Went out for a few short hours knowing the conditions are rough, weeded up water with minimal casting lanes and places to catch a decent drift. With that said I checked out this spot to see if the rains had shifted any of the obstructions around or if it removed enough of the instream vegetation to open a hole or two. I rigged a #8 Sprinkle Me Baby (Black) and left the added splitshot aside banking that the trout would come up to me. Most deeper water was so weeded it was difficult to get your fly in for even a second or two. I stuck to the edges fishing broken water that was maybe 6-18 inches deep. I got a few nice responses one of which saw a brown leaping completely out of the water in pursuit of the SMB but the weeds complicated things and I ended up not landing a single fish in three hours. Not a big deal though, I enjoyed the time in the sun taking in everything around me. Ho-humming it as it were. As I was heading out I ran into a group of deer, just one of many cool things around the stream, more than just the trout around here.

Slide Show

 

Recent rain events from the last two weeks have kept most area water off, stained or muddy and a bit higher than normal for quite a while now. Clean water can almost always be found but it sometimes takes a bit of research to locate the best potential streams. Get to know a few shorter systems that are maybe difficult to fish when water levels are low and gin clear, it is after rain events that these spots pay off. If it stays gin clear 90 percent of the time it will likely fair well and will be in good condition for fishing after rain events, slightly higher and a bit stained makes it a bit easier to sneak a cast in to weary trout. I hit such a stream not long ago, enjoyed my time. Most streams I’ve seen in the last week suffered some amount of flooding. Debris and in some cases large trees were moved and re-deposited. This cycle that nature has worked out for itself by protecting one spot with a tree for a year or two then moving that tree downstream to the next hole only to protect and cover the fish there for the next year is one reason I love fishing streams. They change and evolve providing opportunity one day and stripping it away the next, just one more reason to be out as much as possible to take it all in. I fished four streams on the 29th, first was a tiny creek that was slightly stained and fished well. Browns were picking off a #18 Orange Scud. The second stream was muddy and high. I fished it for about 15-20 minutes and decided little would come of my efforts. Third was a short stop off to see a few rainbows and despite my efforts few were having anything from a #18 Orange Scud to a #14 EHC to a #6 SMB nothing was working so I blew out. Last spot saw the close of the day, the recent rain had caused a log jam but also up rooted a good portion of the instream vegetation making drifting a fly a bit easier in places. Saw Long-Horned Sedges on stream at about 7:45pm, beautiful Caddisflies with the longest antennae. Very cool, hard to catch. Home around 9:30pm.

Slide Show

 

For me trout addiction isn’t a problem just a reality, ok it gets me in hot water every now and again but it also gets me out of the house and takes me to far off lands where the animals live and few men travel. Trout addiction has gotten the best of me. Case in point: 8am trout stream in-sight. Looking for brookies I decided to head to the headwaters of a typical S.E. MN stream. How far would this rabbit hole go? What is through the woods? Trout addiction. I knew before I left that I might find nothing but I needed to see for myself. Water was cold (~52) degrees and gin clear, despite the recent rain this section looked as if none had fallen. I had heard a report that otters have become well established here causing the trout population to decrease, including the brookies, maybe especially the brookies? I saw one scoot away from me as I started, shortly afterwards I cam upon a whitish matter floating in the stream, looked to me like flesh maybe from a trout.

Didn’t touch a brook trout today, should have but none were to be had. Traveling upstream staying in the 2ft wide path of stream that wasn’t covered in water cress I moved upstream.  I kept trudging until I found the first trouty looking spot that offered a decent casting lane and drift. I picked a Stimulator I tied recently just for the Brookies and got to swinging. Little did I know not much was holding under the root wad hanging off the edge. A few poor casts and I thought it was over but then a flash, there was something holding in there. One more cast without the poor drift and that fish came up, a smaller brown trout. Not a brookie. Moving on I kept going further upstream, the water seemed to get smaller around each turn but then it would plateau and open into a wider section each of which was pretty shallow and those that weren’t had a tree or a few trees right on top and were un-fishable with a fly. I continued further upstream…trout addiction.

After an hour of hiking I rounded a bend and watched the stream open up but I couldn’t see it? Covered 100% by water cress. This is the first point when I questioned turning back for something more realistic but I saw a hole cut through the cress further upstream and decided I had to see. I could hear the sound of a waterfall but I couldn’t see it? Covered in water cress, during this time I counted at least six springs flowing into what I had been wading through. I followed the main flow further until I came to a flat shallow section blocked by weeds and logs.  To pass I climbed up and on top of several tree limbs blocking my way, as I stood on top looking out I realised I was standing on a log jam that had been covered in so much foliage I couldn’t see the massive amount of debris in front of me. Looking above I saw what you see here and decided I had gone far enough in search of the magical trout hole hidden in the deep jungle, Indiana Jones style, this is my trout addiction.

Slide Show

 

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

 

How did that happen? Lord, seems like this season is blowing by, not enough time to fish and still take care of responsibilities. Got out for a couple hours before a responsibility that brought me streamside for a meeting. Not a ton of time to fish but enough for a guy to tempt a few, looks like the stocking truck has been here. Rainbows abound, everywhere. Kind of crazy to see it packed the way it was. Saw fish rising on arrival in the mid-afternoon. Didn’t see much in the way of adults to key me to what they were taking and the rises were inconsistent. A few would be splashy almost leaping rises that I would associate with the presence of caddisflies, others read mayfly with the gentle take just barely giving the trout away. I opted to try my luck with a #16 EHC. Landed one, lost two strikes before the trout were on to it and would have no more. Swapped to a #16 P&P and swung it down and across letting it rise as the current pulled my line. This resulted in some excellent fun with the fat stocker rainbows and a few went home for dinner.

Cleaning the first of three nice rainbows I noticed something bright red and spotted in the stomach contents. The shell of a lady bug, mostly digested but just enough remained to provide photographic proof that the trout here eat Lady Bugs and probably more likely the Asian Beetle. After seeing the one in the stomach I decided to look a bit at the plants around the spot I caught the fish, sure enough I found several just waiting to be blown to the trout dinner table. I moved upstream, fished the P&P as I went and it just reinforced why I love this fly. Cast it upstream and present it like a dead drifted nymph and it will take fish, do a down and across and it will take fish and the new method that happens to be very handy…. remove all weight from your line and fish it like a dry. Fishing longer slower sections I picked the trout rising the most consistently, put my fly just upstream of the target and without much hesitation it was picked off time and time again. My obligation pulled me from the stream as Lt. Hendrickson’s were hatching, pretty late in the day and they were VERY bright lending me to think the hatch I saw was Ephemerella dorothea otherwise known as out “Sulpher” hatch. I got a few craptastic photo’s before I had to go but I’ll take what I get, when I can get it. As I finished my meeting we noticed the spinner fall bring trout to rise in a steady rythem. I wish I could get more later evenings on the water.

Slide Show

 

Made plans to meet up with a friend of mine yesterday morning to fish water new to both of us, so new infact we both had a hard time finding the darn spot which ended up costing us a few minutes but nothing major. It is easy to fish the same spots you know, trust and rely on to provide that experience you want but it is worth your time to explore some place new. Head in with the expectation that it might be a bust but unless you see it first hand you’ll never really know what is out there. On stream arrival roughly 6:38am rigged and hiking by 7am. Neither of us were expecting to find the size water we did, way more than either of us were used to. The banks were covered with thick vegetation and it became clear very quickly that we were going to spend our time on this stream wading with the fishes. Larger, deeper, faster, uglier trout water lends itself to the streamer and we both agreed that the fish were going to perhaps be larger in size but fewer in number. We used weighted streamers to search the broken water, the deep water, the slack water, frankly it was cast to any place that you would live if you were a Driftless Area trout and hope someone was home.

After wading upstream a ways and dealing with a few unpleasantries (Barbed Wire, Nettles) we decided that this place was perhaps best left for a day when time was of little concern, where a guy might try to float down enjoying the day and catching the occasional trout here and there. That was not going to be today, at roughly 8:30am we did an about face and headed straight to the nearest spot that we knew held trout. Thinking to the SMB that we were fishing at the time of departure it made sense to target some easy pickin’s and hit up a rainbow hideout.

The second spot was not a total bust but it did not produce what I expected it to. Normally I have to beat the rainbows off the SMB with a stick but today that wasn’t the case. The rainbows would stalk it, turn on it, dart at it but never eat it. It’s hard to put that fly down when you see them come to your feet after it but never commit to dancing with you. If this scenario happens again and again I suggest you look at what the trout are doing and think twice before you spend all day trying to force feed the fish something they don’t want. After no fish on and perhaps a lost fly or two I was content with switching it up for a #16 Peacock and Partridge with a #20 Miracle Nymph trailer. Lifting my rod after my flies were sunk evoked responces from the Brown trout only and they were the dinkers. All these rainbows around and none of them want to taste my flies. After a bit Wendy B. and I moved downstream where we noticed a few rising trout, one in particular kept rising, over and over again. I’m tying a new fly on as I’m asking “is he still rising??” I was thinking of slapping on an Elk Hair Caddis but I saw the box of Gorilla flies that I had brought just in case.

I put the #18 Gorilla Lady on that rising trout and after two looks but no take it wasn’t looking good. Third time was a charm though and I picked that fish, stuck my bright red bug on it and sure enough, it ate it. Wendy B. is my witness, that and the picture pretty much says it all. Trout will eat a Lady Bug pattern. Much to still test here though, not sure if they ate it because it looked like a Lady Bug or because it happened to be presented in such a manner as to make it more palatable to the selective trout. One thing is for sure, you can’t miss this bright red fly as it’s floating high in the water. By the end that fly took three trout and although it needs a bit of a new paint job it can be easily re- colored to fish another day. Wendy B. and I parted ways around 11:30am and I split to check out one last spot before the day was to be finished.

I stopped here with the same goal in mind, tempt a few stocked rainbow trout with my SMB and hopefully have a blast in the process. Last year I caught several rainbows on nymphs and streamers in this spot but to my dismay I found not a single fish, oh yea wait one, single, individual, lone six inch trout. I put my fly in every crevasse that I thought might hold something but nothing, nothing but sand. I was prepared for this potential outcome and didn’t sweat it too much. Thunder and lightening were in the distance and it was time to get going. Walking past the plunge pool that I had been fishing with a straight upstream approach something caught my eye, a small pocket of slack water kind of in the middle of a large amount of flow. I cast one final time straight across into the most turbulant water stripping my streamer through that slack water and sure enough I felt my line tighten. At first I thought I snagged it but when my snag ran downstream at full force heading straight for a nasty looking cut bank I literally jumped in and had to run after it for a second before I was able to turn it away from the darkness. This fish is the reason why the net was sitting behind me, ready to rock. He ran once more and struggled as I forced him in but that is why I use 3x tippet when I fish the SMB now, so I can get those big ones in quick, land them to send them on their way. My 3wt doubled over is an awesome sight. Thunder from the clouds on the horizon sent me smiling home, that and the wonderful smell of trout on my hands. Thanks Wendy for another good time, always appreciate the good conversation.

Slide Show