Tags: Driftless Area, Fly Pattern, Fly Tying, MN, Southeast, The Black Wet Fly, The Winona Fly Factory
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 »
Tags: Brown Trout, Catch and Release, Driftless Area, Fly Fishing, MN, Southeast, The Winona Fly Factory
Took off after work and hit a quick stop hoping to get a look at a few spawners. I know there are brook trout here and I was hoping to get to see one or two but that didn’t happen. I did, however, get the chance to see a Male and Female Brown both full into the spawn. Upon arrival I rigged up an SMB simply because I didn’t have much time and wanted to target the larger hungry trout preparing for the next few weeks, also this spot has quite a bit of depth and a bigger fly was going to get to the fish faster. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Brown Trout, Driftless Area, Fly Fishing, MN, Southeast, The Winona Fly Factory, Trout Stream
The Pet-Fly Smackdown went down this last weekend, this “tournament” that is more of an outing, is just a reason to get together with like minded people and fish your ass off. We met at the chosen cafe to start the morning off right with coffee, eggs and the rest. Introductions and a bit of business were processed and after a bright orange fly box (that you could find buried under six feet of dirt) was filled with the flies for the day we ate and the split to find fishy water. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Brown Trout, Driftless Area, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Heath Sershen, MN, Pet Fly, Pet Fly Smackdown 2009, Rainbow Trout, Southeast
This summer the fly factory has seen quite a few early mornings but few evenings, something I’d like to try and change over the course of this, the last month of the designated season for trout in Minnesota. Another goal this last month is to see a few stretches of new water and this morning I met with Sershen again to smack something unseen. On site by 9am and looking at trout actively feeding by 9:30am. The lack of rain has kept our streams very clear for almost a solid month now which was what we were expecting to find this morning and did. Stumbling through dew covered grass that passed our hips we took position downstream of a few really nice looking browns and a rainbow that were aggressively feeding on or very near the surface, at times turning completely around to strike. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Brown Trout, Driftless Area, Fly Fishing, MN, Rainbow Trout, Southeast, The Winona Fly Factory
Given a tip by a reliable source I found myself on the water at 8:30am rigged with a SMB. The hot tip was that the DNR in preparation for the holiday weekend had dumped a bunch of fatty rainbow stockers in a location that I visit on occasion, not really that hot of a tip as the DNR stocks certain waters before every holiday weekend. I wanted to get down there and take a few fish home for eats, knowing the reaction that the stocked Rainbow trout have had with the SMB I figured it would be pretty easy to take my share and be on my way. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Brown Trout, Driftless Area, Fly Fishing, MN, Rainbow Trout, Southeast, The Winona Fly Factory, Trico Fly Fishing
Tags: Brown Trout, Fly Fishing, MN, Southeast, The Winona Fly Factory
Goals for the day:
With the goals laid out before me I set out at 5am. Getting to the spot I wanted to fish was going to require a longer drive than normal but this provided the opportunity to find some rising fish, fish new water and see a stretch of water that I rarely get to visit. I met Joel, who became my Brother-in-Law this past Sunday at 5:30am. This outing was his last as a single man and it felt good to get him out. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Fly Fishing, Grasshopper, Hopper Fishing, MN, Southeast, The Driftless Area, The Winona Fly Factory, Trico
Stopped by a spot I visit every so often returning from CSMP work and dropped a hopper pattern looking for a quick dance with a trout. Not much time to fish, just trying to get one or two to come up and say hi. Noon with an air temp of 82+ degrees makes for happy hoppers warmed and active. Today there was a stiff wind making for tricky casting but I’ve found that some of the best hopper fishing involves wind, hoppers tend to end up in the water after wind blows in mid-jump or flight. I planed to fish a section of pasture that was easy to access, difficult to fish and offering large rewards. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Brown Trout, Fly Fishing, Grasshopper, MN, S.E. MN, The Winona Fly Factory, Winona
Fished early this morning attempting to find Trico’s hatching. Water temp was 56 degrees upon arrival and the stream was tea colored making for good conditions but no real hatch to speak of. I saw a rising trout and put a Trico pattern on it for a strike but a miss on the hook set. I was hoping for more from the trico’s but no luck so I swapped for a nymph rig. Caddis and Sparkle Larva on my line makes for a deadly fly factory.
I left the camera battery at home which may have been a blessing in surprise as the rain began at alittle before 9am and did not let up, I can see myself getting it soaked. I fished with my soon to be brother-in-law this morning who has only fly fished for trout once before. He did well and I only had to tie a few knots, for the most part Joel was on his own. The rain let up and the sparkle larvae out fished the caddis larva five to one. I took seven trout from a single run of twenty feet, that was sweet. I’m catching fish after fish and I look over and Joel has a fish on, and what a fish! He took the size prize landing a 15in brown for his second trout for the day. We left at noon walking out in the mud and rain, I loved it. The streams need the water, so does my garden. At home I checked the rain gauge at 6am when I left the house, nothing. By 2pm we’ve had more than a half an inch of rain which is more precipitation than we’ve had since I started taking daily measurements on July 1st. I will have to swing by my CSMP site tomorrow.
Tags: Fly Fishing, MN, Rain, Reports, Southeast, The Winona Fly Factory, Trico
