Feb 25th.. The Return

Saturday morning.. Arrived stream side a couple minutes after 9 a.m... Temps were in the mid teens.. I made sure to slap on an extra layer.. It hasn't been this cold too often when I've gotten out on the water this year.. I've been able to be picky this year and more often than not choose days where the temps were above freezing this year.. With a few sub-freezing days here and there.. I tell you what.. I don't miss it.. I don't miss the cold toes.. The iced up guides... The touch of the bitter cold surrounding you... But soon enough you forget about it.. Especially when you're catching trout...

I made it out with a buddy of mine Ted Nilius that I had met on the HSO Forum awhile back.. It started out slower than it normally starts for me.. First couple spots on the run were slow.. Iced guides led to early frustration.. But hopes were far from up.. A couple holes later and I get my first trout to hand.. Next hole Ted takes a couple... Next hole I take a couple more.. And so on and so forth.. All on nymphs.. 

 Then we came up on the hole we came here for in the first place.. The last time out Ted had told me he had a trout take him to reel within seconds of hooking him and leading to instant break off and heart break.. The plan was to start pounding it with streamers and hope for the best.. Unfortunately nothing came of it.. No hits.. Nada..

We continued upstream pounding a couple larger holes with streamers.. Pulling out a fair share of 12"+ trout.. And Ted landing the biggest of the day.. a brown chunker in the 16" range.. It was a blast and definitely made his day for sure.. I too was able to become more confident in my streamer skills.. Landing 4 or so trout in the 12" range.. I mean that is why I bought the 4 wt.. Or so I was reminded that's the reason I gave to justify the rod *wink*

Overall the day was great.. It was kinda cold.. But the sun and the trout made it feel a lot warmer than it was.. Our rod guides though kept icing up as a reminder to let us know it was not anywhere near above freezing.. In the end we covered a lot of water.. I became ever more familiar with a stream I have now fished close to a dozen times this season now.. We took at least 20 trout to hand with at least half of them over 12" and a few healthy looking brookies.. I became more confident in my streamer chucking.. All was well today...


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Old Stream... New Water...

Hit up a new section of stream on one of my favorite streams... Not much else to say but another successful outing!  That now makes ~6mi of stream that I have successfully fished on this stream.. One day I'll be able to fish this stream blindfolded HA!

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The Good.. The Bad.. The Ugly...

Happy.. Upset.. Irate.. That Kinda sums up the 15th and 16th..

The Good....

Well Wednesday I woke early... Been working a lot and haven't had time to get out and play with my new toy.. My brand new St. Croix Imperial 7'6" 4wt.. Matched up with a Martin 61 reel and Airflo Ridge Line Supple Tactical WF4F.. I had been drooling over this rod for about a week or so as I waited patiently for my fly line for it to come in the mail... The one downfall of online ordering.. Sometimes companies drop the ball and you got to wait longer than expected..

So I take my new setup to one of my favorite stretches of stream in SE MN in hopes of having a productive day of fishing.. I get to my destination.. it's a great day.. already in the low 30s and supposed to get up to 40.. No wind.. No chance or snow or rain... Typical weather for February.. Just kidding.. Amazing weather for February!  First couple casts with this new rod and I'm feeling like a pro.. This rod loads amazing... The line shoots off the guides like its covered in greased lightening.. Just what I was expecting from St. Croix and Airflo.. This is a great rod setup.. and at under $200 for the rod and a Lifetime Warranty.. You really cannot go wrong... Anyways.. Enough acting like I'm some sort of St. Croix rep.. (feel free to send me free garb though if you any of you guys are reading ^.^)


The day started out great like I said.. Sunny.. No breeze.. And within a couple casts to start the day.. I hook into my first trout of the day.. A nice 7-8" brookie.. The rod handled the fish with no problem.. Besides the fact that I didn't know there was a tree hanging over me and high stick my rod into it.. Tangling up.. But still landing the brook... Next couple casts result in a few more trout.. Mainly browns.. I skip a couple holes.. Being selective of what I fish.. Time is precious as I have to be back in town and at work at 5pm.. I hit my next hole and pull out a few more.. Couple browns and another small brookie..

 

I move up stream to finish the day off on one of my favorite holes on this stream.. Usually stacked up with trout year round.. Sure enough.. As I'm walking up on it I see risers just below the riffles taking midge that have been popping off the water all morning.. First cast.. Brown.. Next cast.. Brown.. Next cast.. Brook.. Next cast.. Hit and Miss... Cast back to the same spot.. Brown... If I didn't get them on the initial hit.. They took the 2nd time around.. Productive little hole that lands me about a dozen trout to hand in a matter of minutes.. Mainly browns with a brookie or two thrown in the mix...

 

So after that little onslaught of trout I figured there was no better way to end a good day of fishing so I retired back to my car to head home and get ready for work....

The Bad...
I get back to my car.. Break down my rod and put all my gear in the trunk of my car... Get in my car.. Key in the ignition.. Nothing.. Again.. Nothing... Again.. Nothing.. Again.. Stereo.. Hmm... Stereo.. Stereo.. My ignition gets stuck in what seems auxiliary as the only thing working is the stereo.. No clicks.. No dash lighting up.. FFFFFFUUUUUU!!!!.. What am I to do?.. 45-60min from town.. Depending on how ya drive.. 35+ miles... Walking is obviously out of the question.. and I got to be to work in roughly 2 hours....

So I call my step-dad who knows a bit about cars and helps me out when I need it.. He's nice enough to call into work and come pick me up.. Looks at the car... Can't figure out whats going on.. Other than knowing the ignition is shot.. So we make plans to take the pickup out tomorrow and pick up my car with a car tow...

The Ugly....
So Thursday morning I wake up.. Go to my morning eye doctor appointment.. And then off to get the car.. The thing that stung the most at first was knowing I was going to my favorite fishing hole.. And I was NOT going to fish... So we go and pick up the tow.. Everything seems to be going as planned.. We get to the car.. Everything still going as planned.. We first try pushing my car up onto the trailer and it's just at too steep of an angle for 2 of us to push.. So my stepdad says he'll get behind the car with the truck and push it up onto the trailer.. Everything seems to be going fine.. And then he over shoots me.. And my frame is now sitting on the trailer.. tires up in the air on both ends.. FFFFFFFUUUUU!!!!!!!!  My step-dad now goes "OK. I'll try pushing from the front".. Little info that's key.. My car is roughly 2ft from a good 100+ft drop into the valley below... So I get into the car so that the wheels are held straight and to break if we get off this trailer.. He pushes and the trailer skids.. Bringing me closer to the edge.. OK I'm Done!  Jump out of the car through the back door and walk off.. No way I'm bout ready to die at my favorite fishing hole... He goes "put it in neutral".. So I reach through the window and put it in neutral.. No way I'm getting back in that death trap.. He pushes again and the car kicks to the side.. Smashing up the passenger side door...

Irate.. I storm off.. Fuck it.. I'm walking home.. Without another word I start walking down the road(actually UP a very steep road).. Not giving a rat's ass anymore.. Yeah I'm 35 miles from town.. But rage fills and that's the last thought in my mind.. After walking for a couple miles I finally get around to calling my gf and having her come drive and pick me up along the highway.. As I'm walking though along the highway.. Two farm dogs run up to me and I give them a pet and keep hoofing it.. They follow.. I turn around and walk them back to the farm.. And continue.. They continue to follow me.. Fine.. You guys can tag along... So I got these two dogs following me.. They must've known something was up and needed some uplifting.. So they keep following me.. And following me.. Finally my gf picks me up.. And I throw the dogs in the car.. We got some dogs we gotta return.. So she heads up the road and we drop them off.. And I head home..

Shortly after I get home.. My step-dad returns.. He was able to find some farmers with a front end loader to help pop the car off the trailer and get everything situated.. I feel bad leaving him behind in the end.. But at the time.. There was no forgiving.. Rarely my tempter gets the best of me.. Especially that bad... But it was frustrating.. He tries to help.. and Sometimes its more steps backwards than forwards.. But in the end means well...

Ugh.. I'm just glad my car is back home...

4/23.. Getting Lost North of 90

OH NOOOOO!

Woke up.. got ready.. fed the dog.. and I was out.. On the road at 10:30am.. Stopped at FleetFarm to grab a few essentials and then sat and stared at my maps for awhile.. During winter season I told myself I was gonna start hitting up some more streams that I have either never fished or were more unfamiliar with.. Get out of my comfort zone per se.. So I decided I would fish something north of I-90 today.. Which honestly.. I have done only one other time.. Why bother I figure when I know so much good water south of 90.. Well indeed that is why I did bother.. because I know almost NOTHING about north of I-90 other than the Whitewater system.. and by know the Whitewater system.. I mean I know it exists.. I have fished it.. and So does every other trout fisherman in Minnesota on any given day.. and aside from that I don't know of any other great creeks north of 90 that are worth my time to drive..

So off I headed north on 61.. Took some turns here and there.. missed the creek I was originally looking for and kept driving until I recognized the next town I would run into.. Blind driving.. Its the greatest >.<  Stopped at one potential creek.. but didn't look nothing worth my time.. Could've been wrong.. but while I was checking it out.. another angler came along and pulled up.. So I let him have it.. seeing as I had little interest in it.. Got back in my car.. and turned around.. If there is one thing about not knowing where you are.. at least if you turn around eventual you'll get back to where you were?

Looking at my maps I decided to get off the road I was on check out another stream near by... Got there.. It was quite the mess of a stream.. downed trees everywhere.. highwalling around every bend.. silt silt and more silt.. but a couple deep cuts near root wads caught my attention of this "wild" stream... Walked maybe a 1/4 mile of the stream total.. not much to cast to.. mostly was just shallow wide silted up stream... the few casts that I made resulted in a couple hits and chases but no takers.. back to the car for my next unknown destination!

Got to my next destination.. walking streamside had a few chase and hit at my spinner but no takers yet again.. Quite frustrating but you gotta keep movin on... As I'm walking along the stream.. I come to realize.. I probably should have left my spinning gear in the car.. and grabbed my fly rod.. there was a small hatch of Dark Hendricksons and the trout were keying in on them.. never did see anything too big take to the surface.. all looked to be in the 4-6" range.. gave up a little early on this stream knowing I had brought the wrong rod to the stream.....

Jumped back in my car.. eyed over the map to see what was next on my adventure.. locked in on my choice and was off!  This was quite the adventure.. really really do love the DNR and their sub par labeling of roads on their trout stream maps.. My next destination would have me kinda lost.. not completely like omfg i don't know where I am or what to do.. lost.. but more like "I don't know where I am.. but I don't care"... drove for about 45min until a town sign finally appeared and was able to match it up on my map.. !!! Some how I went through 3 towns.. none of which had signs outside of the limits saying "hey welcome to the middle of f'in nowhere".. turned around.. headed back to the 1st of the 3 towns I went through and figured out the map.. for awhile.. more driving.. more driving.. know how much Google Maps sucks when you are use to looking at Garmin Topo maps?  it royally sucks!.. google maps is cool and all.. but its no Garmin map set... next thing I know I'm about 20 miles southeast of the stream I was trying to find so I said effit.. NEEEEEEXT!

Finally I make some headway.. Get to my destination.. Less having to search for this one.. though it did take awhile.. drove past the road to get there twice.. sometimes it can be tough to tell if the road just goes to a resident or if it is where I should go.. and again.. DNR maps don't help.. why did I forget my Garmin again!?!?.. Today would have been a lot less driving had I had it.. but anyways.. I'm rambling.. back on track.. Get to my destination.. walked i'd say a mile or so upstream.. was a thickly covered stream.. all wild trout.. I'm starting to wonder why it seems wild population streams get no HI.. seems like it would be cheaper to help preserve and improve a stream that has a naturally growing population instead of fixing up a section of another stream that you have to dump pellet fed moron fish into to keep the population stable.. crawling through the thick of it all.. back at the car I wondered if I should grab my long rod or the spinning gear again... glad I didn't chose the long rod.. It would have been a nightmare casting in such a tight area.. The fish were very active... coming up to holes I would see them coming up to the surface to take bugs.. but they were not selective.. cast my PM up to the head of the hole and would get a hit.. have the fish on.. lose him within a foot of me.. This continued happening consistently.. they would either barely hit the spinner and I would not hook them.. they'd chase and not take.. or the most frustrating of the afternoon.. they'd take and I'd lose'em.. I only took 2 brookies to hand.. but the fantastic and vibrant colors of those two wild brookies was enough for me in the end..

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!

5-11.. more crappy weather

Woke up looked at the radar and saw that the rain was definitely coming.. Temperatures were in the mid 40s roughly.. This weather really needs to go away.. Thankfully next weeks outlook looks amazing.. 70s/80s.. That's What I'm talking about!  Was on the road by 10am.. Today was not only a day for trout fishing.. A co-worker and writer for Winona360 asked me a couple weeks ago if she could follow me on the stream for a day and write an article about trout fishing in southeastern Minnesota.   I decided the South Fork would be a good spot since it's pretty cleared out and I knew she wouldn't have to cross any waters.. She didn't strike me as the kind of girl that had waders haha..  On the way to our spot Wes called me and he decided he would meet up with us... Just more information for the article that was being written... We get to the spot at about 10:45.. Rain was eminent.. Actually I think it started misting when we were there.. It was windy.. 10-15mph winds here and there.. Definitely nothing as bad as the days previous to day.   Started out pretty slow.. not much happening.. Hooked into one brown.. Wes hooked into a couple chubs... water in the lower South Fork is starting to warm up as the chubs are starting to get thicker.. But the brookies are still holding in there...
     We moved up stream and it started raining harder.. Luckily for our little cub reporter we were near a bridge.. so she was able to stay dry and continue her interview.. We made sure to try and cover all basis.. What makes this area good trout water.. why.. the technique involved in trout fishing.. Why we love to do what we do.. Sometimes it's something tough to put into words.. why one loves to do what they do.. especially when it's something like trout fishing... As one of us fished.. She interviewed the other.. Wes tied into a couple dinky brooks on a PT so i switched up to a PT as well and hooked into a brookie... after about an hour of this spot.. Our reporters hands were too cold to write anymore and she was on her way.. Hopefully with more than enough info to write her article... I think she enjoyed it..  I know Wes and I enjoyed sharing our love for the sport with world on a local level and I cannot wait to read the article...
     We decided we would head upstream and hike through some thicker stuff to a section of the South Fork that is not only beautiful but also usually holds some good fishing.. It was beautiful as always.. but it was definitely not holding much today.. Or at least were not feeding... The rain my have cooled off the water and put the trout on the DL.. we caught a couple.. but nothing over 10" that's for sure..
     Personally cannot wait for next week.. This weather is beyond ridiculous.. Cold.. Windy.. Rainy.. Even some snow flurries and frost.. It's May.. Seriously this weather needs to go.. And by the outlook it will be amazing.. 70s and 80s by next week.. About time!

A fool... I am not

Got out on the south fork on 3-31 and 4-1. Stream conditions were good. Two amazing days that resulted in amazing fishing. 31st I fished by "The Million Dollar Bridge" caught an assortment of browns and brookies. Weather was amazing. Started my day at 8:30am. Was cool and sunny; around 50F as the day progressed though the day got warmer(mid-70s), brighter and the bite got better. Trout were taking on a Zug Bug that a wayfaring fisherman gave to me that morning that had good success until I lost it to the stream. Changed up a couple times and finally got them hitting on a variety of flies: #12 Orange Hare's Ears, #12-14 BH Pheasant Tails, #12 Brown Mini-bugger, #10 BH Prince Nymphs. No significant hatches were going on throughout the 8hrs i spent on the stream that day. Bite was definitely good and it was a great adventure. Before I had only fished this section of the south fork from the gate to the bridge with spinning gear. This time around was a whole other story. After getting some pointersfrom another angler earlier in the day I had decided to venture further upstream than I had been before. Resulting in some amazing scenery and great fishing. After I was done at the south fork i headed back towards Rushford and fished a favorite stream of mine for the remainder of the day. The day prior a tip from a friend had mentioned the spotting of and success of fishing a stonefly nymph. Using a #10 20 incher i was able to get hooked into a nice run of trout to top of an already excellent day of fishing.

April Fools, I got up a little later in the day. First day of Spring C&R. That means all streams are open in Southeaster Minnesota. This was a great day because it allowed me to finally fish a stretch of stream that i have wanted to fish ever since trout season closed. I wasn't the only one obviously thinking this as when i showed up there was one car already parked at the bridge in Choice. By the time i had entered the stream another car had arrived as well. Normally I seem to be the only fisherman on this stretch most of the year, which i am perfectly ok with =) Another day of venturing into unsung territory to me and it again turned out to be a great success. What i once didn't venture because of what seemed like boring water made way for an amazing treasure after walking into the spot about a 1/4mile. Again, browns and brooks hitting on #10 prince nymphs.. didn't even bother with putting anything else on. That is until i ran out of princes. This gave me a chance to use my new mini-buggers. Tied on #10 black mini-bugger and went for a walk. Got into some amazing scenery and even more amazing water. Riffles for a good 1/4mi and deep limestone boulder riffles. Trout willingly took the bugger and they were nothing far from short. All 12"+ and a couple around 16"