Notes of Interest:

• Arrival at ~10:30am Water Temp 42 Degrees, Air Temp Upper 30’s
• Nymphed up smaller Browns on a #20 Miracle Nymph
• Swapped to Streamers at 12:30pm. Water Temp ~44 Degrees
• Landed ~10 Browns/Rainbows between 10-14inches
• Stream Clouded up quite abit around 3pm, Fishing Slowed (No Water Temp.)
• No bugs today other than a few scattered midges, minimal rising from the trout.
• I emailed the DNR regarding the concerning Dam, I was told it will be removed ASAP.

Slide Show

 

the 30th:

Fished for a few hours targeting the high air temp. Doing double duty I hit a local stretch that holds a particular significance for me, I approached this water for the first time shortly after I began fly fishing for trout in June of 2008. The previous August most of the area was affected by severe flooding and this stretch was forever changed, I wish I could have seen it before the floods but as it happens I viewed this stretch for the first time after it had been ripped up pretty bad.

Although there are plenty of trout hanging around these parts I worry about their ability to migrate up and downstream, this place is littered with deep holes and long wide slow sections that are separated by long very shallow sections that are often no more than a few inches deep. Steep cut banks that show the power of flowing water stretch for much of this part of the stream.

I spent most of my time dealing with ice shelves, catching a few flies on the lip as I raised my rod. I found that there was much more veg in the stream than I was expecting to find this time of year. I rigged to go deep with a #14 Brassie and trailing #20 Midge Larva and found myself catching all kinds of greenery but no trout. I didn’t stick around long and moved to a few other spots with similar results, I did manage a consolation prize on a dead drifted #8 Bead Head Woolly Bugger but at the cost of several flies, oh well. I headed home shortly after.

the 31st:

Caught up with one Heath Sershen, a local trout addict and friend of mine. This day has been seen before and will be seen again, maybe even this year. The two of us drive for a while, get out of the car, shiver for a while, rig our rods and begin the game of pick your fish. From above we perch spying the trout, watching them feed on the midges emerging. Today we watched several larger trout surfacing, Heath picked off the first decent sized fish with a #20 Miracle Nymph. I worked a #20 Black Midge Emerger and after a while I managed a couple of fatty 14in Rainbows. The fun and challenge here is that we chose our target, we could have caught any number of smaller trout that were feeding downstream of the larger few but the challenge presented was of too great a temptation, we both agreed that landing only a few of the larger fish was well worth the effort.

All in all it was a good weekend and the trout itch has been fully scratched allowing me to continue the week free of urges to stand out in the freezing cold. Look for more of the same in the coming weeks, try to find yourself on stream during the warmest part of the day, rig to deep nymph in most situations and watch for that golden opportunity to toss a #20 Midge to rising trout lips.

Slide Show

 

On the 20th of December the predicted air temp for the 1st was grim topping out at twelve degrees. As the days crept closer it only got worse, the night before while most were celebrating I was prepping gear, packing my winter box and tying the last few flies I wanted before the winter season began. I had a few ideas on where I wanted to fish but the weather often dictates my movements.  Knowing the temp was going to be low I chose to fish a spot that never freezes and almost always has rising trout. I saw this place and the fish that reside here last winter and as such I prepared several midge larva and emerger patterns for this situation. I knew I would be fishing mainly size twenty flies hoping to take one or two on or near the surface and probably not hanging around for too long after. My goals were to see a few happily swimming fish, shake the last month off my shoulders and enjoy some moving water. On site I rigged my rod and got into place, my first mistake would turn out to really hamper my first day of the season.  Read the rest of this entry »

The plan was hatched with little time to spare. The night before digging my gear from it’s hidden resting place, packing fly boxes, tying the last minute necessities and printing my stamp and license at home, sometimes you have to love the internet. We left with a few crappy maps (way to go Heath) to find trout in the state of Iowa, the place you go when your a Minnesotan in the off season if you want to scratch that itch that’s been nagging at you for seventeen days but who’s counting? We stopped off in La Crosse, Wisconsin to grab some winter gear that will be put to the test in the coming months (more on that later). After the stop we hit the road to ride the Mississippi down to our target. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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 »

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 »

I got on site slightly later than I wanted but thankful for time near cold flowing H2O. At ~9am the water temp was approaching ~61 degrees and although the first section I fished showed some stain within an hour and after traveling upstream found me quickly casting in crystal clear water. The water felt great and without realizing it I was wet wading through places that were deeper than I typically do, the reason? I was casting and watching everything in front of me and was so comfortable it made little sense to get out. Staying in the stream allowed for much further casting opportunities for the most part and made for a cooler day. The downsides? Casting upstream and moving can be tricky, you have to go slow and take your time, plan to tackle a shorter stretch of water. The clear water and my fly line, even with a delicate cast (trying not to slap the water with your fly line or fly), spooked fish upstream as I went. 

I started the day fishing the SMB on a shorter leader but after a poor start casting and watching fish look, look again and snub I put it away. I observed “random” rising and immediately thought the trout are taking caddis fly larva/pupa from the sub-surface and it is not “random” but sporadic. Noticing fish leaping fully out of the water every so often combined with little to no surface flies helped support my hypothesis so I positioned myself to take advantage of this. I rigged a 9ft leader with 3-4feet of 6x tippet, the lead fly was a recently tied Stimulator #12 and trailing it by about a foot was a caddis fly larva. I went with the Stimulator as mainly an indicator but after a while it started taking fish and I felt the more it took fish the more willing the fish were to strike.

Working longer casts made things fun and challenging, I got strikes on both flies and every once in a while I would get a trout to launch out of the water striking the trailing larva pattern, excellent. Noticing that the larva wasn’t getting as much attention in deeper areas made me lengthen the distance between the two flies. I also tried changing to a slightly more weighted pattern but I couldn’t manage to get the fly subsurface very often, I could have put a tiny split-shot into the mix but I felt that with the spooky fish the way it was I didn’t want to further complicate the equation. Something to keep in mind the next time at the bench with the caddis pupa patterns.

I moved upstream and caught and landed several smaller trout the largest being 10-11 inches, caught on the Stimulator and the trailing fly. I lost several takes I think due to excess slack in my 12ft leader. The Stimulator attracted three or four larger fish but all seemed to throw the hook within the first shake or two, bummer. Working the heat I continued forward enjoying a beautiful day in the sun, this is the summer push and I know I want to be fishing later or earlier hours but when the opportunity arises I don’t overlook it. 

My goal today was work upstream of my put in location roughly 2.2 miles to get to a location I saw once last year, fish it for twenty minutes and break down to hike via road back to the truck. As I neared the final destination I found myself peering over an 8 foot bank down through very clear water at several larger brown and rainbow trout. I watched for several minutes without being caught by the fish, long enough to convince me to switch back to the SMB. A few minutes later I was singing, if you know what I mean? Wow, so cool to go un-detected and get away with chucking a heavy fly and getting some awesome action. I could see perfectly my fly in relation to the fish, I could cast upstream and across far enough to compensate for depth and twitch the fly with two or three quick two inch pulls to get the reaction I wanted. The stocked rainbows hit the fly without hesitation almost the second it moved after sinking, a few came home with me for dinner later this week. The best thing about this whole situation was that I was casting from a different angle/approach than I had ever tried before and I came up rather sucessful.

At one point this rainbow hit the SMB and was on only to get off a second later. I watched the fish move downstream and deeper in the water making a gumming motion probably not too excited about the result of his decision. For some reason I decided to try for the same fish, I let the fly sink to right in front of his nose and stripped it quickly, he took it again, this time not to be so fortunate. Made me think of tailing carp with Wendy B., sneaking up from behind to present your fly seeing the action go down. I fished this spot for a bit, surprised to do so well and afterwards got to my goal and fished for only a few minutes to go back and take a few more from the stretch I had just found. Excellent to gain a new way of approaching the fish that I now know to be successful for me.

Slide Show

 

I started the morning early, waking at 5am to finish what needed done around the house so I could be running out the door at 5:30. Made coffee, grabbed the gear, kissed a very sleepy Liz and I was off. I debated long and hard on where to go and how to spend this day, I’ve been wanting a change of scenery so I decided to pick a new spot. Listening to MPR and drinking coffee gets me fired up to catch a trout. So I drove.

Now I should point out that I always have a back up plan and today was no exception, the weather report told me gusty winds and sun. Sun I like, wind…well we don’t care for wind much, when I fish with for-casted wind I try to pick a tight stream that limits the wind’s ability to take control. 1st stream was beautiful with gin clear water even after the rains from the night before. I walked it downstream from my access quite aways trying to get a feel for the stream, something didn’t feel right and I decided that I would check option two. That turned out to be a bust, the tiny trickle looked like chocolate milk and I knew it wouldn’t provide the opportunities I was looking for. I decided to head to the back up back up spot. Chocolate milk there too! So when this happens I have spots that don’t muddy and I headed to one I visited last year. Shit by now I had driven across almost two counties.

I got on stream and felt a chilly 50 degree water temp. I’m wet wading this summer and I wanted to get a feel for my gear so no hip waders for me. I tried as best I could to stay out of the stream but sometimes the forest around you kind of makes the choice for you. I saw a few flashes in the run near where I parked so I went upstream and picked bugs. I chose a big stone fly imitation and a W.F.F. Swimming PT as a trailer and started swinging. Took a hit but lost it right away, late on the hook set. I kept swinging my rig and took quite a few smaller but beautiful brown trout.

Today I learned well that an indicator has its place amongst the gear I bring but that there are situations where I wouldn’t use one, example: the run I fished early this day had a log with several fish holding under it. The water was very clear and the fish were easily spooked. Fishing downstream without an indicator allowed my flies to sink to the needed depth with the current to get under the log and to the fish, had there been an indicator as I let it drift to the log the taught line might have gotten hung up and probably not gotten my flies down to the fish and the indicator might have helped spook the fish in the clear water conditions.

After catching a fair amount of smaller browns I left in search of warmer water, hatching bugs and….redhorse? Yep, redhorse. I moved from a small very clear trout stream to a much larger body of water that was tinted from the recent rains but not enough to prevent some great fishing. I decided that due to the fact that I was fishing higher flows and I couldn’t see the fish to help indicate a strike I would fish an indicator. This too requires trial and error, so I found out. Setting depth, weighting the rig in the correct spot, and casting were all elements that I worked on as the day progressed.

I remember vividly casting my rig and watching as the strike was made, a fish that I hadn’t seen sitting next to a rock pulled away to shake twice and give me the fin, I’m positive that I would have missed everything had I not had the indicator, the fish most likely would have spit the fly out before I was even onto his presence and he would have went unseen camouflaged next to that rock. Something to be said about the indicator.

I saw plenty of Redhorse and by the end of the day I wanted to touch one so I tried as hard as I could to get one to take a worm pattern weighted heavily and sunk right to the bottom but to no avail. Other notables: Ephemerella Invaria are all over the place, today I fished three streams all of them had large numbers of Invaria which leads me to think we are going to get on some more dry fly action in the next few weeks.

Slide Show

 

 

I spent the last week watching the weather get cold and then colder. I saw the weekend weather change from 30-35 and some sun to what I got today which was 20-23 degrees with snow, wind and cloud cover and still it was winter fly fishing just the same. I ran the dog and called Sershen to see if he was going out and he was. We left to travel south of I-90 just after 11am.

The recent cold weather left us few options for open water but we found it just the same. The challenge of this place was the steep banks rising from the water leaving no access to the water to land a fish. The banks also kept us up and away from the rising trout, that’s right, rising trout! We saw them right away, excited we rigged up and got in place. I was trying some different gear today opting for water-resistant snow pants and boots vs. waders. I found I was warm and lighter able to move faster and easier, if I don’t plan on touching the water this is the way I’m going from now on. I also tested my new reel and line which made casting much more enjoyable, I really like this reel.

The steep banks with trees behind made casting semi-difficult, short casts less than 20ft but the trout were actively feeding, moving in and out of feeding lanes. We started with dry midge adults and didn’t get very far and after putting the fish down we moved on finding two more areas with several fish holding. After an hour of trying different holes we walked back through the snow to the rising fish from before. Sure enough they were still feeding, I rigged up one of the PT’s I’ve been working on with a Black Midge Larvae trailer. I opted for no split shot and this decision would soon pay off. The steeper banks would have made the split shot smack the water and with the limited area the fly had to hit the water close to the fish. I watched carefully as a trout turned and made what I would describe a “gumming” motion opening its mouth, I tightened my line and set the hook. I was right and it began! A few moments later Heath helped me net the fish, the steep banks made landing the trout difficult without getting wet or spooking the fish.

I took a few quick pictures and with that, released the beat up fish to the stream. Not sure what hit this trout but if it was another fish it would have been rather big. I felt great, caught on my #22 Midge Larvae it felt like my work had payed off. I would have been satisfied with the first but after a few minutes allowing the trout to relax I had an opportunity to take one of the two largest fish in the area. This was my first real instance where I chose the individual fish, accounted for position and depth, and made my presentation. I set the hook and the much larger trout struggled for freedom and sure enough I had number two in the net and the smile just got bigger. This was a nicer fish and so as not to risk hurting it I released it before I could even get a good photo, Heath will have some up soon.

We rounded out our time on the water with my getting another on my line but loosing it before it could make it to the net and I managed to snag one near the vent. I was unimpressed with this and so today I caught two rainbow trout. Pleased we left to find more water, after viewing a very frozen alternate stream we headed home. A very good day on the water.