Trip Report: Wild Ride

Today I got up early and headed to the stream with hopes of beating the rain. I hoped to fish the trico hatch but the trico only appeared for a few minutes. I still managed to catch a few stocker rainbows and tied into a few browns that I was unable to land.

 As the showers started I switched to the pink squirrel of prey and began catching fish consistently. At one point I tied into a really nice brown. The water was very clear and I could see him dart behind a big rock. As soon as he disappeared behind the rock my line snapped. This fish acted like he has done this before! After hitting a few deep pools I decided to focus more on riffles which are shallow water with fast current flowing over rocks.

This guy pulled me down stream about 50 feet. Fishing the riffles yielded fewer but much larger fish. I continued prospecting the riffles of this stream with the pink squirrel of prey and ran into this sparsely speckled brown.

This guy took me on a wild ride! He came from a fast riffle. As soon as I set the hook he ran up stream into a little deeper water. I set foot into the water to net him and he took off down stream. There was a barbed wire fence crossing the stream just below where I hooked him and he dove downstream below the fence. I had to lower my rod and duck under the fence in order to continue the fight. He came to hand soon after. I decided to head home shortly after catching this fish because the rain was picking up. 2-4 inches of rain is forecast for the weekend so I'm not sure when I'll get back on the stream.

Trip Report: Rainbows and Browns

 Today I fished a spot known for its rainbows and browns! I arrived at the stream at 3:30 after checking a few spots that looked less than promising. There was some habitat improvement work going on upstream from my access point so the water was off colored. I walked a ways until I found cleaner water and fish rising. I put on a new emerger pattern I've been working on and tied into a few rainbows. After they quit rising I switched to the pink squirrel of prey and continued catching a mixed bag of rainbows and browns.

This brown came from a natural undercut bank in a farm pasture. With an audience of cows I continued pulling in fish. I wanted to fish another stretch of the stream but it would have required wading in the stream. I had business in Rochester today and forgot to pack my wading shoes! I walked the pasture in my fancy black leather shoes. I was definitely the best dressed fisherman on the Minnesota driftless streams today.

Stay Tuned: I hope to get out for some more fishing but as it sits now the forecast calls for five days of thunderstorms and a few inches of rain...

Trip Report: Hopper Fishin' and Sun Burn

I got out fishing today to celebrate the last day of oppressive heat for awhile! I arrived at the stream by around 9 and rigged up a big orange and tan hopper pattern. The fish didn't hammer the hoppers like I hoped they would but they gently nipped them from the surface.

After catching a few around this size I clumsily approached the confluence of the stream I was fishing and a very muddy stream. I tossed the hopper a few times without success so I stood tall and looked down into the pool. Sitting on the bottom where the muddy water was swirling around the clearer and colder water was a massive brown trout. It must have been at least 21-22 inches. He didn't spook when I spotted him so I tied on a small minnow streamer with no luck. I turned to the black leech which the beast also refused. I tried a small pink squirrel of prey fly which didn't work either. I decided to move on.

This beast sucked the hopper under and came to hand after a short battle. He was released to fight another day. At one point my long sleeve shirt fell over my forearms. I rolled them up and in doing so felt a little sunburn on my arm. It was in the mid 80's today and it was just too hot to got with the sleeves down.

All told I probably caught a dozen and a half, all on hoppers. I did hook into a nice one on a nymph pattern but he snapped my off on the undercut bank. As soon as I got into the car I noticed that my forearms were very burned! Oh well, at least it is forecast to be cooler tomorrow. Below are a few pictures from a short trip I went on with a friend last Friday.

 Fella that I met on the stream and I decided to fish a local stream well known for big trout. It was hot and overcast when we hit the river. A dense fog hung over the water tamping down any hatches. We fished attractor dries, emergers, nymphs, and streamers. At one point fella pulled his streamer through a pool and a nice fish flashed at his streamer. After a few casts, no luck. I suggested that he cast it and let it sit for a while. Sure enough it worked!

This brown came from the depths. Big fish of the day!

Trip Report: Calm Before the Storm

We have storms headed our way for the next few days so I decided to get out early this morning to do a little fishing before I had to mow the lawn. I arrived on the stream at about 7 but saw no risers. I tied up a nymph rig and before I could get it into the water the tricos appeared!

This was the first of many to sip the tiny fly from the surface. Every time I was able to attain a drag free drift I got a strike. I missed as many as I caught. I think it is because the hook is so small it doesn't always find a place to stick. I learned that if I resisted the urge to set the hook hard and simply pulled the line taught my hookup ratio was much better.

 These guys were the big fish of the day. I hooked into two really nice fish only to lose them a few seconds into the fight! All fish hit the olive size 24 trico. After a slow beginning to the hatch they came on really strong at about 830. In some places the water boiled with fish surfacing. The disturbance that the feeding activity caused made it hard to see the tiny fly on the surface of the water! I missed a few subtle strikes because of this.

By the time I decided to leave I caught around two dozen browns and two small rainbows, all on the trico. At 11 the hatch shut down and the fish surfaced more sporadically. The trico hatch is incredible. The fish feed on the surface with no regard for who may be standing on shore and within their field of vision. A fisherman can flog the water with saturated line and a gaudy fly without slowing their feeding. As comfortable as they become in the presence of people they will key in on the trico such that they will flatly refuse any other fly. A friend of mine told me that the trico must taste delicious because as soon as the hatch ends the fish again become easily spooked!

Trip Report: Trico Hatch, Again!

Today I gout out for a full day of fishing. My goal was to catch a decent brown on a size 26 trico dry fly. An inch of rain fell throughout the area but the streams still ran clear. I had very little luck on the first stream I fished. I caught three decent little browns on the trico before heading back to the car. The hatch was not strong but between the trico and small cream midges coming off the water the fish were looking up all day. 

This guy slurped the trico off the surface and came to hand after a short but spirited battle. I worked up stream behind two other fisherman so I like to think I would have caught a few bigger fish had they not been put down by the commotion.

I took a few short breaks in order to smell the roses (actually these butterflies were resting on a pile of cow shit!) I saw a few eagles and lots of little bugs also.

 Again, I caught a good number of fish but they were all pretty average. I wavered from the sz 26 trico pattern only once. I tied on a leech pattern and immediately had a nice fish swipe at it but I quickly returned to using the minute dry fly. At the tail of the next pool I gently placed they fly onto the surface and the water immediately erupted. After a long but generally uneventful fight I pulled in the biggest fish of the day, a slender brown trout of around 16 inches.

After a short conversation about how to avoid this situation I released him to the depths from which he came. Posted below are a couple of pics from a short trip that I took yesterday morning with a new friend. We tested my new trico pattern with great success!

 Stay tuned: I'm going to try to get out fishing tomorrow morning before the storms come.

Trip Report: Trout Hunting

I got up early this morning for some trout hunting! After saddling up my fly rod with a size black size 18 trico dry fly I stalked my way upstream from a popular access on a popular river.

These trout are well educated. After missing the hookset on a number of fish I landed this beast. It pulled my line into the weeds before diving under the bank. After a short but exciting fight I netted it and snapped a quick picture before releasing it.

 After catching a bunch of unremarkable little browns this bespeckled fella fell for the trico. After a good fight, a quick photo, and a short pep talk he returned to the depths from which he came! I spent most of the day trudging through muddy banks and soldiering through thick stands of wild parsnip and nettles. On my way home I decided to try one more spot.

I approached the point of access and immediately spotted fish rising. After a short conversation with some fellas preparing to fish downstream I headed upstream. I hopped into the water and began roll casting my trico below the overhanging branches. Withing ten minutes I landed five average sized browns. I missed as many as I landed. Continuing upstream I found a pasture section where the above photo was taken. A few more fish succumbed to the power of the trico before I decided to try to nymph up a bigger fish. 

No larger fish but this beautiful brown fell for the bird of prey. I love the name of that fly! A few more browns came to hand before I decided to retire for the afternoon. Upon returning home I headed strait to the vise to tie up some flies for Monday.

Trip Report: Trico Hatch!

I woke up early this morning with the intention of going to a nearby river to fish nymphs. While I was getting gas I spoke with a fella who suggested I try to fish the trico hatch. I arrived at the river just before 8am and tied on a small parachute trico pattern I've been working on. Flies danced through the air and littered the water.

I dressed in long sleeves and pants anticipating a chilly morning but after wetting my feet I was freezing. After a few casts I didn't even notice.

I pulled this vibrant brown out of a riffle that housed another half dozen eager fishes. Almost every cast I made that did not have drag caught a fish. I worked hard on drifting my flies without drag but with 6x tippet and a short leader it was not easy. I also missed a lot of strikes because of slack in the line. While working up stream I notice a fish surfacing near a clump of grass along the shoreline. I tossed my fly perfectly in front of it and the fight was on!

I was surprised to see this fat rainbow on the other end. I led him into the net after a short but spirited fight. I continued catching 10-12 inch browns throughout the pasture section of the river. When I reached the end of the pasture I was not ready to be done. I decided to wade upstream in search of downed trees and bigger fish. I tied on a small gray bird of prey caddis imitation and placed my strike indicator. I pulled a few small browns out of the first deep pool before moving on.

This chunky brown came out of the head of a fast, deep run. He ran under a stump and wrapped around a branch but I was able to steer him out and into my net. I caught a few more out of that run before heading further upstream.

 After wading through stinky muck that was hip deep (yes I went balls deep while wet wading) I was ready to turn around. There is still plenty of good water to explore but I'll either wait until spring when the weeds aren't as thick or bring a pair of waders. After 6 hours of fishing I probably caught around 30-40 trout with all browns and two rainbows. Most fish were caught on a size 18 trico pattern but the biggest came on the bird of prey.

Trip Report: In Search of Brook Trout

Today I found myself on a local river that purportedly has a population of brook trout. I fished this stream a few times and have had great luck with brown trout, but never any brookies. I heard that one of the streams that flows into this river has lots of brookies so I walked upstream in search of this small tributary. On my way I ran into a friendly gentleman who was trying to match the trico hatch with his friend. We talked fishing for a bit and learned that we live in the same small town. Upon parting ways I told the fellas that I was going strait to the tributary and that I wouldn't fish ahead of them.

 After heading up the wrong tributary for a while I found the right spot. I immediately caught a half dozen browns in the first two pools. I was a little disappointed that they weren't brookies so I headed further upstream.

I encountered a very large brown for this stream (16-18 inches) but scared him as I clumsily waded into the pool. I continued a long distance up stream but only caught and scared brown trout. Where are all the Minnesota brook trout!?!

As this brownie came to hand I saw the gray sides and thought I had a brook trout. After admiring the colors I turned back down stream. I headed back to the main river and fished a few select areas. I caught another half dozen unremarkable browns before walking back to the car. Today there was a sizable trico hatch but I was unable to match the hatch. I caught half of my fish on a size 18 deer hair caddis dry fly and the other half on a gray bird of prey nymph.

Trip Report: New Net

While I was fishing on Saturday morning I found a net. I was going to leave it at the bridge where I accessed the stream but decided to keep it believing that someone other that the rightful owner would take it so...finders keepers! I got out briefly this morning at a new spot close to home. The forecast called for storms but I found only cloudy skies and hungry brown trout.

 These two browns broke in my new net. I fished a beautiful pasture section surrounded by steep bluffs, focusing mostly on runs as the riffles and pools did not appear to hold many fish. Some trout fed on the surface but would not touch any of my offerings so I stuck with subsurface patterns.

This big fella came from a deep run that ran alongside a big log. He put up a good fight but was no match for the net! Although I didn't get to fish for long today it was nice to find another spot within 15 minutes from home. Stay tuned: I hope to get out tomorrow to search for some more chunky browns and maybe a brookie or two.

Trip Report: A Long Walk

Today I took a long walk into the woods in search of trout. Armed with some newly tied flies I focused on weedy areas and undercut banks. A few fish came from under weedy patches but most came from under the banks.

This chunky fella came from came out from under the weeds to hit a small nymph that is a cross between a brassie, a bird of prey, and a prince nymph. He pulled me under the bank and through the weeds but I was able to steer him to shore. I lost one really nice fish when he pulled me under the bank and rubbed the hook off onto a submerged log. 

A few little fish came out of this run. The beast mentioned above came just downstream of here. 

 A few pools ahead of this one I cast my fly in with an indicator and a decent brown hit the nymph and, powering out of the water, also hit the indicator. I set the hook and the line immediately snapped. The theme for today: Lost the bigguns!