I hadn't planned on getting any mid-week fishing in last week but with my work van in the shop for a minor repair on Wednesday I knew exactly what I would be doing with my down time. It wasn't too hard for me to figure out where I would be fishing either because I was running on a hot tip from Trout Pro Nick Brevitz.
Traveling to a trout stream with a hot tip in hand is kind of like running with the wind at your back. Upon arriving at the stream I was a bit surprised because it was a mere trickle and didn't seem to fit what Nick had so eloquently described to me. I know from experience that just because a stream looks like a trickle from the road doesn't mean it can't have a series of pools a ways downstream chock full of hungry trout. I set out with my trusty dog Foxy to fulfill my destiny. After walking about a mile through some pretty rugged terrain the trickle slowly turned into a stream and I started to see some fish darting in all directions. Adrenaline raced through my veins when I finally had one take the black Wooly Bugger that I had been slowly retrieving. My first attempt at getting a photo of the fish was thwarted by Foxy as she wanted to see what trout tasted like.
My second attempt at a photo was a success.
Shortly after releasing the trout I heard some rustling in the bushes and looked over and there was these two dudes coming to the stream to fish. They seemed young and hip and I assumed they must be great fans of my blog. I was glad I had brought some photos of myself with a Sharpie because I was going to surprise them with some autographed photos. After a brief conversation I garnered that they had never heard of me or my blog so I gave the guy in the blue shirt a couple Ray Charles nymphs and they went on their way after I convinced them to pose for a photo. Al vida zein.
It looked like my new buddies were heading downstream to fish so Foxy and I started our trek back upstream to the car. I never did find that wintering hole that Nick told me about and later on I found out why.
My dad and I had made plans earlier in the week to go fishing on Saturday. We met at our rendezvous point near the border and headed towards the Rush River. All the reports on fishing in the Kinni have been negative so far this year so I figured we would slay them on the Rush. The sun was just coming up as we made our way into Dairyland.
It was a beautiful morning yes it was.
I started out fishing a small streamer and when I didn't catch anything for five minutes I figured I would have better luck switching to nymphs. How do you spell success? I spell success 6 X. Say 6 X five times fast and depending on what type of person you are it will either start to sound like success or sick sex. To me it sounds like success and that's why I choose it when I'm nymphing for small trout.
When choosing your nymph it is wise to base your decision on what type of aquatic insects are present in the stream. On one rock I turned over I found all Caddis Larvae ranging in sizes from 14 to 24. I can see there will be some pretty epic hatches in the coming months.
Walking upstream I discovered the carcass of a small racoon. One day while fishing this same stretch last summer my rig had gotten caught up in a tree. A family of racoons climbed the tree and unsnagged me. I recognized this little guy as being one of the members of that family. I sure hope the others made it through the winter.
Some guy must have thought he had a great idea to visit the Rush River with a bottle of Rush River brand beer. Please make it a point to pick up your own trash.
It was tough to fish from this side of the river without casting my shadow over the water.
After fishing this stretch for over an hour without a bite or even a sign of trout I had an idea to head to another river.
When we made it to Clearwater Creek we worked our way upstream taking turns fishing spots that looked like they may hold fish. We also saw plenty of trout darting every which way.
After turning over a rock I saw a Scud. I was glad to hear that my dad had an orange Scud in his fly box that was for me.
I came to a nice looking plunge pool and slung my scud into the depths.
What do you know a trout.
I love it when my plans work out.
Traveling further upstream we came upon a beaver dam that wasn't here last summer.
It created a massive lake that was 7 feet deep in some spots. Walking through it was quite treacherous.
At one point I saw a fat brook trout holding tight to the bottom. I was surprised that I didn't spook it. I drifted my scud in front of him and saw him grab it. Setting the hook was like ringing the bell and that trout fought like raging hell.
I won.
I was so happy.
He measured in at twelve inches. I'm pretty sure I've caught other twelve inch Brook Trout but this is the biggest one I have pictures of. I hope to beat this record by several inches this summer.
So beautiful it's true.
A little farther upstream I found a Sculpin. He was dead but still a cool find. It's the sign of a healthy stream when you find Sculpins.
Glad you had fun at 3 of our favorite spots . Great minds think alike
ReplyDeleteGood to see you're gettin out on the water. Hope to see you around on some of the MN streams this summer.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good week, a nice mix of fish and good weather, what else could you ask for?
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