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.

For the winter season that is. A tip was passed on to me that some great gear could be purchased ridiculously cheap if one was punctual and willing to drive half an hour. The stop in La Crosse to pick up these snow stomping treads worked well with our migration south of the border to catch a few trout. I won’t say exactly how cheap these were but I will say I sprung for a smaller pair for the female of the house, a good winter activity together with the dog. Depending on the conditions these can drastically change a longer hike especially if your trying to get to your favorite winter hole with a bit of daylight to spare. I plan to bust these bad boys out for more than getting stream side in four feet of the white stuff though, it will be fun just to be outside with the dog and the girl.  Warranty against defects, light weight, rugged and meant for the winters around here these kick snowshoe a**. Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend Liz and I camped with my sister and her family. We arrived, set up camp and got to it knowing the weather was going to be unpleasant the rest of the weekend. Last summer Liz and I stayed here and had a great time, this campground is great for families. 

We set off for the source of the stream that flows through the campground, this is an access eased stretch of Southeast Minnesota trout water that runs through a cow pasture and ends at the source flowing from a cave in the side of a bluff. I hiked with no rod or reel, just my niece Chloe on my back, my strainer for riffle contents and a thermometer for gauging water temp at the source.

We hiked and saw trout rising to Light Hendrickson mayflies, the section that runs through the cow pasture has habitat improvement along both banks keeping the stream safer from the cattle. The stream has several deep runs holding trout, I’ll admit I wish I had a rod but I was happy to be outside in the sun. I took riffle samples and water temps along the way, at the source the temp was 52 degrees and I would imagine it doesn’t fluctuate much. This is a beautiful place to visit, Chloe had a good time enjoying the hike.

Interesting how the life in the stream diminishes closer to the source, I couldn’t find much on the limestone other than a few caddis fly larva. I did have one of the “Little Black” Caddis land on me standing right at the source but it flew off before I could get a picture. The life in the riffles grew as we went downstream of the source. I plan to fish this yet this summer, but for now I didn’t have time, we decided after 10 hours of rain the next day that it would be best to pack it in early with no end insight to the rain. None of us wanted a sick one year old on our hands, it was a beautiful 1st day though.

Slide Show

 

Sershen and I hooked up for a trip to a stream I visited only once this summer. We set out down this stream and it was as if I had just hiked it. This stream is similar to Possum in that it stays gin clear almost all the time. I love how different streams have drastically different personalities. Car Door Alley is a beautiful, lively, difficult stream to fish. The woods are right on top of you, your odds of needing a roll cast; 90 percent and there seemed to be a natural obstacle, log or a tree branch, something blocking every decent run or hole, a great environment for trout to thrive and here they do.

We started off and ran the first few runs and pools down quick, I would say that within fourty minutes we had fished and explored the entirety that I had seen this summer. We continued on up stream with the goal of exploring one of the two headwater systems that feed Car Door Alley. After a certain point catching a fish became less important than studying the creek. With several feeder springs in the headwaters we were busy picking bugs and taking water temps. This stream, just like Possum has a very large number of the rock cased caddis and we noticed the bio mass change drastically from one type of caddis to another in between feeder springs. I would guess this is related to the change in water condition between them. 

We caught few fish but studied the creek and prepared for the return. As we went we enjoyed the sunshine on our backs, one very nice thing about this place is that after four plus hours of hiking in after you break your rods down you can make it out in less than thirty minutes. Sershen has some great underwater photos here.

Liz and I decided to drive south to a trout stream that I wanted to see again. Knowing I couldn’t fish the stream I brought only a camera and the dog. We left at 8am with an air temp of probably 20 degrees, we didn’t park until close to 10am and the air temp was no more than 26. The sun was shining though and despite the wind it was a beautiful day and I was glad to be up and outside early. We hiked a route I had taken in the summer and I guess I was curious to see if I could find one, just one fish. The reason being: this summer none were to be found and in water that looked perfect for trout. 

We started and immediately I noticed that the water was clearer than I remembered it, an advantage of the winter season. I was hoping this would help me find where the trout were that I was missing this summer. We walked and I thought I saw a few move in a large 6-10ft deep pool. This was a very slow moving section of the stream requiring the wind to cooperate if I was to see what was on the bottom. After my initial thought we pressed on due to lack of wind cooperation. Moving on the next section for sure produced trout, I got excited and then confused. I was seeing in a section that I had witnessed no trout in during the summer almost teeming with them, I had to have seen 20 trout hold up in this hole.

Now, I know that they stack up in the deeper holes during the winter but do they migrate up/downstream and then hold up? Was it possible I was blind this summer and either the water was too murky for me to see them or I was so poor a fly-fisherman that I couldn’t catch even one? I’m not sure, the area they were hold up in was more of a long, slow, flat 4-8ft deep section, not a 10+ft deep hole. 

We hiked further than I had in the summer, after using Google Earth to map my route I was much more confident in my assesment of the easement boarder. Interestingly enough I thought I would see more fish further downstream but as we hiked I saw nothing. I’m not saying they wern’t there, I just couldn’t find them. After a few hours we hiked back to the car and as we did I stopped to look in the initial section of water that the wind had kept me from seeing more clearly in. At first I thought I saw one or two, and then I moved and saw more fish in this one section of water than I had in any other. I was awestruck. The only time I’ve seen more fish in one spot is in the hatcheries. 

I watched, they were deep. Holding, still. I sat and wished there were winter regs here. After ten minutes or so Liz and the dog got me moving back to the truck. I’m glad I came back, I might have unfairly judged this section of water writing it off as a barren wasteland when in fact it might hold some sweeeeet trout. I will be making another trip here in a few months.

Decided to get the dog out. Traded the rod and reel for a camera, had a great day and got some good photo’s. This is a place I call Dinosaur Land. This is one of my summer runs, I love it here. Seeing it in the winter was excellent, saw Midge rising about 2pm but no rising trout. Beautiful Day.