I visited my CSMP sites today for my weekly visit and took this photo of the fish that inhabit the area near my first location. I counted close to twenty fish, all brown trout, as I sat watching from behind the concrete wall. I’m pleased that I haven’t found much in the way of trash since I was here last. As the site is near the roadside I expect to see a fair amount of trash accumulate in the rocks that form the bank closest to the road. I took my typical readings and during periods of no rain it remains fairly constant, recently a rain fall event of .39in found the stream transparency to be affected even the next day. This stream will remain quite clear most of the time and to get more accurate measurments of stream transparency the MPCA sent me a longer transparency tube. At 100cm, what seems crystal clear may not actually be as clear as you think. 

I decided to sample and monitor a second site downstream from this site at a bridge location to see the difference between the two sites as rain fall events occur. I have added a second data sheet and will include the second set of data when turning in the total summers data. I have begun to really enjoy this time near the stream and the trout, with fishing not typically on my mind I find I approach the fish wanting only to observe, get to know my new friends and after a while I might have names for a few of them, at least the biggest brown.

Slide Show

Started my day on the water at 9am under cloudy skies. Air temp was comfortable but hiking through thicker foliage after last nights rain made for a soggy morning but that wasn’t going to prevent me from swinging a few flies. I took a water temp and watched for any clues as to what to put on the end of my line. Cold water (~50 degrees) and no signs of fish near the surface told me to go deep so I rigged the same fly as yesterday, I tied two more of the same fly last night. Three casts in and I had the first brown of the day. I picked a few rocks and found interestingly little to no mayfly nymphs, I’m beginning to see similarities between “Mayfly” and “Caddis/Scud” creeks, just a generalization that I apply to some streams that seem to have a higher concentration of one or the other. This is a “Caddis/Scud” creek with plenty of old H.I. work done to keep the water deep, rocks lining the sides giving trout good cover and a place to thrive.

I worked my way downstream, the water was cloudy which would help me here,  normally it is crystal clear and the fish spook easily. I fished this for the first time this last winter and what a difference a few spring months make. My plan was to work the old H.I. work through the cow pasture and hit a hole in the middle of the jungle then work back up and out. I tossed the same fly the entire time, in shallow water it took fish, in deep water it took fish. I racked eight fish easily working downstream, I kept a couple. The stomach contents furthered my assumptions about the bio-mass in this stream, mainly scuds filled the brown I took home with me. 

I love mornings on a trout stream, well any time on a trout stream but mornings and dusk are two excellent times to be near water. Quiet and peaceful I fish silently, unless you saw me you wouldn’t know I was catching fish, you would have to hear the occasional splashing. I enjoy relaxing, concentrating on the moment in front of me, analyzing the best approach, losing myself in the water, bills and work have no place in my mind here. I moved to a spot I specifically came here to fish, deep water in a tight channel with old H.I. work around, I knew there were fish here. By this time I was getting pretty good at chucking this bugger pattern with some additional weight, some of these holes have to be more than 6-8 feet deep and not very wide requiring a longer cast to get the flies down but also accurate so your fly ends up in the water. I picked up a few more and moved downstream.

Working my way through the cow pasture I arrived at a wall of jungle. I knew there was a secret hole in the middle of it somewhere, better make it the shortest distance through this stuff. Burning Nettles stung my legs for a good five minutes but I remembered my way well and got to the spot in the shortest distance, it was worth it. I kicked three twelve inch trout into the depths when I came out of the jungle. I worked the bugger and picked up a tiny guy. A minute later with a great roll cast I watched a beautiful brown dart quickly and pick up my fly, my casting is improving for sure. Trudging through the jungle was worth it, this fish was a spotted beauty for sure. This fly was kicking ass at this point. I landed the nicer fish and headed back through the thickness, I bounced to each spot I had fished on the way downstream but found nothing wanted my fly. At noon I was where I started and so I took another water temp, the lack of sun prevented much change in temp, three hours later I had ~51 degrees.

I thought about moving forward upstream but I felt that little was going to happen with this fly and nymphing this tiny deep stuff was something for another time. Knowing that getting in the vehicle, breaking my gear down and getting to another spot would burn time I set my mind to water closer to home so I could move in that direction. I was greeted by this guy upon my exit, cool.I drove to a spot I fished early in my fly fishing adventure and I didn’t get much then, a few small ones but alot has changed since last summer. I stuck to the same fly, by this point I had pulled it out of a tree earlier in the day, pulled out a few plants with it and got it stuck on a log all on the last stream and managed to keep it with me. I rolled and lost the first fish that struck but I had a great day up to this point so I had little to complain about. I pulled a smaller 10in. brown out and decided it with the other I had would make a great dinner. I measured this fish, the regs on this stretch are 12″-16″ protected and I wanted to be sure. 

I lost two others and picked one last hole to fish before packing it in for the day. Upon seeing the hole I felt like something drastic had happened, there was a new sand bar built up providing a shallower spot in the middle of the hole now, before it was a deep drop off with a huge tree root structure blocking a majority of the water, a trout haven for sure. I got in position and made one roll cast across the shallow area and let slack out to allow the fly to sink. The current pulled the fly up and with that I saw alittle flash, I needed to get the fly deeper which meant a longer roll cast with more slack. Two attempts later I watched my fly creep up from the dark water below being pulled by my line crossing the current, the fish I watched trail it looked like a shark. As the fly passed through the shallowest part she struck, I got to watch again! Amazing. I set the hook and she was gone, I was almost convinced I was going to lose this fish after she ran the first time. My reel sang to me. This hole is big and deep, tree limbs, even with the 4x tippet I didn’t want to break her off so I took my time. She pulled hard, and I just hung on for the ride hoping I would be able to land this fish. She smacked the surface hard two or three times, you know the fish is a slab when you hear that deep smack. Once again no net I guess I didn’t think I’d need it. After fighting for several minutes I moved her up into a deeper riffle and allowed her to come downstream to me landed cradled in my arm. One photo next to the rod, three with me and I removed the hook, she was out only a brief minute or two. My heart was still pounding as I stood in the riffle holding this gorgeous fish, beautiful blue glimmer. I held her submerged for quite a while to ensure a full recovery, with one strong push she turned and took off. What a day. I was pleased to get my fly back, it is now in the ceiling of the truck next to the one from yesterday to give me a smile every time I get in to go fly fishing in the Driftless Area of Southeast Minnesota. 

Slide Show

Left work, lunch and I spent thirty minutes with one fly and one fish. Drove to the spot, tied on the only fly I tied last night for this occasion. Decided for some reason that rather than head straight to the spot where I know the big ones live I’d chucked this into the first riffle I got to. I did this because although I weighted this fly heavy under the body I knew to fish it deep at the place I was going I would have to add more weight, rather than do that, first I would try it out on the way. First spot I kicked up a female duck, and the fish didn’t respond well to my fly. I quickly moved downstream. Second spot I lost a take and just decided to press on, trying to keep this one to a half an hour. Third spot I made the first cast too short and although one trout came after it, it refused as the fly got closer to me. Second cast was placed right above the pool just in the riffle, perfect. I let it drift for a few seconds, first strip, second strip and then I watched him saunter up, turn and sharply stomp this fly, straight to the bottom. I watched from 20ft the whole thing. Damn.

With that it was on, I had 4x tippet on and I didn’t want to force this fish and frankly at the time I didn’t think he was as big as he turned out to be.  I pulled his head torwards the head of the pool, downstream and we would have played with sticks and a big log, I didn’t want that. He dove towards each bank up the riffle and then chased back down the pool, each time I had to turn his head. On the third he chased up the riffle so far he was in 3inches of water half exposed, that’s when I realized what I was dealing with. He came back down and before he hit the pool I pulled him out, landed on the grass. Four photo’s out of the water quickly, I removed the hook with my forceps and got him in the water, I wanted to be careful not to harm him. We spent about three minutes together, I took photos and eventually he slipped up and under the bank I could still see him in six inches of water. I just sat and watched him. The whole thing lasted less than twenty minutes. I packed it in didn’t even bother to go to the spot I had came here for, funny too, the landowner that gave me permission stopped me and asked how I did. I had a huge grin, so I showed him the photo’s I had, I assured him that I let the fish go. I will be sending him the photo’s later.

30min. First Fish, third hole. Watched him come up, on the 3wt. Sick, just sick. Ran up a riffle three inches deep. Body exposed. Landed by hand, no net. Four frantic photos out of the water. A few in the water while enjoying the three minutes I got to hold this trout before he left me. 20+in I think. Heavy trout. One fly, one fish. What a moment…

Slide Show

Tomorrow I will be seeing for the first time what a section of stream that I drive by on occasion holds between its banks, this is private land and I’ve been thinking about calling this guy for a while now. I finally did and the landowner on the other end was more than willing to allow me access to his property and the stream, he gave me a place to park and granted access from two points on his property. I asked for his name and if he would be around tomorrow so I could introduce myself and meet him in person.

I stopped by the bridge just upstream of the water I was granted access to and took a water temp and samples from the riffle to give me an idea of what I might find tomorrow. First thing I noticed was a lack of any Mayfly nymphs other than Ephemerella Rotunda/Invaria, I might find some hatching Light Hendricksons tomorrow. I caught my first Caddisfly pupa today, looked exactly like some of the pictures I’ve seen, pretty interesting, other than that the riffle contents were to be expected mostly free-living caddis larva, scuds, and the Ephemerella nymphs. The water temp was kind of interesting, only 54 degrees at noon over my lunch, on most other streams the temp would be in the higher 50′s. It might take this stream longer to warm, might find bugs hatching a little later tomorrow than I’ve been seeing.

I need to continue to work on these situations, there is plenty of water even closer to my doorstep to fish if I can continue to build relationships with landowners. I have two other streams that I have been granted access by landowners but I have yet to fish in those locations, tomorrow will be the 1st private section of Southeast Minnesota trout streams I’ve fished. Wish me luck, if it is as good as I’m hoping it might be I will have a wonderful new place to visit close to home and if it turns out to be a bust then at least I won’t wonder about it every time I drive by.

This weekend Liz and I camped with my sister and her family. We arrived, set up camp and got to it knowing the weather was going to be unpleasant the rest of the weekend. Last summer Liz and I stayed here and had a great time, this campground is great for families. 

We set off for the source of the stream that flows through the campground, this is an access eased stretch of Southeast Minnesota trout water that runs through a cow pasture and ends at the source flowing from a cave in the side of a bluff. I hiked with no rod or reel, just my niece Chloe on my back, my strainer for riffle contents and a thermometer for gauging water temp at the source.

We hiked and saw trout rising to Light Hendrickson mayflies, the section that runs through the cow pasture has habitat improvement along both banks keeping the stream safer from the cattle. The stream has several deep runs holding trout, I’ll admit I wish I had a rod but I was happy to be outside in the sun. I took riffle samples and water temps along the way, at the source the temp was 52 degrees and I would imagine it doesn’t fluctuate much. This is a beautiful place to visit, Chloe had a good time enjoying the hike.

Interesting how the life in the stream diminishes closer to the source, I couldn’t find much on the limestone other than a few caddis fly larva. I did have one of the “Little Black” Caddis land on me standing right at the source but it flew off before I could get a picture. The life in the riffles grew as we went downstream of the source. I plan to fish this yet this summer, but for now I didn’t have time, we decided after 10 hours of rain the next day that it would be best to pack it in early with no end insight to the rain. None of us wanted a sick one year old on our hands, it was a beautiful 1st day though.

Slide Show

I watched the Light Hendrickson’s hatch again today, I have been trying to watch this from the same section of stream several times during the entirety of this hatch to well, just to watch it and observe. Once again the cattle were around and that combined with almost an inch of rain yesterday made for some transparency issues on the stream today, that didn’t impede the hatch any, I think it prevented the trout from eating though.

I got to the stream and immediately saw several Light Hendrickson’s hatching, I collected a few and took photos, saw no rising trout. I waited for quite a while watching the same spot noticing a greatly increased volume of mayflies. I counted 5-10 pass every 10-20 seconds, this is much more than I observed last week. I expected to see rising trout and after a while and a little hiking to find some cleaner water I did in fact find rising trout. I love watching an excited trout rush your fly from the depths, keeps you on your toes man. I had a blast, caught several but most were small. I was a little disappointed that the hole containing the larger fish was being trampled by the cattle again, this kept the flow very muddy and I just watched hundreds of mayflies hatch without a single rise. I would be getting on stream earlier than you might think for this hatch, I would say to get a jump on it be ready at 10:30am and thats rigged and ready to go.

Slide Show

Today was AWESOME! I got to test the new rod I recently received and with it caught one of the sweetest trout I’ve seen in a long time. I got on stream and took a water temp immediately, cloudy skies made me think it wouldn’t happen today but I was dead wrong. First water temp, 58 degrees. I took some samples and then rigged a larger scud trailed by the usual Swimming PT. I have other flies but this PT pattern has really held it’s own and it represents well the Ephemerella Invaria nymph well so it would be counter productive to not use it in my opinion. I started swinging…

Felt a light take, the new rod felt weird the first few casts. I lost three takes in a row and then saw the first one. Floated right past me and I almost jumped in the creek. I quickly reeled in all the line I had out and headed downstream. I lost that one but knowing that these nymphs hold in fast riffles and let loose to emerge I positioned myself and got ready. 11:28am 59degree water temp. I actually watched several of these flies hatch in the crystal clear water. With what seemed like almost one wriggle most were out of the shuck in the blink of an eye. I caught a few and took photo’s, noticing two different body colors I’m wondering if this wasn’t Invaria and Rotunda hatching at the same time. I saw rising trout a few minutes later and switched to a Compara-dun patter I tied for this hatch during the off season. Never seeing this before I was unsure if my flies were going to work but I tried a lead Trailing Shuck Compara-dun followed by a Deer-Hair Emerger pattern, both took fish.

The first on the new rod was small but felt good just the same. A few more followed and I was getting the feel for the new rod, everything about this thing felt excellent. I felt confident casting, this made for a few mis-steps but I was getting used to it. I moved upstream to the real targets. Casting the same two flies I made the first cast count, always a good thing and it payed off immediatly when a beatiful brown launched from below. Took my fly right to the bottom, the fight that ensued made me love this new rod. He went straight for weeds at the bottom and wrapped himself up, I waited, a few minutes later he knew he couldn’t stay there. He ran me downstream and after another few minutes surfaced for good. I wore him out good so I hung around for a few minutes to see him off in good shape.

The rest of the afternoon saw a few sporadic hatching and rising fish, I caught a few more until another nice trout struck and because I thought I could man-handle him I lost both flies and was forced to start over. I re-rigged and took a few moments to take pictures, relax. I trailed my lead fly today with the Deer hair emerger but at one time also with a Swimming PT and both produced trout. I ended up catching only two more fish but I know there will be more of this hatch. On a final note I must say, if your new to this be confident, not cocky but confident. I tied the flies that caught these trout from information from books, the Internet and other anglers before seeing the real thing and it can work. What a sweet time on the water, I will not take this for granted and I will stew on this time for a while to come.

Slide Show

Fished for just a few hours today, saw some cool things and met a fellow fly fisherman looking for alittle advice. It was excellent to feel knowledgeable enough to help steer this guy in the right direction. Let me back up, got on stream and took water temp right away, today I was hoping to find some mayflies hatching. I took an initial temp of ~58 degrees and picked bugs finding, as I have on several other area streams that the Ephemerella nymphs were in full force and just about ready to pop. The date I’ve been hearing is May 20th and although I didn’t see any hatching Light Hendricksons I did see a few sporadic rising trout, my thought is due to some light Caddis activity. During my bug picking adventure I lifted a rock with my strainer downstream to catch the contents and when I pulled it out? A Sculpin! I’ve tried catching these things before but they are quick, it was cool to see this one up close.

I fished a larger Caddis pattern trailed by a smaller PT and both were catching fish today. Second cast and I was onto trout, small trout but trout none the less. I’ve yet to be frustrated with size but I have been catching 6-8″ trout in large numbers but few larger than 10″. Today saw two larger than 12″ and one that threw the hook would have been a larger trout. I enjoyed the warm sun, standing in a few inches of cold trout water was refreshing. I fished until a fellow happened by wanting to know if I was catching anything.

 After a few minutes of having a conversation across the stream I decided that I would rather chat about fly fishing than keep working the spot I was on. I crossed the stream and met a fellow who introduced himself as “Bruno.” He asked about trout, places to fish and what flies I was using. I popped open the boxes I had on me and gave him a few Swimming PT’s and a few new Scud patterns. It was great to talk trout and help someone out, afterward I decided to pack it in, I had obligations and I was satisfied I had put the trout demons down for the time being.

Slide Show

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.