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.