Trip Report: Eagles, Bulls, and Brown Trout

Today the wife and I went to discover a new creek together. Accessing the stream legally requires around a one mile hike just to touch water. We got out early and headed to the parking spot only to find two cars parked there already. We called an audible and ended up on a small tributary of the Root River. On the way we helped a farmer wrangle a few bulls with a little help from the Subi! I fished this stream before but decided to fish spots that I hadn't tried.

I caught this and a few other less beautiful trout on this first creek. It was hard to find fish as the trout congregated in only the deepest pools so after a short time we moved on to a larger stream.

The wife and I walked a good distance from the car and I began to fish while she took pics. This area has some really old stream restoration along with some like what's pictured above. After catching a few smaller browns I hooked into something sizable.

After a pretty good fight I scooped him up! Definitely not the biggest brown I've caught, but one of the biggest Minnesota browns. He took the Pink Squirrel of Prey fished deep and slow through a crystal clear pool. I used 5X tippet rather than the usual 6X today which allowed me to put a little extra pressure on this guy. I did spot a few risers but not with enough consistency for me to abandon the PSoP.

 I managed to catch a few more fish as I worked upstream. I was hoping to catch more rainbows because I like the colors they get this time of year but only caught the one pictured above. I've been spoiled by the bounty of trout coming to hand lately but today managed only around a dozen.

On the drive home the wife spotted a bald eagle feeding on a carcass on the side of the road. We pulled out the camera, turned around, and snapped a few quick pics. They didn't turn out as well as when I use my good camera but I didn't want to bring it out in the cold.

Preparation

After fishing the Trico hatch last summer/fall for the first time I am becoming obsessed with catching trout on small flies. I caught some of the biggest fish of last season on the sz 24 Trico dry fly pattern pictured below. I tied up a number of them in preparation for this years hatch.

I've been tying patterns that were effective for me over the last five months of last year. I have not yet experienced the spring and early summer months' hatches in the Driftless so I'm sticking to tying a good stock of tried and true flies. Come spring I'll be experimenting with some new patterns!

Trip Report: January Driftless Trout Fishing

With temperatures forecast to hit the mid 30's today I've been looking forward to fishing since late last week. I woke up with a tickle in my throat that turned into a full blown sore throat with stuffy sinus's. Not to be dissuaded by my wife I got out early before the wind kicked up too much.

I headed to a creek that lies around 20 miles from home and put feet on the water by 9am. I fished well upstream from the spot pictured above. I rigged up with a nymph and indicator and dredged all of the deepest pools. Surprisingly most fish did not come from deep pools but rather deep fast runs. 

 I immediately tied into  a few nice trout. The fish pictured on the right dove into an undercut bank a few times leading me to believe I hooked into a behemoth. After some dancing around on the bank I was able to steer him to safety. I caught a few more average sized browns before hooking into some more good ones.

 These guys came from some faster water. They fought well for their size and were released to fight another day. As the morning progressed the clouds grew thicker and the wind picked up. Windy conditions always make casting difficult but the key today was to wait out the breeze in order to make good casts. After catching a few more small trout and losing all but my last Secret Weapon fly and last indicator I found the chunky trout.

I hoped to find some fish surfacing to midges. There were midges all over the snowy banks and skittering across the surface but no fish rose to them. I continued with my last Secret Weapon.

An added benefit to leaving early was to get on the stream before anyone else. I hate fishing behind people, although I can usually still manage a few dinky fish. Today I saw only one other set of footprints and they appeared to be made by someone only walking the banks of the stream and not fishing! My goal is always to get away from the heavily pressured waters to find fish and today it worked well. I caught at least 20 fish in just under 3 hours of fishing. All fish were caught on the same patterned fly although changing depth in each new stretch of stream was necessary.

Hittin' the Vise

Over the past few week or so we've had horribly cold temperatures. Because I could not fish I decided to tie flies on all of the hooks that I have sitting around (which is a lot!) Thus far I have focused on patterns that will work well. I haven't lived her through a spring or early summer yet so I'm waiting to work on those patterns until the seasons come and I can have a look at those bugs.

Of course the Pink Squirrel of Prey has proven effective over the past few months! I hope that this will be enough to last the summer as I used all of my tungsten beads and sz 14 hooks.

These sz 24 Stripped Quill Zebra Midge Emergers are a great winter pattern. If I spot risers this time of year this is the fly that usually catches them! I still have some sz 24 hooks left but I may tie some tiny Parachute Trico dry flies with them.

Speaking of Trico, these CDC Trico Emergers should do the trick. I can't wait for this hatch to arrive in late summer. These are tied on a sz 20 dry fly hook of which I have plenty remaining...but not for long!

These flies aren't perfect but the sz 20 RS2 Emergers, which imitate a BWO Mayfly, should do the trick from early spring throughout summer and into fall. This is a must have fly for sure! I'm waiting for some more CDC to come in the mail so I can tie some in a true olive color.

  These deer hair post Parachute BWO dry flies are tied on a sz 16 dry hook. I have some tied up in sz 20 also. The smaller ones will work earlier in spring and later in fall, but these should work all summer long. I think they're pretty easy to tie so I'll be working on an army of these over the next few weeks.

These Skittering Caddis dry flies work well during the warmer months. They can be dead drifted or cast down stream and pulled against the current. Most pictured are tied on a sz 12  short shank hook with a 2X gape while the smaller ones are sz 16. I'll be working on building up my supply of these as soon as I get more hooks. I tend to fish 'em and lose 'em often.

Stay Tuned: With temperatures forecast to be in the mid 30's this weekend I'll be sure to chase the trouts!

Two Cool Panorama Pics

 

These pics came from an area that just had some habitat improvement done. I was unable to check out the new work because most of the stream was covered with ice.

Trip Report: The Long Walk

After a stellar day of fishing yesterday I had to get out today and try my luck! I chose a stream close to home and by 830 I was stream side. It was a good move to get out early because before I lost sight of the road three cars drove by slowly, hoping to fish the waters that I claimed! This stream had much less ice coverage than the stream that I fished yesterday.

After admiring the ice formations for awhile it was time to get to business. The water was really dirty today with visibility around a foot. I tied on a pink squirrel of prey and began plying the cold dark water. On my first cast I pulled in a small brown, hopefully a sign of things to come. 

 This fella came from the middle of a shallow run. He darted back and forth in the dark water before coming up for air! After a quick photo he returned to the drink.

 After pulling these two brownies out of an unassuming run I tied into a big fish. My line control was poor on the cast and as quickly as I had him hooked he was gone! After catching a few more fish I looked up and spotted a big Bald Eagle. I continued forward and noticed these odd tracks in the snow.

They're bird tracks! There were five or six of these in the same area. I'm not sure if it was the eagle but still pretty cool. After a few pics I continued upstream.

Nearing the end of my trip I ran into a little brook trout. When all was said and done I caught this brookie and around two dozen browns from 6"-14". No biggies but it was nice to get out fishin' before the negative temperatures hit tomorrow.

Trip Report: First Trip of 2015!

I'd been watching the mercury all week in hopes that streams wouldn't be frozen over. January 1, 2015 marked the beginning of the Minnesota winter trout fishing season and I had to get out before the cold forecast for next week sets in.

Upon arriving at the creek I was alarmed. Most of the prime runs near my entry point were indeed covered with ice. Now usually I don't expect fast and furious fishing in winter but today I really wanted to catch a good number of fish. I tied on the pink squirrel of prey and started walking. Having arrived stream side by 10:00 I caught my first fish by 10:15.

 After catching a few unremarkable smaller browns I hooked into this beast. I should have gotten a better picture but if you look hard you can see a puncture mark on his shoulder and one just above his forehead. I think an otter might have gotten to him before me. I saw a number of otter, mink, and beaver.

This guy came tight to the roots located just above my hand in the photo. In the next pool I hooked into a nice brown that dove twice before spitting the hook. Frustrated, I fished the pool for another half hour without a fish. Fortunately I wasn't done catching fish!

 

These guys came from the head of a deep pool. The current bisected a large section of ice and about 6 nice browns came from this area. (see below) They were tough to play because they'd swim back and forth beneath the ice.

 The sun was out for most of the morning which heated up my neoprene waders. I was comfortable without gloves and wearing only a sweatshirt until I took a little dip! It wasn't bad. I caught myself and only my forearms got wet. As soon as the clouds moved in it become more bothersome.

 The fishing was too good to stop! After catching a few more fish I found a pool full of hungry fish. None were huge but I landed eight fish in only a few minutes. At this point I noticed some midges on my waders and in the snow and like clockwork the fish began to surface. I was getting kind of cold and a little hungry so rather than push it I decided to call it a day.

I hooked into one more decent fish on the way back as well as four smaller ones. In total I caught at least twenty five browns today. Hopefully the weather will cooperate tomorrow because I plan to bug the brownies again!