Thursday, July 31, 2014

Trip Report: A Good Day to Stay Dry

Today I sampled three spring creeks in the area. My first goal was to find fish rising. My second goal was to catch 'em! I started out on the lower reaches of a stream that's about fifteen minutes from home. I arrived at the parking area at 8:30 and there were already three cars there! I bushwhacked a good distance into the woods and immediately found fish rising.
This ugly bastard sipped a purple parachute adams from the surface. I pulled another half dozen or so out of this spot before heading to my next destination; a remote little spring creek another fifteen minutes away.
 This little creek was fun to fish! After losing my purple adams to a nice brown before leaving my previous spot I changed to a small gray adams, then a small sparkly green caddis dry. The fish were easily spooked today but with a stealthy approach I was able to land over a dozen at this spot. I then moved on to another creek about a half hour away.
 After snapping off on a fish that felt very large I continued upstream from where I parked. I found a deep hole where thirty or forty trout could be seen swimming around! I cast into the current at the head of the pool and this guy struck. He fought hard but couldn't shake the fly from his mouth.
This colorful brownie came from another deep pool. I walked up to the spot clumsily and scared three very large trout! I managed to catch a few but nothing like the ones I spooked. 

Stay tuned: Until I find work I'll be fishing every day!!!

Trip Report: My Introduction to Minnesota's Driftless Area

I moved to a small town in Southeast Minnesota a few days ago. Since leaving Montana I have had serious trout withdraws so for the last few days I've been filling out job applications and fishing!
There's me with my first Minnesota brook trout. The wife and I walked up a larger river into this tributary. The water was cold but unfortunately we only saw this and another small brown trout. I found my new favorite spot only ten minutes from my house!
The water is clear and cold. I spotted a few rising trout but couldn't manage to connect on any dry flies. I went subsurface and caught around two dozen brown trout ranging from 6 inches to about 14.
This beast came from an unassuming hole between two stands of submerged vegetation. He took a small gray and pink fly called a pink squirrel tied with my own additions. He fought hard, swimming under the undercut bank and then into the weeds. I lost two other really nice fish that snapped off by swimming under the bank. After a quick pic he was released to fight another day. On the drive home I decided that this will be my "home water."