This basic dry fly pattern can be altered to match the caddis that one will find hatching throughout Southeast Minnesota.

Deer Hair Caddis:

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.  

The state of Minnesota’s DNR has worked with landowners in our area, the S.E. to create more fishing opportunities by creating access easements. These are shown on the DNR maps found at the states website. Easements are great for people like myself who want to fish in different waters, but as I am finding out there just arn’t enough for me. The Trespass Law on second page of the Fishing Regulation Manual from 2008 states:

The trespass law applies to all outdoor recreation, including but not limited to: hunting, boating, fishing, trapping, hiking, and camping. When taking part in any outdoor recreation, you may not enter legally posted land or agricultural land without permission. Landowners, lessees, or authorized managers need only post their land once a year. The signs must be placed at intervals of 1,000 feet (500 feet in wooded areas) or signs may be placed at primary corners and at access points to the property. Signs must state “No Trespassing,” or similar words, in 2-inch-high letters and have the signature or name and telephone number of the landowner, lessee, or manager. There can be civil or criminal penalties for violation of the trespass laws with maximum fines up to $3,000 and license revocation. All conservationofficers and peace officers enforce trespass laws.

• MN Fishing Regulations
• MN Easement Brochure
• MN DNR Trout Stream Maps

This has led me to re-examine the designated water closest to me using the excellent resource Google Earth. This mapping tool can drastically change your view of your waters creating views that you just can’t get on any other map. Along with that the program can allow you to better estimate and judge your distance, by allowing you to map paths along the stream, and better judge your relation to Regulation lines for example, where a Winter Reg. line begins or ends if it’s not posted.

Using this I intend to take a different approach to access on the streams. I have picked what I believe the best opportunities for large sections of “private” waters and mapped them all so that I can approach an individual landowner and ask permission, and beyond that ask for mapping information so I can best judge my location, such as having the landowner mark approximate borders. I haven’t asked too many people for permission but I’m hoping that with the right attitude and approach that I can get consent for most the places I want to travel. 

With that then leads me to the next phase, once you have landowner permission does this work once? Twice? Forever? Well, I guess I would want to ask regularly and so along with asking permission I will be asking for parking information, a phone number contact, (so I can call ahead of time if need be) and names so I may leave appropriate notes. The goal being that I would like to get to know the landowners so I can feel comfortable fishing and perhaps create a relationship that will allow me to bring others. I’m hoping this isn’t too lofty a goal but before I will know I have to try first.

The recent discussion regarding Art Lohman has proven very fruitful as I have found someone who knew Art personally and even fished with the man. Tom Dornack of the Hiawatha Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Minnesota had these things to say of Mr. Lohman.

“I knew Art Lohman very well,I fished with him quite often. Art was from Austin, MN and was employed as a supervisor at Hormel for years until he hurt his back and retired in the early 70′s. 

I knew Art and a few of his friends had built a cabin just on the edge of Forestville State Park on North Branch Creek/Forestville Creek in the late 60′s. That is where his reputation as a conservationist/fly fisherman began to grow. 

Then a few years later he built his own cabin on Trout Run Creek that is where I met him. 

At the time I was just getting into fly fishing for trout and Trout Run Creek was only a few miles from my future wife’s parents home. Since I love to fish, I fished TR often, sometimes as much as three or four times a week. Being NEW to fly fishing for trout I had ALOT to learn. 

It seemed I always ran into Art out fishing when I was out on the stream at the same time. Soon a friendship developed and he became my fly fishing mentor. Art was one for teaching his fly fishing pupils ( he taught MANY to fly fish) that it is best to learn everything for oneself and not have every bit of info handed to you on a platter. He would always suggest good instructional fly fishing books to read or give you some insight into what inverts were hatching that the trout were taking. He might even give you alittle casting instruction but if you wanted to become a good fly fisherman in his eyes, you had to pay your dues and put in the time to learn the ropes for yourself. I believe Art taught people to learn to find the answers for themselves because those who really wanted to become good fly fisherman would be sorted out quickly from those who just wanted some half hearted fishing experience just like some passing fad!

Art was successful in teaching a number of anglers to fly fish who eventually became leaders in Trout Unlimited and formed the Hiawatha Chapter of TU (the Rochester chapter), this included myself. 

Regarding Art’s influence on stream restoration, he was always tinkering adding some little bit of extra trout cover/habitat to HIS stream. (that being Trout Run) He would always get permission from the DNR to install some trout cover structure and every once in awhile you would see some new trout structure he installed. Of course, when you fished the new cover it always held trout. Art basically is responsible for me becoming the Hiawatha & MNTU State Council Habitat Restoration Coordinator which is a position I have held since 1981. To date MNTU/HTU and our partners(including MN DNR) have completed over 8 miles of stream restoration work in SE MN alone. Without Art’s influence I doubt that would have ever happened.

Art, was also huge on C&Ring trout and let his students know he wouldn’t help them become better anglers if they were going to kill trout all the time! Art, very rarely ever kept trout unless they were hatchery fish. Indirectly he is responsible for all the trout regulation changes in SE MN too. The same anglers he taught how to fly fish and conservation ethics, later became the TU leaders who were able to work with the MN DNR to see new conservation minded trout regulations implemented.

I could go on forever talking about Art Lohman. In my life I have met few people who were more dedicated to being a true conservationist than Art. In my opinion Art is one of best fly fisherman/fly tyers I have had ever known and I have met some of the best believe me!

Regarding the fly tying box you received for XMAS, Art made at least 26 of them because I have #26. 

I don’t even think Art Lohman knew before his death a few years ago how much he directly or indirectly contributed to all the wondeful changes that have benefited our SE MN trout resources over the last dozen years or so!

The guy was a “TOP NOTCH PERSON”, they don’t get any better than ART!!”                                                                                                                                                   - Tom Dornack

He might even give you alittle casting instruction but if you wanted to become a good fly fisherman in his eyes, you had to pay your dues and put in the time to learn the ropes for yourself. I believe Art taught people to learn to find the answers for themselves because those who really wanted to become good fly fisherman would be sorted out quickly from those who just wanted some half hearted fishing experience just like some passing fad!

This line struck me hard. I hope that if I met Art that he would find me worthy of his box and his time. I agree with having to put your dues in, thats half the fun. If trout hunting in S.E. Minnesota was easy I wouldn’t find it appealing or interesting. Thank you Tom for posting your information and allowing me to reproduce it here. I am still looking for a photograph of Art, anyone who may come across this that has one please let me know.

I was approached to discuss trout and perhaps some fly fishing with students of Winona Senior Highs Fish and Wildlife class. I began doing some more general research on trout, developed a game plan, and put things in motion. To help present information on Minnesota trout I used the typical boring powerpoint presentation but I used youtube videos of trout spawning, and mayflies hatching to help keep the attention of students. I decided that I needed to have real trout food for students to inspect which would double to help explain why certain flies are tied the way they are, such as a caddis larva and its imitation. I took samples from a spot I had visited a few months ago and brought them in for students to examine while we discussed macro-invertebrates.

I structured the lecture to explain trout in Minnesota and their behavior prior to jumping into anything to do with fly fishing. The class was an hour and twenty minutes and I used every second of my time. I spent forty-five minutes with my presentation on trout and then spent twenty minutes to discuss the absolute basics of fly fishing ie. rod/reel, fly line/leader/tippet, casting, presentation ect… With the last twenty minutes I had the kids gather round while I tied three basic patterns, the basic un-cased caddis larva, a PT nymph, and a BWO Compara Dun. I managed to get all three ties in with my time while explaining why they were tied and how they were fished as I went.

I was very pleased to be invited back to do another lecture next term for the same class. For next time I will be changing some of the information around to maximize the time. I was pleased with the information I gave, I believe it to be accurate but still emphasized places to reference and learn more while giving the kids information to make their own choices on issues such as, is C&R always a good idea? I gave out handouts on how to help a trout recover after release so that if the kids choose to C&R they will know how to release the trout without it dying downstream.

I had an excellent time and once I got going students were paying attention and asking good questions, I was able to answer most of them and point them in the direction of answers if I couldn’t provide one.

Knowledge is the key to continued resources with regards to many things but for this purpose trout and the habitat in which they live. As a result I have done a bit of research and am ready to present a lecture on trout to students taking Fish and Wildlife at Winona Senior High School. I will be presenting next Wednesday at 10:30am. It is my goal to give a lecture outlining the following:

Trout In MN

• History and Description of Species
• Habitat and Location in MN
• Reproduction both natural and hatchery raised.
• Diet and food source
• Behavior
• Threats in the form of overfishing and depletion of habitat with a C&R discussion.
• Conservation 

I’m sure I will bore several students to sleep but I have been organizing several videos from youtube combined with images from my experiences and I think I’ll do fine. I’m going to collect macro-invertebrate samples the morning of to give the kids live visual aides. If you can think of something I should include that I haven’t mentioned here please let me know. Knowing the importance of the water I fish, I really want to impress upon these kids the fragility of the water they live around and I’m sure a few live on trout streams.