Day of the Bugger

Report to come soon...

I'll Live and Die a Fisherman

On The Search...

So I just couldn't wait any longer.. Decided I was in search of a stream that was relatively fishable.. I knew this would more than likely require smaller water.. which means water I probably haven't fished yet.. Which in turn is what it meant..

Decided upon fishing unfamiliar water.. by unfamiliar I mean unfished.. I have seen it.. and knew it was relatively small overall... but small creeks usually clear relatively fast.. and when they don't.. it at least makes fishing a smaller stream easier.. as it means more water and more holes... I was very happy with my stream selection when I got there.. tons of riffles and pools.. with a tiny bit of slack water here and there.. Unfortunately what looked like amazing water only landed me 1 tiny trout to hand on a nymph..

While heading back towards the car I came upon trout rising..At first I couldn't tell what they were feeding on.. So I tied on a #18 Griffin's Gnat.. had a couple takers.. but I just could not get the hook set in time... Time and time again stike and miss.. I probably had 10 chances and struck out on every single one of them.. What a shame..

Minnesota's 2011 Fishing Calendar

So as I sit here getting the itch.. knowing that none of the streams are going to be reasonably fishable til April probably and that Lake Winona is still covered in ice... I was searching upon Google for any ice out's that may have occurred in the area so i could start possibly fishing for pannies with either the long or short rod and came across this amazing calendar at the Minnesota Sportsman website

Books For Fly Fishermen New & Old pt. 1

So I figured during the down time of the spring thaw I would go ahead and highlight a couple books I have bought and read that have been helpful to me in hopes that maybe those who read will this will find these books helpful whether you are new or a veteran looking to hone your skills.

If you have kept up with any of my post you will know that I am in my 3rd season of fishing with the long rod so most of the books I will begin reviewing are more entry level books, but like I said these books should be helpful to both new and old fly fishermen.. Also as a side note may I suggest if you find any of these books of interest check out Amazon and Ebay before committing to buy else where; more often than not you can find these books used in good if not great condition for half the cover price, if not cheaper.  Personally some of the books I will mention I have found on Amazon for under $4.  So keep an eye out and keep your wallets fat.

First on the list...



The Orvis Pocket Guide to Nymphing Techniques is a nice and simple introductory read into nymph fishing.  Which is an essential technique if you plan on fishing for trout in the Driftless Area.  The book is only a 132 pages.  But not normal pages, more like 1/4 pages since its about a 1/4 the size of a normal book.  Print is easy on the eyes nothing too small to read.  Very nice full color photos that are clear and not fuzzed up like some other books or websites I have seen trying to describe this information. Tom Rosenbauer really knows how to write a book and make it easy to understand even to someone who could not tell the difference between a fly rod and a casting rod.  Lets not forget that Orvis is one of the leaders in the fly fishing industry and unlike in other realms of reading where the brand name may sell the book but hold no content, The Orvis Pocket Guide to Nymphing Techniques has plenty of content packed into its little package.

The book starts out comparing different imitations to the actual nymph which you would be trying to imitate.  First off it breaks Mayflies into 4 different catagoies(burrowers, swimmers, crawlers, flattened crawlers) and goes into a little detail as to what kind of mayflies each category is specific to, where in the stream system each of them are found and how to fish these types of nymphs as some may move while in the water and others may make little to no movement while drifting.  Then the chapter continues on explaining Caddisflies and a nice little chunk of Midge, finishing off with terrestrials and other insects and crustaceans found in trout habitats.  The end of chapter 1 finishes of with a nice little color diagram of basic nymph patterns and what they are used to imitate and what sizes to use.  This is very helpful for the beginner fly fisherman.  The  book continues to go into detail explaining the basics of proper nymphing tackle.  Starts out with explaining different sized rods, reels, fly lines, leaders, tippet, sinker options,  and different types of indicators and when to use them(which can be all the time if you're nymphing and not comfortable relying on being able to see the tip of your fly line moving).  It goes into some detail about weighted, non-weighted and tungsten beadhead nymphs.

Then we get into nymphing techniques.  It explains things such as different fly presentations(upstream drift, swing, high sticking, how to get your fly deeper, etc), how to mend, the use and proper setup of a tandem fly rig and different ways to use an indicator and how to fish without one and how to use a dry fly as your indicator.  revolves around nymphing water or types of water in which you would use a nymph(which can technically be any part of a stream, but as you will find out there are more popular/higher strike rate areas)It also gives you techniques for different variables that will change fishing conditions such as weather, seasons, water levels, clarity, hatches.  The last chapter is only about 4-6 pages so you can imagine how little it touches on these variables but give you enough information to understand how each factor works and even has a small temperature chart on how trout typically act in different temperature ranges.

Overall I liked this book it was clearly written and straight to the point making sure that the reader actually learned something.  And with it being only a 132 pages you will fly through it in no time and be on your way to being a nymphing guru.

3/11...One More Outting Before Things Get Muddy

a personal first.. two trout.. one line

Got out again today... Decided to go to the South Fork of the Root River.. got to the stream around 9am.. Air temp was 32F and water temp was 39F.. Was sunny most of the day.. As the day would progress the air temp would get up to around 44F and water temps got into the low 40's...

Started out 3/4 up a section i fished the other day and then continued to work upstream.... first 1 1/2-2hrs didn't catch a single fish.. no midge hatching when i arrived and didn't really seem to take off at all.. big nymphs holding in the rocks... was throwing a #12 Hare's Ear trailed by a #20 nymph... I'm  thinking maybe its what i was throwing wasn't what they were looking for because mid day I switched to a #10 Prince and trailed it with a #14 PT and I was in trout the rest of the day... caught quite a few... couple brookies but for the most part brownies.. most were in the 7-8" range and a couple that were 10+".. big shoulders.. catching the bigger ones right in the heart of the riffles... smaller one towards the tail end of the riffles...

got in a total of about 6hrs of fishing today.. and that seems to be about it for me for awhile.. winds are supposed to get up to 40mph in the area tomorrow and then its going to warm up.. over night lows above 32F next week... the big muddy is comin.. should make the streams perfect for opener!

3/8...

Another day of Spring Break... Another day of fishing... Woke up and decided to go to my personal favorite stream in Fillmore County... go there around 9am.. Overcast.. 32F... Midge and Stonefly were sprinkled atop the snow when I arrived... No signs of any trout rising... get stream side and lined up my 2wt with a #16 BH Prince Nymph and #18 BH Black Hare's Ear.. First cast and as my rig starts to begin its swing and i see a trout jump... and there goes my indicator.. No better way to start the day.. first cast, first fish... I decided I would hike down stream further than I have been before to check things out.. But unfortunately I did not make it too far.. The snow pack became rather loose and next thing you know I'm sinking 12-24" with each step.. so I worked my way back up stream to the car... Caught a couple more browns here and there on the prince.. and 1 tiny brook took as well...about 6-8 to hand.. about twice that took.. light bite made it tough to see strikes

When I got back to my car it was about 1pm... I decided I still had a little time before I had to be back in town.. So I continued upstream.. This time tied on with a #16 Hare's Ear and a #20 nymph... Took about another half dozen or so trout.. 12 trout total.. 11 Browns.. 1 Brook.. Can't Complain

 

  

 

Been Some Time...

Well 2011 is here.. and Finally I got into some fish this year!  I've gotten out a couple other times this year.. but nothing worth talking about.. by that I mean I had been out a couple times but had nothing to report besides wetting a line... Today was different though.. Met up with a couple of buddies at around 9am this morning to go out and hit the streams in search of some winter c&r trout.  Got to our first part of stream around 9:30-10am.. it was ~34F and snow was light and patchy... Fishing was slow for myself.. Caught a couple smaller browns in the 6" range.. all put up a good fight for their size and all fish looked good and healthy... My co-fishermen also had luck and tied into a few... As the day progressed more and more midge we on the snow... as if someone had peppered the snow... few trout rising here and there.. never enough for me to go dry...

2nd spot on the stream had minimal success... 1 trout to hand.. Figured the combination of snow and thaw had dropped the temp of the stream and shut the trout down.  In the end though it was a good day.  Finally caught a fish or a few and overall it was a nice day to be out.  Spring Break for some people means going south of the border.. for me I just go south of 90 and I'm in paradise.  Til next time!