Indian Winter 2: Anglers United

Unseasonably warm January weather was about all it took for me to dust off my fly rod and make it out fishing today.  I was joined by my friend Toby Halley.

Toby took the trout fishing world by storm in the summer of 2015 with an Instagram page for the ages.  While the two of us could have easily become bitter rivals in the annual "King of the Driftless Competition" we decided to join forces and conquer the Driftless together.  After all I have found that it gets lonely at the top.  At least that's what I've heard.

I started out the day with a Brown Woolly Bugger that I recently tied up.  After a few casts of no fish I switched to something else.  Someday I will give the Browny another chance.

 It wasn't long before Toby was on the board with a bruiser.

 Not a bad way to start the day.

 Contrary to popular belief trout will chase streamers all winter long.  This little guy had a mouthful.

 Another one for Toby.  It's nice when you take somebody to your spot and they catch fish.  I could tell by watching Toby fish that his success is no accident.  This guy can cast with precision and strip with decision.

 Then this happened.  He measured in at 20.5 inches.  While Toby is no stranger to hoisting trophy trout, him and I agree that it never gets old no matter how many you catch.

 I hadn't caught any myself at this point and I was starting to worry that Toby would think I was a fraud and then I landed this little guy.  I was so happy.

 I wasn't about to tell Toby all my secrets but I did tell him about the trick where if you hold the fish closer to the camera it looks a little bigger than it actually is.

 Time for the daily ice formation Rorschach Test.  What do you see here?  Do you see what I see?

I recently decided to set up my own Instagram Page.  It contains most of my best photos to date.  I hope to add some more soon.  Here is the link Eddie's Awesome Instagram Photos.

Rush River 1/24/16

Well I hadn't planned on fishing this weekend but sometimes when the weather is perfect you just have to live a little.

I met Aaron in River Falls at 8:00 and informed him of my plan to fish the Rush River.  I didn't do extremely well on the Rush last summer and felt that I had a score to settle.  When we drove up to my secret spot we were relieved to see that we were the first ones there.  Within two minutes another guy showed up and parked behind us.  After a few minutes of small talk I agreed to give the guy GPS coordinates to all of Nick Brevitz's favorite spots in exchange for him agreeing to fish downstream of the bridge.  My plan was to fish upstream.

I started out fishing a shallow run and advised Aaron to fish the run above me.  He caught a small Brown Trout on his first cast.  I told him about the time my dad landed 20 trout in that run using a Shop Vac Midge.

 I looked back towards the bridge and thought about the guy that went downstream.  I wondered if he was a fan of my blog.  He sure seemed star struck when we were talking to him earlier.

 Sometime when I have trouble with my casting I look down at my shadow.  At least I can cast a shadow.

 I had thought I had seen every type of ice shelf.  These were some really cool and unique ice shelves.

 I wondered how this one formed.  One layer for each Ice Age I suppose.

 Raccoon tracks.

 Fox tracks.

 First fish of the day was a Brook Trout.  They are so pretty.

 I love winter scenery.

 If you ever look into taking better photos you will probably read about the "Rule of Thirds".  This photo is a pretty good example of that.

Here I am casting.

 First Brown trout.  He was quite a little fighter.

 Second Brown Trout was nice too.  Long and skinny.

 A little while later I caught another one that was quite large.  I didn't measure it but it was probably pushing 18".

 I was so happy.

I've heard it's a good idea to check the temperature of the water.  I think my thermometer is broken though.

 Another Brook Trout,

 Aaron came running up with a Brown Trout he had caught.  I was in the zone so I hadn't heard his yelling.  He was so happy.

 It puked up a Sculpin and some other minnow.  If you know what the other minnow is please comment below.

 So beautiful.

 Another one for Aaron.  Check out Aaron's Timberwolves hat he gave himself for Christmas. Go Wolves!!  #FireSam

 Hashtag No Filter.

 Aaron was so happy.

 Catch and release baby!

Towards the end of our outing I caught a chunky 12 inch Brown.  He was quite the fighter.

It will probably be a while before I fish again.  I'm glad today was a smashing success.

Year of the Tiger

I am still putting the final touches on this post and it will be finished sometime this week.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  It will be worth the wait.  Thanks for your consideration. -Eddie Rivard