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

Fished most of the day, met up with one Wendy B. on location for a bit of morning coffee, good conversation and of course a few trout. We nymphed up rainbows with the typical Orange Scud and Miracle Nymph but after seeing a few larger fish I swapped to a streamer, Wendy B. did the same and we both nailed a few nicer fish. You have to love it when from on high you strip your streamer in, staring at your victim less than twenty feet away, you cry out “EAT IT” and the trout promptly turns and does exactly that, brilliant. Wendy B.= FISH ON! That was just the start to an awesome day, I mean by 11am I had enough good things happen to hold me over but as it were I had the day to myself and the weather was too good to turn down.

I left Wendy B. to stop off at a second spot, gin clear despite the rain and melt. I could have stayed and tempted fish but I hadn’t fished this spot before and I knew I could find a location that offered slightly stained water when usually it runs clear. Good to take note of locations like this, fish them after a rain event or the melt and take fish more easily as the water is tinted to your advantage. Second stream I stuck with my streamer expecting a few Browns to come out and play but no luck. I tried, tried some more but nadda. I picked bugs to get a feel for the situation and it was clear to me that a skinny BWO nymph was the way to go, the WD-40 #16. Good choice, as it was the only fly that took any trout on the second stream, it even took a few Brookies which made this my first day where I managed all three specie of trout you can find in S.E. Minnesota water.

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The day was more about meeting up with a few friends of mine who happened to inform me of their camping plans not to far from my home but I managed to sneak a few hours of fishing in before they were to arrive. I had planned one route but as fate were to have it I made a wrong turn not thinking and decided to roll with the punches. I picked a spot that was close using this new route and drove, satisfied just to be in the moment of driving to my fishing destination.

Recent rain had muddied the stream a bit but I decided to press on. I had fished this spot once before and found it to be barren despite the appearance of greatness at the time. I don’t like writing a stretch of trout water off until I’ve given it a few attempts with failing outcomes each time, today was this spot’s second chance. With nothing rising and the heat on I rigged nymphs and attempted to go deep but found nothing but rocks on the bottom. I lost a few flies and managed to get almost no strikes, I did miss the one for-sure strike I had. After two hours of getting nowhere in the sun I pulled out to move closer to the final destination. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I’ve been working over my approach to this method of fly fishing for trout, when I started almost a year ago I used a few indicators mostly larger flies but quickly started blind nymphing almost out of ignorance. I should state have no problems with indicators, I’m sure I’ll use them yet this season. My reasons for continuing to blind nymph rather than using an indicator are the following; 1st it is easier for me to cast a weighted two fly rig if it doesn’t have an indicator in the mix. 2nd, I don’t like changing position of the indicator constantly to match the needed depth. I guess I’d rather add weight or take some off than spend time adjusting an indicator, and finally the third and main reason is that I enjoy the challenge that is inherent when fishing without an indicator. I should also say that I do carry indicators, I have used them but I rarely choose to.

With that I’ve been working on the best method for deciding how to prepare my rig to present to the trout. I first watch; the water, the fish and then I pick bugs, if possible I choose a riffle that is upstream from the location I want t0 fish. I try not to disturb the fish or the water to pick a few bugs, this can sometimes take me a while. I do this to eliminate guess work, typically I pick two different size imitations if the rocks show me that the stream holds a larger and smaller sized food source. If not, I match to the size but typically I rig a larger fly trailed by a smaller fly, this is nothing new and has been described and written about at length by others, I’m just describing how I prepare when I am nymphing.

Recently I had the opportunity to rig up and hit some sweet, sweet trout water for an afternoon under the sun. Conditions were right for nymphing, it was early afternoon and there were no signs of rising trout. In an effort to better understand the mechanics behind blind nymphing and to practice this method I set out to find a good spot for some trial and error. I picked a few bugs leading me to choose a larger caddis larva pattern and due to lower water temps (~55) combined with my observation that the trout were holding low in the water I chose a weighted pattern. With my lead fly picked out, I decided on a smaller PT nymph based on several mayfly nymphs, mostly Ephemerella (interesting, I thought this hatch was over in S.E. MN) sitting side by side the caddis larva.

Starting with both flies and no other weight my typical approach involves watching and timing how long the flies take to sink to the bottom, usually I will go downstream and try to simulate the depth and current of the water I am going to fish and watch how my flies react, based on this observation I add weight accordingly. Sometimes it can be difficult to stop, relax, and take the time needed to get this right but as I found on this day, it is well worth the extra effort.

After I got set and tied my flies on leaving about 8-12inches of line between the lead and trailing fly I got to work. With the rain from the last few days everything is beautiful, I’ve never loved the color green so much. Along with the greenery around me the water was ever so slightly tinted in the deeper pools making my approach slightly easier. Water levels are still low around the area but the steady amount of rain has been good and I can see it is going to be a good summer season.

I decided to try a run that I knew held smaller fish downstream of the run I really wanted to concentrate on just to see what the initial reaction was. As my second cast was drifting towards me I noticed a quick flash and a tug on my line, I was late but I knew I had chosen well. After practicing my cast a few times and making plenty of crappy presentations I moved onto the real test. I was cautious not to spook the trout while getting in position. It was evident immediately I needed more weight for this second run. I added one splitshot a few inches above my lead fly and made a few more casts. I know how much weight I can toss without it getting stupid, I combine the weight with mending and hopefully the fly gets to the trout. I got a strike, two strikes and I even landed a few trout. I observed that it took several passes before I got a strike, never once did I get snagged so I decided to try adding abit more weight.

That was it baby, once the rig was set for the hole I was in the butter zone. Almost every pass had a strike, I watched the tip of my fly line for any change and tried to set the hook at the slightest sign of a different drift. I lost at least 60 percent of the takes because I failed to notice the take or I set the hook too late but I took several trout and despite alot of poor casts with the bulky weighted rig the trout weren’t put down once. I walked each trout downstream as I played them, this gave the others time to relax and me time to enjoy the spoils of blind nymphing.

Things to remember for next time. Let the fly drift all the way through the hole. I found I lost alot of fish as I was beginning to pull my rig up and out for another cast, had I waited longer I might have been able to set the hook properly. Just set the hook. Quite a few times I would slightly put pressure on the line, feel the trout and then it shook once and was free. Had I just trusted my gut I would have probably set the hook on half of those I lost.  Wait, choose the cast. I need to limit how many times I just toss the rig in the water. I would cast into wind and it wouldn’t end up the way I wanted, had I just waited a few minutes I might not have made so many poor casts.

Later I worked on a few PT nymphs to help match what I saw in the stream. Liz and I went to a few garage sales this last weekend and I found a set of plates featuring a few fly fishing flies, they caught my eye and I swiped them up to decorate an already cluttered fly bench. I worked on bead head versions of my swimming nymph PT pattern. To match the darker brown and black nymphs I found at the stream, I tied these with darker pheasant tail fibers, I’m looking forward to testing them soon.

On the 17th we hit the spot, midge were emerging and the trout we found were in consistent feeding patterns. We decided to go back and pull another fish or two from the depths. My main reason/goal was to use what I witnessed the day before to test my abilities. We picked up James and hit the stream, I have to admit I had alot of fun fishing with two other like minded anglers. At one point the three of us were all casting to fish within a fourty foot section of stream and all catching fish.

I fished my PT nymph with a Black Midge Larvae trailer again and due to the midge activity it worked out rather well. I left the split shot off again noticing that the fish were striking close to or on the surface. I made two casts and pulled a nice rainbow from the stream, I managed to do this before James could even get to the stream. Heath snapped a good photo and we let the fish calm for a few minutes. I returned with the same approach only this time I was deliberatly casting to one fish, the big one in the pool. I managed to make several decent attempts presenting my fly and with a bit of patience watching both the fish, and my line at the point where it entered the water I set the hook on a larger trout. The colors were excellent and I was very excited, this was a bigger fish for sure. Unfortunatly I learned the hard way to relax and give the fish some space, after pushing the fish perhaps too hard he broke my midge off and gave me the fin. Oh well, learn from your mistakes.

The goal for Heath was to get a shot of a fish caught on a dry fly. James promptly stepped up to the challenge, he fished a size #20 Hi-Vis Trico pattern and after a bit was getting strikes. He caught a smaller one and Heath caught one so we let the fish relax again, pleased we hadn’t put the fish down. I kept seeing a rising fish hit the same spot over and over again every minute or so, I put James on it. A few moments later we heard a big splash and sure enough James had a fish on that #20 Trico and it would turn out to be the same fish that took my midge which was awesome because we got to see it out of the water, what a beautiful fish. With that we sent it swimming and decided to find a new stream to explore.

This first stream was a test to examine the fish and their behavior and modify my presentation to maximize my time on the water and it worked, this is trout hunting. I did pull one more small one from the stream before we left to new water. We hit bigger water and chucked streamers, I’m not the best at this and didn’t catch any fish but I got to see new water which I will return to another day. All in all I had a blast fishing with good company. I got to ask quite a few questions and received great advice and opinions, sometimes it great to fish with others.