April 20th...

Caught some fish.. Caught a buzz.. That's the 20th of April for ya!

April 17th

Yesterday my buddy Ted called me up to see if I wanted to do some trout fishing.. Pfft.. What kind of question is that.. Of course!  So we headed north to the Whitewater area to do some trout fishing and hopefully catch some trout..

It was a great day.. Temps were in the low 50s when we headed out and peaked in the low 60s as the day progressed.. At first things were frustrating.. Trying to find a pattern that was gonna work.. The past couple days it's been easy.. Fish rising to Caddis.. Tie on a EHC and you were money.. Today it just seemed that it wasn't working out for me.. BWOs were popping and there were a few risers.. But I started out with a nymph tandem.. No dice.. Ted stepped up with a EHC and took one or two.. I switched up to a BWO dry as few of them were coming off and nothing.. Switched to an EHC and nothing.. Just was not going my way.. Perfect casts.. Perfect drifts.. Nothing.. Tie on a bugger.. Nothing.. Ted on the other hand was catching them here and there on nymphs.. mainly copper johns of the red variety..

As we headed up stream and the day progressed.. The caddis were coming off a little more and we both switched back to EHCs and that was where it was at the rest of the day.. Each taking our turn to step up and land a fish.. First Ted.. Then myself.. and back and forth we'd go catching one and letting the other step up to the plate to land another.. Finally things were working out for me..

As the day got later the caddis dropped off in normal fashion of the past week.. Seems like the hatches have been starting around noon-ish to 1pm.. and dropping off by ~3pm.. Overall it was a great day as always... Any day catching fish is a good day..

Another Day In The Water..

Had the day off yesterday so I decided I would dedicate it to the fine art of fishing... Woke up.. Got my head ready.. Gear packed... And headed south.. Decided I would check out a couple spots.. Unfortunately it is that time of the year where Wild Parsnip dominates the road sides and accesses to numerous holes until roughly August when it dies off... So right then and there had my options been cut down..

Unfortunately I ran into a second problem.. Cars at all the accesses I wanted to fish at.. I know that wouldn't stop some people from fishing.. But me personally.. I prefer peace and quite and no one in sight.. So I continued on.. So I ended up back at the creek I had fished the last couple times out.. It's a great "go to" stretch for me when I just want to get out and catch a couple trout without having to hike all day long to find them.. Was rather slow.. Managed about 3 browns with one rainbow mixed in.. All of which were Catch & Release..

Later on in the evening I was feeling hungry for some fish.. So I headed down to the local lake to slay some bluegill.. Sarah awhile back said that she wanted to learn how to clean/fillet fish.. And more than willingly agreed.. You'd have to be slow to not want someone else to clean your fish.. Or maybe to agree to cleaning fish you didn't catch.. Just kidding ;) ... So I took a dozen nice gills in the 7-8" range and brought them home.. Sarah was definitely a little hesitant at first.. Fish that are still alive.. *WACK!*.. excuse me.. were alive.. That made her uneasy.. But after walking her through how to cut and fillet them.. She was off to the races and filleted the 9 gills that I left her.. For a first timer she did a pretty good job.. Ended up with a nice pile of meat.. She tells me when she was all done "That wasn't too bad.. Now don't expect me to clean fish every day.. But once a week is not bad".. I don't think she knows what she signed up for.. But I'm not complaining!

The Most Beautiful Things In This World...

Today was a beautiful day... Sunny with a bit of overcast... And it must've gotten into the mid 70s at least today... It was a little windy and my first choice of water for the day turned out to still be blown out and mudded up.. Kinda getting ridiculous that I cannot fish my favorite trout stream in southeastern Minnesota.. But what can I do but just keep on keeping on..

Well this meant finding another stream that I knew off the top of my head that would block me from the 10-20mph winds that were churning up today from the east.. So I headed down 16 to another stream I knew and had only fished once previously.. Turned out to be a good choice.. Got to my destination.. Lined up the 7'6" 2wt.. Anything longer would have made for difficult.. If not impossible fishing.. Very overgrown area with tight casting lanes... Tied on a #14 Guide's Choice Hare's Ear and a #18 Pheasant Tail.. Turns out that's all I needed.. March Browns flying around but no trout rising..  Ended up taking about 4-5 browns to hand mostly in the 6" range.. And a chunky 16"+ that decided he did not want his picture taken when the time came and jumped out of my grip(typical story, right?)

As I was getting near my exit point.. I was walking through some very thick brush... Step.. Step.. Step.. Step.. BRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAKS.. Whoa.. Almost stepped directly on a fawn laying in the brush.. I could not believe my eyes.. I had never came across such a thing.. And the beauty and cuteness of it all had me star struck for sometime...

 

As I headed back home I decided I would stop by another section of stream that I love fishing.. Turned out to be a very good decision... Got stream side.. Started out with a tandem nymph setup which landed me one dink.. Few risers.. Then a few more.. And a few more... They were not interested in any nymphs.. Reached for my dries case and switched it up.. Took me a couple different flies but soon I found the key and the trout loved it.. Was rather windy.. And didn't have floatant on me.. Note to self  "buy floatant as I have lost mine"  So with no floatant I found it best that I make a couple cast up stream until the fly got water logged and then I would cast down and across and skitter the fly along the top.. Which turned out to work perfectly!  Another 8-10 trout to hand.. Mostly browns with a couple bows in the mix.. Very VERY aggressive fish on this stretch and even smaller fish gave me a run.. Most were in the 12" range... Overall turned out to be an amazing day!

May 23rd

Got out for a couple hours Monday morning with a buddy of mine.  Managed between the two of us to take about 10 trout to hand in just under 2 hours...

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..

4/22... Hammock Creek

Woke up around 10am.. Looked out the window and saw it was sprinkling... Wasn't planning on doing any fishing today as I saw yesterday that it was supposed to be raining all day long.. Went to Weather Underground and looked at the weather maps which showed a huge gap between systems and decided I would go out and do a little fishing....

Got on the road some time around 11am.... Made sure to pack up the rain jacket.. Just in case... and packed my 2wt.. 5wt.. and spinning rod.. just to cover all bases... Decided I would head south of I-90... First 4 spots I went to all had at least 4 cars at them.. Oh yeah.. No one is working today... Totally forgot that part... After flipping through my maps I decided I would keep driving south and check out a section of stream that I had never fished before... When I arrived things were looking good.. no rain.. not too chilly.. the section of stream I arrived at looked amazing..

Through on my waders and my rain jacket.. wasn't sure how long I would be out... and it had been sprinkling on and off during the whole drive.. packed my jacket with all the gear I needed... decided I would take the spinning rod with me.. Had been sometime since I was stream side with a spinning rod.. and this was a brand new 6'6" St. Croix Triumph that I had yet to use.. bought it earlier in the year to replace the one I broke during my trip up north...

I walked downstream for probably a good 1.5-2mi... Finally I decided I should turn around and start walking back up stream and start fishing.. I could have continued walking down stream.. but forgetting my watch and not knowing how long it took me to walk to where I was I played it safe... but there was plenty more potentially amazing water down stream of me...

As soon as I started to turn around and start fishing back to my car... it slowly started raining.. nothing severe... actually the whole afternoon it rained.. with a few times here and there it would stop.. never once saw the sun.. cloudy.. gloomy.. rainy day.. thankfully that makes for a very productive day on the water!

Rain makes for easy presentation.. For one it breaks up the top of the water.. making it tough for the trout to see you.. and even tougher for them to differentiate a spinner from a rain drop.. a couple times throughout the day I had trout take my spinner before it had even started spinning.. a couple were even as it was hitting the water.. this combination of elements for the day made for some very aggressive fish...

First cast.. nothing but a mess of line.. cleaned it up.. retied my spinner.. next cast same thing..

First lesson of the day... Fireline Crystal SUCKS!  I will be removing the remainder from my spool and going back to PowerPro..

I basically cast to anything that looked deep and/or covered up.. lots of over hang and downed trees made for some great structure that when cast to.. Casting up stream through runs produced some nice trout.. but my best trout were had  by casting across stream and letting the current sweep my spinner into downed trees and low overhanging trees... This was my proven method when I almost skipped a hole because it seemed like a snagging catastrophe waiting to happen.. But I gave it a shot.. walked up above it.. cast across and let my spinner sweep back to my side of the stream and bam!  I pull out 15-16" Brown.. followed by 3 more ~12".. most of the trout that I caught were in the 10-12" range.. with a handful below that.. and maybe 5-6 that were bigger than that... ended the day with somewhere around 30 trout to hand.. and at least double that that chased or hit my spinner..

When i got back to my car... I had realized I wasn't too sure about where I exactly was.. DNR maps aren't the greatest marked maps in the world.. and I knew where I was.. but none of the roads in the area where labeled on the map... So I just drove until I got service and used Google Earth to save my ass... That's what I get for forgetting my Garmin...

All in all a good day.. When it rains.. it may pour... But one thing is for certain.. When it rains.. I reign supreme! =)

Something bigger got a hold of this guy... Unfortunately I didn't find him..

Close up of the previous trout's tail

New Stream Maps for 2011

Don't know how long ago the DNR posted them.. but I just noticed it.. New Updated Spring 2011 Trout Stream Maps

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..

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!

 

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!

Slow day...

Got out to a couple spots today.. it was windy.. probably a constant 15-20mph wind with gusts in the 40s... overcast.. looked like it was gonna rain all day but it never did until the end of the day there was about 5seconds worth of sprinkles..  first started out at the Sheldon area but winds were nasty and fish just weren't biting... a few rises here and there.. and i could see them sitting at the bottom of the deep pools.. next i went to Choice.. still the winds would not let up. but at least the trout were rising though i couldn't get them to really take on anything up top.. with the winds blowing against the current it made it too choppy and tough to see my dries...  took a couple, that are now in my fridge, on a combination of HW Prince nymphs and orange scuds... and caught about a dozen or so creek chubs... finally i decided i would stop at Rush Creek.. not much going on.. nothing at all really.. saw a couple small risers.. and tied into one on one of my last casts.. but he was never brought in.. seemed to be a nice sized trout too =( ... well at least i got out for a couple hours.. but this mess of weather we have been having of late sure needs to straighten out.. if its not raining.. its windy as all hell.. its getting annoying and frustrating

New Waters

After going to Trout Day at Forestville on Saturday and talking with Steve Klotz about a certain stream in the Winona area.. Me and my buddy decided to head out and explore a new stretch of stream... We arrived at our destination around noon... Cool.. Slightly windy.. Very cloudy day.. Looked like rain.. There was another angler... He wasn't having any luck.. We decided we would walk down stream and work our way back up to the cars... After a little bit of walking we cut through the brush and headed stream side where we found our first hole and riffle for the day..  Water was still murky from the rain over the weekend... Area was tight and proved frustrating with snags and hang-ups in brush... Hewas able to pull a few smaller trout out of the riffles.. Myself had no luck.. I changed up to a bugger at the head of the riffles with no luck.. Here my buddy was able to hook into a pair of browns.. ~14" and a fat ~16" Both taken on #12 Princes.. I switched back to a #12 red SJW and worked a downed tree and root wad that looked promising.. and landed myself a ~14" brown.. Those would be the only fish of the day.. A couple more hits.. But nothing landed.. Overall a successful outing for unknown water...

My Biggest Trout On The Fly

Caught my biggest trout on the fly today on Garvin Brook... only trout of the day... beautiful weather.. low 70s.. sunny.. nice breeze... the redhorse are now starting to move in and spawn

CaddiShack

Another day off of work means another day of fishing.. Headed out to Trout Run as I had not made it out there yet this year... Would today prove to be a successful day of fishing?  Success would be an understatement.. today was probably one of the craziest days of trout fishing I have ever witnessed... got to my first spot around noon... step out of my car and notice that the trout are already leaping out of the water.  It's sunny.. probably in the high 60s... fished the first couple holes with little success.. water is crystal.. i'm spooking more of the trout than anything.. the rest are sitting down low.. with no interest in whats happening above the water... turn the bend and come to my next hole.. literally spent an hour here.. caddis were coming off the water... and the fish were in a feeding frenzy.. cast my elk hair up and watch the trout come up and pick off my fly.... all was done by sight the streams were so clear.. i could cast my fly right on to their nose and they took it without a second though.. i don't even remember how many fish i caught in this hole as every 3-4 i would inch up on my knees another couple feet.. soon after hitting the holes with the elk hair i got bored with the ease of picking off these guys off on top of the water.. so i switched up to a tandem with a #14 Pheasant tail.. trailed by a #10 Danger Baby... haven't tried these Danger Babys out yet.. but it seems to have this cased caddis look to it.. so i figured it would produce.. and produce it did.. as soon as i went below the water the trout got bigger.. nothing huge.. but definitely bigger.. i noticed a lot of the bigger trout sitting at the bottom.. so that was one reason for switching to nymphing... as the day progressed the caddis got thicker.. and thicker.. and thicker.. at one point it was just a sheet of caddis.. almost enough to gross me out..  4 hours and too many trout to count later i decided to head back to the car.. a car covered in caddis

     Spot #2... decided to head up to some more familiar territory and stop at Bucksnort.  There were a couple cars.. nothing too bad.. and from talking to the other anglers it was worse upstream... started out rather frustrating.. fish are jumping everywhere but refuse to hit anything i throw at them.. nymphs.. more elk hairs.. just not happening.. same followed suit for the other angler i was talking to.. just weren't interested.. maybe the amount of caddis was just too much for the fish to key in on my particular fly.. 100s of caddis... 1 fly.. odds are not on my side.. so i decided i would hike downstream a ways and work my way back up to the bridge.. put the elk hair away and tied on a #12 pheasant tail and  #12 Hot Wire Copper John(red/copper)... this tandem seemed to work it.. kept trout on my line as i worked my way back upstream.. later due to snag.. I switched to a HWCJ and Brassie... which continued to pound the fish..

    I don't think I could have asked for better fishing conditions than what I got today.. Warm.. Sunny.. Breezy.. 7 hours of non-stop caddis hatching.. a couple trout for the kitchen and too many to count beyond that..  yeah.. it was a good day