Breaking Good

The dew was still on the grass as we made our way up the stream.

 It was a nice morning here.  Shortly after snapping this shot we ran into another fisherman that had beat us to the stream.  The early bird gets the worm I guess and it looked to me like thats what he was using for bait.  "To each their own", I told Taylor as we decided to give the guy some space and take off for another place.

 Apparently the guy who has this sign hanging from his mailbox is a guide.  I wonder what he guides.

 While we were driving to our next haunt I noticed a large container of Anhydrous Ammonia sitting in a farm field.  For a moment I thought about breaking bad and starting my own Crystal Meth empire but there was fishing to do so I decided to break good instead.

 Breaking good has never felt so good.  The next place we visited was very picturesque.

 Taylor caught a nice little Brown Trout.

 Taylor has mastered the art of Czech Nymphing.  It is a great way to pull trout from the short deep runs of the Driftless Region.

 We ran into another fly angler on the stream.  I'm pretty sure he said his name was Jim.  He was quite talkative and over the course of 30 minutes we learned a lot about him.

You can't say you really know a guy until you've seen his flies.  Jim showed us this assortment of Buzzers he made specifically for targeting large trout in the mountain lakes of Wyoming.  He was a really nice guy.

The next stream we visited was larger and more natural looking.  The sun was high in the sky and fishing was tough.  I will come back here on a cloudy day.

 Taylor was in awe of the natural beauty that this place presented.

 I found a pile of mud on the ground so I drew a smile in it with my finger and put my rod on it for a photo.  I was so happy.

 Later on we found this cool interpretive trail with informative signs.

Well it was a good day for exploring.  I only caught one stocker Rainbow Trout all day and it was when I had left my camera in the car so I didn't get a photo.

The End

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Country Roads

On April 24th Kyle and I decided to head down to southern Minnesota's Driftless Area to find what we could find and see what we could see.  You never know where those country roads will take you.

 The first stream we came to was nice.  I started out fishing a streamer but when I didn't catch anything for five minutes I gave up and switched to nymphs.  The Zebra Midge is quite the trout killer.  I couldn't remember the last time I caught a trout this small so afterwards I switched back to streamers.  Go big or go home.

 Such a nice place.

 This is one of those times where I wish I had a macro lens but the photo came out clear enough.  Do you know what kind of insect this is?

 Another stream another dream.  This trout fell for the Ryan Frick special.  I'm so glad Ryan gave me three of those this spring.  One of the best streamers I've ever fished!

 Kyle was having fun downstream.

 I was keeping an eye on him while he fished this hole.  Above him in the photo is a mama cow and her calf is up in the far middle left of the shot.  We were doing our best to keep our distance from the calves and the cows as we didn't want to die that day.

 On the next stream I hooked into a big trout. While I was fighting him I slipped on the muddy bank and fell on my butt.  While I sat in the mud Kyle netted this beauty and took a photo for me.  He measured it and said it was just under 18 inches.  Whatever man I think it was closer to 19.

 Up close and personal.

 This stream was teeming with stocked Rainbow Trout.  They can be quite a hoot.  After I caught this one I was really excited then I looked over across the stream and saw these two hungry looking kids staring at my catch as I was about to release it.  I asked them if they wanted it and they said yes.

 They were so happy.

 Here is a photo of Kyle fishing.

The End

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Bladefisher

Sunday April 20th seemed like it would be a good day to go fishing so that's what I set out to do.  I wanted to fish a two mile section of one of my favorite rivers.  I hid my Rollerblades in the grass at the upstream bridge so I could rollerblade back to my car when I was done fishing the stretch.  I figured it would be much easier than walking the stream back or walking the two miles on the road back to my car.

 I placed the blades in the grass.

And covered them until I was sure that they were well hidden.

I drove back to the first bridge and started fishing my way upstream.  While I was walking through a dead section I was like, "What's that smell".  I looked down and found a cool skull.  Judging by the taste of the fur I determined that it was a young Racoon.

 The water was very low in this section of river but it was pretty and the walking was fairly easy.

 I was glad my blades were where I had left them.  The road back to the car was quite bumpy for blading but it sure beat walking.

 When that was done the day was still young so I headed for Brook Trout Bridge.  I've had good luck there in the past and it did not disappoint.

 I was so happy.

 This photo is titled, "Log in the Water".  There is just something about a log in the water that puts a smile on this guys face.

 I decided to do some driving around scouting for new spots.  I happened upon these deer carcases close to another creek.  I figured there must be a Killdeer in this area.

 It wasn't long before my suspicions were confirmed.  I wished that I had my telephoto lens with me that day but this was the clearest shot I could get.

 The clouds started rolling in and for a brief moment the lighting was just right to take a few selfies.  This one turned out exceptionally well.

The End

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The Secret Waterfall

Last summer while I was out driving the backroads of Wisconsin looking for new trout streams to explore I noticed an enormous snapping turtle sunning himself right in the middle of the road.  I didn't want him to die so I stopped to move him off the road.  I picked him up and set him down in the ditch and started back for my car. "Thanks!", I heard someone say but when I looked around there was no one in site except for me and the turtle.  I looked in the direction of the turtle and muttered, "Did you just talk?".

"Of course I did all turtles can talk.  We usually don't because none of us want to end up in the circus.  I could tell you are a kind man and that you wouldn't sell me to the circus so I figured it was safe to chat with you.  My name is Turdy by the way. Turdy the Turtle!".

At this point I was in somewhat of a state of shock but there was no one around so I asked Turdy if he knew of any good Brook Trout streams in the area.  He ended up giving me directions to a few choice spots as well as the location of a secret waterfall that not very many humans know about.  Shortly afterwards I paid a visit to this waterfall and it has been one of my favorite places ever since.

One day last fall while fishing for Steelhead on the Brule with Taylor I told him about the secret waterfall but didn't tell him where it was.  Needless to say he had been begging me to take him there ever since.  On Saturday April 11th, 2015 Taylor and I traveled to Wisconsin to visit the secret waterfall.

 On our way we paid a visit to Turdy.  I wanted to make sure it was alright that I was going to bring Taylor to the secret waterfall.  At first he seemed unsure but then he spoke, "If he climbs it then he knows he is a man".  I figured this was blessing enough and we continued on our way.

 We stopped at a nice stream and Bambi slayed her first trout.

 Here is a photo of another stream we visited along the way.  We didn't land any trout here this time but I will be visiting this stream again soon.  Most likely I will try a different section.

 When I first came to visit the secret waterfall I was surprised to find that there was actually two waterfalls on this stream.  This is the first one that I came to.

 Taylor marched defiantly to the second waterfall.  He was determined to make the climb.

 The rocks were slippery but Taylor clinged on and climbed with all his might.

 On that day young Taylor became a man.  I was so proud of my young friend.

 Glory of the Snow, one of the first flowers of spring were blooming on the forest floor.

The End

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