Trip Report: The Calm After the Storm

With temps hitting the mid 20's, fresh snow on the ground, and forecast highs in the teens for the foreseeable future I figured I'd better get out to fish the State Park trout fishing season one more time before the early C&R season opens on all streams January 1st. 

When I arrived in the park my heart sank. I knew I'd be able to find fishable water today but after the big cold front hits our streams may be locked up by January 1. The first spot I hit is a nice long flat with a few springs pouring in. While most long flats were iced over the springs kept the water a little warmer inhibiting ice formation. I hiked in through virgin snow and arrived stream side around 945am.

My goal today was to land a fish on a size 26 fly. I tied up a few midge emergers last week for this purpose. After tying one on I was quickly into some brownies!

After landing a half dozen cookie cutter 8 inch browns I headed to my favorite section of this stream. After hiking another long distance I tied on a pink squirrel of prey with an orange scud dropper. I landed another four fish around 12 inches long before calling it a day.

Trip Report: Back To It

After taking a brief hiatus from fishing to tie flies, build rods, and go deer hunting I got back on the water today. Temps hovered in the low 40's all day with a slight wind. Skies were partly cloudy and my stream of choice was crystal clear.

The stream wasn't too pressured but if you look really closely you can see a fella fishing just right of center. I saw a few other fishermen also. I started out around 1030 am fishing a size 20 Matt's Midge which fished pretty well. Around 1200 I switched over to the Pink Squirrel of Prey with a sunken size 16 CDC Emerger and action heated up.

 Most of the fish were around this size. I managed around 12 but no really big fish. All browns.

 After a while I did switch over to a size 18 pheasant tail emerger which worked well. I left the stream around 115. I hoped to find some colored up rainbow trout but it's clear they haven't stocked in the park for awhile. The holdovers that remain are tricky and usually hold further upstream than where I fished today.

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Trip Report: Shorter Days

Today I got out to fish a park just down the road from my house.

I hoped to fish this stream but expected the area to be crawling with people. Temps started in the high 40's and ended around 70. Not a good day for the neoprenes! Most of the parking areas looked more crowded than I like so I headed to an area of the park that is less pressured. Unfortunately as I headed down stream another angler emerged from the woods. As I approached he landed a small rainbow trout. A good sign but I wasn't looking to fish behind someone. I called an audible and found myself on a tiny tributary of the stream pictured above.

The first thing I noticed was redds everywhere! I worked upstream along the spongy shoreline looking for fish holding around deeper water. I found a few, mostly brookies!

This guy took a funky chewed up experiment fly/pink squirrel variation. After a few quick pics he returned to the drink. I landed 6 fish today with all but one brookies. You'll notice the fly rod grip in the background looks clean. I nabbed a 7'9" 3wt from my inventory. I love this rod! I can't wait to get back out and fling flies with it. It cast like a dream in tight quarters and played those little fish with just the right ease.

Trip Report: Fishing Again!

With temps forecast in the low 70's I decided to get out early to beat the rush at a nearby state park. I was on the road around 8 and rolled into the park by 830. The temp read 36 degrees on my car thermometer and I immediately regretted leaving my sweatshirt at home. After a brisk walk I found myself streamside, tying on a pink squirrel of prey. Things heated up quick.

The big fish of the day was the first fish of the cay. He came from the first deeper pool. After landing, hooking, and releasing him I peeked into the pool and spotted around 20 trout sitting on the bottom. I proceeded to land 5-6 more.

With bluebird skies the fishing was somewhat difficult. I continued to land a fish or two out of every piece of deeper water I encountered. fish were on redds and there were abandoned redds everywhere. Be careful if you find yourself on the water and please leave the spawning fishes alone so they can keep makin' babies. If you must wade do so very carefully!

This was the next biggest fish of the day and one of the last. He took a size 18 brassie. After a few quick pics he was returned to the depths. I walked from the confluence of this tributary and smaller river to the source of the tributary.

This stream flows out of a little cave. I'm glad I braved the crowds and fished today. I began my walk to the car around 1130 and BS'd with some trout unlimited guys at the parking area before heading home. The drive was spectacular.

I spotted three eagles just before pulling off to snap a pic at this spot. I love rural Minnesota!

 Shout out to Big Mama and Girls for keeping this stretch of road clean.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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:(

A pair of 7'9" 3 weights

These fly rods are built with many of the same components on different blanks. Both have unique characteristics. What else do they have in common? They'll slay the trouts!

 Stay tuned: I hope to do a bunch of fishing this weekend and will have at least another rod or two coming off the presses in the next couple weeks. I'm thinking a five and six weight.

Trip Report: Fish and Fly Rods

 This weekend found meet toiling over the rod jig. I built three rods with one ready to share with the world! This build features a down-locking RL Reel Seat, cigar shaped grip, and H&H Xi Blank. The rod is available at Whitewater Valley Flies

Between filling fly orders and building rods for customers and for inventory I managed to find some time to do some fishing! Unfortunately we've had over 5 inches of rain over the past week and most streams are running high and chocolatey. You can always find water to fish though. When conditions are unfavorable due to rain/runoff look for shorter streams (4 miles or less) and streams with smaller watersheds. The best way to identify the size of a watershed is to look at topographical maps. The smaller the watershed the less water being funneled through, therefore less impacted by rain/runoff. Yesterday afternoon I found one such stream.

I was not expecting a numbers game but the fish were hungry. I fished with a Pink Squirrel of Prey with an Orange Scud dropper. Most fish took the dropper.

The lens on my camera didn't open all the way for this handsome brookie, the only one of the day. After catching this brookie I moved upstream to a promising run. I immediately hooked into a decent trout. After a good battle he swam into the net. While preparing my camera he flipped out of the net and into the drink! He was at least 17". My only problem with the "ghost net" is that the shallow basket isn't the best for holding onto larger trout. Speaking of larger trout...

This fish was a bit smaller than the above mentioned escape artist. He put up a great fight and swam off strong. This stream was still running high with a brown tinge to the green stain that usually marks ideal conditions. The stream was running at least a foot higher than usual as well. I found a few dead trout a ways up the bank where it appeared they were stranded when the flash flood waters receded. Judging by laid down vegetation the water flowed through at least 3-4 feet higher than I found it on this day. After working on fly rods last night and this morning I headed to another spot within a smaller watershed.

This stream was running about the same color as yesterday's water with a little bit less clarity. I started out fishing with a streamer and landed a few smaller fish between missing a few nice ones. After about an hour I lost my only streamer to a tree. I called an audible and found a nearby stream running cold and clear.

 After hooking into a half dozen or so little brookies this brown had me thinking I had a good brookie! I continued upstream in this mucky little creek until I found a great little natural undercut bank. After rolling three smaller fish out of the pool I hooked into something a little more substantial.

As I fought this fish I stood in knee deep muck. As the fish tired I brought him to the net. He gave me one good lock and headed downstream. I pivoted and tried to lift my foot to turn toward the fish. My foot didn't move one bit but my body was already in motion. I lost my balance and fell in slow motion right on my ass...in knee deep muck. I managed to throw my camera to the bank and twisted my body enough that my cell phone and car keys didn't get wet! Then it started to rain. I played the fish to hand and after a few quick pics released him to the depths from which he came. 

Stay tuned: I hope to get out a time or two over the next week as conditions should shape up well with less precipitation and cooler temperatures in the forecast. Also more fly rods will be posted for sale over the next few days!