I am happy to report that I am really starting to get the hang of this fly fishing thing. I met up with Toby this morning and we decided to fish a section of river that neither one of us had ever explored before. Fishing new water with a good friend is probably one of my favorite things. It ranks somewhere between "brown paper packages tied up with strings" and "girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes".
Toby knows his way around a trout stream. If there had been a trout hanging out in that run he would have caught it. Much of the search for trophy trout involves exploring waters with ridiculously low numbers of trout. The trout that do survive tend to be large. It's a risk and reward scenario that a lot of guys can't handle. Those that hit home runs always have their fair share of strikeouts. We were swinging for the fences today.
The hours went by fast but the action was close to non-existent. I was suspicious that the low water temperature was having a serious affect on the trout activity. I kicked my myself for not replacing my broken thermometer with one that works. It is on the to do list for this week. Toby reported a few follows and strikes but I hadn't seen or felt a fish for hours. We should have went to the Kinni.
Another promising looking pool with no sign of trout. I lost count on how many times I had switched streamers. Even Old Yeller wasn't working today.
Looking through my streamer box I was running out of options. Then I noticed Old Stupid, probably one of the dumbest looking streamers in my box. Old Stupid is no slouch though he has assisted me in the capture of many trout. I don't know why but this streamer just works. A variation of it was my top performing streamer of the 2014 campaign. I had tied this about a year ago and forgotten about it. It was time to give Old Stupid his chance. I tossed him into the top of a run right along the current seam and let him sink. One, two, three, four, five I counted. I forgot what number comes after five so I began a slight jig/strip retrieve and then she hit. She hit so hard. I can't remember the words that came out of my mouth but I made it clear to Toby that there was a large fish at the end of my line. I hauled her in quickly and could tell she was sluggish with the water being as cold as it was.
"There you see her. Sitting there in your net. She don't got a lot to say but there's something that you'll never forget."
I was so happy.
Toby got a nice pic with his Go Pro. I haven't figured out if the Go Pro affect is real or not. Some folks seem to think that photographing trout with a Go Pro makes them appear bigger than they actually are. I'm not so sure anymore.
That ended up being the only fish landed between the two of us but just because the action is slow it doesn't mean that cool stuff can't continue to happen. What is that?
"Rubber Ducky, you're the one. You make bath time so much fun. Rubber ducky I'm awfully fond of you.". Bath time is going to be so much fun tonight I can tell you that.
I made the drive out to River Falls earlier today to pick up some stuff from Lund's Fly Shop. While I was out there I figured it would be best to spend an hour or so fly fishing for trout.
The Glen Park access on the Kinni is probably one of the first places I fished for trout in Wisconsin back in 2006 or 2007. Between there and the County Road F access is where I cut my teeth as a fly fisherman. I always get a special feeling when I walk down the trail from the tennis courts. It's kind of like coming home. This sign could use a new paint job.
Wisconsin changed a lot of their trout regulations in the past year but it appears the regs here are the same as they have always been.
A quick look downstream at the bottom of the trail. Shangrila.
This place looks pretty much the same as it always has except for the new graffiti on the dam. I am looking forward to the day when this dam comes down allowing the falls and river upstream to be restored to their natural splendor. This pool used to be chock full of trophy fish until about a year ago when a local guide caught a 20 inch Brown here and told the whole world about it. It hasn't been the same since. At least I have the memories. Maybe I will catch a couple little guys.
Back on January 2nd I broke my Saint Croix Avid 2 piece 7 weight rod in the commotion of photographing the new Wisconsin State Record inland Tiger Trout. I just recently sent it in for warranty and the good folks at Saint Croix Rod informed me that they no longer deal with 2 piece rods so they sent me a 4 piece as a replacement. This would be my first time trying her out and I was completely satisfied with the performance. People often question my use of seven weight fly rods in the Driftless. I regularly cast heavy streamers on long leaders and the seven weight handles them with ease. I will elaborate more on my methods in a future post.
Last Wednesday evening after finishing my homework I sat down and tied 6 Frick's Fixes in varying color schemes. Some I tied in the traditional brown while others were Pink Squirrel themed. I also tied two yellow ones just like the one I used to catch the Wisconsin State Inland Record Tiger Trout on January 2nd. It was the only time in recent memory that I tied a flies and didn't immediately post photos of them to the internet. It felt good not being an attention whore for once in my life.
I started off casting one of my Pink Squirrel themed Fixes everywhere in the pool. I was so sure that the Pink Squirrel Fix would be a trout magnet but it failed to illicit any bites. That's when I decided to tie Old Yeller on.
I say yellow
Trout say hello
Come bite on my streamer fine fellow
They swim over there without a second to lose
What comes next I got nothin' to prove
The Old Yeller Frick's Fix is almost as good as the dog that I name it after. I always wanted me an Old Yeller Dog.
All I got was this this Jack Russell dog named Foxy.
There's something about a yellow streamer that can turn a fishless day into a fishy one. On my first cast with Old Yeller I had a fish on. It was no match for the 12 pound Flourocarbon tippet I was using but I could tell it was sizable. Turned out to be a 12.5 inch Brook Trout.
It even had a little kype.
I had to take a quick selfy. I was so happy.
One more photo before I let him go. He shot off like a rocket.
I wanted to fish one more hole so I ran down here and took a few casts before running back to the car.
Check out my new Trout Unlimited hat. There will be a story on the hat this summer at some point. Can you tell I am down one pound?
About a month ago I was driving aimlessly around southern Minnesota. I drove over a creek and then I remembered that I had my fishing stuff with me. "Have rod, will fish", I thought to myself so I pulled over and mounted up.
It was a clear bright day, round' about one
Eddie R was on the stream, trying to have a little fun
Searching for some trout, so I could get a smile
Walking in my waders, mile after mile
The creek trickled through a hidden valley. "From here on out I will refer to this little gem as Non Hidden Valley Creek", I thought to myself. "That way no one will ever expect that it trickles through a hidden valley".
The water was clear and the trout were skittish. If these trout had a language it would have to be Yiddish.
I soon realized that the size 1 Frick's Fix streamer that I was casting was probably a little too big for this stream on this day. I had recently acquired some Green Turd woolly buggers from my friend Dan Braun. It was as good a time as any to see if the Green Turd was as effective as Trapper told me it was.
A few casts later the Turd claimed it's first victim. A feisty Brown Trout. Boom shaka laka.
After setting the Brown Trout free I looked over and saw something odd half buried in the snow.
I was a White Tailed buck. As I grabbed his antlers I was overcome with a vision of a life cut short.
A ribbon of green reminded me of spring. The Ojibwe word for spring is Ziigwan. "How do I know that?", you ask. To answer your question I Googled it.
This bend pool was chock full of trout. I spend twenty minutes making a big circle around it so I could cast into it from downstream in an attempt not to spook the trout. My efforts resulted in failure but it was good practice. Many people think that I am a good trout fisherman because I am good at casting and choosing the right streamer. Those people are correct but if you spook weary trout before you can present them with your fly then all your efforts are for not.
The river was calm and so was I. Winter in the forest is a peaceful time of year.
Soon I came upon a spot in the stream where it was a little bit deeper and there was a half submerged log. The log provided cover for a pod of about 30 trout. They scattered as I approached. "Game over", I thought to myself. I stood there and watched as school of trout huddled together closely under the log. One of the Trout bore the markings of a Brook Trout. "The game has just begun", I thought to myself. One thing I know from my years of fishing is that Brook Trout are not the most intelligent of prey. They can often be coaxed into biting as soon as 37 seconds after being spooked. I wanted to be sure the Brook Trout was ready to bite so I waited 45 seconds before I dipped the Green Turd in the water and jiggled it in front of the school. Sure as shit that Brookie broke formation and mangled the Green Turd. The battle was short and soon he was in my grasp. What a beauty.
I usually think that the whole video of releasing a trout is hokey and overplayed unless it is one of my videos. Here is a short I made of the release.
After releasing the Brook Trout I was pretty much ready to call it a day I started walking back to my car. Then I noticed another Buck half buried in the snow.
This was a ten point buck. As I grabbed his antlers I had yet another vision. "My side hurt and I was running from the orange men. Incredible thirst overcame me as I ran towards the stream". Snapping back to reality, "What a waste", I thought to myself.
What a waste.
It wouldn't be long before the forest rats took their share.
Sometimes I forget what I look like so I take photos of myself.
Over the course of the next few days all I could think about were those two bucks wasting away in the forest. I contacted the land owner and was granted permission to retrieve the deer heads. Then my people arranged for DNR officials to to meet me at the site to obtain the proper possession permits.
I traveled back to Non Hidden Valley Creek and met with the agents from the Minnesota DNR. Getting out of my car I was greeted with smiling faces. I was happy to hear that both of these DNR agents were big fans of my blog. They couldn't believe that they finally got to meet me in person. After a short photo and autograph session I led them through the fields and forests to the location of the the dead deer.
Mission accomplished
This is was a MN DNR SEIZURE RECIEPT looks like.
After retrieving the heads I had about an hour to kill and again remembered that I had my fishing stuff with me. Mount up!
The light was dimming, late afternoon
Eddie R was on the stream, life is but a dream
My memory of this is blurry
I was in a hurry
Bam 1st cast! Trout to hand. The Green Turd strikes again.
I proceeded quietly upstream and was soon rewarded with another healthy Brown Trout.
Can you guess what he bit on?
Confucius say, "It is easier to post three photos of one trout than it is to post one photo each of three different trout.".
I love Non Hidden Valley Creek.
Eddie Rivard Fly Fishing is brought to you in part by Laurel's Mattress INC. Rest on your Laurel's Mattress today!
After many hours of scraping and boiling I finished the first skull. If I never have to smell boiling brains again I will die a happy man. The other skull is currently buried in a pile of snow. I will let the maggots take care of that one in the spring.
The End
PS-The part about the DNR agents being big fans of my blog was completely fabricated. I just thought it would add a little humor to the post.
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.
