More Tying Than Fishing!

Like the title says, I've been doing a lot more tying than fishing. I plan to get out fishing this weekend if the weather cooperates...we'll see.

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Trip Report: Cold and Lazy

I got out fishin' today but felt a little cold and lazy, maybe unmotivated. I hoped temps would be a little warmer but I arrived on stream with temps reading in the high single digits. After zipping through a few quick holes I landed on one with fish stacked and ready to eat.

This skinny guy took an orange scud trailed behind a tungsten beaded pink scud. I expected to find low, clear water but to my surprise visibility was less than a foot. There must have been some cows upstream muddying up the water.

I'm always amazed that fish can find such little flies in such heavily stained water. After landing around 6-7 out of this pool/run I checked my box for a streamer. Damn! I left them in the car. Rather than head back I moved on. 

While I spotted no other human tracks animal tracks abounded. I couldn't identify them all but fox, coyote, skunk, possum, raccoon, and duck prints were everywhere! I followed them back to the car after catching around 1 1/2 dozen trout. The biggest was only around 14 inches today. All fish came on scud patterns with  a pretty even split between orange and pink. If I could do it over I'd definitely have brought some streamers.

Typically when snow melts into to stream water temps decline and the fishes metabolism slows. I hope to get out again next weekend but with temps above freezing the fish may be even more tight lipped.

Trip Reports: New Years Weekend

I took off work Friday to fish with a buddy who drove down from the cities. We arrived on stream around 1030. Air temps hovered in the mid 20's and skies were partly cloudy. We both fished nymphs at first as no fish were rising.

After a lot of casting and one small brown to hand we switched spots and tied on an emerger/midge combo. We spotted a few rising fish and had at 'em!

Sean started picking 'em off in short order. We froze our butts off but it was well worth the effort. I headed to an area state park again on Saturday to fish but found out (upon arrival) that there was a special CWD hunt. With over 400 hunters in the park I decided to head home rather than run the gauntlet.

On Sunday my buddy Tim and I hit a local stream to celebrate the opening of the catch and release season. We arrived on stream around 10 with temps around 30 and sunny skies. With no evidence of surface activity we tied on nymph rigs and had at it.

We didn't land anything huge but Tim scooped up this 14 incher with his homemade net! Conditions were good but the fish were sluggish. Water temps in the early afternoon measured 42.

By the end of the day we landed around a dozen between the two of us. We spotted midges throughout the day but did not see a single fish rise to eat them. With temps forecast around 30 for today and rain/sleet/snow I wasn't sure if I'd make it out. I'm glad I did. I fished a stretch of the same stream but closer to the source today and had a banner day of winter trout fishing!

I fished a pink squirrel of prey with a pink scud dropper all morning. Skies were cloudy and snow fell off and on throughout my outing. The first section I fished yielded around a dozen trout including the above pictured brook trout. After slaying 'em out of that hole I hiked a ways to warm up. While fishing up stream I ran into a bunch more fish!

 By the end of the day over 30 fish came to hand with most measuring between 10-12 inches. Action was fast and furious which kept me fishing but my hands were frozen by the time I headed home.

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.