Thursday, October 27, 2016

Trip Report: State Park Fishing

I got out for a few short hours to chase trout around one of Minnesota's three state parks which allow trout fishing while the season is closed for all other small streams in the Minnesota driftless. With cloudy skies and a good stain on the water fishing was pretty easy. I tied on a black egg sucking leech and watched lots of trout chase, swing, and occasionally connect.
It seems like the park hasn't been stocked yet but some holdovers provided constant action. At one point I watched a nice bow, around 14 or 15 inches, swim up to my fly but he wouldn't take it!
I landed around a half dozen rainbows this afternoon before hooking into my first few browns. As I moved upstream the scenery got better, as did the action for brownies.
I never put much time into streamer fishing but after the success I had up to this point I decided to focus more on different retrievals. I can't wait to fish more streamers next spring.
It was nice to get out for awhile. I did not notice any redds yet but it'll happen any day now. It may be a bit before I get out trout fishing again but it's great to have the option when all other options are closed!

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Trip Report: State Park Season!

Here in MN we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch trout year 'round! The state park season runs from October 15-December 31. During this time trout fishing is closed in all but the rivers of Forestville State Park, Whitewater State Park, and Beaver Creek Valley State Park. After putting up a blank on the Brule this weekend I decided to fish a state park to redeem myself.
I arrived early and started fishing with a zebra midge. I immediately landed a few small rainbows. There fins looked good which indicates that they haven't stocked in the park for a while. I hope they stock soon though as I believe they act as "decoys" while the browns spawn.
This guy took a red size 22 zebra midge. After this fish came to hand more followed suit.
This guy posed just long enough for this photo. As soon as the pic snapped off the fish flopped out of my hand, spit the hook, and bid me good day! After a few more trout I noticed a little mayfly that landed on my flyrod.
I only had some bigger parachute BWO's in my box so I tied on a CDC RS2 emerger and went to town on the little browns and rainbows surfacing around me.
Action wasn't fast 'n furious but steady enough to keep me entertained for a while. I landed at least a half dozen little browns in around a half hour of casting before landing this guy.
The biggest rainbow of the day! After missing a few strikes I decided to call it a day. A steady breeze made casting dries difficult but a light chop on the water help conceal me through the crystal clear water. Temps reached the mid 60's today and the sun was about all day. Hopefully soon I'll be able to hit another state park.
 Oh yeah, if anybody's interested check out Whitewater Valley Flies to purchase the same flies I fished with today! Also I added a 9' 5wt to the Fly Rod Inventory.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Trip Report: Beaten by the Brule

On Friday, Saturday, and Today I hit the Brule River in northern Wisconsin with a buddy. We fished, we fished, and we fished some more but to no avail. We spotted a few fish but only heard of one other angler that caught a fish. It was a great experience but I'm not used to seeing so many people afield.
We talked to a good number of other anglers who shared with us a multitude of theories, strategies, and bullshit related to fishing for steelhead but in the end none of it mattered. The fish were there and well aware of what we were trying to do. I'm pretty sure my buddy through his whole box at them!
 The colors were spectacular! The underbrush was painted in reds and greens while taller trees stood cloaked in yellows, reds, greens, oranges, and brown. While the hike from pool to pool proved tiresome the fall colors added that little extra that kept us going.
My buddy and I worked this pool hard. We saw no signs of life and moved on. 
Again, the colors were great. We covered different sections of the 20+ miles of stream open to us. It was neat to observe how the river changed character from an upland meadow/marsh section through a higher gradient valley to a flat, marshy lowland, and finally into Lake Superior.
I plan to chase 'em again next spring but for now, the end.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Expanding My Horizons

One of my buddies got a hold of me today and essentially said "get with the program bro, the future is here". So short story even shorter, you can now get your Whitewater Valley Flies/MN Driftless Fly Fishing fix another way!!! Follow me on Instagram @wwvalleyflies. I have another rod waiting to be finished but for those of you dying for a medium/fast 9' 5 weight you're going to have to wait until next week because I'm headed north soon to chase Steelhead with a buddy! Will report back soon.

And remember, the 29% off Birthday Sale ends 10/14/2016!

Friday, October 7, 2016

Fly Rod Sale!

Happy Birthday to ME!!! In celebration of my 29th birthday all fly rods at Whitewater Valley Flies are on sale for 29% off! Offer ends 10/14/2016.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Trip Report: Love Is In The Air

This weekend I fished three different streams. The first is a short stream that has a high gradient and is prone to flooding. There were a few spots on the stream that totally scoured out. These spots held the most and biggest trout.
You can see huge logs that got caught in the live trees. When this stream flooded it must've been epic. In fact while I drove to this spot I saw numerous landslide areas! After catching a few with the Pink Squirrel of Prey I switched over to the San Juan Worm. The fish responded well.
This fish was about the biggest my three weight could handle on this little stream. I hooked into one fish around 18 inches and without hesitation he pulled me into a rootball and was gone. After catching this guy I peeped into the pool and noticed a bunch of fish "staging" on the bottom. I saw no "redds" but the fish will definitely move to redds to spawn within the next week or two.
This brownie had a funky bump on his shoulder. At first I thought maybe it was shaping up like a pre-spawn salmon but upon closer inspection I think he broke his back at some point.
This stream is loaded with fish. Ever time I popped my head up to look into any deeper water I spotted fish. They were interested in the SJ worm more than anything. I spotted a few mayflies but only spotted one fish surface. This morning I decided to head to another trout factory. Fishing wasn't as good as I'd hoped but I managed to land one decent trout amount that many dinks that came to hand.
Fish on this stream haven't started building redds either. After a lunch break I headed to a brookie factory armed with the three weight and SJ Worm.
 Lots of brookies came to hand. None as large as I'd hoped for. After hiking a good distance upstream I turned around and headed for the car. This may be the last time I get to wet wade:(