Dahlquist Fishing Blog

Another January Thaw

2012-01-27T17:46:00.003-06:00

More warm weather, Tommy and I decided to try our luck at trout fishing yesterday afternoon. Hiking was a little harder with snow drifts and I'm worn out this evening after 3 1/2 hours of fishing. Conditions were tougher today. Casting upstream to 15 mph head winds to a narrow and shallow creek was a challenge.

Right away I had two decent trout briefly on which we thought was a good sign. In the end we had to work for our fish. Tommy was the first to finally land. Below are photos of a colorful 14" female on a #9 Panther Martin silver blade, yellow body with red spots. Tommy also had a big dog chase early on did not commit and could not be fooled twice.

An hour later I finally connected with a chunky 16" male. I was not excited about the pool but Tommy told me it has been good to him in the past. I casted my all gold #9 Panther Martin. We saw a wake and the fish missed it. I was amazed it hit again after my second cast. This guy was a fighter for his size. He even kicked water up on my camera lens.

A relaxing afternoon on the water. The fishing could have been better but you can't win them all. Low water conditions and bright sunlight. I'm just happy to catch any trout in January. Usually I don't even bother but low 40s, can you blame me?

April Daydream

2012-01-11T21:25:00.000-06:00

Honestly I did not plan on fishing again yesterday butknowing it was going to be even warmer than “Brookie Fever” Monday I could notresist. I told my boss I felt guiltyasking for time off again but my work load was all caught up and when were weever going to see weather like this in January? Leaving work at noon and driving home I called Tommy on the road whofirst turned me down, said he had to focus on work. Then two minutes later, the phone rang, Tommycalling back saying he changed his mind. Work could wait, time to go trout fishing and we decided to met up in Cannon Fallsso we could carpool the rest of the way.

Short on time I suggested a new favorite of ours in RedWing. Upon arrival my car registered 53degrees and it was bright and sunny which made me worried. Was I being selfish skipping out of work andtrying to catch skittish trout in broad daylight? It sure felt this way for a while. Downstream of the pasture section does holdtrout however we were not getting any bites, nor were we spotting any fish. Trout or no trout, this was an Aprildaydream. I actually wore shorts and acotton long sleeved t-shirt under breathable chest waders along with an opentop golf cap, typical attire for April or perhaps early May. A light breeze and no snow and chirpingbirds, the weather was all surreal.

The area ahead was heavily wooded which made for difficultcasting, especially for Tommy who decided not to wear waders. With the bright sun I decided the only way Iwas going to get a trout to bite was staying down at water level keeping a lowprofile. Tommy was looking for openingsthrough the trees making occasional casts but the banks tall enough that Ithink the trout clearly saw him and would spook before his spinner even hit thewater. Tommy was also in a lot of backpain (likely from overexertion from Monday’s outing) and told me he was goingto rest for a while and do some stretching exercises; he would catch up with mein a bit.

My low profile approach staying in the creek paid off. A couple blocks up from Tommy now all on myown; I came across a couple of zig-zag runs that looked deep. I casted my spinner up to the top of thefirst run, started the retrieve and then paused to let it drop where the rungot deeper, then started the retrieve again. Five more cranks in my pole bent in half, a big fish flopping aroundonly about six feet from my feet. Icould tell the trout was enormous as it thrashed about and started peelingdrag. “Zip zip zip” went my line with mypole pulsating. I was like a deer inheadlights, honestly I don’t even think I set the hook. I had my doubts about landing this tubhowever the fish did not fight half as strong as he looks. Perhaps the cold water made himsluggish. Into the big net he went,actually in short order for the size of the fish. My heart was racing. In the net the #9 PM fell right out. The lure was just lightly hooked by only oneof the three hooks of the treble on bottom of his massive kyped jaw. Out with the measuring tape, just a few hairsshy of 24.” I hollered out to Tommy whodid not respond to my call. The fish inthe net I dragged the fish in the water downstream who found me and tookphotos.

The fish released in fine shape and high fives with Tommy, Iwaded right back to where the fish hit and cast another 30 feet upstream intothe second run, tight to the right bank. Almost instantly I felt another fish. This one was fighting harder than the 24” male and it rammed itselfunder the cut bank and appeared stuck. Iwaded upstream and yelled at Tommy “I got another one!” with a big smile. “No way said Tommy. “Bullshit” he added. “Come and see for yourself Tommy” Ireplied. “I’m going to need you to takephotos for me.” I added. First I was notsure if the fish had tangled in the cut bank got off or if she was stillthere. Close to the fish I gentlyfollowed the line and untangled from the roots in the cut bank and the fishpulsated downstream ripping out dag and me and my big net chasing afterher. Tommy was speechless after thesecond fish was landed right in front of him. I clearly had the advantage being at water level being able to castunderneath the tree branches. Not nearlyas fat as the 24,” she sure was a fighter and a prized fish measuring at aneven 21.”

This fish also completely unharmed and released, I crawledup the bank to join Tommy and review the photos. Unfortunately Tommy’s back was killing him sowe decided to head back to the car. Tommyhad multiple back surgeries last summer and I think all the hiking from Mondayas well as the long car drive really did a number on his back.

The April daydream has come to and end. We made Hay while the sun was shining but nowsnow and temperatures in the high teens are expected tomorrow. We took full advantage of this fantasticweather. For Tommy it did not matterthat he did not catch a fish, he was there to experience both of my fantastic trout. Last Thursday was Tommy's lucky day landing a26" and yesterday was my lucky day with a 24" and a 21."

Brookie Fever in January

2012-01-10T20:02:00.002-06:00

With the toasty weather in the upper 40s I left work early and headed down to southeast MN with Tommy. A long drive but it was worth getting back to a new favorite brook trout stream I discovered this summer. As it turns out, brook trout streams are getting harder to come by these days. I understand in recent years any water connected to brown trout gets taken over. Luckily this one is somewhat isolated. This is in fact the only solid brook trout stream I know of listed in the Minnesota winter streams.

Brook trout have a special place in my heart. Their colors are a true delight compared to browns and I also love the fact that they are always anxious to chomp on a worm - any time of day, and almost any time of year. I don't have that much experience with bait fishing in the winter. Yesterday was an example of pure success. Small but beautiful and worth the drive in my opinion.

Best Trout of 2011 & Fishing Statistics

2012-01-06T21:20:00.001-06:00

2011 was the best year of inland stream trout fishing to date. A total of 12 browns 20" or larger were landed. I also continued to break my own personal best records catching a 23" then 23.25" followed by a 24" that I am having put on my wall and expected to be back from the taxidermist next summer.

A Personal Best to Start the New Year

2012-01-05T17:49:00.001-06:00

Tommy and I were very excited for our first trout fishing adventure of the New Year. With this unusual warm weather of mid-40s for this first week in January, we would be crazy NOT to trout fish. Minnesota has a winter trout season that starts January 1. For those of you that braved the elements on opening day with below freezing temps including 25+ mph winds, my hat goes out to you. When it comes to winter fishing I've learned to be more selective and have found the warmer days are generally the most productive and enjoyable, today being the perfect example.

At the creek, we could tell the outing was going to be a success. My car registered 43 outside and the snow from Sunday was basically gone which made for easy hiking. Right away we both had trout chase and swipe at our #9 Panther Martin spinners. Tommy had gold and I had silver with red and blue rainbow trout markings, different colors to mix it up. However the creek was low and gin clear. Fishing our way upstream, we were amazed to see several wakes of decent sized trout scatter a far distance ahead of us. It would be just a matter of time before we hooked into some trout. Clearly we just needed to work on our approach. The sun was beating down and I was getting hot out. I could not believe less than a half hour into our trip I had to take my fleece jacket off. Was this actually the first week of January?

A long bomb way up the narrow creek, three feet into my retrieve and a hit! “Fish on!” I shouted. “Any size?” said Tommy? “Oh yeah, nice one Tommy” I replied. At first the fish acted like a northern pike. I saw a long slender streak of white belly and the fish proceeded to roll on the spinner. Then closer to me the fish zigzagged to the left and the right ramming itself into the cut bank trying to break free, typical trout behavior. “You got him Marky?” Tommy hollered. “I got him Tommy, no worries” I replied and next thing you know I was trembling with excitement, cautious to play the fish nicely. Head first into the net I gently set on shore to keep from flopping and preventing unnecessary tangle. “Measure than fish Mark” said Tommy. Out with my tape I measured. “Just a touch over 21” Tommy.” I replied with a big smile on my face. I briefly held this long slender lady gazing at her beautiful dark colors for a brief moment before I slipped her back in the creek where she quickly took off downstream.

Now it was Tommy’s turn to catch a nice one. One big 20”+ brown, my outing was already made. We trudged forward casting the narrow creek, taking turns. Any of the more promising pools I let Tommy have first cast. Roughly a football field up from where I caught my trout we came across a promising pool. Looking upstream it is narrow at the top spilling out to create a kidney bean shaped pool bowing to the left before snaking to a shallow right corner. Tommy was on the right side of the crick by the shallow corner and I was on the left side ready to cast to the “funnel” at the top of pool but decoded to let Tommy cast first. On Tommy’s side there was lots of brush to contend with and he lobbed a cast that ended up being short and tight to the right bank, literally only about four feet upstream from where he was standing. We both saw the wake and both of our eyes lit up. “Take it, take it, take it!” I lightly chanted to the fish. And then it happened. The spinner almost at the end of the pool right in front of Tommy’s feet I seee the top half of a gigantic kype come out of the water and chomp down on his spinner like an alligator attacking. “Yeah!!!” I cheered “You got him Tommy!” I added. After the hook set everything seemed to go into slow motion. So much water was splashing everywhere for a moment I had a hard time seeing what was going on from across the way. “Throw me your net!” Tommy prompted, and I quickly unhooked from the back of my vest and tossed across the creek. Honestly I think the big brown did not know what hit him. The fish was literally in 6” or less of shallow sand gravel mix, the fish did not have any time to even take off before it foolishly circled back towards Tommy and went head first into my net as if walking a dog into its kennel. It looked almost too easy. Tommy landed that fish easily under a minute. I don’t even think the fish took out drag. The fish on the bank Tommy was jaw struck, stunned as if he could not believe his own eyes. Tommy measured 26.25” on the nose, a new personal best.

This was a marvelous day that will be etched in our memory forever. Lots of high fives and some beers back at my car. We could not stop talking about Tommy’s big catch. Clearly massive and made my 21” look like a noodle in comparison. The whole time this tank of a fish was ambushed at the tail end of the right side of the pool buried underneath the shallow cut bank, literally only a few feet from where Tommy casted from. To conclude, the fish was released in good shape, he only had to be pumped by the tail once before he shot off like a rocket back downstream. With the photos Tommy already told me he plans to have a replica made. This was clearly a fish of a lifetime, and all the better as a shared experience.

Hawaii Trip - Part II, Maui

2011-12-18T17:47:00.001-06:00

Six days in Kihei, Maui. West side of the island. Weather was always perfect here. Sunny and minimal wind and the waves were generally calm.

Right after we landed we could not access our condo until 3pm so we checked out Iao valley and the famous Iao Needle sticking out.

Iao Valley is really lush and I was instantly drawn to the beautiful looking stream. The water was pretty cold too as it all came from the mountains, just no trout.

A few of the Iao Needle closer up. Funny at the top of the trail head there was a grass hut, presumably to stay dry when viewing the needle when it rains. Another couple came up to the hut with their daughter who upon the arrival got upset because there was no pizza! Boy did she get duped by her parents.

The next day we went to the Maui Ocean Center. They have many nice aquariums with every kind of fish imaginable. They also have a shark tanks, tide pools, and even a sea turtle tank. These photos were with my iPhone. Unicorn fish has unicorn point and razor sharp edges by it's tail for anything that tries to eat it, part of the Surgeon fish family.

The following day we did the infamous road to Hana along the north shore. This road is 52 miles long with over 600 curves and 54 one lane bridges. Amazing scenery including many beautiful waterfalls.

Picnic lunch we had some friendly mongoose eagerly looking to be fed. During the 1800's sugar plantation boom, rats became a problem so the mongoose was brought over to take care of the rats. Only problem rats are nocturnal and the mongoose are not. So that did not work out and the mongoose is now considered invasive as it likes to eat eggs from native birds.

The following morning we went on a whale watching tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Right out of the bay within minutes we spotted a whale spouting from it's breath hole. He then dived and was not to be found. However we came across this playful one year old Humpback. Best shot I got with my point and shoot. The whale breached numerous times and seemed rather playful with it's flippers as if waving at us.

Lots of shots of the tails if anybody wants to see more. I had my zoom maxed out the whole time and was constantly shooting. The first photo above is the best one. In total we saw three different humpbacks. All are here from Alaska, here to mate and give birth in the warm waters before making their way down to Mexico. Peak time is January so early December is when it starts. We were lucky to see so many. In fact we even spotted some from the road while driving.

Several marine biologists on the boat. They even had a microphone in the water so you could hear the whales plus a special program for the kids.

The balance of our trip was spent on the beach across the street from the condo plus side trips to places like Lahaina, an old fishing town that is now a tourist trap. Our main interest was mai tai's for lunch and checking out the banyan kid that I remember climbing when I was Matt's age

The beaches out front were fantastic. Very warm water and surf not too strong. Snorkel anywhere around the rocks and you would find beautiful coral reefs and lots of fish.

Lots of great restaurants in Kihei too. Anybody plan on going, let me know I can fill you in. Beach is the direct west side of the island so it was perfect for sunsets too.

Hawaii Trip - Part I, Kauai

2011-12-17T12:05:00.003-06:00

Six days in Kapaa, Kauai. This is the beach out front in the morning our first full day there. We flew out Thanksgiving morning and did not get to our resort until after sunset.

Resort was real nice. It has a lazy river, waterfalls, and slides. One of the waterfalls even had a big cave underneath where you could sit.

Trade Winds this time of year. Some days were gusty but you could always find good weather on one side of the island, especially by Poipu. Also for swimming the mouths of the rivers made nice blue green lagoons for kids to play in.

Friday night luau at Smith's Tropical Paradise right next to the Wailua River.

Show after the luau including twirling balls of fire.

Wailua Falls one of the most beautiful and very tall waterfalls I have seen. An incredible canyon.

"Autograph" tree at Kauai Coffee. Matt's nickname is monkey.

One happy kid at lunch at Keoki's Restaurant. This is part of a chain of restaurants on the island which also includes Duke's Canoe Club which we also highly recommend.

North Shore of Na Pali Coast was windy and strong surf but it sure made for a beautiful hike. Previously doing this hike in high heat and humidity was not an easy task.

Here is looking down at Na Pali Coast, basically from the other end. The opening for Jurassic Park was filmed here.

Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the South Pacific."

This should be Hawaii's state bird. Chickens everywhere, released from previous hurricanes.

Sharing the beach with an endangered Hawaiian Monk seal. Just a pup actually. The life guards had set up an area with cones to leave her alone. It is against the law to get close to them. Many people think they are sick when they are actually just resting (and likely digesting food).

My son Matt's favorite on Kauai was playing in the sand, making new friends and checking out the tropical fish.

Quillback and Redhorse of the Cannon River

2011-11-12T14:00:00.000-06:00

I was fortunate enough to talk my wife into letting me fish one more time before the cold starts to set in. Today could very likely be the last 60 degree day of fall, so I took advantage. Matt's cousin Avery has her first birthday party later this afternoon, and chores to do prior. My window of opportunity was 6:30 - 9:30. Leaving the house it was below freezing at 28. A half hour drive to Cannon Falls it got a few degrees warmer going south, thank goodness.

Arriving at Lake Byllesby Regional Park a half hour before sunrise, I was amazed to again see two cars beat me to it! One truck had the same two guys fishing off the dock above the dam. I asked what they were fishing for and they said walleye. I asked how deep it is off the dock and they told me 8 feet. Amazing, a far cry from 50 feet that a friend told me it was. I saw their bobbers from a distance, nothing going on. Two morning trips three weeks apart and these guys were at it. No bites yet but they told me typically fishing for walleye is good in the fall here.

The climb down below the dam is a little sketchy. On this trip and last I stayed to the path on the left and went under the fence and carefully climbed down the slippery rock wall. Down below in the soft shallow water two fishermen were at it, right in the spot I caught smallies last time. One guy on shore and the other ventured to get his feet wet fishing from one of the giant rocks in the middle of the river. They stuck around for a good 20 minutes and then headed back. I asked if they caught anything and one of the guys said he caught something but did not know exactly what he caught, thought it was a carp.

Likely a carp sucker I thought. Fishing firetiger rapalas I was occasionally snagging up on big fish only to pop off. Then at the top of the pool casting to the far right, I hooked up to a nice one. Snagged in the belly. Not a legal catch nor was I trying to snag, but it sure what one fun fight! These are strong powerful fish! Three quick photos including one of the release and the fish was on his way.

Next I switched over to worms and caught two silver redhorse, right in the same spot as the quillback. Neat! The first one had really colorful fins. The second one was the biggest I've ever hooked. Waiting on a new Panasonic Lumix camera I fumbled with my iPhone leaving the feisty fish to swim around only to wiggle free out of my hands wile trying to take a photo. A very fat redhorse, almost as thick as the quillback!

I walked downstream a bit. The whole limestone bank on the south side is dripping water. In one spot there is so much water I'm guessing this must be some type of spring because it has not rained here in a long long time. Kind of weird to see bright plants growing outside in the middle of November but I'll take it! Downstream was not productive as the river got wide and shallow, only a foot deep, you could walk across here if you wanted to. All solid rock. I cut my losses and decided to try Sucker Creek on my way back home.

Sucker Creek was full of suckers, however the redhorse, carp, and smallies were absent. I'm guessing they went to their wintering holes in deeper warmer water. I used up the rest of my worms that I had for the season. One fish per cast, I pulled a dozen out of there. A few were over 15" and fat but most were the size of an average trout. A few photos of sucker fishing action below. Below the bridge and directly above I got plenty of bites.

My iPhone takes pretty good pictures. Panasonic is being traded in for the newest model since after two years the camera accumulated enough scratches on the lens to where it was affecting camera performance. Specifically camera lens scratches make bright backgrounds look hazy. My iPhone used to be like that too as I never bought a case however I was able to find a replacement cover for the back of the phone that includes a new lens cover for $40.

A Walk on the Beach at Torrey Pines Preserve

2011-10-29T18:57:00.001-05:00

Last week I went for a 15 minute walk between customer visits at the Torrey Pines Preserve. My drive to work was along this coast each day. Pretty nice scenery. Hoping for more sun but I guess in the fall the San Diego area gets a heavy marine layer on it many days. It was really foggy and a gloomy all week. The sun would only break out briefly at times in the afternoons.

First part of the slideshow is on top of the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I found the ice plants to be most beautiful, almost like fall colors. However I am told the colors are likely more a sign of stress including lack of water. I've been to San Diego over a dozen times for business, yet to see such coloration. Also the sand formations as if slowly eroded over time by brief rains are fun to look at.

First at the cliff overlooking the ocean, I then drove two blocks down the hill to beach. There is lowland marsh that at high tide fills up and there is a diversity of creatures around. I real marshy smell, somewhat pungent. Talked to a fisherman who was catching sea perch. Most were the size of small sunfish however am told they do get in upwards of 5 lbs and taste delicious. The fisherman told me he was just here to relax, he did not care what size they were. A 1 oz lead ball with a leader about a yard off of it with a #4 hook and plastic worm did the trick. He would just chuck out into the surf, then feel for the bumps and set the hook. Constant action, most of the fish too small to impale themselves on a #4 hook.

Also the fisherman told me about Lake Cuyamaca that sounds just like LNL. He said the stocked trout are s blast to catch and taste great. There are even other stocked lakes that are 30 minutes or less from San Diego. Lake Cuyamaca sounds more promising though. Higher altitude so colder, more suitable for trout.

Lastly, if you are in the area I highly recommend The Fish Market in Del Mar or San Diego. I generally get the jumbo panko scallops or the mesquite grilled red snapper, both under $12. Plus you can buy fresh fish here too and a good oyster bar. Heck they even have smoked rainbow trout if you desire.

Fall Morning on the Cannon River

2011-10-22T12:59:00.001-05:00

Trout fishing has been over but that does not mean fishing is over. I enjoy the crisp fall mornings of October. First off I fished my Sucker Creek for an hour under the bridge. This was my fourth time fishing it this fall, each trip has been worthwhile. My main interest was in more tubby smallies and a beautiful redhorse. Happy to land my second redhorse of my life this morning, beautiful red fins. The two I have caught were this size - larger than a white sucker, and again right away I could see the red fins stick out and was extra careful not to lose the fish. Just a beautiful silver fish with big scales.

Next I headed over the to Byllesby Cannon River Dam off 19, four miles east of Cannon Falls. My first time here. Initially I was jigging under the rock ledge on shore with a walleye jig and worm, no action. A Mexican family was fishing next to me with worms and caught only one white sucker all morning, packed up and left. After they left I worked my way downstream a touch away from the dam. I noticed soft current shallow water below the dam that was 2-3' deep and lots of rocks. Smallie Central! I caught three smallies, the last one being an absolute tub. Initially I was casting a Mepps minnow spinner and also lost another tub smallie. I fished the same area over a few times and notice I caught fish each time after a lure change. Heck, I even tried Tony's PK "trout" lure (smallie colors) and caught one. Then I got snagged next cast and that was the end of that lure.

Next I switched over to a fluorescent yellow/orange/green shallow runner Rapala and caught two of these. A first for me. I believe this is a quillback. The first one I snagged in the dorsal fin. The second one I snagged in the face. These fish were chunky wide fish and strong fighters. I guess they are related to the carp. I ran out of time but I bet if I walked down the shore and found more soft water there would be more of smallie fishing.

Walking on my way out here are photos of the Byllesby Dam and Lake Byllesby itself. There is a fishing pier and two guys fishing from it. I am told it is 70 feet deep at the dock if you can believe that.

More Smallies on Sucker Creek

2011-10-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Great little spot. Cannon River tributary. Giant carp, redhorse, white sucker, dogfish, smallies, even walleye. You never know what you are going to catch. I look forward to trying this spot in the spring. The redhorse really go nuts.

Tommy and I met up from 7:00 - 8:30 this morning. Each of us fished with crawler and two splits, the current strong enough that your drift will be too fast with just one. Lots and lots of white suckers, and big ones too. If you want to catch a lot of fish, this is the place. However my main interest was smallies and the hope of redhorse or even a big carp.

Tommy and I at least each got a quality smallmouth. With the bite you can tell what kind of fish you have. Smallies slam it and run with it ASAP. Carp and redhorse are also the same way. However white sucker they often just nibble at that and the minute you feel a little "tap tap" you set the hook. However when you set the hook on a whitey, you should not send it home. Rather feel the fish and sweep and start reeling, the way you are supposed to fish a circle hook.

We really got a lot of tubs but IMO white suckers are not photo worthy. One white sucker too many. We had our fill after 1.5 hours. Every time we caught one we would yell "Kill Whitey" although for the record we did not kill any of them, we let them all go.

Funny people still think it is illegal to let roughfish go. Wednesday night my folks were over and my Dad swore up and down that it is illegal to let roughfish go.

Worm Soaking on Sucker Creek

2011-10-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

Worm soaking on Sucker Creek. Much thanks to Tommy, Dylan, and Ben I learned of this fantastic spot. It turns out, this appears to be the best pool out of the whole watershed and it is right off the main road. I fished from 5:30 - 7:00 under the bridge.

First three fish were smallmouth bass. The third one being the largest of the night. I was working downstream up from the east side. All sand, I crouched down on my knees and threw crawler and split to the center pylons of the bridge per Tommy's suggestion as he caught the smallies a little over a week a go. Glad to see them still here.

Top of the pool again I see my line sift out instantly and I pull back and set the hook. My first redhorse ever landed. Beautiful fish, nicer than a white sucker. More silver and then great looking red colored fins. Apparently the fins are most red in the spring during spawn so I will have to try here next year.

Next as I sit down to the river with my polarized shades, I see a couple of very large fish move in. At first I thought gigantic smallies as that was the most common catch. Literally arms length away these monsters were prowling around looking for something. I was almost amazed I did not spook them had they been looking up. Three different casts right in front of them my split and worm splash down in front. I thought the fish might spook but then I saw my line sift and the reel started to scream. Right then I knew I had a big carp. Incredible bulldozer type runs, I did not want to lose the fish. What a rush! Finally my big net came in handy again. The minute carp saw my net though he had other plans and took off again. I saw lip hooked and plenty of space so I loosened up my drag just a touch and let him peel around a couple more times before I swooped him up.

As the sun was coming down the bite slowed a bit. I was hoping for another beautiful redhorse however no such luck. I caught a handful of smaller than average suckers and one more medium sized smallie and then I ran out of worms. The sun was almost down, perfect timing.

Fishing at Trapp Farm Park

2011-10-01T14:13:00.001-05:00

I took Matthew and his friend Abraham fishing this morning for a little bit at Trapp Farm Park. This is Swartz Lake, rather small and shallow however the sunfish are generally on the nicer side compared to the other Eagan lakes we have tried. Knowing the fish are small and my smallest hook being a #8, I opted to put on a #16 BH pink squirrel, split above that and small bobber for both of the kids. Plus I added just the smallest chunk of crawler.

Abraham kept asking if he should keep his two biggest and told him it was up to him. Matt got one decent one and put in the ziplock bag with water. The kids had fun watching the sunnies swim in the bag and kept them fresh all the way home.

Fishing is not just catching it is about eating. I fillet the fish out really fast. I was a tad rusty and lost a little bit of meat however no worries. Dip in egg then Andy's fish and seafood breaking (orange bag) and into some canola oil for a few minutes.

After we ate the fish Abraham asked for more and I told him we ate the three, just a small snack before lunch I asked Abraham if we made the right decision keeping the fish and he said he wants to keep more next time for a bigger meal. Fresh fried sunfish were a nice Saturday morning treat.

North Fork Zumbro & Cold Spring Brook

2011-09-28T22:30:00.003-05:00

Tommy and I tried the NF Zumbro downstream of Mazeppa. We had heard of big fish and there possibly are but it is a really low numbers deal. We did not even spot any browns bigger than 17." I would say walking 1.2 miles upstream we saw only a dozen total browns, most were your average size. We did catch smallies with worms. Big water, you could almost canoe most spots.

Check out this tall bank. Interesting how the south side is steep and the north side is flat. The area got hit hard this spring from all the constant rain we had, some real gully washers. A few large trees in the crick too.

Lots of up to your chest water. Beautiful scenery reminding me of Montana. Lots of gravel and sand and not too much silt. Reminds me of Little Cannon and Belle. Too bad the trout bite just was not much at all. We really gave it our best and covered a lot of water.

One and only brown landed on the crick. Casted to the edge of the crick by some logs and three trout came darting out and chased my spinner. This brown hit right in front of me at the last minute. Caught on a #9 gold Panther Martin spinner. Estimated to be 15" this fish was nice and fat.

We went over to Cold Spring Brook next. Right downstream of the bridge is a really deep blue green pool. However no fish home at least by worm or spinner. Upstream we found a pool where I thought I had a nice brookie, only ending up being a 12" brown on a worm. Next big pool by the road rising browns jumping out of the water for some type of hatch. The wanted nothing to do with worms, spinners, and small Husky Jerk. Disappointing to see CSB taken over by browns.

Crummy trout bite not the best way to end the season but what can you do? We knew going into this it is a low numbers stream and a higher chance at a skunk. Yet perhaps the right conditions and the right pool, NF might just produce a few quality trout. Time will tell. Until next season.

If Only Time Stood Still

2011-09-25T18:41:00.004-05:00

I met up with DTA member Trout Patzer yesterday morning at 6:15. We were both suited up and ready to go. I stopped at Walmart in Hudson for last minute crawlers and decided the paved lighted parking lot a nicer place to suit up. My car temperature gauge said 39 degrees this morning. Brrr! Here I was with shorts, a t-shirt, and long sleeve breathable shirt, that was not enough. Glad I grabbed my jacket on the way out. Even then early on this morning I felt like doing jumping jacks to keep warm, fingerless gloves were needed, but we did not have them. I even put my hood up to keep warm. Frost on the grass. Our fingers were numb and we kept trying to warm them breathing on them often. I even put my hands down my pants at one point because I was so cold.

It was worth it, let me tell you that. Nate and I did not keep track of total trout caught. Probably over 50 between the two of us. Fishing was red hot once the sun came up and the fish woke up. Heck even before the sun we have four biggies laid out for eats. I'm just not a fan of flash photos early am, too bright and overexposed. So we opted for less photos and more fishing.

Turns out a LOT more fishing. On the water before 6:30 we did not get off until 12:00. We were supposed to get off at 10:00 am but wasn't it convenient the battery of my watch stopped working at 9:40. Apparently neither of us had any concept of time or if we did we did not care. We just kept reeling them in! A couple times I thought to myself time was passing slow but did not question, I just trusted my watch and kept an eye on my pole.

The biggest one of the day was just over 13" but looks even bigger don't you think? A real tank. Numerous 12s, I'd say at least eight and lots of 11s and 10s and countless 8s and 9s let go. A very productive day and once the sun came up it really warmed up and made for such a pleasant morning on the water. Overcast conditions also made us lose track of time I think. Both of us had our iPhones with us but did not check them. At one point Trout Patzer said "I could do this all day and then get up and do it again tomorrow and the next day, over and over again." He is right. I think we were in a trance. I woke at 4am from our dogs banging at their water dish and could not fall asleep. The anticipation was too much. Lack of sleep and a watch that stopped working. If only time stood still.

Fishing was very good. The fish are also very tasty. I have improvised from Len's recipe. I learned trout only need brine three hours or less. Less salt is better. For instance one tablespoon per cup. I don't even measure, stopped doing that a long time a go. Less salty.

I pull the smaller trout off first, medium next, and large last. I would move fish up to the top layer at the end versus directly above the water pan as they can get too steamy. I like them to seal up. Only major difference in smoking is I read to clean the fish on the spot. Boy does that make sense. Sometimes after you let the fish cool the fish continues to cook and dries out. Then if you freeze the fish solid next time you want to eat pulling the rib cage bones sticks into the meat. Pull the meat off right after it is cooked, the whole comb comes out, the rib cage bones do not stick into the meat. I even peeled the skin off when possible. This way I have ready to eat pouches. YUM!

Couple of Great Photos from DTA Members

2011-09-18T21:13:00.001-05:00

Driftless Trout Anglers has been loads of fun this season. The forum is really picking up. We get a ton of stream reports, they are very popular. Can you believe we have already 1600 listed? I explain this as being a trout fishing community serving the Driftless Area of the Midwest.

What differentiates this board from the multitude of trout forums out there is our board we are more open and into sharing stream names and even locations. Many of us believe that being open about good fishing areas gets more people into the sport. For years fishermen have been frowned upon for sharing stream names, even banned from certain forums.

Perhaps even more importantly, DTA members are generally more down to earth and realistic. Not all of us are brainwashed into blind catch and release. It was Lee Wulff who said "Game fish are too valuable to only be caught once." I say baloney. Fishing is a blood sport and often fish are injured. I'm not going to release injured fish to feed the racoons. I enjoy eating fish and I practice selective harvest. As bait anglers we can dead stick if we so please and not be persecuted for doing so.

Anyway, thanks for checking out my board, Driftless Trout Anglers. The board was started by yours truly, March 23, 2010 and we are already up to 278 members. I own and operate the board. It really does not cost much and the YAF software is pretty easy to run. Heck, we even have made some improvements along the way. I look forward to making more friends and watching this unique trout community grow.

Special thanks to friend Andy for the first two underwater photos taken with his iPhone, as well as blog follower Luke who caught the gorgeous tiger trout.

Grass Creek With Andy

2011-09-16T06:58:00.000-05:00

Andy and I fished Grass Creek from 5:30 - 8:00. If you can believe this, only one fish landed. Andy and I both thought conditions would be tough. The creek was the lowest we have ever seen it. Easily over one foot below what it was last time we fished.

We found some deep pools further downstream. As you can tell, difficult to fly fish this section but Andy did well. This particular pool held several large trout. Neither of which would take a worm, spinner, or fly.

I landed the one fish of the evening. Did not measure but looks to be in the 15-16" range. Fish hit a worm and was barely lip hooked. Fish jumped twice. I thought the trout was going to be bigger based on the way it was fighting.

Andy had a strong hookup right at the top of the pool. It was a big dog. On Grass Creek I would say 90% of the time you have at least one chance at a big trout. Andy connected but the fish quickly came unbuttoned. I don't feel too bad though, Andy got a 20" brown earlier in the day...

We both figured conditions were less than ideal. No significant rain in a long time, high pressure, and a strong cold front. Not the best conditions for targeting big trout. Honestly the crick was so low I would say most of it was unfishable. Andy and I both agreed we would not be back unless perhaps we get significant rain. We had a good run on Grass Creek. I have landed 10 trout 20" or larger this summer on GC. It has been one heck of a summer.

Even though fishing was not ideal the cool weather really helped out. The weeds were tall but bearable now with this cold weather. It sure felt like fall tonight.

Staying Cool on Black Creek

2011-09-12T06:28:00.001-05:00

Hot and humid I decided not to suit up. Ratty old shorts, t-shirt, and cracked rubber boots I pressed on into the pasture. It was 85 and a dew point close to 60 I did not want to work too hard. The pasture in Black Creek is perfect for this. The cows were out but they were not bother, just watch where you step! Lots of shade too and the bugs were minimal.

Turns out a pair of 11.75" brookies wanted to bite at the same pool. I caught the first one then hooked the second and she got off. On my way back I got her. I also caught a decent 11" brook at the culvert as with previous trips.

Water was gin clear and low. Trout were spooky and not as active as I would have liked. However best pool tonight was right outside farmer's house. I love how the "best" pool of the night constantly rotates. Black creek is a blast!

Spring Hollow Cabin and Blue Creek Brookies

2011-09-05T10:06:00.005-05:00

Jenn and I took Thursday and Friday off making our Labor Day weekend a five day vacation. We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night at Spring Hollow Cabin in Dakota, MN just fifteen minutes from La Crosse. This is our third year staying at Spring Hollow, both previous trips also in August. A nice log cabin with a master bedroom, lofted ceilings and two single beds upstairs. The cabin also has a big old porch, a nice hot tub and fire pit. It is well decorated and always relaxing.

On our way to the cabin on Thursday we first stopped at Pepin Heights Apple Orchards to pick up some ginger gold apples. Their sweet tangos apparently were just coming in Saturday or Sunday.

Next down 61 we stopped at Lark Toys in Kellogg for our first time. What an amazing toy store that just went on and on and on like it would never end. So many neat toys to look at including collector's toys behind glass sorted by decade.

Afterwards we headed over to Jefferson Pub in Winona for a bite to eat followed by a drive up the hill to Garvin Heights Vineyards. We have been numerous times and was nice to chat with Linda more about her vineyard and garden. Matt kept busy with his T-Rex he bought at Lark Toys.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I fished Blue Creek from 6-9am. I hit the goldmine for finding 100% brook trout stream. Many quality fish. Each morning I caught 15-25 fish and it was all with chunks of crawlers.

Friday morning I only fished from 6-7 am then the sky went totally black and a torrential downpour started up. By 8am the storm had past and down to a light drizzle. I fished a brown trout stream next to the cabin. Here worms were also the ticket. Browns wanted nothing to do with spinners.

The hot tub was really great however not recommended for underwater shots with your digital camera. Photos were fine the rest of the day however Saturday morning I discovered condensation in the lens which goofed up my photos.

Southwinds Orchards had Sweet Tangos in which are fantastic eats. They come in ten days earlier than the Honey Crisps which is also part of their appeal which I did not know.

Friday night we also met up with friends Brian and Karen at the Arterial Tavern for the fish fry and Spotted Cow.

Saturday morning after landing my first quality brookie I then discovered the condensation in my lens. Here are a couple of nice brookies. Sorry for the haze, camera issues. On the drive back to the cabin I opened up the USB and battery doors and set the camera on the dashboard with the heat on which cleared out the condensation on the lens in less than ten minutes.

New friend Dan and his 18 month old Isabelle joined us for dinner Saturday night. Dan thanks for making the drive! It was great hanging out. Isabelle is a sweetheart that I don't think cried once the whole time. A really easy going kid for sure. You are blessed!

This morning I had one last chance to fish Blue Creek again. That is not it's real name. I just found the creek after doing extensive research and I now realize it is often hard to find a quality brook trout stream that is 100% brookies - no browns to take over. So I've decided to keep this one tight to my vest for now. I may share with some select friends if they ask. I came up with the name Blue Creek because it has numerous deep blue green pools just thick with brook trout. Most of the time a fish was on before the bait could fall to the bottom.

Fishing focus was brook trout only and I don't regret not fishing for browns. The way I see it, I can catch browns any day. Brookies are rare especially many quality 10-12" wild and colorful fish I was catching. Brookies were rather easy to catch however there was some skill involved. First off I was there 30 minutes before sunrise. Casts had to be precise and you could pull 2-4 fish out of one area but then that area was spooked and I would move up another 5-10 feet to cast into "untouched" water. I found four nice deep pools and I could fish all four and then come back to the first one and the brookies would be biting again as if they had no memory of me previously fishing for them. Using the smallest possible split to make the distance was the key. Big splits spooked the brookies. Other times you just had to be patient and wait for a strike. I used a #8 jay hook and very small pieces of crawler. Any larger pieces brookies would more easily strip the bait. Quick hook sets were a must. You had to feel and also watch the line the minute the bait hits the water and started to sink. A delayed hook set lead to a few gut hooks. That was OK because I was keeping some fish anyway.

Labor Day itself was nice and relaxing. I smoked my weekend catch. Jenn harvested some really nice Heirloom tomatoes, eggplant for my dinner tomorrow night, and cucumbers. For trout smoking I have found cherry wood to be my favorite. Second best is apple wood however I picked up some pecan wood and will try that next time.

Nice to play with the boy. Amazed Matt is starting kindergarten tomorrow, where did the time go? Today we also went on a bike ride to the park and also a campfire in the back yard for s'mores.

Life is good. Now tomorrow we are off to school and work!

Best of Both Worlds

2011-08-28T20:51:00.001-05:00

Best of both worlds to me is quality brown trout and brook trout fishing in one outing. Today was a perfect example.

I finally got back to Grass Creek first thing this morning. In fact, 45 minutes before sunrise. I fished the pool where I caught my 24" and a few other 20"+ fish earlier this summer. Second cast in a big one tails the lure to my foot and turns around. That was it. Next up to bat I head to a spot where I caught a 18"+ fish earlier just upstream. Long and deep run, plenty of cut banks on both side. Dogwood bushes top right of the pool, great place for a bruiser to ambush. No bites on worm at the first pool I switched over to a #15 Panther Martin. Gold blade, black body with yellow spots. Half ounce and one heck of a lure. I make a tight long bomb all 30 feet up to the top of the pool and instantly get the retrieve going because I know the top is not as deep and don't want the treble fouled by weeds. Ripping the big lure through the run one yard down a tank strikes. At first I thought I had the fish in the bag but he took me for several runs around the pool and did his best to run under the cut bank. Big enough of a fish to get in the crick and net. Just a few hairs shy of 19."

Now the skunk is off, that didn't take long. Next up a long stretch. Again narrow, long, deep. I cast up quite far, perhaps I should have done in two casts. I landed the lure right on top of a big fish and he spooked. I watch a giant shadow quickly swim on past me downstream. Dang I blew that opportunity. To move forward is the only option. I know there is not another sizable trout after that spook. I always say it is worth fishing every inch of water that looks productive. If you fish the same spots you only caught fish in previous trips, you will miss out on more opportunities. Next up a long bomb with my #15 with narrow zig zag runs, grass banks on both sides. Water is crystal clear so I figure my best bet is long casts. Early on I learned trout clearly had no interest in worms today. The minute my lure hits the water a big trout smashes it. I knew it was big because I dropped my other pole and quickly ran the side of the creek right away to get close to the trout. Another big hog that put up one hell of a fight. In the process there was another brown that was disturbed by the event and made several splashes with a tail as if showing dominance. The other fish in front of me while fighting the brown at the end of my line splashed three different times. Aggressive trout I guess. They were acting like muskies do, not trout. Could it have been a northern? A few friends have caught some but I have yet to catch one. Another big trout in the net. This one measured in at 18."

After that a favorite pool was ahead. Right away I caught this what looked to be a 15" brown. I did not measure. Nice dark colors and chunky. Clearly this fish will be a lot more fun to catch next summer.

I had systematically covered the water I wanted to fish in a little over two hours. The creek could use some rain, very gin clear. Water was ice cold tough. Just so clear that trout were skittish and long casts required. Big spinners were the ticket, at least in Grass Creek. The big browns wanted nothing to do with worms and it makes sense too since there has not been significant rain in a while. Browns know better.

Brookies on the other hand, they will ALWAYS take a worm! I texted Jenn asking if I could fish until 10am and she said yes. That bought me more time. I headed over to my new favorite Black Creek for more brookies. I had started the day out with 40 crawlers and only used a handful. I knew they would come in handy for the brookies.

The always beautiful brook trout. Many deep pools. Unlike my strategy for Grass Creek where I covered every inch of water my tactics changed. I decided to only fish the deepest pools I know about. That strategy worked.

In the end there were 3 x 11" and at least 5 x 10" caught with many other photo worthy brookies in the 7-9" range. This last fish of the morning had one red eye ball. I've never seen this before. It was not a result of the hook set because I got him in the jaw.

Best of both worlds. Big browns and quality brookies. I bagged five and hit the road. On the way out I gave the farmer a smoked brook trout. He and his family were at the table having breakfast and greatly appreciated the gesture. I am welcome to fish their land any time I want, no need to even call.

Swimming in Butter

2011-08-21T23:05:00.005-05:00

I was out at Black Creek 5:30 am, 50 minutes before sunrise. I actually ended up catching a 10," 9," and 12" before the sun came up. Great way to start the morning! I kept the 12" and moved on upstream. Missing out as Tommy was supposed to join me however he woke me up calling to say he has shooting leg pain and cannot make it. Sorry Tommy. I hope the recent MRI results give your doctors promising direction to cure your pain.

In the pasture I was getting one bite after the next. Lots of small guys. I tried to take a photo of any brookie worthy of a picture. For me that generally means 9" or up. Best fish out of the bunch below measured just a hair under 11."

Next I caught three beautiful 12" brookies. Want to catch lots and lots of big beautiful brookies? Use worms. Does not get any more simple than this!

Final fish of the morning, a beautiful 12." Such a fighter and hard to tell I jumped in figuring she was worthy of my big net. This one measured just a hair over 12" however very fat and healthy.

Brook trout swimming in butter. I bonked my five. I vacuum sealed three for a dinner and took two for breakfast. I used tinfol and added butter, salt, pepper, four cloves of chopped garlic, 1/4 cup of white wine, and chives and cooked on the grill for roughly five minutes each side.

Best breakfast I've had in a long time. The butter, garlic, and chives are a great combination.

Cannon River Brown Trout

2011-08-19T06:44:00.002-05:00

Been a while since buddy Jon and I have fished. First time this year actually. Jon has been doing more walleye fishing however still has nine trout 20" plus. He trouts enough to come in second place for any other guy I know that catches big trout. Jon and I fished the mouth of Trout Brook south of Cannon Falls.

On your way there you will find a nice field of Black Eyed Susan's.

I gave this clue away last year. Each August the sun gets hot and the trout streams are clear. Where else is a big Cannon River brown gonna survive? They hang at the mouth of trout streams. Cold clean, well oxygenated.

First catch was a largemouth bass. A very first for me for the Cannon River. Thus far I've only caught smallies. No shortage of quality white suckers too. Plus Jon wins the award for the shitty of the night!

Finally I hook into a nice brown. This one was 18" on the nose. Hunkered down deep, I knew it was a trout. Big ass Frabil net came in handy again!

Next I get a 17.25" brown. At this point I think Jon was getting a touch jealous. This one went airborne about three feet! Jon said, "Well that is obviously a trout!" as suckers certainly don't jump like this!

Finally Jon strikes gold with an 18" brown!

We were worming and having a blast. I had a rod holder, very handy. Big Fabil net came in handy too. It was quite obvious when we had a trout. Suckers would pull up to the surface but trout stayed down deep. Great evening. Low humidity, perfect summer weather. Jon and I enjoyed trout, good conversation, and beers all by worm fishing. Almost all fish were lip hooked. No trout kept.

Black Creek on Fire!

2011-08-14T16:53:00.001-05:00

Tommy and I met up again for like the sixth time on Black Creek. We fished a pasture section from 5:45 - 8:45. Within the three hours we caught over 30 trout total. Almost all on chunks of crawler and Tommy switched to a Panther Martin at the end and also caught a few. This time around we were most impressed with brilliant orange and red colors. It looks like the brookies in this stream are already preparing for fall.

Nice cool weather, great to be out. Swamp milksweed still blooming. This must be a haven for Monarch butterflies. So many fantastic brookies, it was non-stop action. Tommy and I would each take turns in the pools, one cast at a time. That seemed to work well minus getting tangled up one time bad enough we had to cut one of the lines. Dang braided line can really make a bird's nest sometimes. Many quality brookies in the 9-11.5" range. I don't think we broke the 12" barrier. Maybe we did, we just were not measuring. This time around I did not keep any. Tommy kept two 9-10 brookies for the grill. I lost a monster brookie easily 12" maybe even 13," spit the hook.

Out of the 30 or so fish caught all but two were lip hooked. Active worming. You had to set the hook asap otherwise they would steal your bait. They would smash it and run. Also I checked the gills on the majority of fish and no gill lice seen.

We Kicked Tail on Blue Heron Creek

2011-08-11T18:13:00.000-05:00

Matt and I slayed the brookies yesterday. We fished from 5:15 - 8:15 on private land in western Wisconsin. A day prior I gained permission again from both landowners on the creek. Matt caught 25 and I caught 20. 45 fish in three hours, that is kicking some tail. Almost all on worm. Matt got a few nice ones on #15 PM if you can believe that. Biggest was 13.25" caught by yours truly. In total I believe we caught two 13" and seven 12" brookies. Almost every fish caught was 10" or larger.

Air was crisp! It was 50 outside with a dew point of 48. Nice to see your breath for a change. I saw this cold weather with low humidity and said I just have to fish Wednesday morning. So glad we did too. Matt thanked me several times for taking him back here again. Truly a very special place. One of the landowners said he was going to fish it more himself this season but only been down fishing twice. We gave his wife and family some smoked trout that really brought a smile to her face.

Hard to believe I have not been back here since Wisconsin opener. Where did the time go!

Midwest Outdoors July 2011 Publication: Big Trout Love Worms

2011-08-07T09:54:00.000-05:00

My buddy Len encourages me to submit stories. I've only submitted a handful of stories but each one submitted gets published! I literally took my blog, copied/pasted into Microsoft Word, saved and emailed to Midwest Outdoors along with a handful of photos. Midwest Outdoors wrote back right away saying "Story received." Well I was not sure that meant they would use my story. Turns out they like it and I got a check in the mail a few weeks later!

Big Trout Love Worms
July 2011 issue. Vol. 44 No. 7. Wisconsin Section, Page 48.

Whitewater River Valley

2011-07-29T22:46:00.013-05:00

My son Matt's pre-school was closed this week so we took vacation with three other families. Five boys, two girls, and eight adults. We stayed at Lazy D Campground just north of Elba Tuesday through Friday. We stayed at the Swiss chalet cabin right in front of the in ground heated pool. Lots of swimming, two tubing runs, three campfires, and four fishing outings. A great time had by all, especially the kids. I wish the weather would have cooperated but that is beyond my control. Lots of rain Tuesday night, on and off Wednesday, and heavy rain yet again Thursday afternoon during tubing. Just as we got off the water lightning cracked down very close to us, enough to have Matt shaking in his boots, also cold from the downpour getting off the river and into the shuttle bus.

Tuesday night I messed around the Lazy D campground for 45 minutes and caught three average sized browns. One of which I hooked in the eye ball. At this point the river was still clear. Trout were very sparse and I was amazed Whitewater not as cold as I remembered. All the trout were holding tight to the banks so it was critical to cast close. Casting in the middle of the river gave up no fish.

Wednesday morning I met up with DTA member Dan Severson and fished a bit. Our original plan was to fish a neat section of South Branch Whitewater but with more rain in the forecast we opted for Lynch Creek. Lynch is shorter so we assumed it would stay clear. Hiking to the pasture section we were both disappointed to see muddy water. Somewhat fishable but not really. We tried that for a good hour and a half with Dan only catching a few average sized trout. I caught chubs and suckers with worms. We cut our losses and headed over to Trout Run to check out Bucksnort Dam and a little of the public easement pasture stretch just downstream. This was a smart move! Lightly raining already I catch a beautiful 16.25" male on a #9 Panther Martin. We were also catching numerous 12-14" browns to pools just below the dam and the bridge. Then just into the pasture the rain really starts coming down. Dan did not bring his rain jacket but insisted we could press on in the rain. We gave it another half hour with limited success and decided the rain was picking up. We headed back to the dam and fished that again briefly. Dan got a ~15" on a Dynamic lure. I also got a couple more 14-15" browns. Trout Run was good to us, even in the pouring rain!

Bucksnort Dam at Trout Run, a great place to catch big trout!

View Larger Map
Thursday and Friday morning I wanted to stick within Whitewater Valley. Less driving, more fishing. Well my only real option after all the rain was Beaver Creek. Beaver is smaller and spring fed. Rather grassy and skinny and shallow in many spots but if you put in your time there are plenty of deep pools with quality trout.

Thursday morning was like Bear Grylls in "Man vs Wild" on Animal Planet and Discovery channels. After fishing the upper section I took off my waders as it was so muggy, and foggy. There were also a lot of frogs jumping around. Then I thought I'd check out the mouth. Looked like less than 1/4 of a mile. I braved the elements with flip flop sandals, two fishing poles, vest, and net. Itch weed was at least 8' tall. It was thick and the mud was slippery from recent rain. On my way back I thought I'd cut across the field. Bad idea. Somehow I lost my bearings right off the bat. I guess lack of sleep, and the fog I got disoriented and next thing you know I think I'm walking in circles. The "Man vs Wild" theme song was in my head now. Had I lost my marbles? The dew point was 75 and the mid-morning sun roasting all the dew off the grass. It felt like a jungle. Turns out flip flops are a really bad idea for hiking in a wildlife refuge. Finally I came to the river and was able to spot a bridge. Being so confused and not knowing the area, I just figured follow it and back track on the roads. Turns out it was the Co 30 bridge. I was wandering around in my sandals in the high humidity, two rods in my hands through tall grass. This grass was mainly over my head. Lots of logs. I seriously need a compass. Of all people to get lost, this is truly embarrassing. I again chalk it up to lack of sleep, hot and humid conditions, and exhaustion from fishing previously that morning. My knees were bleeding from all the cuts from the tall grass, itch weed, and nettles. In the end saving a little bit of time to make a short cut was a big mistake. I should have followed Beaver Creek out the 1/4 mile and I would have been back at my truck. Walking back on Co 30 to 74 north back at my truck I estimate using Garmin MapSource that I traveled roughly 1.5 miles in a little under two hours.

Thursday evening all of Whitewater was high and chocolate milk. Yet again Beaver was clear Friday morning. I also fished right at the mouth where Beaver joins Whitewater. My idea was that if there were any big browns this far down, they would be holding here. No big browns, but bows right at the seam. Amazed to see them. I field dressed fish on the spot and saw the rainbows were eating leeches. Aside from the bows a whole mess of white sucker were caught, some of them approaching 14." Notice even these 10-12" bows will take a #15 Panther Martin. Hungry little buggers.

Try the mouth of Beaver Creek for stocked rainbows, big white sucker and perhaps a big Whitewater River brown.

View Larger Map

Five rainbows fresh off the smoker. Compliments of the State of Minnesota and my trout stamp at work.

Dynamic HD-Trout Lure Catches 18" Brown

2011-07-25T20:21:00.001-05:00

I have the entire week off as my son Matt's pre-school is closed. Tomorrow we are heading to the Whitewater Valley down in southeast Minnesota, staying through Friday afternoon. Looking forward to hanging out with our friends, three different families. Matt just loves the McBride boys.

With nothing to do but household chores and packing up for the vacation tomorrow I headed out early and fished this morning from 5:15 - 8:15. It was 66 outside with lots of rolling fog over the tall grass. I sprayed up heavily with bugs but they were not a problem. I could still feel the lingering humidity but a dew point just below 60 it was comfortable. From recent rains the crick obviously went over the banks and flattened the grass down for me. Areas that I could not cast to the last time I was here, today I could. I tried a big #15 Panther Martin early on with no action. Then back to worms. The current was swift and a touch high so I ended up adding an extra split to slow down my drift. Yet the big "ker plunk" sound of two splits was just too much. I noticed one nice fish I spooked.

Noticing the fish were skiddish and with no hits I decided to switch out the #15 Panther Martin with a HD-Trout stick bait. Dynamic Lures kindly generated 60 HD-Trout lures for Driftless Trout Angler members. The stick bait I used today is model 5623 red/gold color. 56 mm in length this was easy to cast and plenty of action continuously reeled however a twitch or two casting upstream and reeling in was helpful at times. The pause and the twitch and the pause makes this look like an injured fish. I would say this lure casts just as easily as a 3/8 oz Panther Martins. I tied direct (no swivel) as suggested on the box and there was minimal line tangles with the front treble. Casting downstream into the pool adding extra line and letting it sink produces the most fluttering action, however majority of the time I'm fishing my way upstream.

A nice bend ahead with an undercut bank. I cast to the top, twitch the lure twice and instantly the water explodes. Nicest fish of the day a fat 18" female brown. The fish was hooked on the outside lip. A few photos and released in fine shape.

I also had a chance at two other giants. One was absolutely wide like a 10lb+ carp following my Dynamic lure down the long run. Once at my feet the fish appeared to have noticed me and disappeared into the cut bank. In instances like these I'd switch to my worm pole to see if the fish would take but no luck. For whatever reason, trout did not want worms today. At yet another run the water exploded after two casts with the Dynamic lure. I felt like I was muskie fishing! Unfortunately the fish missed the stick bait both times but based on the splash and the wakes I knew it was another big brown.

With the grass pushed down and for the time being no longer folded over the creek along with crystal clear water, I think the trout were skiddish. In the usual pools nobody was home. I felt like if you did not have a fish take after the first two casts, just move on because there either was not a fish there, or if there was a fish it spooked. Tall grass walking back to the car was a major chore. I had to actually march to prevent my feet from getting wrapped in the grass, it was exhausting but well worth it. A handful of average sized trout also caught on the Dynamic lure however the 18 was the only photo worthy fish, and that is fine by me. After all, even I cannot get a 20"+ trout every single outing, right? I am counting my blessings with this beautiful 18" female that I let go in fine shape.

Operation Whack and Stack

2011-07-22T20:40:00.003-05:00

Mission complete.

Tommy and I got our five each, cleaned up our fish and headed our separate ways. Yet another perfect and successful outing with Tommy. We hit Milkweed Creek 5:30 - 9:00 am. Temperature of 68 starting out with a dew point of 60. It was sticky but nothing near what we had recently. And it turns out this was just a one day relieve. The dew points will be mid-70s again this weekend and possibly again by the middle of next week. We are certainly in the heat of the summer.

Worms were the big ticket today. A few fast pools we had double splits however for the most part single split was just what you needed. The water was moderately stained which actually probably helped us out. After all the rain worms are highly effective, especially for aggressive brook trout. Tommy takes the best fish of the day. This fat 12."

Lots of other quality brookies caught. Good comradery. I enjoy Tommy's sense of humor. Tommy was doing much better than the previous outing which was great to see as he is recovering from two recent back surgeries.

Around 9:00 I was glad to get going back home. The sun was over the tree line and it was 76 and a dew point of 73. Sticky. I think as the day went on the dew point dropped. Tonight looking back at the fish it was a breath of fresh air to sit on my deck recliner and just enjoy the brief coolness.

Why do brookies taste the best? See for yourself. Orange and pink meat equals delicious.

Whack and Stack part done. Brined overnight with the usual brown sugar, canning salt, lemon juice, garlic and onion powder, Worcestershire sauce overnight in the fridge. Got the coals going this morning. Started to rain but no worries, it was only brief. White coals and my cast iron smoke box in place with apple wood chips. In goes a dozen. Ate two, delicious orange meat. The dogs at the bones and the skins and the fins. NOTHING wasted. All goodness.

A Perfect Day on the Water

2011-07-12T21:24:00.006-05:00

Well today was nothing short of fantastic.

I started out at my favorite stream, Grass Creek. My plan was to start fishing around 4:50, sunrise being 5:37 still plenty of light. A little over two weeks a go I caught a 24" fat female personal best at 5am so figured follow what works. I was actually so excited to get back to this spot that I woke up a touch early which put me at the pool 4:37, exactly one hour before sunrise. I actually just sat down in the tall grass and watched the pool for a while. My initial thought was to give worms a try even though this is a fast run because worms are always a more subtle entrance than a big fat 1/2 oz dinner bell spinner. Fish hit around 5am. One heck of a fight. Once the fish got going in the pool I loosened up my drag to tire the fish out. Fish darted for cover on cut banks but I just maintained constant pressure. Rather than scare the fish further I avoided jumping in the creek and charging it like a rhinoceros which turns out is a better approach! Don't try to give the fish a heart attack. Wear out the big dogs so you have a better chance of landing them. I also thought getting in the pool would spook any other big fish that might want to bite as it was still dark out. Turns out there was only one active fish in that pool and I moved on. At 21" and a kyped jaw male is a great way to start the day.

Just ahead a narrow section with some dogwood on the right side looking upstream. I've always only caught average sized trout in this section. Going double barrel, I grab my rod with a #15 black with yellow spots and gold spinner and pitch the spinner through the narrow entrance. I see a nice sized fish chasing it and now the fish is right out in front of me and I'm at the end of the line. I started jigging and began what was to be a figure eight (like muskie fishermen do) and an aggressive 19" male decided he just could not resist!

Next just up the way comes a surprise fat 20" male trout lip hooked on his kyped jaw. I actually had a hard time trying to get this hook out (which was at the top of his beak, not deep at all) because the kype jaw was like spongy bone. The hook had an exceptional bite on this big dog.

Final fish of Grass Creek of considerable size was this male just shy of 18." He hit a worm in one of those pools Andy and I fished last Saturday that we did not get a bite on and scratched our heads. Find the best habitat and you will find the nice fish. Well this 18" brown I was happy to have landed. A strong fighter for his size indeed.

Well that is it photo worthy for Grass Creek for today. Honorable mention for the #15 Panther Martin spinner. This is a 1/2 oz spinner that even I was somewhat afraid to use this season. Aside from the 19" male I also caught four other average sized trout on this #15. Big trout and little trout will take a big spinner.

It was 7:30 and I had my fill at Grass Creek. Next stop, pick up my buddy Tommy and fish Black Creek. My hat goes off to Tommy, he really gave it his best. This was one of his first outings since two back surgeries in a row. Tommy is slowly recovering and he had to walk a few blocks before leaving to get warmed up. This was Tommy's first trout fishing trip in several months and he was a touch rusty however did end up catching the fattest brookie of the day. Tommy gave the goofy face grin as I asked him to smile. Pain killers still have the best of him at the moment I am afraid... For the record Tommy told me why was I lugging around the second pole with an all silver #6 PM attached. I was barely using it. Well after we ran out of worms (thanks for the month old digested sidewalk worms you harvested Tommy), Tommy grabs my spinning rod and proceeded to catch the best of the day.

Prior to running out of half dissolved gooey garden worms, I held the title of biggest brook trout. I let my drag loose a touch and let this fish zing around. Tommy asked me why I was not just ripping that fish in. I wanted a photo shoot and I wanted to eat this fish. A fine specimen indeed.

Lots of other handsome sized brookies harvested nine in total. Here are a few photos of more quality brookies (in the 9-11" range).

Beautiful scenery. Good to have Tommy back on the water. Crossing barbed wire fences was a chore. Tommy you need Aquaseal for any possible leaks on your new waders Sad. Flashlight in a dark room look for pin hole leaks where you felt the water enter. Mark with a pencil and dab on Aquaseal. I suggest disposable latex gloves.

Minnphatts Catches a Big Dog!

2011-07-09T14:49:00.002-05:00

Met up with DTA member Minnphatts today at 4:30. We hiked downstream in the dark and started fishing our way back up to his SUV closer to 5:00. Right away it was hot and muggy. Was hoping for a cold crisp morning but no such luck. The creek looked low too, I'd say at least by six inches. Places were it used to look deep were no longer. Other spots seemed impossible to fish due to the grass folding over. Each week as the grass grows more it gets harder to fish. Minnphatts insisted on the fly rod and actually fished similar to I was with the worm. Lots of jigging. No room for false casts in most places, let along roll casts. At least with his 9' 8wt the long rod helped get his crystal flash cone head wollybugger dropped deep into promising pools surrounded by grass.

I had the first action of an average sized trout about 13." Lip hooked. Then I lip hooked a nicer one that we estimated to be 18" that went under the bank and flipped the hook. Looked like a decent male. Not hog fat, but would be worthy of a photo had we landed. Later on I lipped hooked another average 13" trout, not what we were looking for.

Then a very good pool. Top of the pool is a 90 degree bend and circular. Then a run parallel to the bank. First cast in with a worm another average sized trout hit. I reel in, add more worm and cast back into the top. This time I feel a fish right away but give it about five seconds and set the hook. Was I snagged? This fish felt like a bowling ball. I could not move him off the bottom. Very heavy brown. I instantly jumped into the creek and charged the fish like an elephant. Probably not the best thing to do because that really spooked this monster and he dived into the undercut bank tight. Minnphatts jumped into the creek too. Both of us had our nets at bay. Minnphatts was helping trying to feel for the fish in the undercut bank. Clearly the fish was not moving and just hoping it was still there. Minnphatts had to stick his entire arm under the bank and felt the fat belly of the fish. Then all of a sudden the line went limp and I saw the hook was gone. I think the fish was tangled up, broke the line, and only holding on perhaps by one or two raps around the gill plate. Once Minnphatts "tickled" his belly, fish was gone. Neither of us even saw the fish. Like I said, I could not move him. It was like being snagged, even after hooked initially at the top of the pool. I have a feeling this was likely rather large, more like 24" or more.

Minnphatts was not having too much luck until the end. I "guided" him to the best of my ability. A nice deep pool with lots of woody debris and cover. I jumped in right away. Was not sure how big at first. Fish was going upstream and down, avoiding me. Then again fish dives deep into the cut bank. This time it was my turn to help. I was holding onto the line adding a little extra pressure. I suck my arm in and fish was wiggling back and forth. Eventually I coaxed him out of the cut bank and in my big net he went.

Congratulations Minnphatts! It was a pleasure fishing with you for the first time! Look forward to fish with you again. Honestly this morning was a little slow. The creek being at least half a foot low, the tall grass, and the humidity, fish were just not super aggressive as they normally are early in the morning. Well had I also landed that big monster or even that first 18"+ fish that would have been even better. However I'm just pleased one of us landed a Big Dog and with your fly rod - quite an accomplishment if you ask me. I think the long rod is harder than spinning and worming but you were persistent and your hard work paid off.

4th of July Weekend at Devil Track Resort

2011-07-04T22:22:00.000-05:00

Matt, Jenn, and I have made a tradition of celebrating the 4th of July weekend at Devil Track Resort. This is our fourth year coming here. Such a relaxing great place to vacation. I feel quite rested from a four day weekend.

Friday we made the roughly five hour drive up to Grand Marais including gas and a nice lunch at the Black Woods in Duluth. Perfect weather up there. Driving along Lake Superior it was really foggy all day and rather brisk, jacket weather. Yet when we drove up the hill from Grand Marais (enough to make your ears pop), the weather was a balmy 20 degrees warmer than below. Upon our arrival Matt and I jumped off the dock and had a quick dip before dinner. Friday night at Devil Track Resort I had the prime rib special with hash browns, fourth year in a row. The garlic crusted edge is insanely good, a really tender prime cut. After dinner to beat the heat and humidity we cruised back down the hill to Grand Marais for some rock skipping in the foggy harbor and then a quick game of mini-golf.

Saturday was all about fishing. I got up at 4:30 am to go fish some local trout ponds. Turns out they were red hot. I had a trout on on average every third or fourth cast. Very aggressive rainbows, I believe many recently stocked because most were catachable size and a few in the 14"+ range. Very acrobatic. Worms and a bobber set at four feet, life could not get any easier. This time around I came prepared with my telescopic rod holder as well as strong bug spray. All the lakes held several loons which were a treat to see swimming along and doing their long takeoff. Back at the cabin and a hearty breakfast later, we went into town to get a few items (including aqua socks) and then back at the resort to goof off for a bit before our 2:30 boat rental. The water in Devil Track Lake is clean and clear and bathtub warm. Aqua socks really helped with the jagged rocks though. Similarly, walking along the rocks of the shore of Lake Superior at the mouth it sounds like one is walking on clinking glass, rather loud. Windy and warm, we launched our boat head on into the waves to make the 20 minute journey to the southwest end of the lake to fish off the points of a series of islands. Each year these southwest bays always seem protected by the wind, so smooth like glass in comparison to the main choppy part of this wind swept lake. We really nailed the smallmouth bass off the rocky points. Like the rainbows, a bobber set at four feet with a worm did the trick. Honestly Matt had the best success just hanging over the side of the boat with his SpongeBob SquarePants fishing pole jammed into a rod holder nice and tight. His little fishing pole would just arch hard all of a sudden, pick it up and hand it to Matt to reel in! The kid was actually getting kind of cocky, his success going right to his head...

Sunday I did a big of fishing again at a local pond and also tried upper Cascade River. I forgot to mention Friday night a strong storm rolled in and rumbled and down poured all night long. I would be willing to bet over 2" of rain dumped. Saturday morning I scouted the river and it was too high and swift. Sunday was not much better however I did find ond nice run that seemed soft enough on the sides to hold some fish. Surprisingly the water was clear, just high and swift. Treacherous for wading so after one decent brookie I went back to the trout pond. After breakfast and getting cleaned up we went to Lutsen for a gondola and alpine slide ride. A wait for both, popular weekend for sure but it was well worth it. Not cheap, but the views were breathtaking and this was Matt's first alpine slide that he did with Jenn. Back at the resort there was music from 5-8 pm and lots of kids to play with. Mattt and I also went for a swim although I admit this weekend he was more about throwing rocks off the dock and making them splash. Matt fell in love with the owner's new cat which he proceeded to carry around as much as possible for the rest of the afternoon. A late dinner, we went into town for great food and conversation at the Gunflint Tavern which is clearly the top watering hole in town. I highly recommend the place if you have never been.

Today I finally got to catch some more of those wild and beautiful brook trout. I don't know how they survive honestly because the water is like a bath tub, just as warm as the lake. I measured the Cascade one year and read 72 degrees. Chubs and brook trout. For the record I decided not to keep any brook trout unless mortally injured and that ended up being two. These are fragile creatures in really low numbers that should be shared by as many as possible. I want to catch them again for years to come. If I was to guess I'd say trout numbers are in the hundreds per mile, contrary to thousands per mile in the fertile limestone spring creeks of the Driftless Area. However the creeks here in Cook County are in a class of their own. They are a little slice of Montana. I saw big mayfly hatches. In fact it was a war zone with our windshield on the way home. Big giant sized ones, the size of a Hex. This morning I caught a good dozen quality sized brookies in the 7-11" range on worms and spinners. The water was swift but less than than Saturday and Sunday mornings. Double splits were required to get a good drift. Lots of snags and re-ties but that is part of the game in rocky freestoner streams.

Happy 4th of July. As I type right now I hear the fireworks going on. Little boy has been bed for a while now, all tuckered out from a long weekend. Likewise, this dog needs to say goodnight...

Personal Best with Panther Martin #15

2011-06-25T23:38:00.002-05:00

Tall grass. Talk about over my head in most places. I started fishing at 5:00 am this morning. I got rid of the 30 lb line BTW. I found that although it works, it is rather stiff and too much coil for my liking. 10lb Power Pro back on. Today I thought I'd try black. In particular, #15 black body yellow dotted Panther Martin. The #15 is new for me this year. Most times I have thought it was too big, more for northern pike fishing or maybe steelhead fishing perhaps. This is 1/2 oz. Walking to my pool with my #15 tied on already, the blade would revolve around making a rather loud metal clinking. Something I have not noticed to this degree with smaller Panther Martins. I thought to myself "dinner bell" to a a gigantic trout.

Turns out I was right. First cast at 5am to the top of the pool with swift current, I let the spinner drop for two seconds and start my retrieve. Not less than three revolutions of my reel a trout hits. With the hook set the fish felt instantly small for some reason. Then I realized the fish was running right at me downstream and I reeled like mad. Then I felt the fish. We had quite the battle. I did not want to lose this one. Lots of standstill fighting with the beast hunkered down in the middle of the pool for a while. I had learned my previous mistakes of how too much pressure you can lose one of these good fish if there is not a solid connection with the hook.

Turns out I DID have a good hook set. The treble on the #15 is enormous. Plus this is a fresh spinner. 24" female brown with a 14" girth. This is a new personal best!

Also got a 19" and a 15." Probably made less than a dozen casts. After that fish I just stopped at a couple pools heading back to the car. The tall weeds and low light disoriented me a bit. All three hit the black/yellow silver bladed #15. Guess I will be using #15s more often!!!

Tour of the Driftless

2011-06-20T22:11:00.002-05:00

OK, here goes the story of our four day weekend. Thursday we drove to Sparta, WI. We rent bikes from Speeds Bicycle Shop http://www.speedsbike.com. We used them last fall. This was Matt and Jenn's second trip and this was my third. My first trip was when I was a Boy Scout years a go. From Speeds we biked from Sparta to the first tunnel which is eight miles or 16 miles round trip. On the way there you are going up a gradual incline. The way back is much faster. We had a add on bike for Matt and this time around I could really feel him pedal! Last fall Matt got worn out after the first half hour and he was dead weight. This time he was really into cycling and wanted to race mom. On the way back Jenn did the tandem bike with Matt. At the tunnel we had another nice visit with Tunnel Tom who has a house right by the first tunnel and has a shack in his back yard where he sells ice cream, frozen candy bars, pop, and bottle water to bicyclists.

After the ride we got cleaned up and headed into Sparta. I made reservations to Angelini's http://www.angelinis.com in town for 6:30 and glad I did because it was the last open table in the house. We love Angelini's "gravy" as the Italian's call it. His tomato sauce is out of this world. The manicotti and the vodka bacon tomato sauce on mostacholi noodles really hit the spot after the brisk 16 mile bike ride. We stayed at the Sparta Best Western which has a nice pool and hot tub as well as Brewski's Pub within the hotel. We swam Thursday night and Friday morning per Matt's request. Anything to tire the boy out a bit...

Prior to the Friday morning swim I headed out at 5:00 am to fish Angelo Dam on the La Crosse River. The La Crosse River is a large river with many warm water species including panfish at Angelo and Perch Lakes. Yet headwaters within Fort Mccoy as well as tributaries such as the Little La Crosse River and others are spring fed and support trout. Rumor has it there are some seriously big browns from Angelo to Perch within Sparta. I stopped by the dam after dinner and talked to some locals who had landed a few average sized trout at Angelo Dam. They told me they have caught multiple 20" browns and rainbows here. The bows I assume are holdover, stocked from one of the tributaries perhaps. I believe the best way to fish a lot of water, a canoe is needed. I did not bother with waders, I just had long pants and a t-shirt on. I ever dragged a camping chair down there to relax on Friday morning. I spent one hour on the left side and ended up catching three brown trout. Largest trout landed was around 15." All hit in fast water from the dam on spinners.

Just above the dam is Angelo Lake which supports sunfish and bass, clearly warm water. Fishing the edge of the shore on what appears to be cut bank a trout smashes my #9 silver and blue Panther Martin spinner right at my feet. At first I was not excited, the trout looked average. Then as I played the fish a bit I realized it was a brook trout! This one ended up being just shy of 12," and what a pleasant surprise. I was getting nibbles on the left side which I assumed were chubs because they were light taps. Then after the brook trout landed I tried worms and caught a handful of sunfish back to back. Sunfish and brook trout. Who would have guessed.

At Angelo Dam I only caught a handful of trout and put in two hours. I decided to cut my losses and try an actual trout stream. I headed over to the Little La Crosse. For the most part I'm not impressed with this one. This was my first time fishing it however I scouted it out last year. Last year's impression was this is a muddy silty river with runoff issues. Farmers probably planting to close or there is just not enough gravel substrate and boulders. I briefly fished around Leon for 15 minutes and it was chocolate milk and a couple of dinks biting. I then scooted upstream hoping to find clear water. We got rain Thursday night. Amazing that Angelo Dam water was more clear than Little La Crosse. Upstream I found water I liked a little better. More narrow and deep, yet the water was heavily stained. I tried spinners with limited success however before I headed back at 9am I caught two respectable browns in the 14-15" range and a half dozen smaller ones right at the bridge on my way out.

If you happen to be in Sparta give Angelo Dam a try. You could also try closer to Sparta by the Eagle's Club. I've yet to try this but locals tell me this is also a good spot with brown trout being the primary catch. I guess I am HOT SPOTTING, sorry for sharing!!!

Friday morning back at the hotel we had breakfast, cleaned up, and after another swim we headed to Viroqua to spend the weekend at The Farmer's Inn http://www.thefarmersinn.net Jeanie and Gary are fantastic hosts. This is our fourth time staying with them and I can tell you it will not be the last. Friends Mary and John showed up shortly after we picked up groceries and got settled. Friday afternoon we went over to Vernon Vineyards http://www.vernonvineyards.com and hung out with owner Bob and other guests including a large pack of Harley riders. After wine sampling each couple purchased a bottle of wine to drink up on the hill overlooking the Bad Axe River Valley. Matt played with Bob's dog. On our way back we briefly stopped by to take a look at Three Chimney Rock which is apparently an ancient rock formation that highlights the ancient seafloor mountain range that makes up the topography of the area. At 5:30 Jeanie and Gary were milking the cows as they do every day. We came down to watch. Matt fell in love with a kitten he could not stop carrying around. Jeannie however sparked his interest in showing Matt how to milk a cow for the first time.

After milking the cows we went to out to dinner at the Old Towne Inn http://www.oldtowneinn.net Great food. Old school supper club. A lot of senior folks were there however not complaining the food including the salad bar was fantastic.

Saturday 6/18 fishing was tremendous. John and I got up around 4:30 and were fishing a little after 5:00 on Lightning Creek. We were worming some deep pools. Five minutes into it John's pole bent in half. He had a big brown that bit and just ran with the crawler like a freight train hit it then the fish was off. A few minutes later John got his first stream trout brown around 14." I also caught one about that size, maybe smaller that I quickly threw back. An hour into it no biggies so I decided to head to the next upstream pool and John stayed put. Luckily I left my big Frabil net with John because he hooked onto a big fat 18" female brown. All I could hear were big splashes. I ran over to help net but by the time I got there John had just swooped up the fish himself in my big ass Frabil net. John was just so excited to have landed this one. Further upstream I saw just a giant trout swimming around the middle of the creek that looked well over 20." Casting to the fish one plunk of the sinker the fish scattered. Chasing the fish upstream I sneaked up through the tall grass and looked over to see a very deep pool with several giant sized browns. Five seconds after I dropped a worm I felt a tug and set the hook. I landed a beautiful rusty colored 20" male. Just beautiful spawning colors. That really made MY morning. Now BOTH of us were extremely excited.

Afterwords we went to the very best brook trout stream in all of Crawford County, let's call it Beaver Dam Creek. We each caught at least two dozen with half of the catches being 10" or larger. I ended up catching the biggest brookie of the day, just shy of 13." This stream has one beaver dam after the next. I counted over a dozen beaver dams. Each dam creating a big deep pool, all of which held quality brookies. However some slack water in the middle of a beaver dam pool by a big downed log and a corner bend was really soft water. We pulled at least a half dozen out of there. I caught one brookie literally two feet from where I was standing. Fish were rather aggressive. By 9am the sun was high. On the way out there were some long straight beaver dam pools. I put on a #9 silver and blue PM. Basically every cast I had a fish on. It was almost too easy. Clearly one of the best brook trout streams on the planet.

Although the brook trout were a blast I know John was mainly excited about the big brown. The first thing John did was make the photo his profile photo on facebook! John is a catch and keep angler and he insisted on keeping fish including his 18" and my 20" brown. I told John the big browns likely not going to taste that good but he is great with the smoker and insisted. Gutting out my big brown was a half digested leopard frog! Big trout eat big baits! Crawlers did the trick Saturday morning, that's for sure!

Saturday morning we got back and cleaned our fish. Mary and Jenn cooked us bacon, eggs, hash browns and exceptional coffee. That hit the spot! Around noon we headed out for the day. First stop was Spurgeon Vineyards. We had a nice wine sampling and good conversation with my friend Mary Kerr. Mary got through breast cancer and nice to see her back to her cheerful self and a full head of hair again. Spurgeon has lots of sweeter wines so it is one of my favorites. They also have a huge selection, so many to try. Spurgeon Vineyards http://www.spurgeonvineyards.com is right next to Big Spring. I wanted to hike up to the Big Spring and show John and Mary however Jenn did not have adequate hiking shoes. She chose some fancy sandals with heels. Sad. Oh well.

Next stop we made our way over to Spring Green for lunch at the Spring Green General Store http://www.springgreengeneralstore.com. Interesting this place was very Grateful Dead like. I felt like I was in trendy Uptown of Minneapolis with unique gifts, earthy food, art all over the place. Good food, neat atmosphere. The girls also appreciated the free wifi for their iPhones as did I - internet let along phone service is quite spotty in southwestern WI, at least on the AT&T network.

After lunch just outside of Spring Green is Peck's Farm Market East http://www.pecksfarmmark...om/seasons-attractions. This place has a free petting zoo with all kinds of cool animals. There is a huge playground and all kinds of toys Matt played with too. We fed the animals with pellet food from the quarter machines. Really worth a stop if you have kids and you are in the area.

On our way to Harris Fest we briefly stopped at Weggy Winery http://www.weggywinery.com for another tasting. Each year they expand their selection. I really liked their new apple and black currant wine which has Honey Crisp applies. Their peach wine semi-dry as well as Weggy Blue are also fantastic.

Harris Fest was a BLAST! Exceptional food, great music, endless beer. Len and Barb have some really solid friends and family. The five of us had a blast. I had fun getting to know everybody and just hanging with Len. Buddy John got into some polka including the chicken dance.

Thanks for a FANTASTIC night Len and Barb! Sunday morning fishing was a total BUST with 5.3" of rain overnight. I've never seen southwest WI like that before. Entire fields were underwater and water over several bridges making them impassable. There were boulders in the road that fell off cliffs and trees in the road too. I did a 40 minute drive around and went back to bed. I was hungover and needed the sleep anyway.

Best Trout of 2011

2011-06-15T22:42:00.002-05:00

Trout Are Not Afraid of 30lb Line

2011-06-12T10:33:00.003-05:00

I was on the water before 5:30 yesterday morning. A "do over" from Monday's failure trip in the blistering 103 degree heat and high humidity. Yesterday morning it started out at 48 degrees, overcast skies and a dew point of 48. Light and day difference. It was refreshing to be out. This time I had two poles - double barrel. One with a #9 gold PM spinner with 10 lb braided. The other with a worm and a split on 30 lb braided. The 30 lb was purchased by mistake as I just grabbed at Walmart not looking. When I spooled up I was having a hard time tying on the spool then realized 30 lb.

Well ALL of the action came from worms and 30 lb braided. Trout, including big trout are NOT afraid of big line. All those years of 6x tippet wasted. Geesh. Trout do not notice line much. The spinner was only good for identifying trout. I'd cast and see one chase then grab my worm pole and catch the fish. I got a half dozen average sized trout. Then I got one just shy of 17. Then I caught an 18." Final pool towards the road I hooked onto a 22"+ male. Two big jumps and then big trout went into a bunch of log piles. With the 30 lb line and the drag set tight I muscled the fish out of the log jam. Well muscled enough to get him out and he was right at my feet when he broke off. No line failure. Just hook came out of the fish. Dang! That would have been #9 for me. I wondered if I played the fish easier if the hook would have held. Perhaps. But then my instinct told me get that fish away from the log jam ASAP so I applied full pressure. I also missed out on another 20"+ fish ten minutes earlier. Fish hit my worm the minute it was on the bottom but I did not set the hook fast enough Next cast the fish swiped at the worm on top the minute it hit the water. Third cast it was spooked and scooted past me downstream.

Then I headed over to the landowner's house and gave him some smoked trout. We talked about the creek as he grew up here and told me all of the problems he has had with anglers and hunters "helping themselves." Duck hunters took their trucks into his field and camped out. Ground was wet and they put big ruts all over. Then I headed over to the landowner's house and gave him some smoked trout. We talked about the creek as he grew up here and told me all of the problems he has had with anglers and hunters "helping themselves." Duck hunters took their trucks into his field and camped out. Ground was wet and they put big ruts all over. Landowner is cool with me as long as I ask in advance so he knows what is going on. Anybody else who does not ask is considered a trespasser.

A New Personal Best!

2011-05-31T06:33:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to my favorite stream after dinner. I arrived at 5:30 and hiked into the first decent looking pool and started fishing worms. On my third cast the trout hit. My drag screamed and as I stepped out into the crick the fish saw me and bolted past me downstream underneath a large tree branch hanging over. I had no choice but to follow this monster, climbing up over the tree branch and my rod underneath. Next thing you know the fish went for a log jam in front and got tangled up in that. The water was fast and deep and I was in a real panic now. I had this sick to my feeling in my stomach that this fish was going to get away. I frantically pulled on these branches trying to dislodge but one would not budge. Finally I got one branch off but the fish was still tangled. I went for the second and moved it enough to spook the fish out and he bolted downstream. Then the line felt limp and I got really sad. I instantly felt certain the fish broke off. I lost my chance at a monster. Well reeling in it turns out there much have been more slack line out. Now there was a big stick wrapped around my line but was that all? Suddenly I felt weight again and trying to tug the fish upstream at me we were at a standstill. I could tell I was wearing the fish out and finally after a few more pulses around the creek a 23 1/4 male gets swooped up in my big ass net.

Time to update my score card. This is #8 for me for fish over 20" this season. Big trout love worms! Note 10 lb braided and my big ass Frabil net came in quite handy once again. Also thanks to Ted on DTA for recommending my camera tripod, it works well. I stick the butt of my net in the bank and hold the fish underwater (Frabil has 24" depth). Then when tripod is set up I click the 10 second self timer, grab my fish and smile. One quality fish and I headed back to my car with noodle legs from the excitement of landing a new personal best PIG brown trout.

Memorial Weekend 2011 at Beaver Creek Valley

2011-05-29T18:31:00.012-05:00

Jenn, Matt, and I stayed at the camper cabin within Beaver Creek Valley State Park. This is in Houston County, far southeast corner of Minnesota near the Iowa boarder. A part of the Driftless Area untouched by glaciers, the valleys carved out by limestone spring creeks. Highlights of the trip included hiking the Hole-In-Rock Trail (small cave) near the top of a bluff overloking Beaver Creek Valley. Matt also enjoyed the playground and hiking around East Beaver Creek within the park. We searched for frogs however came up empty handed. Lots of other fun stuff to look at during our hike though. Big Springs where East Beaver begins was actually right next to the camper cabin. In Caledonia Friday night we had excellent dinner at Good Times. I think it is likely the best restaurant in the entire area. Matt actually reeled in a couple of rainbow trout Saturday evening caught on a worm and a split. I did the casting and let Matt reel them in. We fished for an hour beside the bridge. At times the bite slowed down and he wanted to leave, then closer to 7pm the fish got really active and he kept getting bites and wanted to stay! Matt hooked many more however only two were landed.

Winnebago Creek

Saturday mornng I fished Winnnebago Creek and Burg Creek from 6-9. I had a gold Panther Martin #9 on and never had to take it off. Majority of time there was a fish almost every single cast where the water looked promising. Many pools I could hook on to six or more fish before moving on. I'm not sure what is in the water but the trout in Winnebago Creek have some serious TEETH. Has anybody seen this before? Braided line can be a mess. Casting across the creek a bird flew into my line and got wrapped around it's wing. I "reeled" the bird in as gently as I could, cut the line and unraveled it from the bird and let him fly away. Somebody who knows birds, please let me know what this one is. Quite beautiful with the red, white and blue head. A nice overcast morning for the most part. I did not care for the farmer planting all the way to the edge of the trout stream. There is supposed to be a 50 foot setback. Well, I'm just glad the landowners let me on to fish. It is not my job to police this. I'm just saying it is obvious why the lower end of this creek suffers from erosion. As for Burg Creek last year I swore I saw a bunch of brookies in here. This year it was dominated by browns. I only got one decent brookie. All other fish caught were browns, some of them large in this small ice cold water.

Crooked Creek

Today I fished Crooked Creek, east of Caledonia. This river is much like Winnebago in that it is dominated by browns and has good numbers. In the hard hit areas it is stocked with rainbow which was my first catch of the day casting from the road. The fishing was not as red hot as Winnebago was yesterday however pretty close. It was cloudy and started a light drizzle at 9am when I left to hike back to my truck. I fished with worms and spinners, trading back and forth fishing through mainly pasture sections. This made for an easy hike. Water clarity was good. Perhaps just a light stain remaining from 2.0" of rain received last Wednesday. I am told brookies can also be found from above where South Branch joins all the way up to the quarry, however I did not catch any. For the most part average sized trout.

I was wondering, was I going to catch any quality sized trout this weekend? Thus far a handful of fish at 15" or approaching, I did not bother measuring. Because I had the idea of catching brookies I continued to worm fish more than spin. As for my recent blog, I will tell you again that big trout love worms. I found a really carved out narrow and deep run with undercut banks that looked worthy of a fish. The minute I cast my worm in the side of the cut bank and it came to the bottom I saw a giant trout swim out and peck at it. Instantly I set the hook and the fish was on. Honestly I don't think the fish knew what hit him because he made only a couple of darts, then turned around to bolt downstream only to get swooped up with my big ass Frabil net. It was almost to easy, the fish was landed in under a minute. What a beautiful big old brown, measuring in at an impressive 22." I kept the fish in my net while I set up my tripod and took a few quick photos. The first think I noticed is the fish spit the hook in the net. The only thing holding was braided line wrapped around his jaw bone. After the big catch I counted my blessings and called it a day.

We actually had plans to spend tonight at the cabin but after a hearty breakfast of Jimmy Dean sausages, pancakes, hashbrowns (along with good coffee from Kwik Trip) it started to rain. Jenn and I both felt greasy and gross and had our fill of roughing it. With the camper cabin you still have to do your cooking outside. No running water in the cabin or refrigerator so wrestling with ice. The gnats were somewhat fierce at times too. All in all we had a great time, including a vist with Alice the owl at the Houston Nature Center and gateway to the Root River bicycle trail. We found out the lady takes Alice home each night and Alice has her own room who apparently barfs up gopher heads and pellet drops at will. Probably the funniest story of the weekend.

Big Trout Love Worms

2011-05-25T19:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday evening I felt like I died and went to heaven. It was everything I could have hoped for. Recently this crick has been very good to me, multiple fish over 20.” Would I catch another biggie tonight?

I got to the stream at 3:30 and my very first cast I was rewarded with a 14” brown. Nice way to start the outing but that actually was cause for concern in my mind. On previous trips when the sun was out only the dinky trout would bite my spinner. The big trout all to wary. I continued to work my way downstream. My idea was to fish it down and up, get two different angles. If there were bigger fish that were going to bite, I’d have to really cover the water. I picked up a couple more average sized trout with my spinner but nothing that got my heart racing.

One and a half hours into fishing and a handful of average sized trout was I going to get a biggie? My luck changed after I walked downstream a ways and switched to worms fishing my way upstream into untouched water. Right away a solid 17” brown hit and once again my big net came to the rescue. However the fish did not really excite me, I was hoping for a giant. Finally I worked my way up to a pool where I caught a 21” and a 19” back to back on spinner on a recent outing. There is a funnel at the top and the pool widens and it appears to be chest deep. No action on the spinners however another 17” brown, this one a touch more chunky with more gold coloration. Once again big Frabil net to the rescue. This fish darted around where I did not want to take any chances, I jumped in the crick and scooped him up.

Two 17” browns. Now the fishing is getter better I thought to myself. It was 5:30 now and some clouds rolled and it got a little darker out. I liked what I saw. It was almost dark enough where I contemplated removing my polarized clip on lenses. Relaxed with two decent fish under my belt I pulled out a frosty cold beer and soaked up the scenery. The big blue stem grass over two feet tall now, many colorful songbirds systematically sweeping over the stream eating up bugs and politely chirping away. I saw a bunch of gnat sized bugs, nothing these big trout would eat, however a few sporadic tan caddis.

Re-energized from landing two quality browns I methodically trudged forward. Hard work stomping through mushy grass and mud from all the recent rain. The crick was lightly stained and a tough high and swift. At times in some of the narrow sections I would add a second split shot because I felt my drift was too fast. Then I would take the split off. Overall one medium sized spilt was about right. My idea was I’d rather not spook a big trout with the big “kerplunk” sound of two splits hitting the water. I tried my #9 spinner at times too however only the occasional tug and the fish was off, like they were not fully committed. I was starting to wonder if these trout have seen my spinners enough that they could no longer be fooled? I had two packages of crawlers and decided to stick with worms, casting upstream and drifting on down.

Taking a break I kneeled down and casted a worm into a section I think looks much like the rest. I really was not expecting much as I’d never caught a trout here before. Right away I saw my line start to move. I reeled up my slack felt the weight of the fish and set the hook! I use 10lb braided line and by default I have the drag set pretty tight as to not let the fish into undercut banks and break off. At first I could not tell how big the fish was, he was swimming really fast right towards me and I was reeling as fast as I could not to give him any slack line. This fish saw me and barreled downstream making my drag scream! ZIP, ZIP, ZIP, three powerful surges. That out of control butterflies in my stomach was upon me now. I got out and into the middle of the creek only to realize this section very deep. Water was up to my chest and close to going into my waters. This tank brown was swimming around in every which direction, next over to an undercut bank where he appeared hung up. I tip toed over to where the fish was hung. The fish was not moving and nor was I. I just maintained pressure however not adding any pressure. We were at a standoff and both the fish and I took a 30 second pause. I kept reaching down trying to feel my line under whatever the fish was wrapped up on however it was just out of reach. Each time I tried the river level crested right at the top of my waders. On my tip toes I cautiously took tiny steps closer to where the fish was. When I moved a foot closer this spooked the fish and he took off like a torpedo again, this time thankfully dislodging himself from the tangle in the undercut bank. Finally the fish was in the middle of the creek and out came my big net to swoop him up.

What a fight! One of the strongest browns to date. The kype jaw on this male just insane. Yes I did feel like I died and went to heaven. This stream is so good that only a select few friends know about it. I’m hoping this stream continues to fish well all season. Only time will tell.

Grass Creek with Tony

2011-05-19T06:34:00.002-05:00

Well no 20" brown LANDED but I will tell you Tony and I both had a ~28" swipe at our lures. First on a PM spinner, next I went back and tried worms and the sucker was lipping it. I went to set the hook and the worm just popped out of his mouth. Incredible wake the fish made on both takes. After the worm popped out that fish looked at me with one eye and darted downstream. Big browns are territorial and I bet he will be in the same pool next week when I fish here.

I was all out of PM gold 3/8 oz and of course the mailman was late and of course they showed up after we headed for the stream. I am blaming the mailman for no 20"+ on this trip. That said, the trip was a success.

First I got this 18" brown on a worm. It is an eyeball estimate. Tony's fish was next, another lip hooked worm and we did measure it out to be a perfectly fat 16." Tony and I were thrilled. With both fish I jumped into the crick and got out my big ass Frabil net to land these nice fish. Mine actually wrapped around a log in an undercut bank and was stuck. I reached under and unwound the line, next the fish shot between my legs and amazingly Tony was there to sweep the fish in the net. Nicely done!

Likewise, Tony's fish was also a blast to catch. Again I jumped into the crick right away because it is just such tight quarters and so many things for a fish to get hung up on. The fish ran around all over but we luckily got the fish on shore. High fives. Two beers each out on the stream, bluebird skies and the vibrant green grass.

Later in the evening was a fantastic sunset to cap the night. A handful of other smaller fish were caught however a quality 16" and a quality 18" for each of us was more than worth our while.

Grass Creek on Fire!

2011-05-12T06:35:00.000-05:00

Molten lava fire. 2 x 21 and 1 x 19. All male and chunky. 19" was netted, unhooked, and measured. Then first photo he squiggled out of my hands and into the drink. Also a chunky 15" that took a worm. All three big males took a #9 all gold. Heart pounding fun. Again and again my giant Frabil hoop net lands the fish. Brought my tripod but forgot the clip that screws into my camera. Hand shots. Really impressive front that turned the sky dark yellow and almost foggy in places. The big men decided to whack GIANT gold spinners. I am now at 5 x 20"+ this year. Another win for MN!

Here are the photos of the two 21"s. First fish incredibly fat. Second fish really rusty colored. Both males.

FIRST FISH

SECOND FISH

Photos of the 19" male not present because he slipped out of my hands and into the drink. Oh well, the two 21"s were captured on film. All three big fish released in FINE shape!

Wisconsin Trout Opener 2011

2011-05-07T11:56:00.002-05:00

Fishing was solid. A total of eight quality brook trout to hand from 6:30 - 9:00 this morning. All on chunks of crawlers. I gained permission from both landowners. Despite this a guy named Bob showed up at my pool and proceeded to fish downstream even though he did not have permission. He claimed he was friends with the other neighbor, so does this give him access to both other properties? The guy went downstream and came back upstream in only 15 minutes. We talked about our catches. Bob says he grew up fishing this stream and has been fishing for years. His personal best here is a 15.5" brookie. Buddy Matt got a 15" here last summer with me. Anyway Bob left and I was as nice to him as I possibly could be. It was not my land so I did not want to be a jerk about it. But it did upset me. I told my primary landowner contact about him and he was upset. There is some guy living in a camper down by the main bridge and thinks this guy is sneaking on. This was the second time running into Bob. The first time was last summer fishing with my buddy Tony. He saw we were fishing said hello, and turned around and went back.

Anyway Bob did not spook my brookies. Plenty of them. All quality. The first fish of the day and the last fish of the day were both 12" brookies! The last one will be my blog header. Just insane blue coloration at his jawbone. Each year I fish brookie streams more and more. Why? They taste the best. I tell people they are members of the char family, not the trout family. Their meat is orange pink color just beautiful. Some would say too beautiful to eat, like a tropical fish. I get that point of view too as I once was a strict catch and release fly angler.

Here here are some other photos of fish caught on Blue Heron Creek. Or perhaps I should call this stream Blue Jaw Creek?

Trout Fishing In The Driftless Area

2011-05-04T19:07:00.001-05:00

Len and I are on TV this week on a show called Waiting for the Fall. Charter cable channel 87 airs this Thursday and Sunday @ 7:30 pm. The show also airs Saturday and Sunday morning at 8:00 am. Or you can watch the show here! Len and I fished last year for Wisconsin's pre-season opener which is the first Saturday in March. We fished upper Mill Creek and the Pine River in southwestern Wisconsin. Enjoy the show!

Special thanks to Chris Kittleson of Pronghorn Productions for filming us!

Last night I fished with Tommy on Black Creek again. I lost what Tommy believes was the largest brook trout he has ever seen on this creek and he grew up here. So that was exciting. Tommy just got through back surgery on a ruptured L5 disc so he had to take it slow. Still Tommy ended up landing the nicest fish. For the better anyway, I hope he is not too sore tomorrow.

Earlier in the day I was back at Smith Creek. Fishing my way upstream I kicked up a pretty decent trout say around 16" and decided to switch gears and try worms. Working my way upstream the 16" fish never took but to my surprise this fat beautiful 21" female brown clobbered it. Again just like my last outing with the giant carp, I felt out of control. Was this fish going to get away from me? She went just like a rocket trying to smash loose. At first based on the size of the fish I assumed it had to be a big northern. Nope, a big old brown!

Off to a good start this year ;-)

Beautiful Carp & Roughfish Roundup

2011-04-30T08:53:00.000-05:00

Caught on a worm at the mouth of a trout stream on the Cannon River. Lip hooked. This guy was easily over 7 lbs. Built like a tank, an incredible fighter. I had my doubts about landing this big tubby. I am trying to be less of a trout snob. I'm starting to appreciate diversity of fish including roughies. That golden colored carp fought just as hard as my personal best 23" brown caught recently. Great slogan - the drug is the tug.

Good luck to my friends going to the annual spring Roughfish Roundup conclave this weekend in Lanesboro. Dylan just got down there and texted that he already got a nice brown trout. Roughfish of all sorts as well and trout will be harvested and eaten. This year roughfish.com will be filmed by Minnesota Bound.

Smoked Trout Easter Weekend & Smith Creek

2011-04-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

Saturday I smoked up my Minnesota limit of brook trout, which is five. Recipe:

plastic 10 quarter container
1/2 full with water
1.5 pounds non-iodized salt
1 pound brown sugar
2 cups real lemon
10 tablespoons dill weed
8 tablespoons red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons garlic powder
4 tablespoons onion powder
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Stir and place trout in the mixture. Place a plate or glass cutting board on the trout so the the trout are in the brine completely. Soak three hours. Rinse trout in water, pack with lemon wedge and dill if you can find it. Sprinkle both sides of fish on the outside with crushed red pepper. Over coals and water pan add soaked wood chips. Spray PAM over both racks and add fish. Cook for 1.5 hours, flip, cook for another 1.5 hours.

Hit Smith Creek briefly this evening. Another fictitious name, this one given to me by Dylan who got it from another friend. Anyway don't bother searching the internet for Smith Creek, you probably won't find anything for Minnesota or Wisconsin. Or maybe you will but it will be the wrong Smith. Anyway fishing was tough at first. So bright out the fish were skiddish and only the little ones were biting. Four dinky trout.

I was worried that was going to be it however a front came in and clouded things up. Then the wind picked up and it was closer to 5pm when this beautiful 17" brown hit. Almost lost the fish too because kept diving into the undercut banks getting hung up. I jumped into this narrow and swift little crick and scooped up the fish with my big net. The fish was just barely hooked with one of the three barbs off my spinner.

Chub Creek, Black Creek, and the Cannon River

2011-04-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Three different areas fished last night. First off I went to Chub Creek. This one has been good to me over the years however last night fished it from 4:30 - 6:30 and only ONE brown. Can you believe that? The water was still swift and felt a touch on the cold side. Cold enough that not even the chubs were biting. When the chubs come the browns will come are my thoughts. Still too early yet, at least this year. Good looking crick though, IMO. Only problem, this one really got worked over from spring flooding like nobody's business. All my pools are totally gone, new ones have formed. What once was a nice corner pool is now 40 feet wide. Looks like the 2007 Whitewater flood.

At 6:30 I cut my losses and decided to swing over to Black Creek. Right off the bat I caught four beautiful brookies, including one gorgeous ~11" fish. All on worms. I let the 11" go and kept two smaller ones for my smoker this weekend. Then Ben and Dylan arrived. We fished the pasture section close to dusk however no more bites! This spot looks more popular than we thought. There was a car parked there when I got there downstream in the pasture, I assumed fishing. Dylan and Ben said it was the landowner who was just walking around, not even fishing. Well this section felt like it was just fished because all the obvious pools, runs, and undercut banks no bites.

Next I followed Dylan and Ben into town to fish the Cannon River briefly. The sun was down but river walk has plenty of streetlights and I also had my flashlight headset for tying knots. The three of us fished with big white Mr. Twister jigs. Nice and heavy like you use for walleye. All of us had giant fish on at one point or another, that spot is just thick with all kinds of fish and they are all big. I think most of the time though the fish were just being snagged because all of a sudden the fish was just there, then a surge and a scream of the drag and the fish was off. Ben had a giant on for the longest being several minutes however in the end the fish popped the hook. Anyway, below is a photo of a giant buffalo some other guy caught who let us take a picture. Absolute massive. We were hooking into carp and buffalo because there would be scales the size of a nickel stuck to our hook. Dylan and Ben say as the water gets warmer and goes down more this place is just THICK with giant fish of all types and after a while the river will clear up and you can see them down below in big schools.

2011 Minnesota Trout Opener

2011-04-19T18:04:00.001-05:00

Ben and I hit the water for a little over three hours on Saturday. 40 degrees and 20+ mph winds made for tough fishing in this tiny crick. It was brutal out. I figured we would have to work for the fish and that is what happened. Ben got a personal best 20" male brown! Look at the blue green cheek, just beautiful. Ben was very thankful for my big net. Fish dived into undercut bank and was hung up briefly. I jumped in the crick and chased after her, swooped up in my giant net. Ben thinks he might not have landed that fish without my netting and we recall the Panther Martin spinner feel out of the trout's mouth right after netting. Anyway, glad to be of help! We had a good time. No other memorable fish aside from that one. I had a few dinks on and had one fat 15ish looking brown dart from a cut bank, flare gills right below me and hit my PM however only a nip and fish was off. I'm just so happy to have shared the moment with Ben. A new personal best for Ben, a beautiful male brown with blue-green cheeks. Ben's previous personal best was a 16" out of the Rush River so this by far surpasses his previous catch. Welcome to "Club 20" Ben!

On Sunday wow did Tommy and I slam the brookies on Black Creek. We fished from 4:30 to8:30, minimal wind, overcast with sun peaking out at times. I have never seen such beautiful wild back colored brookies in my life. This crick was super duper tiny yet we found half a dozen in the 12" range! Worms were the meal ticket today, also easiest way to fish this little crick. So many others lost too. Anyway, this is just a sample of the hand selected photos of our brief outing this evening. Felt good to harvest some fish. I know Tommy grilled his up right away with tinfoil, butter and seasonings and said fish were yummy. I'm going to smoke up a batch this weekend. The meat on these wild brookies bright orange. I can guarantee you they are going to be delicious. This year I'm making a point of harvesting more brookies, even if small. They are consistently better than browns in flavor.

The Monsters in Grass Creek

2011-04-13T17:26:00.003-05:00

Fished with new buddy Tommy for the first time from 5:00 - 8:30 last night. No hits until about 6:30. Same pool Tommy landed that 25 a week a go my first cast into the top of the pool she hit again. I had her on and a good hook set. Raised the fish and saw the whole thing out of the water. My medium-heavy rod was bent in half. I had 10lb braided and my drag set tight so fish would not get into undercut banks. Line held but the swivel clamp did not. Live and learn. I have been burned several times now, I'm tying on direct.

Tommy got into a few in the 15-16" range. Our luck started to pick up around 7:00. I landed a beautiful 20" brown, the first 20" fish of the year for me. At first I did not realize how big she was until she fought like hell and Tommmy was having a heck of a time trying to net. I kept yelling "Net that fish! Get that fish Tommy!" Tommmy scooped her up. What a beauty. We first thought maybe that one hit on the 25" was the only action we would see.

Then at dusk we hiked back to the pool where the 25" hit. Upstream of the pool is another deep run. Tommy cast a PM in there and had a hit. Tommy told me to cast further down, see if fish would hit my spinner. He hit like a freight train! WHACK! Apparently my #9 gold PMD was the perfect meal ticket for this big fish. The fish ran all over the place zigzagging from size to size jamming itself into the undercut banks trying to free itself. Right at my feet the fish was wrapped up below in undercut bank. I hopped in the crick and that spooked the fish back into the main current. A few runs up and down, Tommy netted the beast. Even 23" male brown. PERSONAL BEST![INSERT GIANT SMILE]!! Wow was my heart racing. Fish lost some blood. Was not deep hooked or gill hooked. Just one treble holding her honestly. Took some reviving but fish swam away. I kept him in my big Frabil net to make sure he did not tumble downstream, regain strength.

Tommy's Fish

My 20" Brown

My 23" Brown

Grass Creek

2011-04-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

Spring has sprung indeed! I fortunate to get out for a few hours this evening. Fished down in Red Wing again on my new crick. Got a 19", 18," 15," and a bunch of dinks. Also lost a good 17"+ fish on a jump. All fish were fat. A couple of my new buddies have also done really well here. As I type a 25" brown was just landed. Makes me want to get back to Grass Creek very soon.

I really like the Husky jerk this year. Blue and orange, cast and let drift into pool, twitch, let more line out. This fish I was jigging an undercut bank and when he hit I had slack line in my left hand I was holding like a bow and arrow trying not to lose him until I could reel in slack. The big 18 hit right at dusk in fast water. Both big trout hit #6 PMs. Beautiful vibrant sunset too. Looked like the woods was on fire.

Fishing With New Friends

2011-03-30T21:05:00.001-05:00

Buddy Eric, aka itchmesir. We have known each other on the trout boards - HSO and DTA for over a year now. Eric lives in Winona and that is the main reason we had yet to fish together. We are separated by about 1.5 hours of driving. Today we met up for the first time fishing on Pine Creek, Winona County. This was the habitat improvement (HI) section that is open for Minnesota winter fishing season (January 1 - March 31). A beautiful pasture stretch with lots of aqua-green water, big boulders, and lunker structures. We both really enjoyed this stretch. One bonus was catching a heritage brook trout, and a quality one at that. I asked Eric if he had ever caught a brookie out of the Pine and he said only browns. I believe this brookie must have migrated down from Hemmingway Creek, a tributary of Pine Creek. Looked to be around 10," a quality wild trout. Trout enjoyed worms, spinners, and flies. Eric was first using a wolly then switched over to a green scud with a copper John trailer. I fished Eric's 2wt. A tad too light for my taste as you really had to whip it good to make long casts. Easy to mend though, and the more I played with it, the more I got the hang of it.

Parting ways with Eric after 3.5 hours of fishing the Pine I made my way to Red Wing to fish with another new friend named Dylan for the first time. Dylan has a passion for trout fishing and roughfish - all species of southeast MN and he is proficient at doing so be it fly, crank, spin, or bait. Dylan took me to some prized spots. Skinny water, we raised some giants with spinners and raps. Dylan would float the raps downstream into the pools while I preferred to cast upstream with Panther Martin spinners. I ended up catching a beautiful 17" brown casting my spinner downstream. At times we saw wakes from fish attacking, quality trout and all caught were quite chunky. BTW, today is Dylan's 21st birthday and I am happy to have celebrated with him, if only for a couple of hours.

Western Wisconsin Fishing with Nate and Fin

2011-03-27T18:15:00.002-05:00

Beautiful day to be on the water. Buddy Nate and his son Fin joined me for a little trout fishing in western Wisconsin today. We started out with a nice aqua green brook trout stream. This is the same stream I got some really neat underwater shots with end of last summer. Fin has yet to land a trout by himself. Today he was close. Fin had one decent brookie on a Panther Martin. Fin reeled the fish all the way to the tip of his pole and brookie flipped off. Several spots too deep for Fin and he had to piggy back across the stream with us. At one point Fin lost his balance and took on a little water. Kid got cold and finally we went back to the truck. He was a trooper. In hindsight I don't think the brookie water was ideal. We did not spot a lot of fish. Water was ice cold and crystal clear. I caught a couple brookies but fish did not seem really active.

Next spot Nate and I hit the Rush River for a good hour. Fin stayed back in the car to warm up and relax. Fin had walkie talkie and kept calling Nate periodically asking how we are doing. Right away there was a nice big stump by the shore that always has been good to me. I flung a #9 gold PM tight to shore by the undercut bank and had a nice ~14" brown on briefly. From there we went upstream. Nate got a couple of pretty looking browns. The underwater shot shows you how clear the Rush was. The Rush was much warmer than the brookie stream and clear. A light stain if anything.

Do it all over again we would have just hit the Rush the entire time instead. Live and learn. Either way a nice day to get out. I think Fin now understands why we love trout fishing in western Wisconsin so much.

Trout Run Hot Spots

2011-03-26T17:12:00.001-05:00

Hakim’s on Trout Run is the dead end road upstream from the mouth. It is the end of the easement corridor on Trout Run. It is also the location of one of the largest habitat improvement projects - 15,000 cubic yards of soil moved!

View Larger Map

Fall electroshock results were the best ever seen.

Adults/mile = 3,847
>12 inches/mile = 332
>14 inches/mile = 30
>16 inches/mile = 11
Recruits/mile = 7,950 ...that's 11,797 trout/mile!

This is all public easement upstream from Hakim's bridge.

Another good spot would be the next bridge upstream, at Bucksnort Dam.

View Larger Map

Walk downstream for a while and fish your way back up to your vehicle. This is also habitat improvement public access pasture section that is easy to fish. No trees at all.

Protected slot 12-16 however you can whack and stack five under 12" or four under 12" and one over 16." Put fish in gallon sized ziplock bag and put in your pocket. People rarely keep trout in these sections anyway as they are habitat improved fly fishing C&R type fishermen. To make way for bigger trout we need to thin out the trout less than 12." Somewhere down the line we forgot that an enjoyable part of fishing is not only catching fish, but eating fish!

One last reminder, both sections DO NOT ALLOW BAIT, they are artificial lures and flies only. Most people fly fish however if you want to catch that 25" brown throw big stuff in low light

Last Chance to Worm Fish Nine Select Minnesota Streams

2011-03-19T10:12:00.011-05:00

It is funny that I have been trout fishing the past 17 years in Minnesota and did not know about the winter trout fishing season "loophole" in which live bait may be used on ALL designated winter trout streams January 1 - March 31. This even includes nine streams that are otherwise artificial only come April 1.

Minnesota Winter Trout Fishing Season
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/trout_streams/winter.html

RULES
*January 1 - March 31
*Catch-and-release of all trout.
*All hooks must be barbless.
*Live bait may be used.
*Angling allowed only in posted sections

Fillmore County area

* Camp Creek*

* Canfield Creek*

* Diamond Creek

* Duschee Creek

* Forestville Creek

* Gribben Creek *

* South Branch Root River

* South Fork Root River *

* Torkelson Creek

* Wisel Creek

Goodhue County area

* Hay Creek *

Winona County area

Beaver Creek
* Coolridge Creek
* Ferguson Creek

* Garvin Brook *

* Hemingway Creek

* Middle Branch Whitewater River *

* North Branch Whitewater River *

* Pine Creek
* Rush Creek
* South Branch Whitewater River
* Trout Run Creek

* Trout Valley Creek *

* West Branch Money Creek
* Whitewater River

Houston County area

* Bee Creek
* Crooked Creek
* Daley Creek
* East Beaver Creek
* South Fork Crooked Creek
* Swede Bottom Creek
* West Beaver Creek

* = THIS STREAM IS ARTIFICIAL ONLY APRIL 1 - SEPTEMBER 30.

That is correct. There are NINE streams that are artificial only yet for three months you are allowed to use live bait as long as you use a barbless hook and practice catch and release. I did not realize the regulations changed with the seasons. I assumed a stream such as Hay Creek that is artificial only April 1 - September 30 would remain artificial only during the winter fishing season.

So for three months out of the year, bait anglers in the know are able to fish the following nine streams with live bait January 1 - March 31.

Camp Creek
Canfield Creek
Gribben Creek
South Fork Root River
Hay Creek
Garvin Brook
Middle Branch Whitewater River
North Branch Whitewater River
Trout Valley Creek

Enjoy worming or chub tailing these streams right now, because this is likely the last year one can do so. The Minnesota DNR and Trout Unlimited are closing the winter season live bait "loophole" once and for all. Minnesota is in the process of changing trout regulations once a gain. New changes likely to go in effect 2012. There are many proposals in play now, one of which states that if the streams is artificial only during the regular season, then it will also remain artificial only during the winter season.

I guess both bait angler and fly anglers will win. One of the other main proposals from Minnesota DNR is to open all streams up for catch and release fishing for the winter season. To my knowledge, bait will continue to be allowed on all streams with the exception of the dozen or so artificial only streams we have. In the end I guess uppity fly anglers get the last laugh because for 17 years I could have been worm fishing the nine artificial only streams above. I have never tried worm fishing Whitewater or Hay Creek in the winter and guess I never will.

The clock has basically run out. March 31 ends the winter pre-season. If you ever want to worm fish these nine ARTIFICIAL ONLY streams, do so now because 2012 regulations will likely not allow you to do so.

Trout Fishing Review Launched to Seek Angler Input

2011-03-07T18:37:00.007-06:00

Wisconsin Trout Review Public Meetings
http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/trout/

Mat Mitro Presentation: Trout Angling on Timber Coulee Creek Then (1984) and Now (2008)

Good local article about trout meetings from St. Paul Pioneer Planet.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_17542741?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com&nclick_check=1

Meeting for Western Wisconsin:

St.Croix and Pierce counties and part of Dunn County
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 7:00 p.m.
Agricultural Service and Education Center, 1960 8th Avenue, Baldwin

Wisconsin Opener - March 2011

2011-03-05T20:14:00.002-06:00

Buddy Matt and I fished a neat stream in Pierce County that has a good mix of brookies and browns. Lots of sand and clay, the clay was slippery stuff. Some spots were silty and one would slip in like quicksand. Chest waders required for this stream. Initially Matt had his doubts that the day would be fruitful. It was 25 when we arrived and the water icy cold, Matt thought the trout would be inactive and we would really have to work for them. Such was not the case.

Fishing was fantastic right off the bat. Lots of brookies, each of us got close to a dozen. These were no ordinary brookies either. Matt and I counted six fish that were 12" and one that was 14" on the nose. These were not skinny brookies either, really chunky. So the browns mixed in were nice too. I got a 16" brown and a few other smaller ones. I also lost an honest 18" (or larger) brown that smashed my Panther Martin spinner in about 3' of choppy water and made a flying leap out of the water after hooked. Both of us recall seeing a very large hump back male brown trout and then the line went limp. It turns out my knot failed. Live and learn. This crick had so many log jams, I was constantly getting un-snagged and probably should have inspected my lure. Clearly this would have been the fish of the day.

Regardless, the fishing was red hot. Trout got more active around 11:00 when it was closer to 30 and the sun would briefly peak out. Cloudy at first and then later in the afternoon blue skies with white puffy cumulus clouds. Fish were less active as the day went on so we called it quits around 3pm. Back at the bridge we had a game warden check out our licenses and ask how we did. A surprise to run into him really because this stream is really obscure.

Vermillion River Browns of 2010

2011-02-26T13:35:00.001-06:00

This summer I spent extra time trying to master this river. Got plenty of help from my new buddy Jon too. Jon has been fishing this river all his life, said it took him 20+ years to master. Jon's success rate was considerably better than mine, to be expected. Jon is an excellent bait fishermen and honestly I have only been trouting with bait for the past couple of years.

80% of the trout shown here caught on fat crawlers, mainly at low light. Sunrise and sunset. The other 20% were either caught on large Panther Martin spinners (3/8 oz or larger) and black and orange Rapala X-raps, a new personal favorite.

This river is not an easy one. Only half of my outings did I catch trout. However there were always fish to be caught be it giant pike, white sucker, or black bullheads.

I look forward to fishing the Vermillion again come Saturday April 16, the official Minnesota opener. In Minnesota there are 33 select trout streams that are open January 1. Vermillion however is not one of them. Then on April 1, all southeast MN trout streams are open catch and release. However the Vermillion is located in Dakota County and managed by Metro Fisheries not Lanesboro or Lake City Fisheries. Therefore fishing is off limits (for all species) in the designated trout section from just downstream of HWY 52 all the way to the headwaters, and includes all branches and tributaries until mid-April, the normal opener. Also a reminder trout within the designated trout stream of the Vermillion is all catch and release for the season (mid-April to September 30).

If anybody is interested I do have electroshock data of the Vermillion. The majority of areas shocked do not hold any trout. The Vermillion is considered incredibly marginal water however the few trout that do survive grow large and they do so quickly. MN DNR tells me Vermillion trout grow as fast as 1" per month during the summer.

Montana July 07 Revisited

2011-02-17T19:26:00.002-06:00

I continue to enjoy playing around with Adobe Lightroom 3 sprucing up old photos taken from my first original digital camera, a HP 2.1 MP. Jenn and I would love to get back to Montana again however Matt (5 in April) is at a difficult age. We just don't think he has a patience for long drives in the car.

July 07 we did another two week road trip similar to our July 05 trip. On our way out we checked out Devil's Tower and the prairie dogs in the valley. Pretty neat landmark with unique folklore about how this was created if you have never been. Also are a few photos of Matt when we stayed at Chico Hot Spring in Paradise Valley near Livingston, MT for one night. No photo of the hot spring pool but it was wonderful trust me, and so was the food.

Next we relaxed by ourselves at the Alta Ranch for a good full week. Alta Ranch is on the West Fork of the Bitterroot, headwaters. Lots of big beautiful cuts caught on any big and bushy dry fly. I preferred the stimulator. Bright red and easy to see. The cuts just love it. Alta Ranch also had a neat trout pond where Matt and I found a moose taking a swim.

A highlight of the trip was floating with Van and his buddy Arnie on the 4th of July. We floated the lower stretch of the main Bitterroot, downstream of Hamilton. Bigger water and not as many trout. Arnie got a few. I only landed a couple of whitefish. It was really hot and not a cloud in the sky. Floating on the actual holiday the river was really busy plus lots of folks just swimming around near the bridges drinking beer and staying cool.

On the way back home we cruised through Yellowstone again and stayed on the northeast corner at Silver Gate which is right on the Montana - Wyoming boarder near Soda Butte and the Lamar Valley. Incredibly scenic. Where Lamar and Soda Butte join it was close to the road and I fished for about 20 minutes in my flip flops catching big gullible Yellowstone cuts with my spinning rod. At our cabin in Silver Gate there was lone buffalo that parked himself right outside. Fishing just across the street on Soda Butte Creek was also exceptional. Even Jenn caught a few.

Nice to see parts of YNP again. The canyon is always scenic. The Beartooth Highway (212)m was something we always wanted to do and it was harrowing. I really had enough of the windy dangerous road after an hour or so. However pulling over occasionally the views were breathtaking.

Montana July 05 Revisited

2011-02-09T17:57:00.000-06:00

I recently purchased Adobe Lightroom 3.0 and have had fun editing photos. Last year was my first season with a decent camera. Prior to that all of my photos were taken with my very first digital camera, a HP 2.1. I still have it to this day and it works just fine. Big and bulky however this camera will not die. It does not take the best of photos however Adobe Lightroom helped me refine what I have.

Our first trip out west was July 05. For the first half of the trip we stayed at the 320 Ranch in Big Sky, Montana on the bank of the Gallatin River wade fishing out front. We did whitewater rafting, horseback riding, exploring parts of YNP and also did a float down the Madison River for chunky rainbows and a few browns.

The second week of the trip we stayed at the Alta Ranch on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, upstream of Painted Rock Reservoir. Incredibly remote, it was like an hour into town. Fishing for cutthroat out front was phenomenal. We also did a float with my buddy van who lives in Hamilton down the main stem of the Bitterroot. After that we traveled to GNP and traveling the Going to the Sun road, hiking among the beargrass, incredibly scenic. Seriously the only thing I can compare GNP for beauty is Hawaii. I highly recommend.

Our next trip out west was July 07, more of the same. We want to get back however it appears not likely this summer. For now I have photos like these to daydream about.

Flies Only

2011-02-02T21:57:00.003-06:00

Did you know The first "flies only" trout regulation in America happened as early as 1907? Can you guess what state?

William B. Mershon, a wealthy lumberman from Saginaw, Michigan, and T. E. Douglas, a lodge owner on the North Branch, flies were the only legal method of fish capture on a large portion of the North Branch. Mershon first advocated for this legislation once he purchased several thousand acres adjoining the river as a means to protect juvenile trout and keep people off his portions of the stream. The law went in and out of effect between 1907 and 1928 and provided interesting commentary on the conservation movement's struggle to form a cohesive identity. Although Mershon's law was repealed due to a lack of scientific support, it did launch interest into the conservation merits of fly fishing and started the legacy of fish conservation for which the Au Sable is famous for and would eventually lead to the creation of Trout Unlimited.

Did you know that Michigan currently has an increasing number of flies only water?

What other states have flies only regulations? Anybody know? Montana and Idaho were checked out and neither have.

http://gradworks.umi.com/33/61/3361957.html

Hay Creek Pasture

2011-01-29T10:50:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was my first outing of the year. Ice fishing you say? Nope, open water, fishing a beautiful spring creek. Minnesota has a January 1 catch and release pre-season. I was so excited that I could barely fall asleep Thursday night. I kept thinking of a nice fish tugging at the end of my line.

First I decided to hit lower Hay on bigger water, fish with a spinner for a little under an hour. First fish of the day around 9:30 she put up a decent fight. She fought stronger than her size. I expected much bigger, especially from such a large pool. Ended up being 12-13" by my eyeball estimate, best fish of the day.

Parked on the shoulder, I swung a U turn and thought the shoulder on the other side was solid, wrong. My truck sunk way in at a fairly steep angle. I was stuck. A few trucks stopped by, nobody had a pull rope. Some offered me a ride into town. Five minutes later another truck stopped by. I asked if he had a tow rope and he said yes. Thank God. I hooked up to my bumper hitch and was slowly pulled out of the ditch. I thanked the guy and offered money. He said no charge. I slipped him a $5 anyway, least I could offer. Live and learn. One should always have a tow rope in the back of your vehicle, be prepared for Minnesota winters.

Shortly after around 10:30 I met up with old neighbor I grew up next door, buddy Nate. Our goal was to fly fish and this was Nate's first time. We left the spinning gear behind. Nate parked his car and the 325th bridge upstream and then we drove down to the next bridge down, where recent habitat improvement work was done. There was even a nice parking space for anglers, off the main 325th road, perfect. I had Nate all set up with my 5wt Palsa indicator, pink squirrel fly all set. We practiced casting at the first pool by the parking lot for a bit, then moved upstream.

Honestly I have not taught many to fly fish before. We took turns with the one rod so I could show him what to do what not to do. This included accelerating at 10 and 2 (like a clock) sifting out a foot or more of line each direction. Nate thought you only sift out line on the forward cast. The other critical lesson is on your final cast to let the line shoot out. Sometimes Nate just did not have any slack line to shoot out so the fly would drop where it was versus extend further. Also bringing your pole down closer to the water on your final cast to lay down your fly is critical. At times Nate was whipping the fly rod so hard you could hear a strong sound, not necessary. Fly fishing should feel effortless, as long as your tail loops are good, slow it way down. No need to muscle your cast.

After about 30 minutes Nate was really getting the hang of it. He even had one brown trout on briefly. Fly fishing the pasture I only landed two little browns and another shook off. The first one was caught on a Trico trailer, the only thing I had in my box that resembled the midges we saw crawling on the snow banks. The midges themselves look like a mosquito, long legs extending out at 90 degree angles.

Fishing was not easy. Most fish seemed to be at the edge of faster water near plunge pools. Others were spotted in the shallows, huddled together likely trying to stay as warm as possible. Fishing downstream up even my fly casting line above them spooked them and if not the casting line, the pinch on orange Palsa indicator would. We fished 11-3 and this was supposed to be above freezing however our guides were icing up. One had to carefully crack off the ice. In the process the one and only guide on my fly rod popped out. In the process I threaded my line through the guides to grab and fix later. The guide center (that attaches to the metal ring on the rod) slipped out of my hands and into the deep white snow, never to be found. I'm not sure how important this one and only guide is. Casting line on bare metal for all the other guides. Probably with a stronger fish not having the ceramic guide on there will eventually wear out my WF casting line faster. Fishing without it I did not notice any difference.

For the four hours we were there we saw roughly nine different parties. Nate was not the only one who got skunked. There was a guy on snow shows who seemed to know what he was doing who was there only about 45 minutes and hooked on to a half dozen fish. Back at our vehicles for a couple of beers before we hit the road, one angler said his grandson caught a 12" brown on a Rapala. Also interesting closer to the 325th bridge I found a hook with a now frozen crawler threaded through it and a small split shot wrapped around a small branch where my fly got hung up. Clearly some people do not follow the pre-season artificial only rule.

We had a pleasant time. Honestly I hoped more fish would have been caught. It was a dreary overcast day as it had been all week. I figured that would be to our advantage however these wild trout are smart and get a lot of pressure. Overall I like the habitat improvement on this section, amazed to see how far downstream it now goes. I did not get to all of it, mainly just fishing the first bridge to 325th.

Grand Marais Brookies

2011-01-25T20:06:00.002-06:00

Can hardly wait to go back 4th of July weekend 2011. This will be our third year in a row. Just booked the cabin again. One of my best brook trout streams of last year, this female measured at 13" even. She hit under a bridge, middle of the morning. By that time it was really bright out however under the bridge nice and dark. When I first felt her I thought I was snagged. Love how a strong fish will make it seem that way. Then I felt a tug and the fight was on. Fish hit in pocket water, surrounded by boulders. I jumped in the river right away and headed towards the fish trying to push her out of any obstructions. I could tell it was the nicest wild trout of the weekend and really played her light.

The scenery was breathtaking. Fishing for trout in a freestone stream is really a neat change of pace. Notice the lupine in the background - purple and pink. This summer the North Shore had a warm spring and much of the lupine had already come and gone however not the stuff growing beside the cold clean trout stream. A few other trout worthy of a photo towards the end. Average brook trout is about 6" in this stream. Most would slash at my spinner and miss, only to be fooled once or twice the I'd have to move to new pocket water.

Black Eyed Susans

2011-01-24T22:04:00.002-06:00

Came across a field of Black Eyed Susan's first week of August. Was also by a week later. I like the header photo probably the best. Looks like a painting. I boosted the blue in the sky a touch make it a touch surreal.

Both of the times these photos were taken it was bluebird skies and the trout fishing was fantastic. Shots taken late afternoon, left early for the day. Normally you would think trout fishing would not be ideal with such conditions? Think again.

Underwater Photos

2011-01-15T23:28:00.001-06:00

I just got started with Adobe Lightroom this week. Just messing around really. I've been watching some tutorials and starting to get the hang of it. These underwater photos are some of my very best that I'm sharing with you all. I'm excited that people enjoy these photos and look forward to going back to this charming little brook trout crick next summer and take more shots. Editing is also part of the fun.

With Lightroom it is easy to remove spots, this including particulate in the water for these photos. I am also able to adjust contrast, brightness, color on only certain areas of the photo. I have also played around with vignetting, reducing the brightness at the periphery compared to the image center.

Reads Creek

2010-12-04T15:44:00.002-06:00

Reads Creek is a fantastic little trout stream in Vernon County, WI. A couple of things I like about this creek. First it follows 14/61 headwaters south of Viroqua all the way to Readstown where it joins up with the Kickapoo River. Because of this access is easy from any public bridge. One can hope out and hoof it back to your vehicle on the road. I always fish going upstream and don't care to backtrack over water already fished just to get back to my vehicle. The second thing I like about this creek is that when all other creeks are flooded, this stream still fishes well, even in chocolate milk conditions as some of my pictures below show. This stream is difficult to muddy up and have yet to see this river way over the banks.

The stream is chalk full of fish. If you are looking for a trout dinner, this is a great place. Honestly some of the little guys should be thinned out. However don't believe there are not plenty of big trout in here too. Just find the deepest pools, the shaded spots (such as under the bridges), undercut banks such as in the photo below. I cast my spinner at the top of the funnel tight to the left side by that downed tree with the root wad exposed. I watched this gorgeous colored brown circle out from under cover and swipe my #9 all silver 3/8 oz Panther Martin spinner. This ~16" brown is by no means the biggest trout in the creek however one of the most beautiful I've ever caught.

Vermillion River

2010-11-27T16:46:00.003-06:00

I spent considerable time fishing the Vermillion River this season. A total of 15 outings to be exact. Only 6 out of the 15 outings did I catch trout, 40% however each time I did catch fish be it giant northern pike, bullheads, or the most common white sucker.

Most interesting I caught the two largest trout in the same pool in between a 16" and a 14" brown. Both were 20" on the nose and the second one actually had a giant humpback, looking like he came out of the Great Lakes. Buddy Jon and I call this place Monsterland for obvious reasons.

Sauger & Snow

2010-11-14T20:35:00.001-06:00

Thursday afternoon a new friend was texting me about the hot walleye and sauger bite on the Mississippi. I was going stir crazy, I wanted to get out of my desk and run for the river and catch some prized fish. Last week we had a four day stretch mid-60 degree days, Thursday marking the end. Friday before the storm would have been a better day to go however again held off taking work and decided maybe Saturday morning, weather depending.

My idea at the time was that the walleye and sauger bite would likely come to an end after a major weather change. Buddy Jon told me we could be wasting our time, thinking they would not bite once the cold front came in. Side note, Jon and his dad did well Thursday fishing on the Mississippi which was another reason I was hellbent on giving it a shot. You never know unless you try and that was exactly what I told Ben and his dad John as we were at the dam, in wet freezing conditions.

The drive there and back took an extra ten minutes. Treacherous at best, I counted close to a dozen cars spun out off the road. Rain turned into snow and the snow packed down and froze, roads really slick. I had trouble stopping at times, sliding through the intersections at a slow speed. Was I crazy? My wife Jenn thought so. Before I left she told me I was not going to catch a dam thing and that I should not be calling her for help should I slide off the road into a ditch.

As I got there the parking lot was a good 4" of slush big wet flakes were really coming down. Right away I went for my rain jacket which actually when zipping up completely tore. I kept this on to keep the rain off at least and my fly vest I wore on the outside is still (right now) soaking wet out in the garage with all of it's contents removed. I wore long johns and heavy cargo pants that I thought would be fine. Wrong. Fished 7:45 - 10:00. By the time I was done my pants and woll fingerless gloves were soaked. At one point during fishing I actually wrung out my gloves to extract water and try and stay warm. My 10:00 I had to go, I could not stay if I wanted. My fingers burned with pain for a good 20 minutes after.

Ben I met on Fishing Minnesota board, also joined my site, DTA. This was our first time meeting up. Ben came with his dad John and luckily John knew what he was doing, he had the most walleye experience out of the three of us. We greeted and John showed me what he had - Lindy rig set up with 1/2 oz weight and a hook set up about one yard with a crawler. When Jon casted straight out towards the main current his 1/2 oz weight stuck versus the largest I had were some bell shaped sinkers that even with two at a time were not heavy enough to keep my crawler in place, almost instantly drifting to the side in more shallow water.

Fishing in the heavy wet snow was slow at first but John first got a nice ~15" sauger. I grabbed my net and scooped him in. Next Jon caught a white bass, followed by a smaller sauger that he was going to throw back however I asked for the fish and he gave it to me. My only two fish were sheepheads, coincidentally closer to the pier. To me they are cool as this is the first year I started catching them. When you hold them they make a croaking sound. They also have this neat blue green abaloney crystal flash like color to them, narrow and flat looking reminiscent of a saltwater permit. Ben however tells me they are a nuisance because they are everywhere and at times impossible to avoid.

At 10:00 I had to leave. Promise to Jenn I'd be home plus like I said, I could not stay longer if I wanted to. My fingers were numb. What a superstorm. By the time I got home we had 4-5" of snow and I had to make a run up my driveway to get in the garage. The wet snow was so heavy that it cracked off a bunch of bigger limbs on our Japanese corkscrew willow tree in the back yard. I also some juniper branches were broken and severely bent over, most of which have yet to straighten out.

As I left I shook hands with Ben and his dad John with my waterlogged fingerless gloves, shivering back to my car. Ben walked with me, he was going back to their truck to warm up and tie on a Lindy rig. Ben texted me later on as they stook around for another hour or so and I guess they caught six or so total sauger. Ben said another fisherman fished briefly and got two big saugers nicer than his dad's. So the bite is still on, at least it was Saturday. Amazingly Ben also said the DNR came out in this nasty weather and checked their licenses.

I got home and filled that sauger John gave me, dipped in egg, tossed in Andy's fish and seafood batter (orange bag) and fried up. Ben and John and family ate their sauger later on Saturday. We both agree the flavor was excellent however the fish could have been more firm. Anyway in summary we were crazy to go out in the major snow storm when all news channels advised we stay indoors. I got soaked to the bone and cold. However believe it or not we did have fun and actually did catch prized sauger in the process! You never know what you will catch unless you try and sometimes it is not all about the catch, rather fishing with new friends, even if most others who don't understand fishing think we are crazy. Ben and I prefer the term diehards.

November River Fishing

2010-11-08T18:51:00.005-06:00

Buddy Jon and I fished a neat stream yesterday morning. With daylight savings time kicking in Sunday morning we made the most with extra light and met up at 6:30, half hour before sunrise at 7:00. My car registered 35 on the outside temperature gauge. Cold enough that before leaving the house I decided to suit up in the garage in advance. Water was ice cold. Cold enough where I'm thinking it's not even worth getting up early, the fish need some sunlight to get them active.

Great looking water Jon found us. He had been here several times before and had an idea as to where the fish would be. We threw worms, Jon had a nice northern swipe at it during a retrieve. Right away I switched over to a Mepps minnow with spinner and landed this northern. Jon swears his was bigger, I'm guessing it was the same one.

Jon and I moved up to a deeper pool and waded as far as we could. Jon quickly discovered a leak in his neoprene waders, right in the crotch. Ouch. We decided to retreat back to the car so Jon could get out of those wet cold waders.

All in all a nice brief morning on the water. Jon was wet and shivering and I was fighting a head and chest cold that does not seem to want to go away. One decent pike, we called it a day and retreated our separate ways home for breakfast.

I may try this spot again soon, however start mid-morning or even later in the day. By the time Jon and I were leaving it was actually getting really nice out, nice enough to want to take your fleece jacket and fingerless gloves off.

New Panther Martin Lures

2010-10-25T21:22:00.006-05:00

BIG BELLY. I like the new name for the larger ones. PM now has all silver 1.0 oz (20) and 1.2 oz (28). These days I mainly use 3/8 oz (9) and a few 1/4 oz (6), nothing smaller. Come in stainless steel only for some reason. Bet this is a premium lure for northerns and muskies too...

http://www.panthermartin.com/lures/Spinners/BigBellyStainlessSteel.aspx

* Note new sizes #20 and #28 are not on the web site yet, however just saw advertized in their most current catalog.

Also new holographic!

http://www.panthermartin.com/lures/Spinners/HolographicDeluxe.aspx

I'll give the PMHD-GOH, #9 a try for sure.

Minnesota Bound Clip on the Driftless Area of the Midwest

2010-10-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

On this episode, meet fly fisherman Duke Welter. Duke works with Trout Unlimited to rehabilitate trout streams in the Driftless area - and he plays there, too.

Actually earlier this summer I fished Gilbert Creek briefly. Here are some photos of the restored stream.

Bois Brule River Report

2010-10-17T19:24:00.003-05:00

This morning I was fortunate to have fished "The River of Presidents." Five US Presidents have stayed and fished on the Bois Brule: Grant, Hoover, Eisenhower, Cleveland and Coolidge It was home to President Coolidge's summer White House and many presidents have stayed at the Cedar Island Estate. This was my second time on the river. My first trip was nine years a go, 4th of July weekend of 2001 where we did well on the Hex hatch at dusk fishing with Chloe and her boyfriend at the time, a fella by the name of Bruce.

My friend Aaron got married last night at Barker's Island Resort in Superior, WI. Last minute I realized the Brule was only 40 minutes a way. Really fun wedding, good group of people, we enjoyed ourselves until about midnight. Matt (4 1/2) would not slow down and basically closed the dance floor down. Running on less than six hours of sleep, I checked in with the Bait Box in Superior to pick up spawn bags, spinners, and some advice. The lady that owns the place said her husband and his friend Frank have been doing well. I asked about photos and she pulled out an album and every giant fish around it seemed to be Frank and friends. This guy knows what he is doing.

I pull up at 6:40 am, just a little bit of light starting to come out. Figured somebody beat me there because I could see dust from a previous car as I was driving down the dirt road to McNeil's Landing. Guess who beat me there? Frank and a friend of his. Small world, I must have picked a good spot to fish, or at least from the advice of my friend Old Dog who lives in the area.

The river was clear, big, and deep. hiked downstream to the first corner pool. Threw my biggest spinners in the box, plus a zip lure for a good 15 minutes. No bites. Switch to spawn bags, no bites, trying to get a good drift and contemplating how much split to put on. I kept adding extra because my drift seemed too fast. Honestly I felt like I was in over my head. I panicked a bit wondering if I could even pull off landing a fish. I did not even have a big net. Along comes Frank from the other side of the pool, the side I should have been on. I did not realize where I should have crossed and by the time I got to the pool figured I'd fish it from the deeper side. Honestly there would have been no way for me to beach a biggie here even if I did hook one.

There were nice pools about every two blocks which made a giant horseshoe shape. I was amazed to run into all kinds of fishermen that seemed to have sprouted all over the place. Hiking to the next pool (if occupied) was another two blocks of stumbling in low light and the lack of sleep did not help. Still breathtaking scenery. I had my hopes up. This next pool I was getting smaller taps and each time I set the hook I came up empty handed. Spawn bags were getting gnawed on, my guess was smolt, juvenile steelhead which stay in the river for two years before moving into the Great Lakes.

Empty handed again I pressed on. I felt time running out and the sun getting higher, a little desperate to try and catch a monster. Next beautiful pool I run into a fly fisherman driving spawn bags downstream who informed me his very first cast he caught a 5 lb steelhead. Lucky duck. The guy seemed graceful and made fishing look effortless. I pressed onward further downstream and into the woods. Next beautiful pool, this one looked the best so far was occupied by Frank. I decided to cross the stream and talk to Frank. Frank mentioned his buddy had a biggie on that got of by completely bending one of his treble hooks on his spinner. A very big fish. Frank had yet to land one. I asked Frank if I could fish the lower end of the pool and he said that was fine. Frank methodically fished the hole, mainly with flatfish lures which he has grown fond of. I'll have to pick some of these up next time. Frank took off and wished me luck.

I finally decided to mix it up and switch to crawler, no bites on spawn sack drifting for about ten minutes. Right away I feel taps. I set the hook and was hoping for a bigger. So small I could barely feel the fish. Turned out to be a smolt. Nice looking at least. Next another crawler and all of a sudden my rod bent over, I had a strong fish, let him run to three, set the hook, and pop, out goes the hook. Darn it! Maybe I set the hook a touch late is all I could come up with. I re-tied and out with a fat 3" sausage sized crawler. Five minutes into it a fish has my worm. This time I let him run with it just a bit longer, reeled up slack, felt the fish strong hook set and snap, this time the line breaks. Perhaps the fish dropped the bait and then when I set the hook I snagged on the bottom, I'm not sure. My line should not have broken. Either a poor knot, or a fray I did not notice. All I know is I had two chances and I blew it.

Either way I gave it my best, made the most of my time, and started the learning curve of steelhead and salmon fishing. I picked up plenty of tips from Frank. I was always intimidated by steelhead fishing because I thought "duck and chuck" style fly fishing was required, something I have little skill in. Your knowledge of stream trout fishing can be directly applied here. Just remember though, these are big fish for serious fishermen. Frank says he uses 15 lb Power Pro braided. I used 10 lb today. The fly fisherman said he used 8 lb. Most, including the fly fisherman who by the way caught another steelead on my way out, drift across and downstream, or directly downstream from the top of the pool. This differs from what one would normally do on a trout stream, always wanting to be behind the fish, casting above the the fish and drifting your lure or bait over them. With such fast current, drifting downstream into the pool makes more sense.

Anyway, much more to learn. I'm excited about the opportunity and hope to chase lake run fish more this fall if possible, only problem being a three hour drive. I was amazed at how many people fish this stretch. The trails were wide and packed on both sides of the river. Any pool really worth fishing was obvious. Grass banks were packed down, footprints galore. A different experience for me. Normally I seek solitude also knowing trout are skittish, I don't want to fish somebody's sloppy seconds. Here though one must share. There are a lots of fishermen here and for good reason. Clearly this is big ice cold water where mammoth sized lake run browns, coho salmon, and steelhead come here to spawn, assuming the right conditions present themselves and you play your cards right.

New Gear & Planning Ahead

2010-10-14T19:29:00.001-05:00

Canvas. My first pair had rubber sole. The rubber in the bottom of the sole was hollow and the minute it got pierced the boot filled up with rocks. Paid like $50 at Gander Mountain. I filled with sealers and made the boots last about 1 1/2 seasons.

Now my second pair I decided to try felt and even the felt I had to keep gluing down over the season with gorilla glue and super glue. Canvas drys out fast and feels nice. However it does not last.

Last outing of the season, # 59.

New pair is Magellan. Seriously I just googled the cheapest pair in size 11 I could find. The way my other pair lasted for $50, why bother spending big bucks? That is my thought anyway. These look sturdy enough. Felt has proven exceptional for the season. I even did not have much problem with the mud. They may not be ideal for snow conditions however I don't plan on fishing the pre-season much anymore.

Nice to go from old to new! Also for shore fishing I picked up this Weston telescopic freestyle bank rod holder for $20. It appears to be able to adjust to any angle and height you want. Fishing ares of the Cannon (especially in higher water conditions) it was hard to keep my rod and reel away from water and sand.

Also I got a new Shimano Syncopate 2500 for $25 at Walmart. Funny my old low end Shimano Side Stab outlasted my newer Shimano Sahara. My reel was tough as nails to turn even after re-greasing and did not want to mess with it. This new Syncopate is light and day difference from my old.

Bois Brule ahead!

This will be my second time on this infamous river. My first trip was with Jenn back in 4th of July 2001. We did a canoe trip in the evening and caught some tubby bass shaped browns during the Hex hatch. We also caught some baby steelhead with spinners during the day when we did another float. I look forward to fishing below HWY 2 for whatever bites. I am told thus far the bite has been slow recently. Two weeks a go the bite was really good. I hear now the best time to focus on fish is early am. Legally you can only fish 30 minutes before sunrise so I'll be fishing starting around 7am. I am told the Brule in the fall is a one fish a day kind of stream, if you are lucky and play your cards right. However that one fish will likely be large. I'm going to use spawn sack, crawlers, stick baits, and big spinners and follow my knowledge from trout streams and see how it applies to larger salmanoids. Wish me luck! If you have any insight on current conditions, favorite lures or tactics, I am all ears! Steelhead, coho, lake run browns, even brookies could be caught.

This is me back in July 2001. Look at how excited I was catching what looks like a chunky (and stiff as a board) 15"+ brown. We got off the water and back to the cabin I believe around 1:30 am when the photo was taken.

Official Bois Brule River Regulations

BRULE RIVER—Downstream from USH 2—Category 5

Fishing hours: Fishing prohibited from 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise from March 28 to May 2 and from October 1 to November 15, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. May 2

Open Season: March 28 to November 15

Daily Bag Limit: 5 trout and salmon in total, only 2 of which may be brown trout over 15" and only 1 of which may be a rainbow trout.

Size Limit: brook trout 8", brown trout 10", salmon 12", & rainbow trout 26"

The Big Four

2010-10-10T21:53:00.001-05:00

Last summer I landed seven trout 20" or larger, including a 22" female brown, my personal best. I figured last summer would be hard to beat and I was right. This summer for browns my best was 4 x 20." Here are the Big Four for 2010.

Fish #1

March Pre-Season WI Trout Opener weekend, Sunday morning. This 20" male brown hit on a #9 silver Panther Martin at 7:30 am. It was freezing rain outside, however better than early Saturday morning which was incredibly cold with our braided line and islets icing up. What a big fat German tank. This guy is easily six pounds. He fought hard. Interesting I noticed I hooked him on the outside cheek early on so I loosened up my drag and did not muscle him as much as I normally would with a good hook set. After I got him in the net my spinner fell off...

Fish #2

Tuesday May 4. I started at the lower end of the pool with thick nightcrawler, a stout #4 hook, and a heavy split. Within ten minutes I was casting at the top of the pool, getting nice long drifts. Halfway down the drift I could feel taps and tension on the line. I count to three letting the fish take line, slowly pull up the slack and do a strong hook set. Oh my goodness, this fish is strong and peeling line off like crazy. It is still dark out and I barely can see what I am doing. My heart races. This is a big fish whatever it is. All of a sudden, a big jump out of the water. A huge brown! This fish is darting left and right, peeling off drag at will. Did I have a chance in landing this monster? I keep walking backwards getting the fish into wider water away from obstructions and further downstream from the pool. The fish jumps again! Several more spins around the pool this 20" monster comes to the net.

Fish # 3

Same morning, Tuesday May 4. Can you believe I got two 20" browns back to back, same pool, less than 20 minute apart? I call this place "Monsterland" for obvious reasons. The trout are really biting. Back into the drink with another sausage crawler. Right away I felt a big pull and opened the bail, let it sift out to the count of three. WHAM! My rod bent in half! I had a biggie on my hands again. This one was a tub. A couple of spins around the pool the fish made the mistake of grounding himself in shallow water. I ended up just dragging him into my net before he knew what hit him. I think he was stunned. Another big old trout! Yee haw!! Holy cow is this morning is surreal. Look at the hump on this guy's head? Woah what a tub. Look at the humpback this guy has!

Fish # 4

Wednesday August 4. This fish most impressive because it was caught out of the Cannon River. The 20" brown made my drag with 10 lb braided line scream. He took off upstream on the main Cannon, then downstream. He almost wrapped around a giant log out front. Absolutely amazing fight and I'm glad I brought my giant Frabil net that I use to land big northerns. I had a hunch this was a spot for a bruiser.

Actually all four of these 20" browns were caught in non-designated. In Wisconsin dang near every crick on the map is color coated. In Minnesota, we have only a hundred or so designated trout streams, the rest is left up to you to figure out. I like Minnesota better because it pays to explore. Three out of the four 20" fish above were caught in Minnesota.

Season Finale

2010-09-29T22:56:00.005-05:00

The season swept by so fast, I was having so much fun. Hard to believe this will be the final trout outing for me already. I drove an hour to a special brook trout stream in western Wisconsin. This was the same brook trout stream where I had success with underwater photos. Well the days running shorter, the sun was already coming down behind the trees to the west when I started out at 4:30. Also another bluebird sky with a few small puffs of white. Clearly the area had a major flood, as all the grass was packed down, even up over the banks. The water was clear and cold however enough particulate that I do not claim any of the underwater photos to be award winning this time.

Trout did not have interest in spinners however they would easily take a worm. This time all of the brookies were under 12." I kept three total - 11-10-9 inches. The 11" fish had bright pink meat. The 10" fish had light orange meat, and the 9" brook had white meat! Such a difference in diet based on size I guess. The pink tasted the best followed by the orange, followed by the white. All however were quite good dipped in egg, battered, and fried in canola oil.

2010 Trout Fishing Statistics

Here is a tally of trout fishing statistics for 2010. 59 total outings January 1 - September 30. My favorite was catching 2 x 20" fish on the Vermillion River (non-designated section) out of the same pool within 30 minutes of each other. My second favorite was catching a 20" monster Cannon river brown at the mouth of a trout stream with a worm. Other highlights included fishing with many good friends expecially including Matt, Jon, Len, Tony, and Nate.

Sparta, Wisconsin

2010-09-26T17:48:00.001-05:00

This weekend we stayed in Sparta, Wisconsin. We had heard of the Cranberry Festival and the bog tours and the museum were our main interest. The area has lots of sand and water sources (many of which are spring fed). We took a 30 minute tour bus to the bog and learned about cranberries and how they are farmed. It would have also been cool to see actual harvest when the bogs are flooded however that is three weeks away. Wisconsin is the top cranberry producing state.

On Saturday the wind died down and it got a little warmer. We did a 16 mile bike tour on the Sparta - Elroy Bike Trail. We got a special tandem bike for Matt to ride. I rode with Matt on the way up and Jenn with him on the way down. We made it to the first tunnel which is a little under one mile long! I had my flashlight headset but the battery was low and we could not see much after 300 feet into the tunnel. Matt said he enjoyed the bikes quite a bit.

Perhaps Matt's favorite was swimming in the Best Western hotel pool. There was a kid pool with a slide plus a bigger slide on the main pool he was able to use when one of us was with him. Matt seems to do quite well in the pool with a little help from his water wings.

I was able to fish for a couple of hours Saturday and Sunday morning. The Sparta area itself got a ton of rain and local streams were not fishable. However 45 minutes away the Viroqua area fished well. I had tremendous success on Read's Creek by the Read's Creek Nursery. I swear I had a bite or a fish almost every single cast and well over 50 trout landed Saturday morning. Today I tried the pasture section of Camp Creek in Viola. There was frost on the ground and mid-30's when I got there at 6:30. Fishing was slow, however incredibly scenic.

Fishing in the Rain

2010-09-22T21:30:00.002-05:00

Today I was watching the weather like a hawk. I was hell bent on fishing before this major front came that predicts 1-2" of rain after tonight. I figured this might be my last time to fish Minnesota before the season closes next Thursday, September 30.

I tried a new river. A warm river, it reminded me of a north shore freestone stream. I even stumbled upon a snapping turtle resting on the side of the river that startled me. It sure felt like fall today. The wind was quite gusty and along with the rain I really had to sinch up my rain gear to the top around my head to stay warm. The wind howling downstream which made for tough upstream casts. The fall leaves although pretty were rather obnoxious with the rain battering them into the river rand the whitewater churning. Every other cast I would snag a leaf or some weeds. The whitewater was in fact so fast that the one brown I did hook I was lucky to have landed. The current was incredibly strong and sent the fish sailing downstream. Just maintaining the fish in the fast current was tremendous pressure.

The brown hit a Rapala X-rap with orange belly. Orange seems to be a great color for brown trout, at least with stick baits. I also tried #9 Panther Martin spinners and large white tailed twisters with a hot pink that I had one decent follow on. Good to be out trying a new spot. I think this place has a lot of potential and happy to land the one chunky medium sized brown in non-designated water.

Underwater photos

2010-09-17T19:34:00.001-05:00

I've received lots of compliments on my recent underwater brookie photos, thank you. Perhaps I will write a story and submit them to some magazines, see what happens. More likely a winter project.

Give the audience what they want. Here are all of my underwater photos. Early on with my Panasonic Luminx TSR1 shockproof and waterproof camera I tried underwater.

My first experience with underwater photos was December 09. We went on a brief snorkeling trip. The wind and waver fairly strong. The reef was not super clear however some photos turned out OK. We stayed in Negril at Beaches on seven mile beach.

My next experience with the camera underwater was on the Rush River and other local favorites fishing brown, one of which was non-designated. Note the non-designated was murky but again some photos turned out nice enough worth sharing.

Then most of the summer went by and I forgot about taking photos. Last Monday I took the day off and fished with my buddy Matt. We fished a cold clean brook trout stream. Nice sized brookies and aqua blue water I thought underwater shots worth a try.

When taking underwater shots I'm right handed so I hold the fish in my left hand or use my left hand to hold the line a foot or two above onto the fish. I let the water clear and wait for the fish to settle down, then I click away! I do not have my head underwater or anything so I cannot see the preview screen. The beauty with digital is delete the photos that don't turn out.

Above & Below

2010-09-14T19:28:00.002-05:00

I took the day off from work yesterday and fished with my buddy Matt. We started out searching for browns and fished the Rush River from Martell to Highway 29.

View Larger Map

The section upstream up to the pasture section is normally good to us. This time I was only able to fish two average sized browns with spinners. Matt did not get any bites. We really did not see a lot of browns and the ones chasing our spinners were below average in size. Closer to 29 after the pasture section there is some old habitat improvement. Big boulders on both sides of the river and inside offering protection. It looked trouty, but no dice. We chalked this one up as a wash.

Considering it was 10 am, bluebird skies and the window for catching browns on spinners closing, we shifted gears and hit up a local brook trout stream. Light and day difference. We had a fish on, or at least a bite, every single cast with worms. Nicer brookies caught in the fastest deepest water.

Photos from Above

The colors on these brookies were so vibrant. Like browns, brookies also spawn in the fall and they are putting on their best colors getting ready to attract a mate. The water was aqua blue at times, it was almost tropical.

Photos from Below

Brook trout fishing was exceptional for the remainder of the day. Best brookie was 12" and several dozen in the 9-11" range, life is good!

Rush River with Matt

2010-09-05T12:01:00.005-05:00

New buddy Matt and I fished the Rush River today. We left his car down at the dead end of Fisherman's Road in El Paso.

View Larger Map

Interesting there is a nice handicap access site here -- three concrete platforms to fish off of. Then we took my car and drove to 570th. The trek took us a little over three hours. We fished 6:30 - 9:45. Total distance by river is roughly 1.5 miles from point A to point B.

Fishing was good. Interesting almost as many brook trout caught as browns. Many more follows or light nips than actually hookups. I briefly had on what would have been the largest fish of the trip. A brown 17" or larger who again just did not smash it. The Rush was ice cold, colder than I had remembered it in previous years. Also there was evidence of major flooding. Entire trees toppled over, the river widened in many spots. It reminded me of what Whitewater looked like after the 2007 flood. The river was scoured out for sure. I did not find any silt and only minimal sand. Incredibly rocky.

Matt kept a couple of fish. I did not keep any, and Matt was amazed. I think he wondered if I was feeling OK. I have plenty of trout at home now. In fact, I even smoked another batch this afternoon ;-)

BTW, we used our new Food Saver vacuum sealer for the first time and it worked quite well. I seal and freeze and then eat a package at a time or give out to family, friends, and landowners.

Fall in the Air

2010-09-03T20:26:00.007-05:00

This morning was freezing. Thankfully each night before I go fishing I have a check list that I go through to make sure I don't forget anything. Although rain was not in sight I'm glad I brought my rain coat. Otherwise I would not have lasted long! It was in the low 50s this morning and the wind was howling at least 25mph. My rain coat even has a hood and I pulled that tight over my head. Slinging worms under a bridge on the Vermillion I only caught suckers. My success rate for landing trout on the Vermillion is now down to 4/12 outings. What a tough river. I'm ready to throw in the towel on this river for the season. For those of you who can consistently catch trout on this marginal trout water I commend you.

Next I headed over to yet another difficult water, the Cannon River. This is even non-designated. I figured it was my next logical place at a chance at landing a big trout. If not a big trout, there are plenty of other giant fish in the river like northern, carp, sucker, sheephead. Only a few small bites stripping my worm off the hook. Apparently I was not setting the hook fast enough or these fish were really small.

A three hour morning I did not want to be trout-less. So I parked at the first bridge up from the mouth and fished a small pool below. One beautiful little brook trout after the next.

This brookie was the best one of the bunch. Likely only ~10" still beautiful. Just glad not to be trout-less. I've decided I'm giving up on hog hunting for the rest of the season and will focus on quality trout water fishing for average to above average sized trout. This Sunday morning I look forward to fishing with my new buddy Matt. I think we will hit up the Eau Galle or the Rush, two blue ribbon western Wisconsin rivers loaded with decent browns a few nice brookies.

Spring Hollow Cabin

2010-08-30T18:55:00.004-05:00

Jenn, Matt, and I just got back from a four day weekend. We stayed at Spring Hollow Cabin for the second time. After we dropped the mutt's off we made our way down taking river road driving through Red Wing, Lake City, Wabasha, and Winona for lunch. On our way we stopped briefly at Pepin Height's Orchard which did not have much for sale. A touch too early. We did get some good Zestar apples and apple juice at Southwind Orchards only a mile from the cabin after check in.

After the apple orchards we checked out Pickwick Mill, also close by. Honestly it was the most impressive mill we have ever been too. Even cooler than Scheck's Mill in Houston County. Pickwick has a active water wheel, four levels to explore, all kinds of neat history.

After the mill we cruised over to Garvin Heights Vineyard up on the hill overlooking Winona. This was our second time here. Last time we met Marv, this time we met Linda. All wonderful wines. Unfortunately my favorite edelweiss was sold out.

Above are also photos for a river boat eco-tour out of La Crosse on the Mississippi Explorer. We explored several backwater areas and saw eagles, turtles, herons, beaver dams. We learned a bit about the history of the river and even got to check out macro invertebrates from a water sample.

Saturday night for dinner we met up with La Crosse friends Dan, Kim, and their seven month old baby boy named Lucas at The Train Station. Very good BBQ. Matt said Lucas was funny. Also hilarious I'm telling a story about a guy wearing jean shorts with a fanny pack on the eco-tour. He and friends from the Czech Republic asked the tour guide if turtles swim. Just as I'm telling the story these guys walk in and sit down at the table next to us for dinner.

On Sunday morning we headed over to Lanesboro and rented a canoe from Little River Store and floated from Whalen to almost Peterson. A real nice stretch, even more rapids than I imagined. Normally we do Lanesboro to Whalen however the outfitters move the canoers further down because the tubers took over.

We saw tons of eagles up close as well as a fawn drinking water at the edge of the river. I caught some smallmouth bass and my first mooneye, both on a spinner just trolling behind the canoe. I jigged some worms at the slow deep corner pools for walleye or sauger with no luck. However 10am - 1am not the best time for a walleye bite. It was hot and humid out.

Back at the cabin in the evenings we sat in the hot tub and had a bonfire one night. Later when the bugs came out we watched movies inside.

Did I do some trout fishing? Well of course! Each morning I fished a few hours on a local river and did quite well. Best fish was just shy of 16." Roughly a dozen caught each morning, maybe less on Saturday since I had to get back earlier for the 10am canoe trip. Trout were even caught live hoppers hooked behind the collarbone, drowned with a small split shot.

All in all, a relaxing weekend. I highly recommend staying at Spring Hollow cabin. Beautiful place, close to so many fun things to do, however also remote at the same time. I did not see another fisherman in the entire valley the past three mornings. Only a heard of curious dairy cows to contend with!

Personal Best Brookie for Matt

2010-08-22T13:00:00.002-05:00

Fished with my new buddy Matt from Baldwin today for the second time. Matt is 34 and tells me he has been troutin' ever since he could stand. Matt has caught many brookies in the 13-14" mark however made a new personal best with an even 15" fish. Fat old tub, Matt was certain this was a nice brown trout when he was fighting it. Way too strong to be a brookie. When we finally got to see the fish up close I grabbed Matt's big net and Matt yelled "Get him! Get that fish! Get him in the net!" Adrenaline was pumping. Such a monster brook trout. This one by many trout fisherman's standards would be one for the wall. Rarely do brook trout break the 12" mark let along the 14" mark. But this one was 15" on the nut with Matt's tape measure.

You could tell the river had a major flood recently. All the grass even well up and over the bank was mashed down making for easier hiking and fishing. The water level was about normal however a touch off color. That was likely to our advantage as most of the food in the river likely washed out making these brook trout very hungry, at least for our worms and spinners. Congratulations on a new personal best Matt!

Mixed Bag on the Cannon River

2010-08-20T19:01:00.002-05:00

Back to our sweet spot on the Cannon River. Caught tons of 18-22" giant white suckers, the most common fish. Buddy Jon and I met out there and fished 5:00 - 8:30, beers in our coolers. The Cannon still up about 1' above average leaving our sand bar 4" underwater. When I got there I found some bigger rocks to put in the bottom of my cooler to keep it from floating away! I had a fold up chair that however worked just fine. Kicked myself for forgetting my waders! Jon had his hip boots and fished a little upstream of the mouth with one solid hit.

Second most common fish was sheephead. Jon calls them shit heads because that is what they smell like. Unique and blue like however smell their head, they smell like a fresh turd. I caught two sheephead. Jon also caught a white bass, very unique looking. It looked and felt like a crappie. I guess they taste really good if you fillet and slice off adipose tissue. Probably would smoke well.

Around 7pm my pole resting on my chair and over my cooler jumped off and out and about a yard into the river. Jon and I were frantically trying to find the pole on the bottom and after what felt like 30 seconds, Jon came up with the pole, set the hook and handed to me. The fight was on! Whatever it was it felt strong and fought like hell. It felt like a giant trout for all I knew. Only until closer did we discover it was a massive carp! Ended up being at least 7 lbs. Really fun fight, took out a ton of drag, got my adreneline going.

Jon is smoking the suckers. He is responding to strikes 2:1 over me and hooking more. Next Jon hooks onto something big and slow! A giant snapper! We actually never saw the beast. Jon was horsing him in for a good 2-3 minutes and then the hook popped out. Dang it Jon, I wanted a photo of the beast! One and only snapper hooked to date this summer and it was on my extra rod. Jon grabbed it first as he noticed it take off. That sounds like a good rule I guess. I bring two rods because in this river snags are common and when I am re-tying this rod I throw the other one out there.

Jon and I went through 3 x 20 count fat juicy DMF night crawlers. Thus far the giant carp, suckers and striped bass where unique. Closer to dusk I decided to give a #9 silver Panther Martin a try at the mouth. About my fourth cast in I caught a small walleye, likely in the 10-11" range. One blurry photo later he slipped out of my hands and back into the Cannon River. No worries, he was not big enough for a meal.

No trout tonight but the fish were plentiful! Giant suckers, sheephead, white bass, one giant carp, and a walleye. All in all at least several dozen fish between the two of us. Jon is the sucker king!

Even More Cannon River Browns

2010-08-11T21:50:00.002-05:00

A field of black eyed Susans.

Then I caught a nice 15" brown right off the bat.

Rough fish were biting. Caught my first freshwater drum tonight too along with some decent suckers.

Had some strong hits tonight. One broke my line, likely a pike. The other two felt like enormous browns. Both I did not hook well. Some would just smash it and you needed to set right away. Others were just lightly mouthing it and running with it and easily spit the hook upon pressure.

I am convinced this 20" male is not the only big trout here.

More Cannon River Browns

2010-08-08T13:06:00.001-05:00

I went back to my new found honey hole. Recall I got a 20" brown here last Thursday. Main Cannon River, at the mouth of a trout stream.

Today I fished from 5:30 - 7:30. I caught a pair of good looking 15" brown trout. One was at the mouth, the second was at one of the first pools upstream from the mouth.

Early in the morning I saw many trout sipping bugs off the top of the water in the main channel which has a fast current. I tried spinners with no luck and then I tried worm. Bring my fly rod next time. I did however pick up some giant suckers that were also fun to catch. Pound per pound they are not as strong of a fighter as trout however they are chunky and put up a decent fight.

A nice couple of hours on the water. No need to suit up. I even brough my fold up camping chair to sit on the beach. A relaxing outing versus bushwacking in hot and muggy conditions. A light breeze off the main river and minimal hiking kept me cool.

Cannon River Brown

2010-08-06T23:04:00.006-05:00

Best evening in a long time. I took so many photos. This slideshow is only of the best catch of the evening, a 20" brown trout in the Cannon River.

Fishing was exceptional from from 4:30 - 6:00 pm and a perfect evening to be out. Low humidity, bluebird skies, I could not ask for better weather. The 20" brown made my drag with 10 lb braided line scream. He took off upstream on the main Cannon, then downstream. He almost wrapped around a giant log out front. Absolutely amazing fight and I'm glad I brought my giant Frabil net that I use to land big northerns. I had a hunch this was a spot for a bruiser.

Keeper shots below. I kept four trout and gave a 16" trout to a French cook named Alan that was also fishing on shore. I set him up with an extra fishing pole (he only had a cane pole borrowed from a friend), and we helped each other out netting fish and taking photos.

Later I met up with my buddy Jon and had a 24" brown chase my worm to my toes as I reeled it in. Likely the same fish Jon caught last Thursday. So we know he is still at the same pool, bound to catch him again one day.

Perfect evening all around. I feel energized!

Vermillion River Monster

2010-07-30T17:44:00.000-05:00

Buddy Jon called me up last night asking me to join him on the Vermillion. I was unable to join however wished him luck. I asked Jon to call or text me if he caught a monster.

8:44 last night I received a text: "Got one."

Right away I called Jon, wanting to know all the details. One cast with a big fat crawler, he hit almost immediately. Ended up being a 24" kyped jaw male who fought like mad.

Congratulations Jon!

The Farmer's Inn, Part II

2010-07-27T21:32:00.000-05:00

This blog is all about the fishing. Southwestern Wisconsin received 5" of rain last week. In short, somewhat disappointing however plenty of fish were caught. Fishing was limited to smaller streams, and hence not as many big fish as I would have liked. Yet a couple in the 15-16" and the 16" fish takes the cake. Tremendous colors. Continue reading.

Crow Creek

Thursday on the way down it was raining hard. Many streams were flooded. I met up with good friend Len Harris (http://lenharris.blogspot.com) Friday morning who knew Crow Creek would be clear, regardless of the amount of rain. And he was right. A small stream however there were plenty of bigger pools with nice sized browns. We fished for only a few hours and the entire time there was a light drizzle. Not exactly ideal for taking pictures. Many did not turn out as the lens kept getting wet or fogged up. Here are a few of the best photos.

Reads Creek

This creek is so close to the Farmer's Inn where I was staying, it was hard to pass up. Last year I tried it briefly and it did not fish well. Gary told me the fish really took a beating during the 2007 flood. Well, the creek has since recovered. It turns out this creek has tons of nice sized limestone rocks the size of bocce balls, and almost no silt. It almost felt like a freestone stream, yet cold, even cold enough for a handful of brookies to be caught. The creek has big rock floors in some sections with it's own natural plunge pools. I also ran across several areas that had habitat improvement including lunker structures. I fished Friday morning and caught a 15" under the bridge at Green Acres. That was the best fish of the trip thus far.

Saturday morning was frustrating. I could not find clean water. I even passed up Reads because it too was chocolate milk and running high. Well after a nap Saturday afternoon I snuck off to check out the bridge at JJ, see if conditions were improving. The flow had receded, howevever the river still fairly dirty yet looked fishable with spinners. I fished JJ to Green Acres. Tons of 8-11" fish however very few keepers. Yet I was having fun, a fish dang near every other cast. Find a deeper pool, and there were the bigger fish.

A Beautiful Trout

Best fish of the weekend a fat colorful 16" male brown. Come to think of it, likely the most beautiful trout I have ever caught. Not the largest I've ever caught, however incredible coloration. I casted at the top of the pool and let my 3/8 oz silver spinner sink down and ride tight next to the downed root wad. Half way through my retrieve I saw a giant flash of orange and red come out from underneath the cover and whack my spinner. Violent head shakes, and the fish trying to dart back for cover. I had my drag set just right and was able to keep him from getting back underneath the root wad. The trout spun around in circles towards the end of the pool and I was very careful at this point not to horse him in. Magnificent fish. Just look at the colors! By far my most favorite fish of the weekend.

Camp Creek

Sunday morning I met up with retired fisheries biologist and friend Roger Kerr for breakfast at Readstown. Initially we planned to fish however talked on Saturday morning and thought nothing would be fishable. Well after breakfast Roger wanted to show me some streams, one of which was a habitat improvement area on Camp Creek. Wide open pasture section, zero grass to hike through. It was like a perfect golf course. I did not even put on my waders or even grab my fishing vest. I just slipped on my sandals, grabbed my rod and fished the first lunker structure not 30' downstream of the bridge. Two casts in I had my first 12" trout. Whack on the head with Roger's pliers, one down, two to go. I watched Roger fish with worms and a split and he was getting a bite every single drift and asked Roger for worms after he caught several 12" fish. It did not take long before I had two more 12-13" fish for the frying pan.

It took us only ten minutes for us to catch our three. I gave my fish to Roger and thanked him for showing me Camp Creek. Funny there was five cars at the bridge but it made no difference. Dinner in no time.

The Farmer's Inn, Part I

2010-07-26T18:32:00.001-05:00

This part of my blog is about family time. We spent four days at The Farmer's Inn, in Viroqua, WI. Jean and Gary built an Amish style cabin on their dairy farm. My brother-in-law Adam, his wife Beth, and their daughter Hailey also joined us.

On the way down we took River Road and visited Maiden Rock Vineyard right by Pine Creek. Then we stopped at Danzinger Vineyard in historic Alma. The photo of us was taken by Matt at Maiden Rock. Good apple cider bears. Friday we visited Bob at Vernon Vineyard. We also saw three chimney rock, a weird outcropping of rocks in the middle of the field that Bob named one of his wines after.

Everyone had a great time on the farm watching the cows get milked. Gary even let me milk one myself for the first time. Lots of farm kittens to play with and chicken eggs for the kids to collect too. Jean and Gary have a bunch of grandchildren that also played with Matt and Hailey.

Plenty of Amish driving by in their buggies. Old world Amish too. They cannot have their picture taken as noted in the buggy at the farmer's market on Saturday (they hid behind). Most walk barefoot. Lots of quality stuff for sale. Talked to Jay Ford Thurston, a local trout bum and writer and told him I enjoyed his recent book. We talked about what was fishable. Gary said his rain gage showed over 5" of rain last week.

Lots of fun on the farm for everyone including running in the sprinkler, campfires, drinks, and good conversation.

Eat More Brook Trout

2010-07-21T18:49:00.000-05:00

Buddy Tony who grew up in Spooner fly fishing the White joined me last night. First time fishing with him and it was a success. On the way out we picked up some New Glarus beer to throw in the cooler. Probably four deep before we hit the first pool. It was hot and sunny and bluebird skies. Tony looked and said no need to hurry getting to the water because he did not expect the fishing to be good.

Well fishing was good, and good right from the start. Parked on a sandy bank on the right hand side. I gave Tony the top of the pool and fished behind him towards the back half. I assume the largest and most dominant trout would be at the top of the pool, ready to pounce on the next juicy crawler drifted in front of them.

Wham! Tony yelled "Get the net" and I scooted up in sand looking to scoop. Tony said the hit was just incredibly solid, he knew he had something special. On the third try in for a landing I net the fish. Perfectly lightly hooked with a skinny #10 J hook.

Fishing was actually the very best we got there. We literally fished right off a landowner's back yard, grass cut nice and short. No heavy hiking required. The waders were warm, especially Tony's neoprene. However protected. We sprayed down with deet. Two trout fishermen I'm friends with have contracted Lyme's disease from ticks this summer. The wild parsnip was also in full bloom. I learned Tony sunburns easily, hopefully he does not get all the dark spots that show up on my arms when the yellow flower flies off and lands on your sweaty skin.

Next I hit into a nice 12." We each caught a half dozen nice brookies from 5-6pm in the first pool right off landowner's lawn. Tony was blown away, especially considering he spent 7+ months living in Amsterdam for a computer job. Last summer he worked so much he only got out once or twice I think.

Beers were cold, fish were biting. Conversation was lively. Great night to be out. Fished until a little past 8pm, then headed back.

On our way back I stopped to talk to the landowner and gave her some of my last batch of cherry wood smoked trout. She says I do it the right way by calling each time and said you would be amazed at at how many people help themselves or if they did ask permission they were not allowed back on again because they left trash behind. One group even started a campfire on their land, having a good old time if you can imagine that. Anyway, I forgot to mention I gave smoked trout to the neighbors as well when we got there. I hope everyone likes my smoked trout because I want to keep coming back, a small token for being granted to ice cold and deep brook trout water not fished by apparently anyone but me. The owners themselves always seem to be too busy to fish often. Appears several families have seen their kids graduate so that is a busy time for sure.

In short we kept three. They were nice brookies and we wanted to eat. Tony was so excited that when I went to talk to the landowner he called his brother Josh to go to the grocery store and get all the fixings. I guess they were both excited for a fresh brook trout dinner. Believe they seasoned, stuffed the cavity with rosemary, wrapped in fresh deli bacon and broiled five minutes each side. At the end added lemon. I couldn't stick around but heard Josh and Tony thought the brookies were incredible. Bright orange flesh. Eat more brook trout.

Tour of Dunn County

2010-07-19T22:25:00.000-05:00

This morning I identified a Dunn county landowner on Wilson Creek who owns land upstream of the town of Knapp. I called and left a voice mail asking permission to access his land. I gave my vehicle description, phone number, told him when I'd be out there and to call me with any questions or concerns. He never called. I show up and see the guy drive past me and pull into his driveway.

Walking up I asked the landowner permission. Right away, he said "Hell no!"
May I ask why? I replied?
Because you have Minnesota plates. I pay taxes, you don't.
OK, I can find somewhere else to fish. How has the fishin' been?
I wouldn't know, I don't crick fish the landowner said.
Ya know, you are the first person to shoot me down, I replied.
Well, the whole valley is like that. Ain't nobody in this valley going to let an out of state fish.

I was on my way. I found the crick to be smaller than expected. I went all the way down to 12 where the two forks join up. It was rather high and muddy this far down but gave it a try for a 1/4 mile and hoofed it back to the car. At least it was a nice easy pasture section being hot out still.

Next on my way to Cady Creek I slowed down and took a look at Gilbert off of 29 and a nice looking plunge pool caught my eye. Recent HI work. These little guys easy to catch and so brightly colored. One had a bright red belly. Oak savannah just the way it was before white man came here. Nice easy walking and easy casts. Lots of fake root wads put in everywhere.

Next I putted over to Cady at the HI pool. Nice and deep. A few takers, including a sculpin. Closer to sunset I went further downstream to Co P. Nice deep pools here and eager brook trout. Notice all lip hooked. I use Octopus circle hooks, #6.
The bigger ones started biting as it got darker. Best for last. Hit a worm at 9:10. Hooked a little deep this is the one and only fish I kept.

Rainbow Delight

2010-07-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

First things first, dropped off three smoked trout to landowner to thank them for allowing me access. Wife Lynn greatly appreciated the gesture and I'm sure husband will be happy too.

Water perfect condition. Fished 5:30 - 7:30. Caught and kept three rainbow trout. The biggest one had a fresh scar down to the bone. Assume bird. Maybe a snapping turtle, ran into a big snapper before I left. Photo did not turn out though. All rainbow caught on #9 Panther Martin 3/8 oz all silver (blue, red markings on silver blade). Caught a ton of chubs too on the spinner which is unusual. All the fish aggressive. Leeches and worms only caught chubs, not trout. Zero brown trout caught or sighted, however after I had three felt like calling it a night.

Felt like I was in the army. Hard to find your foot step in tall grass. I got a good workout in the brief two hour trip. Although dew point dropped it still felt sticky. Glasses were fogging up often.

Devil Track Resort

2010-07-05T21:05:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th of July weekend. I highly recommend Devil Track Resort north of Grand Marais off Gunflint Trail. Chris and Emily have a great place and treat you well. Please do have the prime rib, it is hard to beat. Boat rental is reasonable, the bar is nice (they even have Trout Slayer on tap). Family friendly, you cannot go wrong. Plus plenty to do in the area other than fishing.

Friday
Three doors. Wife dead bolts and chains two. On third she could not figure out how to lock with deadbolt key so she locks door lock from inside, the one key we don't have. Just rented boat at 8pm, pissed this is gonna stall further, owners busy cooking and serving at the restaurant. Jenn noticed screens installed from the outside,
windows not locked.

Jenn saves the day. Right out front of the lodge to the right (first point). We catch three walleyes! First one ~14 and others ~11. Fry tomorrow. Head in 9:15. Sun down, bugs out. Three walleye in one hour productive. My majority of time spent helping Matt and Jenn. I got one. Jenn two. Second one Jenn reels in and is complaining it is "hard to reel in.". I said "Yeah, especially when you have a walleye one. She reeled it in to the tip and flipped the 11" into the boat. Awesome prime rib dinner.

Saturday
Got up at 5 and fished two lakes and two creeks. Brookie fishin' not anything compared to last year. Water incredibly warm. Caught four rainbows, one brookie, and a ton of chubs. Chubs were not there last year, brookies were. Trying another lake and creek tomorrow am. Fished Devil Track Lake for three hours. I got four giant smallies and one 12" walleye. Let Matt reel in two of the smallies after hooked. Rocky points. Orange jig head with worm. Bobber to 4.5' and cast of the points. Walleye off same point as last night. Brief rain pushed off off the lake by 8:30.

Sunday
Fished a trout lake first thing this morning. Four before 5:30 am, one being 14." Next moved to a new stream. Little brookies and the big pools far and few between. But once at a nice pool, nice brookies. Caught two chunky 11" brookies, and handful of smaller ones. Then I tried the next bridge down, very rocky and fast water. Little brookies swiping at my silver spinner left and right. Most of them missing it or shaking off in the swift water. Ready to leave, I try under the bridge briefly. Flip my spinner in some soft deep water in between some big rocks. Instantly I feel a fish. Felt stuck like wrapped around a rock or branch. I wade out towards the fish. Next my heart raced, I see a big brookie maintaining position as if anchored. Love it when you think you are snagged only to discover a big trout. A few spins around under the bridge darting through rocks in very fast water I thought I'd lose this fish. Tried scooping him twice with the net, no luck. Third time he went in the net. Fat 13" male brookie! A new personal best! Took a few photos and dropped him in the drink.

Monday
Fished this morning on a favorite trout lake. Two trout, one being 16" and fat. Lots of fun, even took out drag. Went back to my brook trout stream. Caught one chunky 11" brookie. Got the net out and everything however spinner got tangled in the net and fish flipped out of the net! Catch and release, his lucky day. Also had a few smaller ones however they shook off in faster water.