Woke early to arrive creekside at ~8:30am, took a gamble on a spot I’ve caught great caddis hatches in the past this time of year but found high flows, severely stained water and in-active trout. Based on the conditions I swung an SMB during the morning hours landing a handful and not much more. I took water temps every half hour to track any hatch potential but other than the scattered BWO and #30 Black Midges no other insect activity was seen. Water temps started at ~42°F at ~9am and warmed to ~48°F by 12:30pm. I fished until ~12:30pm when I became convinced that the high flows and colder water was not going to put off the hatch I was hunting for.

I blew out and decided to stop by a second location to see if the bugs I was searching for were around. At ~1pm the first glance at the creek from a ways away showed airborn trout, the caddis were here. I parked and hiked straight to the creek, put on a #18 Grey Caddis imitation and sat on the first run I came to landing close to fifteen smaller trout (<12in) and two slightly larger ones, all browns. After picking off quite a few and taking bug photo’s I progressed upstream. I came to fish a dry fly and thus I passed on any piece of water that didn’t show signs of rising fish, I wasn’t going to swap flies just to swap back a minute later.

I continued upstream picking off a handful of fish at each location. I finally came to a large open section that provided excellent fishing conditions, rising trout with thousands of caddis in the air. I observed several fish taking flies not from the surface but actually launching fully from the creek to snipe the food from mid-air. During the two hours I spent tossing dry flies here I noticed the rising come in waves, it seemed that in a moment the fish would all come to a halt and refuse to rise then a couple minutes later they would all begin the boil feverishly rising in rhythm. In these three hours I must have touched close to fifty trout all on the #18 Grey Caddis imitation. I didn’t take the time to dry out my fly after each fish, rather I fell into a pattern of catching a couple on a high floating dry fly after treating it with floatant then when it wouldn’t float well on it’s own I made a couple false casts and allowed it to sit half in the film, this continued to produce fish. When the fly was so saturated and I didn’t want to stop I simply allowed it to sink and fished it like a wet fly and sure enough it continued to snipe trout. When the rising died down I took the time to dry my fly out and applied floatant for the next wave to come. At ~4pm I had to leave the creek despite the hatch continuing to bring trout to the surface.

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Day off. Chose to fish the am hours, lower air temps with a trade for lower winds. It seems typical as of late that when the opportunity to fish arises the weather turns sour. If you don’t go you won’t know. I’ve been eyeballing some new water for a while now, I hit it the day before and landed a beauty. I figured with dry flies likely out of the picture due to low airtemps I’d go searching deep dark ugly spots for anything that would take a fly. I was onstream at ~8:30am with an airtemp approaching 40°F. With a bit of stain from the night before the creek was looking good. Just a bit of stain would allow me to get in a bit closer, something I’ve come to take advantage of. I pulled three flies from my box and stuck them in my chest pack, all #6 SMB’s the Black, Brown and Olive, the deadly trio. One decent sized split shot and I was swinging at every nasty looking snaggy spot I could effectively cast to, passed up quite a bit of water but when I knew I could land the cast I put my flies in the creek.

In the past I’ve passed opportunities like this over. Larger, faster, deeper water. Searching water. I passed on it in the past because a guy can spend all day searching for fish and get nowhere fast. With that said it there are ways to fish these types of spots that can make it more productive. 1st, lose your fear of loosing your flies. No guts…NO GLORY. Don’t be stupid and loose fifty flies but if you haven’t hit bottom or gotten snagged then your missing opportunities. Concentrate on getting your flies down, deep. This means mending, fishing upstream and adding more weight, again if your not setting the hook on a rock or debris every so often your probably missing the larger fish hanging out. 2nd. Try, try, and try again, then move on. You can waste a day dead drifting a fat streamer through deep ass pools, it’s good to try and as long as your confident that your fly is getting down you can be alright walking away from the darkness of that 8ft deep plunge pool.  I’m still learning but today proved that I’m getting the hang of it, lost one fly and landed a handful of freaking nice fish.

Back to the morning, landed the first 13in brown and moved on. Took my time as I was in no hurry and enjoyed my coffee staring down at snaggy water, deciphering it, watching the currents. You can use the stream to your advantage by sinking your flies in a spot where the current naturally kicks them down to the bottom, the trick is recognizing those spots and sinking the cast, like the swish from a basketball. Nothing but net. Speaking of nets, I know they are a pain and I’ve been known to leave mine at home but if your fishing a #6 anything and not carrying a net your doing yourself and the trout a dis-service. Along with the net downsize that tippet. 3x is what I fish when chucking streamers as of late and damn am I glad I do, these two things can get big fish in and fast allowing you to release them quickly. Point in case, snaggy water with undercuts, tree limbs and fat fish. I sent my SMB through a handful of times with no results. I kept at it, I hadn’t gotten snagged on the bottom. A moment later my light went taught. When bigger fish hit and run for cover you’d better be prepared to lay into them, bend your rod and hang on. Both of the nicer fish from today took the #6 Brown SMB and immediately dove for cover under flood debris, great habitat and a great way to lose a fish. Make a choice, lay into that fish, turn it’s head and get it to the net or give it enough slack to hang you. I learned that today, never have I had to put so much force into my rod to keep a fish from wrapping itself around debris.

Both the nicer fish came from water that was about 4ft deep with debris or a cut bank for cover. After landing the female brown my heart was pounding and I was smiling as I was sinking a foot deep in muck. I had to jump in to make sure she didn’t get to the downed trees. Less than an hour into my morning and I had what I came for, adrenaline. I sat on the bank and drank coffee for a few minutes before pressing on, now the day could be spent leisurely tossing flies confident that the big fish of the day had shown it’s face. 

I pulled a 14inch brown with some excellent spotting from a deep 4ft run and thinking there may be a second fish to be had I tried one more time. As I was lifting my rod during the the tail out, a flash and splash. Something big smashed my fly less than an inch from the surface and I nearly fell on my ass, no joke. This fish and I danced for a couple heart pumping minutes, he dove for a tree branch and I moved to pull his head as hard as I could. Remember the net, this fish would not have given up its portrait without it. Less than twenty minutes apart and I landed back to back nice sized browns. I spent the rest of the day doing much the same, deep drifting my SMB. I landed a handful more with nothing less than 13inches, in this kind of water they are fewer but they are bigger. I took off at 12pm, right as the wind picked up and the rain started falling. If you don’t go, you won’t know. Glad I went out today.

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I woke at 5am, assessed the estimated rainfall totals for the night before and made coffee. I wasn’t in a hurry, thought I might find chocolate milk and not in the fridge if you know what I mean. I drove by my initial location but the creek was up and blown, un-fishable. I made a decision at that moment to burn more time to the road but perhaps spend less time driving from creek to creek to maybe get lucky and find one fishable spot, instead I drove to the safe bet, to gin-clear water. By ~9am the air temp was above 60°F and would be pushing a predicted 80°F for a high later, first time this year I’ve wet waded. The first hour saw a mixed bag of random rises, likely to emerging Beatis or midge that had been hatching prior to my arrival. A handful of caddis were around but no steadily rising trout so I opted for a #8 Brown SMB, I missed two then landed a nicer 16inch brown that jumped more than any fish this season. I pushed on but dropped the SMB, some would have hit it but I would have been force feeding it, the trout didn’t want it, too big…they had smaller fare in large quantities coming. I’m glad I switched up when I did. Slapped on a #16 Olive Thin Nymph and took a handful of nice looking healthy browns.

By 10am it was clear the caddis were coming. The signature rise for pupa was beginning to occur in larger quantities, smaller trout could be seen airing out in the sun as they did back flips grabbing caddis pupa on the way out of the creek. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared for this. I was expecting Beatis and rifling through my dry fly box it dawned on me that I hadn’t thought to load the box with more Grey Caddis dries after last year… I only had two #18 Grey Caddis dry flies with me and the fish were already beginning to rise in rhythm. A bit of 5x tippet with one of two flies and I got to work on a single run that I landed ~10 trout from before the rising calmed and I swapped back to the #16 Olive Thin Nymph, took a handful more from the same run then waited and sure enough the hatch kicked in again, Grey Caddis ranging from some close to #20 to the larger #16. I fished faster broken water and took a bunch under 12inches with a couple over.

By 12:30pm the hatch was so thick that the fish almost shut down, it became difficult to discern my imitation from the rest so I stopped and watched the event unfold in front of me. A splash loud enough to be heard over the riffle I was standing closer to drew my attention upstream to a longer slow section of creek, larger fish were surfacing. With the slower water and the amount of bugs I opted to add a couple feet to my leader in an effort to fool those fish that would be more critical in the slower water. Longer casts standing in the middle of the creek were required. For close to an hour I stood on the same rock past my knees in cold trout water casting to each fish that showed its face. I missed a handful but smooth casting over 60ft allowed me to take several of the larger fish over 13inches with one over 14. Setting the hook from 50ft out and fighting those fish in…I’ve been waiting for this. My time frame dictated I leave by 1pm but the bugs, the trout, they dictated I stay just a little longer. I landed a couple more and took off almost thirty minutes late. I was later forgiven by the lady of the house, this video explained my reasoning and she was forgiving.

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I was informed last evening that a friend of mine and fellow trout angler was injured while working and had to have surgery on his leg involving a bone plate. It’s the beginning of the trout season, beginning of the summer and he will be sidelined for a good portion of the next few months. This one’s for him and his family, to a quick recovery man we’ll be on the water soon.

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Field Notes:

• AT: 4pm, DT: 7:30pm
• Air Temp: ~50°F
• Water Clarity: Slightly Stained
• No Hatching Activity, No Rising Trout
• Baetis Nymphs in Large Quantities
• Landed 12+ Browns <10in, 3 Browns >10inches
• Fished a #8 SMB in Brown and Black

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This sexy piece of trout water becomes fishable on April 1st, I’m looking forward to the rest of our streams opening up for Catch and Release angling next month. Until then I’ll continue to fish the sections of creek that are designated for winter angling in S.E. Minnesota. It’s about time for some warmer weather and new scenery.

Day two began onstream at ~11:40am under clear sunny skies with an air temp approaching 13 degrees. With minimal wind predicted I knew today would be a bit more comfortable, sweet. I love the winter sun. The few hours when it hangs highest in the sky everything seems to wake up, birds are making noise, the trout are up, bugs might be hatching. A sunny 13 degree day can feel like 35 if your prepared and the wind isn’t blowing. We hit a different stream with perhaps two loosely set goals for the day and maybe a third that is always there and is never really acknowledged. 1st, to hike, to keep moving, maybe see a couple miles of stream. 2nd, to bring to hand a brown trout then a brook. The 3rd unspoken goal of every trip is just to smile and remember that some days you are stuck at work, fish or no fish this doesn’t get much better.

Parked and rigged I made a short hike through the snow covered forest floor to the stream. I remember thinking how the snow isn’t much of an obstacle when compared to 7-8ft tall weeds that grow obnoxiously thick  through this section of forest and make this place very un-inviting in the summer months. Approaching slow and low I knew the water here was going to be gin clear and it was. I waited several minutes looking for any sign of a rising trout or skittering midge but none were seen, even later in the day only a scant few midges were observed and only a handful 3-4 risers seen. The trout were holding deeper so I opted for the Orange Hot Spot Scud again today in a #16 thinking that I might trail it with a #20 Midge Larva pattern later. Again takes were very subtle, I lost the first two definitive strikes but a short time later I was netting a 10in Brown trout. We each managed a few from this first hole before our coffee got cold and we began the hike upstream.

The sun really made the day as we hiked, nothing was cold and infact had I kept the pace full steam we would have been sweating quite a bit before we finished but thats why we stop and fish. I hit a few narrower sections (2-3ft wide) of old habitat improvement as we hiked upstream loosing a few flies to tree limbs and snags on the banks trying to get that perfect cast to the trout before I fumbled and gave my position away. I did eventually add on a trailing #20 Midge pattern to give the trout a second option. I ended up losing a few strong strikes as I was not anticipating such a quick and sharp reactions as my flies entered the water, like the trout knew they were coming and had already commited to the take without my knowledge.

Looking to the 2nd goal for the day we moved upstream in search of beautiful brookies. I’ve fished this stream enough to know where the brookies hide out and I wasted little time finding them sitting in the same spot they’ve held for a very long time. We each attempted deep drifiting nymphs to the smaller trout but failed to bring a fish to hand. We got a few strikes but were un-able to set the hook in time and after thirty or so minutes attempting to get the longest and deepest drift possible produced nothing, with that the sun had passed the peak for the day and was on it’s way out. We gathered our things and began the hike out, along the way I stopped to swing a fat streamer through a few of the deeper sections but other than a few looks I was out of luck. I should note that every trout I got to hand had the #16 OHS Scud in it’s mouth. So no brookie and thus I have a goal for next time but still an excellent day and a good way to begin the new season with back to back days fishing the Driftless Area.

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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.

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I went out this afternoon for two hours and fished in, well, kind of lousy conditions. Air temp was warm, around 90 degrees in the valley and upon arrival the water temp was ~61 degrees which made me think right away that I might find lethargic fish less willing to strike. Riffle samples came up with several leeches of varying size, I have not see many leeches and this provided more push to tie on a bugger pattern. The water was slightly stained but very fishable. I observed, from my favorite bend, no rising trout nor surface activity from any bugs, really the only thing flying around were the random dragon flies and deer flies in droves. Normally annoyances like the deer flies and mosquitoes don’t get in my way and are usually overlooked but not today. I lost at least two takes while slapping a fly biting the back of my ear or my hand holding the rod.I fished the same fly I’ve been fishing knowing that I would have to head deep to find fish willing to strike. Keeping in mind the warmer water temp and the relation between water temp and dissolved oxygen made me land and release every fish quickly, removing it from the water for only the brefiest of moments. As water temps rise the amount of dissolved oxygen lowers and the fish have a harder time recovering, this is also a reason why the fish hold low in the colder water.

I fished a usual stretch and I came out to see the change since I had last been here during the height of the Light Hendrickson hatch a few weeks ago. It’s amazing how fast life grows. The grass on the banks continues to grow ever closer to the sun and in some of our water the aquatic plant life explodes providing sometimes tricky situations, such as casting to fish holding deep in a small spot between massive blooms of greenery. I worked the bugger pattern in and through tight holes picking up brownies as I went but as suspected the fish were less than aggressive and would strike once and that was it. Something else to note: while landing several of these fish they tried desperately to dive into the plant blooms creating a difficult situation, force the fish and potentially break it off or risk a tangle. I became acutely aware of the tangle issue as not one concerning a lost fish but rather one that might risk the life of the fish. As I watched one dig deep and wrap twice around a thick stem then began floating upside down, thinking to water temp. I didn’t want the fish to die before I decided it wasn’t going to come loose. I jumped into four feet of thick greenery and sunk into what seemed like a foot of mud. The fish just lay there unaffected by my presence, I unhooked him quickly and held him low in the colder water until he took off. I was soaked but it felt good in the sun and although I had blown any chance of pulling another trout out of this spot, that fish was released to live another day.

Other notables: I watched a basketball sized snapping turtle come floating right to my feet while casting to trout, pretty cool, also I stepped in a rather warm pile of cow pucky that took a while to get out of my shoes later, pretty funny. I headed home after temping the water again, it had risen to ~62 degrees and if I would have had the time I’d have stayed until late in the evening waiting for the magical hours before dark. Dusk, when the water temps relax and the stream shakes off the heat of the day to come alive. As I drove home I began thinking about late summer fly fishing and how I need to get to work on my terrestrials and other late summer patterns. To the bench!

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After cleaning up dinner Friday night I took my sister’s fiancee fishing with me. We left the campground and fished a stretch of water that I visited recently, we arrived alittle after 7:00pm and left around 9pm. Joel fished a spinning rod, I put him on the deep holes but I had a feeling he might not catch much with the number of mayflies around. I saw fish rising when we arrived and I rigged a #14 Light Hendrickson dry fly and let loose on a pair of rises near the tail end of a run. My eagerness resulted in two poor casts which put them down. I waited tried again, nothing, they kept rising. I tried switching flies, seeing multiple #12 March Brown’s around I tied on one and tried again. Nothing. 

I moved downstream, I saw the rising begin to pick up more and more. I felt like they would more easily take my imitation the more excitedly they were feeding and that was partly true. I lost two takes and after that nothing would look at my hackled March Brown pattern. I moved downstream and waited trying to help Joel take one on a spinner. I put him on a hole I knew might hold a trout willing to feed on a bait-fish imitation rather than a fly but to no avail. I watched the trout rise more and more, I tied on a #14 Para-chute Hairs Ear pattern. I had an initial strike and a poor hook set denied me the fish, I moved back upstream as it grew darker. The March Browns were thick and seemed they were getting thicker. 

I positioned on a run and cast upstream and across careful to leave slack line for a good drift. The trout were willing now, I’m not sure if it was the Parachute pattern or not but it was working. I picked up five trout before the fly was mangled beyond use. I would have spent more time fishing but I looked around me and saw something truly amazing. Thousands of Mayflies were all around me, so thick they were crawling on me. March Browns, Light Hendrickson’s and  Caddisflies of varying size were all present. I plucked several out of the air around me easily, I caught one small Light Hendrickson with a bright Orange egg sac on the end, just sick man. I took pictures and just watched slightly slack-jawed. I spent twenty minutes in the storm and then headed out. Some of the remnants followed me back to the campsite on my gear to be seen for the next two days, very cool. Note: I left some of the images fullsize to express the magnitude of the event, I apologize if they load slowly.

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