Thursday, August 27, 2015

Trip Report: After Work

Today I got out after work to chase trout. I headed to the same spot I last fished in order to bring that big guy to hand but he did not show himself today. Instead I caught a number of decent little trout and one chunker.
This guy took a prince nymph lookin' thingy that I tied this morning. He put up a decent fight but came to hand with little drama. I turned a few other decent looking fish but could not land the hook.
 These guys took a sunken mayfly dry fished behind a Pink Squirrel of Prey. I landed a few more on a pink butted Pheasant Tail. With good rain in the forecast for tomorrow and non-fishing plans for Saturday I hope to get out next on Sunday.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Trip Report: Outmatched Again!

I've gotten out fishing yesterday and today and found myself outmatched again! Yesterday I brought my 3 wt to the most popular trout stream in Minnesota in hopes of hooking a few trout. I pulled in a few small browns before hooking into a beast. He swam up the pool then down before the Pink Squirrel of Prey popped free of his jaw. I only saw a silhouette of the beast but he looked around 20 inches...damn.
This is not where I fished today but I wanted to post this pic because I like it! Today I fished a different stretch of the most popular trout stream in Minnesota in search of a beastly brown. This section is not heavily fished as evidenced by the shoulder high weeds I wacked to get to the fish. I found fish piled up in shallow pools and willing to eat.
 The Pink Squirrel of Prey caught a fair number of fish before I noticed a dark shadow lingering on the far side of a tricky cross current. I tossed my fly toward it and hooked into a trout of about 10 inches. As I pulled him near the shadowy beast took chase nipping at the heels of the smaller trout all the way to my feet. The shadowy beast must've been at least 22-23 inches. This happened a number of times before I began targeting him. After 1 1/5 hours of fishing at him I set the hook and watched him race around 80 feet upstream. I took chase but upon reaching the beast he took off 100 feet downstream. Again I took chase while reeling and maintaining pressure. He spotted a big branch hanging across a shallow riffle and went for it. The 3 wt did little to slow his run. I followed and while feeding my rod beneath the branch my line went limp. THE HOOK POPPED OUT!!! After letting out a few choice words I continued fishing at the countless decent fish still in the pool.
 I continued to land the occasional fish on the Pink Squirrel of Prey. After a while I decided to head further upstream. At one point I fished a rocky run with some decent fish sitting on the bottom. I briefly hooked into one that appeared to be around 16 inches but only landed a few smaller ones. On the way back to the car I snuck around and tried a few more casts into the pool from which I tied into the shadowy beast.
They wanted little to do with the Pink Squirrel of Prey so I tied on a size 20 RS2 double dropper and presto!
This speckled trout was the best fish of the day. He put up a good fight but came to hand despite his efforts. Today was really windy and pretty cold. I wet waded and by the end of this trip I was ready for a hot shower and a whole pizza. I landed around two dozen fish today with most measuring 12-14 inches. I didn't hook into many small fish and spooked or missed a number of larger ones.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Trip Report: Quick Fish

Yesterday morning I got out for a quick fish. After going out Friday to find no trico hatch and very few fish willing to feed on the hopper I had to try again. I tied on a hopper and caught a few decent browns!
 My camera was out of batteries so I took a few quick pics with my cell phone before dropping it into the drink! It's all good though, it still works. These fish came to hand fast and were handled quickly before being released. Temps hovered in the low 80's while I was on stream but reached the upper 80's by the afternoon. Storms are in the forecast for the next few days and after the streams settle the fish should be looking up again!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Trip Report: Trout on the Horizon!

Since last week every day has felt like trout on the horizon. I got out to a local hot spot on a cool stream to fish a few times this week and the fish were plentiful. I scared ten times as many fish as I caught and found fish eager to eat nymphs, emergers, and tradional dries! 
This chunker came on a size 24 trico emerger. In my fly box the trico matched closest to the Pale Evening Dun coming off the surface sporadically. I caught a number of fish on this fly but found that after a few casts the fish began to totally ignore it. 
 The above pictured trout hit a size 16 purple haze that I had left over from Montana. It turns out the purple haze catches 'em in the midwest too. The trout pictured top left came out of a deeper riffle and inspected the fly for a foot or so before committing to eat the fly.
At one point I spotted this and another larger brown trout at the bottom tail out of a deeper pool. I rigged up a pink squirrel of prey and landed this guy. Water temps measured 58 on this day and the trout were looking up!
This little guy sucked down an olive stripped quill zebra midge emerger. On each day I averaged around a dozen fish with most measuring 10-12 inches.

I have off work tomorrow so again, trout are on the horizon. I hope to fish an AM trico hatch followed by some hopper fishing throughout the afternoon!

Friday, August 7, 2015

Trip Report: More Fishin'

Last Sunday I did an on call shift for work so I didn't get in any fishing but I did build a fly rod!
This is a 9 foot 4 wight built on a graphite blank. This rod turned out beautifully. My only regret was purchasing a maple colored reel seat over a darker brown which would have matched the blank and thread colors. After Sunday I was eager to take it out. I decided my first few trips with this rod, named the Trout Whomper, would be to streams that required long casts. Without time to fish during the heat of the day I decided to try early and late for risers on a few buggy streams.
This guy along with a few more hit on a size 24 parachute trico that I tie. He put up a decent fight but proved no match for the Trout Whomper! The fish fell for the trico but Pale Evening Dun were primarily coming off the surface. On this evening I tied into a number of decent fish but straitened the hook or missed the strike on most. My next opportunity to fish came before work one day. I hoped to find a good trico hatch and was not disappointed. 
A buddy joined me for this outing! We fished upstream for a half hour or so until the trico (and a small brownish mayfly pattern) hatch became apparent. My buddy tied into a number of fish before I found my groove.
 These smaller browns came from crystal clear water so they were ultra spooky. The Trout Whomper was able to cast far and soft enough to land without scaring 'em. After missing a bunch more strikes I tied into the biggest fish of the day, a colorful and sturdy brown.
He put up a great fight but was unable to straiten the hook. I missed a really nice fish on a perfect cast. As it landed the line swung around some vegetation that hung in the water and landed within two inches. As the fly drifted drag free around the plants a beastly brown smashed the fly without warning. I set the hook and after feeling the slightest pressure that line went limp. Oh well! Stay tuned, I hope to get out a few times before next Friday when I have the day off and will certainly be chasing big trout with big hoppers.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Trip Report: Hot and Fishy

First yesterday. I left work around 12 and landed stream-side by one. I tied on a hopper in the heat and lofted to a few curious trout. The first, around 16 inches long, snapped me off on a violent take. The next was a little larger and nipped the fly by the side as to avoid the hook. I watched the whole thing before pulling the hopper out of its mouth. I lost two more decent fish and landed only two dinks before they shut down at around 430. Disappointing results but you can't beat a venue like this!
Today I planned to fish hoppers on one of my home streams. I arrived at 830ish and spoke to a fella from Kentucky who said he had decent luck after arriving stream-side at 530. No cars in the area provided more reason for excitement as I expected to have the stream to my self. After walking a ways and catching three little browns I ran into people who said they'd come from upstream. I saw no more fish before turning around to fish a cool headwaters stream.
This colorful chunker chased a small parachute hopper from a shallow undercut. He put up a decent fight before facing the net. After a quick pic he took off to fight another day. After catching a few smaller browns the brookies came out to play!
Most were around this size but I snapped off on what appeared to be a 12-13 inch brookie. It was neat to see fish react with such enthusiasm over my new hopper. The fish pictured below death rolled onto the fly.
I caught around a dozen fish at this spot and missed as many strikes on the hopper before casting a pink squirrel of prey to some eager trout! I pulled 6 small browns out of the first pool the squirrel met. The second pool yeilded another three before I decided to call it a day.

Bad News: There was a pretty big fish kill on the S. Branch of the Whitewater! I headed over this evening to see how one of my favorite stretches fared and found lots of dead Browns, Rainbows, suckers, and other bait fish. Kinda sad, It'll take years for the effected waters to return to their former glory.