Trip Report: Perfect Conditions

I have to work for 12 hours tomorrow so I cut out of work early today to do a little fishing. I headed for a spot near work that I don't get to fish too often. The stream flows through a beautiful pastured valley and into the Mississippi River. It was cloudy, rainy, and windy today which made sneaking up on the trouts much easier in this small stream.

I started off targeting a nice riser with a deer hair skittering caddis. The fish ignored it a few times before striking it with vigor. I set the hook only to find that he missed the fly. After some choice words I switched to the tried and true Pink Squirrel of Prey and began tying into fish consistently. 

 I caught 5 or 6 average sized fish before hooking this chunker. He hit the fly at the beginning of the run and darted around a deep pool before coming to hand. Most of the fish I caught came from faster moving water. I turned a few fish toward the middle of deeper pools but they seemed to only be nibbling the Squirrel.

 This guy came to hand in a similar fashion. I caught around 18 to 20 fish today with the two pictured being the largest. I hooked into one really nice fish in a short run but he immediately pulled my fly into a bunch of submerged branches and snapped my line. I'll be back for him before long!

There was limited insect activity on top but a few spare caddis came off as I was pulling away. Stay tuned: My brother's coming this weekend and were hoping to chase some big trouts!

A Creekside Stroll

This morning the wife and I went for a creekside stroll along one of the most popular trout streams in SE Minnesota. I brought the fly rod along with the wife took a few pictures.

 After catching a few little guys I tied into this ugly beast. He pulled hard and darted between boulders in a deep run before coming to hand.

He came on a pink squirrel of prey. I managed a total of 6 fish this morning with the one pictured above being the largest. We ran into a surprising amount of people on the stream considering it's mothers day. They all reported having a slow day.

Trip Report: A Short But Fruitful Outing

I really need to stop saying 'I won't be getting out fishing for a while'. With as many trout streams as I have within a short drive the odds  that I'll get out fishing on any given day is pretty good! After work today I headed out to a headwaters stream less than 10 minutes from home.

 I liked this tree! I spotted some Sulphers and midges hatching but I decided to take another route. After a short hike I tied on the skittering caddis and tossed him downstream twitching him down and across. I immediately began tying into brookies. 

 Fish spooked with every step so on this small stream only the longest and most precise casts landed fish. I caught around a dozen smaller brookies and four that measured around 9-11 inches.

This brownie came from beneath an undercut to slam the Skittering Caddis. By this point I spotted a few spare caddis coming off. After catching around two dozen fish (most very small) I called it a day and hiked back to the car.

Stay tuned: The forecast changed and now tomorrow looks to be cloudy and a bit chilly, but without storms.

Trip Report: A Full Day of Fishing

Since I have to work tomorrow and there's lots of rain in the forecast for Sunday I decided to fish today! First a buddy and I headed to a spot that neither of us fished yet. We pulled up to the access point only to find a stream of chocolate milk, off color because of the heavy rains last night. We decided to backpedal a little and fish a nearby stream that we noticed was clear-ish on the way. We each managed 6-7 fish. This guy was the biggest.

We fished from 8ish until around noon. My buddy and I BS'd for a while before parting ways. By around two I was on the next stream, a small stream full of little browns. 

I headed down the hill and began flinging a streamer as I worked downstream. After seeing a few flashes I hooked into a really nice one. I tried to horse him a little and he took a calculated run which snapped my 4.4 lb tippet. I tied on a gray deer hair skittering caddis and skated him upstream as I continued down. I caught a few smaller ones before heading back upstream. I tied on a Pink Squirrel of Prey and began pulling 'em in almost immediately. 

I fished to an audience as I hauled in this little chunker. I like his spots! The cows were pretty cool and even though they had some babies with 'em they didn't mind my presence. 

 After hauling in a couple decent little browns I hooked into another decent fish. I only saw a muted flash as he pulled under a deep lunker structure and snapped me of on a rock or sumthin'. 

This guy was the biggest fish of the afternoon. He put up a great fight but I was able to steer him to shore in short order. Notice the big mark on his side. It makes him look mean.

A few casts later this guy came to hand. He ambushed my fly on a well placed cast between two big rocks. After a few more casts I decided to call it a day. I almost crashed my car on the way home after finding three ticks crawling on my legs. I've heard from a few people that they think its a bad year for ticks and I concur. I hope to catch some more fish soon but it'll be hard to get out before next weekend.

Trip Report: Quick Afternoon

After saying goodbye to the parents and tilling and planting the garden I headed to a spot just downstream of where we fished yesterday.

This pic is looking back to where I came from. I only fished for a little bit and didn't work too hard as my back and arms were sore from tilling and planting. When I arrived on stream skies were sunny with temperatures in the low 80's. I wet waded with no problem..

This guy put up a great fight. During his first run I thought I hooked into a really big fish! I only managed three fish today but it was great to get out. Also if your out there bushwackin' be sure to check yourself for ticks. I found 3 on me today and 2 yesterday.

Clouds built as I drove out of the valley and thunderstorm warnings were being transmitted by NPR for locations north of here. Earlier tonight we got rained on good and hard so bigger streams will be running a little higher and slightly off color tomorrow. Tuesday could be ideal conditions on the stream and I have a brookie spot in mind if it's not raining.

Trip Report: Fishin' With The Father

The 'Ol Man and I got out for a short fishing trip this afternoon on a heavily pressured stream close to home. I expected to find some caddis coming off the surface of the water and found some fish surfacing. We rigged up with nymph rigs and began targeting deeper pools.

After turning a few nice trout but not landing 'em I hooked into this guy in a deeper run. He put up a great fight before coming to net. After hooking into this guy Pops got in on the fun!

He pulled a 12 or 13 inch brown after missing a few (probably monsters!) We plied the waters for a little longer in this area before I hooked into this guy.

He sucked down a Gray sz 12 Deer Hair Caddis with vigor. I caught another 3 or 4 on the caddis dry. I really enjoyed getting out fishing with Pa and hopefully we can fish together again soon. The first fish that I turned will keep my mind occupied for the next few days but I will return to this section of stream soon and I will catch that fish!

Stay tuned: I've got some gardening to do tomorrow and there are afternoon storms in the forecast but if those storms don't materialize I may chase a few trout.

Trip Report: Crowded Streams

I cut out of work early this afternoon and headed directly to a crowded located between work and home for some trout hunting. Clouds built through the afternoon and temps hovered in the high 60's.  Showers fell on and off throughout my trip. As I neared my intended destination a spot off the road caught my eye and I pulled off to begin fishing. The water was pretty clear but the deepest pools had a nice green color to them. In the first pool I immediately hooked into a decent fish!

This guy took a pink squirrel of prey and held strong in the current for a quick minute before coming to hand. After catching this guy I landed a few 8-12 inchers before moving on to the next pool. 

This decent fella came from a deep run and put up a great fight before floating into my net. After a few pics I let him free. A good number more average sized browns came to hand by the end of 3 hrs of fishing. I managed to roll a few nice browns and a nice bow but the hook didn't stick. Undergrowth is coming in pretty good and before long it will be a pain to hike way back in to some less pressured waters but until then...

 stay tuned: I hope to get out fishing more soon but we have some much needed rain on the way and I don't have much time over the next week:(