Field Notes:

• AT: 7:00am DT: 11:30am
• WT @8am: 57°F @11am: 56°F
• Clear Water on Arrival
• AAT: 75°F DAT: 84°F
• Rising Trout on Arrival

Onstream at 7am…late for this time of the year. I hiked downstream roughly a mile and began working back upstream to the truck. Started with a two fly nymph rig consisting of a #14 Pink Squirrel and a #16 Caddis larva. Picked off a couple but opted to swap to a #14 Stimulator due to observed rising. I tossed the Stimulator for an hour and picked off close to a dozen trout in the 8-11inch range. Looking for one or two larger fish I swapped to a #8 Olive Kiss My Leech. I opted for this particular streamer pattern for two reasons. The creek was gin clear, the fish were active and nearer to the surface making a lighter streamer less likely to spook trout but still get the attention of those feeding anywhere near the surface. I did put on a decent sized splitshot to drift a couple deeper spots but for the most part I was tossing the streamer and stripping it in fairly quickly. Many strikes observed the second the fly touched the surface of the creek, a nice tight cast was needed to hook up with an instant strike. The stimulator made its way into action over the course of the morning a couple more times dictated by the situation. Weedy? Go top water. Risers? Go top water. I assessed the bug situation and believe the tiny Baetis nymphs I observed with dark wingpads were the hatching insect bringing trout to surface. A well dressed, high floating Stimulator did the trick just fine and was much easier to see than a smaller #18-20 BWO. When the thunder clouds rolled in I rolled out leaving the creek at roughly 11:30am. Get conditioned to wake early… Trico’s will be upon us soon.

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Damn, what an afternoon. Got onstream later than I wanted but found myself pulling up to a bridge with a family of six swimming in the big hole just downstream. The adults and I discussed fishing while I got my gear togather, the kids played in the cold water tossing sticks for the dogs. Trout water being enjoyed by all. As my time was short and I had not seen this section of creek we parted ways and I left the kids playing in the creek behind me. Weeds were of course up and tall crowding the already pretty thin stream. What it lacked in width it made up for with depth, a good situation for the trout and perhaps a more difficult one for me. I rigged a #14 Black Wet Fly and trailed it with a #16 Pink Squirrel, noting the depth around the first turn I added a single small split shot to aid the sink rate and moved upstream.

I found a good run and took my time getting into place. I could see from the banks I had chosen the right section of creek to satisfy my goals for the day…find brook trout. Their white fins giving them away as I peer through the weeds crouched on the bank. Rather than stand up on the bank and give my position away I slid down the bank wall and took a step into four feet of trout water. Normally I don’t cast from in the creek but sometimes it is the best option, a straight shot upstream with a marginally clear lane for a backcast behind me. The second my boots hit the creek I could see dirt plooms sending sediment downstream, those I had disturbed. I took another couple of minutes to let things settle and to observe my targets. I managed one decent cast with my two fly rig but missed the take it inspired only to lift my line up too sharply sending my flies into the bank riddled with 4-5ft tall weeds. I attempted to remove my flies without moving which resulted in a broken line and no flies…rookie mistake, 5x tippet… I could see my flies and rather than lose them I moved through the creek downstream to retrieve my goods.

On the bank I turned to see a rise from the run I was fishing, I looked at my flies and decided to try a #14 Orange Stimulator for maybe three reasons. 1st, there was a significant amount of instream vegitation which would hang up my two fly nymph rig, combine that with gin clear water and low flows resulting in disturbed trout from the splash of my flies hitting the creek. 2nd, Brookies take a Stimulator really well, they just don’t hesitate and tend to crush it. Finally the 3rd reason was my desire to fish a dry fly, to see the rise.

The first cast with the #14 Orange Stimulator proved I had made the right choice. Slam. A beautiful 8inch brookie, I’ve caught brookies before but not this many displaying the brightest colors I’ve ever seen on fish. I sat on that first run and moved maybe 2 feet in an hour. I’d catch one and send it downstream then turn wait a minute and cast again, for the most part they hit the Stimulator within two-three seconds of it hitting the water. They also tended to react more agressivly the higher the fly was floating, a couple nailed my fly as it was half sunk because I’m often too eager to stop and dress my fly properly (I’m working on that). I worked to the very very tip top of the riffle, in water less than 4 inches deep lay a nice 13inch brookie that I had seen rise once. I knew he was there, just a matter of get his friends out of my way without disturbing him. A couple more brookies and a brown later and I was grinning at the red belly flying through the air attempting to shake my hook.

My afternoon was made, long casts, dry flies and beautiful brookies. I moved upstream and took a handful more with my fly before it disintegrated before my eyes after about the 20th trout jaw took its toll. I swapped to a #14 Pink Head Stimulator and sure enough the brookies took to it. I landed a handful more before turning to head out. On my way I spied a hole and decided to swap to a #8 Black SMB just to see if anyone was home, the most colorful fish of the day came as a result. The icing on the cake and with that I was on my way.

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Yes, I am still fishing. Little stops me from seeing flowing water before too long but a series of events after my return from Oregon prevented me from documenting what fishing has been done. 1st, I spent a solid week prepping ground, installing deer fence and planting a rather substantial garden for my first undertaking. Things went slowly at first but now everything is humming along well and the hours spent digging in the dirt rather than fishing were rewarding. 2nd, I had a bit of a computer crash/issue resulting in a down period (thus the reason I didn’t finish the OR trip posts). After a week of no email, no blog, no screen I had been cleansed and have struggled to spend much time infront of this thing since, honestly I’m alright with less computer time when the sun is shining and the lawn needs mowing or dirt needs digging. 3rd, prior to leaving for OR I joined the volunteer fire and rescue department in my area. As a result I have been spending some fishing time training and attending to my neighbors in need.

With all that out of the way June was a hot but good month around here. Felt the urge to fish the Mississippi a bit and have taken a handful of nice Smallmouth Bass over the last couple weeks fishing poppers and clousers here and there. I’ve also spent a decent amount of time searching for carp I can present a fly to but have yet to find the spot I’m looking for. As July rolls on and the river drops a bit more I might get the opportunity to take a Mississippi carp on the fly. I’ve fished for trout a handful of times and kind of laughed a bit at myself. The past three years I’ve spent the majority of June and July trudging upstream casting in weeded up gin clear water under low flow conditions. This is not the ideal way to catch trout but it can still be a good time if you can stay cool andkeep the bugs off. Bugs…hint…the buff. Awesome for the bugs. Keeping gnats, black flies and other nuisances out of your face and off your neck.

Summer flies that have been particularly effective for me have been a #14 Stimulator in traditional colors of Orange and Green but also the Black and Pink version I tied up last year has been holding its own bringing many smaller browns to surface. I’ve been fishing a dry/dropper rig when I can and the #14 Black Wet Fly sunk 12-18 inches down has been deadly, trout just crush the BWF in the summer months. As usual the meaty #8 Black SMB has taken it’s share of June trout including a handful of larger rainbows that made their way to my dinner table. It’s been a good summer so far and we have Trico’s to look forward to… oh and be careful out there, the wild parsnip is approaching 7-8ft tall in some areas and is thicker than I’ve seen it in the past. Avoid if possible.

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A little late is better than never, with that in mind here is how I tied my recent batch of Stimulators. I should note that I did glue the head of every fly but when tying 60 of these flies I waited until the entire batch was done before busting out the glue to finish each fly. Peace.

-the w.f.f.

Notes and Observations:

• Size and Prep ALL Dry Fly Hackle Before Tying!
• Be Weary of Elk/Deer Hair that contains Broken/Damaged Hair. It is a pain.
• Practice, Practice, Practice.

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For me trout addiction isn’t a problem just a reality, ok it gets me in hot water every now and again but it also gets me out of the house and takes me to far off lands where the animals live and few men travel. Trout addiction has gotten the best of me. Case in point: 8am trout stream in-sight. Looking for brookies I decided to head to the headwaters of a typical S.E. MN stream. How far would this rabbit hole go? What is through the woods? Trout addiction. I knew before I left that I might find nothing but I needed to see for myself. Water was cold (~52) degrees and gin clear, despite the recent rain this section looked as if none had fallen. I had heard a report that otters have become well established here causing the trout population to decrease, including the brookies, maybe especially the brookies? I saw one scoot away from me as I started, shortly afterwards I cam upon a whitish matter floating in the stream, looked to me like flesh maybe from a trout.

Didn’t touch a brook trout today, should have but none were to be had. Traveling upstream staying in the 2ft wide path of stream that wasn’t covered in water cress I moved upstream.  I kept trudging until I found the first trouty looking spot that offered a decent casting lane and drift. I picked a Stimulator I tied recently just for the Brookies and got to swinging. Little did I know not much was holding under the root wad hanging off the edge. A few poor casts and I thought it was over but then a flash, there was something holding in there. One more cast without the poor drift and that fish came up, a smaller brown trout. Not a brookie. Moving on I kept going further upstream, the water seemed to get smaller around each turn but then it would plateau and open into a wider section each of which was pretty shallow and those that weren’t had a tree or a few trees right on top and were un-fishable with a fly. I continued further upstream…trout addiction.

After an hour of hiking I rounded a bend and watched the stream open up but I couldn’t see it? Covered 100% by water cress. This is the first point when I questioned turning back for something more realistic but I saw a hole cut through the cress further upstream and decided I had to see. I could hear the sound of a waterfall but I couldn’t see it? Covered in water cress, during this time I counted at least six springs flowing into what I had been wading through. I followed the main flow further until I came to a flat shallow section blocked by weeds and logs.  To pass I climbed up and on top of several tree limbs blocking my way, as I stood on top looking out I realised I was standing on a log jam that had been covered in so much foliage I couldn’t see the massive amount of debris in front of me. Looking above I saw what you see here and decided I had gone far enough in search of the magical trout hole hidden in the deep jungle, Indiana Jones style, this is my trout addiction.

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Fished under cloudy skies today for four hours this afternoon. I fished two rigs; the SMB on a short leader and a #12 Stimulator with a trailing #16 Sparkle Larva on a longer 12ft leader, the fish just nailed the Sparkle larva. I saw little to no mayfly nymphs or surface flies on the stream again today which was the main reason for tying on a Sparkle Larvae, I’m glad I did. Approximately twenty fish were taken in a short time and the count was 12-14 brown trout that were 14in or above, Excellent. All fish caught in a hundred yard stretch of flat open water that I worked up very very slowly and then got out and worked it up again. I’m working on better casts, accurate mending and deader drifts. The wild parsnip is up and in full bloom, know what it looks like and avoid if possible. Enjoy the summer now, it will be gone before we know it.

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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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