A walk in the park

Saturday evening found me spending time relaxing at home when Taylor texted me asking if I wanted to go ice fishing with him on Sunday.

 While I have come to enjoy ice fishing more and more with each passing year I'm not willing to endanger my life doing it like I am with fly fishing.  I didn't want Taylor out ice fishing on Sunday either so I invited him to go fly fishing with me on Sunday instead.

 It didn't take much convincing and Taylor was on board.  The only thing left to do was to choose what southern Minnesota state park we would visit on Sunday.  Having our choice between Whitewater, Forestville and Beaver Creek Valley state parks I ended up choosing Whitewater because it was the closest.

Shortly after 5am we set out on our journey.

On the way down I said to Taylor, "I wonder if people ever show up at Whitewater State Park with rafts and kayaks expecting to find some class 5 rapids", knowing that although there are some nice riffles the term whitewater is a little misleading.  Taylor informed me that it's called Whitewater State Park because the sediment gives the water an off white tint during periods of flood.  I guess you really do learn something new every day.

 The river was very beautiful.  Definitely a December to remember.

 I was so happy to be out fishing.

 A small spring seep fed the main river a steady supply of water.

 Taylor found a nice pool to drift his nymphs through.

 Taylor's constant bs wasn't the only bluffs I had to deal with because we were literally surrounded by towering bluffs on all sides.

 I found a nice spot for a picnic.  If I ever get a girlfriend I will take her here.

 I call this photo Ice on the banks.

This photo is called No ice on the banks.

Having had some success with winter trout fishing in the past my mind told me to tie on a zebra midge at the beginning of the day but my heart insisted that I tie on a streamer.  I fished various Muddler Minnows patterns and Wooly Buggers for most of the day only switching to nymphs for a short while before getting bored and switching back.  The end result of my efforts was zero fish to hand for me.  Taylor did manage one small Rainbow Trout on a size 8 rust colored bugger.

After finishing up with the first stretch of water we decided to hit one more section before hitting the road.  Foxy was unhappy that I left her in the car for the first stretch so I decided to let her accompany us for round 2 on one condition.  She had to be able to cross the river on her own.

 I wasn't too worried about her.  She has always loved the water.

 At one point she started to get washed downstream but I told her to use her little claws.

 Unfortunately my advice worked and she successfully forded the river.

 We ran into another angler on the stream.  His name is Clayton Griesbach and he just moved to southern MN a few months back.  He is no stranger to trout fishing though because before taking the Driftless by storm his previous stomping grounds were the freestone streams of Montana.  Turns out Clayton is no stranger to the internet either because he has a fly fishing blog all his own.  The address is mndriftlessflyfishing@blogspot.com.

It's always nice finding out about new blogs because it's a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on in a certain area.  I have been following the blog http://onafly.blogspot.com/ to stay informed about the conditions in southern MN but Ryan Frick only decides to post blog updates about 2-3 times a week.

 It's always nice to get out.  Even if it's just a walk in the park.