manner. Trout activity increased through ~1:30pm and began to slow after, clouds rolled in and the wind began to pick up a bit as you can tell by the grey winter photos. We nymphed for a while yet picking up a few more as we explored a few other options on this creek. When my #18 OHS Scud failed to produce any strikes out of a deeper pool I made a decision to swap to a #8 Olive Sprinkle Me Baby.

This fly is a favorite of mine and it should be noted that a fat streamer even in the winter should not go over looked. I wait until I’m finished nymphing my winter holes, before I move on I send a streamer through once or twice maybe more if fish react. Sometimes those larger fish just refuse to move on your #18 Scud but when faced with a #2-8 Streamer you might be surprised. A few passes and I rolled a 14in Rainbow only to lose it at the last moment, I tried a few more times and came up with a 12in and another 14in Rainbow for my efforts both came out of the darkness to slam my #8 SMB as it rose to the surface on the swing. With my hands cold and smelling of trout we hit the road for home at ~3pm, fish were seen, lines were taught and another excellent season of fishing opened. I love winter season in the Driftless Area.

p.s. Thanks to Heath for the excellent video below, it contains footage from our outing on January 1st and a bit from the 2nd of which I’ll write about a bit later.

Slide Show

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 »