I know my favorite streams will come back, but in the meantime I\u2019m going to share a few times when the fishing was truly outstanding.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had a lot of great days on the local creeks, but these are\u00a0some days\u00a0that really stand out. \u00a0Interesting to note that my very best, most memorable days were days I was fishing alone.<\/span><\/p>\n The first year of the \u201cEarly Season\u201d [the one that would start March 1] was a great year.\u00a0 I really fished a lot in those days, and two extra months equated to a couple hundred more trout than before.\u00a0 I was on the Upper Kinni, it was March 20 [I forced myself to remember the date], and I think 1997.\u00a0 I\u2019m working through some favorite water with the trusty UV scud tied on, when out of nowhere there is a very aggressive rise just above me\u2014like someone threw a baseball in the water.\u00a0 Not one to switch to a dry at the first sign of surface activity, I kept dredging, and was catching a few.\u00a0 The big splashes continued, and were becoming a distraction.\u00a0 I stopped casting to try and determine what was happening.\u00a0 I had seen a couple of bugs flying around, but hadn\u2019t really paid much attention to them.\u00a0 I soon realized that they were black stoneflies\u2014they were starting to buzz on the surface, and I spotted a few crawling on logs.\u00a0 I looked up to the top of the run I was working, and here comes a stonefly buzzing down the center of the stream [they lay their eggs this way].\u00a0 SPLOOSH\u2014the bug gets chomped by a better than average trout, and I couldn\u2019t get the nymph, shot, and cork off my leader fast enough.\u00a0 As I\u2019m cutting off my nymph rig I am taking a mental inventory of all my fly boxes, trying to picture what I have to be a suitable stonefly imitation.\u00a0 Remember, this was the first year we could fish there this early, and no one was aware that the black stoneflies were such a thing on the Kinni.\u00a0 A big elk hair caddis would have to do, and I greased one up with floatant after it was tied on, and after a couple of quick false casts it was drifting toward where I has seen the last fish feed.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t floated a foot before it was eaten, and I was soon admiring the first of many trout I would catch that day.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t count them [I always lose count after 2], but by mid-afternoon I had caught more than enough and headed home early.<\/span><\/p>\n Since this memorable day, I always try to get over there on a warm, sunny day around March 20.\u00a0 I have hit this hatch pretty good a few times since, and I have designed a very devious stonefly pattern specifically for it.\u00a0 It takes about 20 minutes to tie, but it looks really good.\u00a0 And it works exactly as well as an elk hair caddis that I can tie in about 3 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n here’s the pattern:<\/span><\/p>\n Hansen’s Ovipositing Stone\u00a0 Hook: \u00a0TMC 100; Butt: Pearl Litebrite; Body: Clipped black deer hair; Hackle: Grizzly; Wing: Grizzly hackle tips<\/span><\/p>\n These bugs have what appears to be a glowing white egg sac on their butt when laying their eggs<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thinking about this day reminds me of another epic dry fly day on the Kinni.\u00a0 This time I was headed to the lower river, and as I crossed into Wisconsin I was anticipating my hike up the canyon from County Road F.\u00a0 It was midweek, so I wasn\u2019t worried about crowds or kayaks, and I expected to have some decent nymph fishing before some mayflies would start hatching in the afternoon.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember the date, but it was around late May\/early June in the early \u201cOughts\u201d.\u00a0 [I\u2019ve been dying to say that].\u00a0 I\u2019m not known to be a particularly fast driver, but my speed definitely will pick as I get closer to a stream. I was moving right along at about seventy, anticipating a great day.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m always hoping for a good \u201cinspirational\u201d rock anthem to come on the radio to really get me fired up as I approach the stream.\u00a0 On this day, Rock and Roll [part 1] by Gary Glitter came on just as the old white Chevy began the descent into the valley.\u00a0 I cranked it up and cheered at the right parts until I pulled into the parking lot at the bridge.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made this hike enough times to know that it involves about 45 minutes of steady hiking to get to where I start fishing. \u00a0There is a long bluff pool with a great riffle that comes in at a sharp angle at the top.\u00a0 \u00a0Similar to my previous story, I started out nymphing, and they were really hitting it good.\u00a0 I can still remember one that ate the fly and started jumping before I was even able to set the hook.<\/span><\/p>\n I fished all the way to the top of the riffle, probably caught a half dozen.\u00a0 I had been noticing some fish rising a bit upstream.\u00a0 I was keeping an eye on them as I headed up the path, and decided to sit on a big log laying across the stream and eat a sandwich while I watched the fish rise.\u00a0 There were some mayflies coming off, I think it was the light Hendrickson hatch, and as I paid closer attention I could see that the next riffle was ALIVE with rising trout.\u00a0 I was grinning a grin while I ate my sandwich, watching those trout rise, thinking about how many I was about to catch.<\/span><\/p>\n This next riffle where the trout were making a spectacle of themselves was really nothing special to look at. A small riffle came into a little run along the right bank, there were a couple big rocks, and it was maybe three feet deep tops\u2014definitely not a spot you would think could hold more than a few trout.\u00a0 Despite the fact that it looked like a marginal spot at best, there appeared to be at least a dozen trout rising steadily.\u00a0 I had re-rigged while sitting on the log, I now had a trusty comparadun on my tippet, greased up and ready to go. After stepping in, I was hooked up within a couple of casts, and then almost every couple of casts after that. I can\u2019t remember how many I pulled out of that little run, but it seemed like for everyone I caught, two more took its place.\u00a0 It really was bizarre, because it just didn\u2019t seem possible that there could be that many trout in there, but no matter how many I caught, they just kept rising.\u00a0 I finally decided to move on, and every likely spot was the same\u2014seemingly unlimited rising trout.\u00a0 They rose steady though the afternoon, and I never saw another angler.\u00a0 Throughout the day I changed flies regularly [I had to, they kept getting waterlogged from all the fish!], and I tried a little bit of everything. This confirmed to me than when trout are rising to mayflies, you just can\u2019t do better than a comparadun.\u00a0 I caught some on other designs, but nothing worked better. It didn\u2019t even seem to matter if it was the right color or size either, as long as it was a comparadun.<\/span><\/p>\n It was getting later in the afternoon, and I was working my way up through what we call the \u201cBread and Butter\u201d run.\u00a0 There were trout rising all over the place, and I was catching them steady.\u00a0 I looked at my watch and it was 5:30.\u00a0 I decided I would catch five more and leave.\u00a0 I forced myself to keep track of the next five I caught and then I looked at my watch again.\u00a0 It was now 5:40.\u00a0 I made a few more casts, caught one more, then had a smoke while I watched them rising for another five minutes.\u00a0 Every run and riffle that I walked by on my hike out of the canyon had trout rising in it. I have never seen a river so alive with trout. How many did I catch that day?\u00a0 The rate at which I caught the last five were representative of how the action was all day, so figure conservatively 20 per hour for five or six hours.<\/span><\/p>\n The Willow River has long been my favorite stream.\u00a0 Light pressure, easy access, and while the trout population has never that impressive as far as numbers, due to warmer water and abundant forage, the average size can be impressive.\u00a0 And this was the case on a fine spring day sometime in the late 90s.\u00a0 Or early Oughts, I don\u2019t remember.\u00a0 Rarely a place for good dry fly action, the Willow\u2019s dark waters are better suited for dredging big wiggly nymphs or swinging bunny strip streamers or buggers.\u00a0 I had my favorite 6 weight rigged with a clear tip line.\u00a0 The clear tip is slow-sinking, and provides just the right amount of sink for the streams around here, and it allow for the use of a shorter leader for better accuracy when casting at close range around bushes and other cover.\u00a0 When the streamer bite is \u201con\u201d, the exact fly hardly matters\u2014what matters is that you cover water and show your fly to as many fish as possible.\u00a0 I was using a favorite pattern that is really nothing special.\u00a0 I call it the \u201cStrip Club\u201d, it\u2019s got a bunny strip, lead eyes and some rubber legs. I tie this fly [and many other trout streamers] on a 4x long streamer hook, size 4.\u00a0 This is more important detail that what the pattern was, or what color the fly was.\u00a0 This hook is just the right combination of length and wire thickness for a trout streamer. [This is a also a good fly for steelhead and smallmouth.]<\/span><\/p>\n The Strip Club\u00a0 Hook: \u00a04XL streamer; Tail: Flashabou; Body: Sparkle Braid with 3-4 sets of rubber legs; Wing: Bunny strip; Throat [optional]:Contrasting marabou; Eyes: \u00a0Medium lead eyes<\/span><\/p>\n There are many days on this river when I might get a fish out of every 5th<\/sup>\u00a0spot.\u00a0 This day, every big fish in the stream wanted to play, and by the time my session was done I figured I had had landed around 18 fish.\u00a0 I know, not exactly insane numbers, but the funny thing is the one I remember most was the smallest one of the day, and it was a foot long.\u00a0 I chuckled when I released this guy, \u2018cause he was just a baby compared to most of the other ones that day.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I had any others under 15 inches, most were 16- 18 inches, and a couple were over the 20 inch mark. These were serious, “put-’em-on-the-reel” browns that could have just as well been measured in pounds. \u00a0Not bad for a stream 30 minutes from St Paul.<\/span><\/p>\n I have had other great days on the creeks over there, and I hope there comes a day when it is again possible to have a \u201cbig day\u201d.\u00a0 And to be fair, I have plenty of great memories of trout fishing where the things I remember most wasn\u2019t the fish catching.\u00a0 For some reason this memory just popped in my head\u2014I was over there with the Gunnar, we hadn\u2019t brought any food with us [SOP in those days], so we subsisted on berries we picked along the stream.\u00a0 At one point we were both sitting on the ground off the trail, chowing all the wild raspberries we could reach.\u00a0 We probably caught a few trout.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n EPILOGUE<\/span><\/p>\n I fished on the Wisconsin creeks the other day, it was pretty warm but windy.\u00a0 I visited the Rush for the first time in a few years.\u00a0 First thing I see is the Red Barn Cafe has turned into a Bar and Grill.\u00a0 Figures.\u00a0 What happened to the big metal bridge?\u00a0 I guess some would have called it ugly, the cement one that took its place is sure nothing special.\u00a0 And most importantly, where did all the trout go? \u00a0I know there are trout anglers more skilled than me who are catching some fish there, but seriously\u2014I can remember being there when a hatch was on and walking right by a riffle full of rising fish if there weren\u2019t any big heads popping up.\u00a0 On this day I was \u201czero for zero\u201d after nymphing through a bunch of good water that I have caught hundreds of trout out of. All I caught were a lot of memories as I walked up the canyon.\u00a0 I could tell stories about every pool in this section. Stories of fish caught, of people I was with, of bugs that were hatching, of big trout seen and big trout caught. There was a guy much younger than me working a streamer through the bottom end of a deep pool.\u00a0 I really wanted to tell him about the time when I was 15 and caught a 16\u201d brown on a black ghost streamer around the boulders at the top of the pool.\u00a0 I wisely just asked how he was doing as I walked by on the well-worn trail.\u00a0 \u201cNo fish on the streamer, might try nymphs\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is the very Black Ghost streamer, my grandpa tied it in around\u00a01980, and it has lived in my Perrine fly box since.<\/span> He used jungle cock saddle hackle for the wings, the fly is about 2-1\/2 inches long<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I finally came to a canyon pool where there were what were obviously tiny trout rising to tiny bugs.\u00a0 I looked at them dimpling, and shuddered that it might come to fishing for them.\u00a0 I fished my nymph rig through the fast water at the top and then down through the meat of the run against a bluff with a few logs thrown in for good measure. \u00a0Didn\u2019t get a bite, and since the dinks were still rising I reluctantly re-rigged with the smallest fly in the box tied on to some ancient 7x tippet.<\/span> I left the Rush to try a favorite \u201chit-and-run\u201d spot on the Kinni, caught exactly zero.\u00a0 Drove to the Willow, not really planning to fish, just to \u201chave a look\u201d.\u00a0 I took one look at the water and knew it wasn\u2019t going to happen.\u00a0 As you may know, a dam was removed last year and this released a lot of sediment.\u00a0 Now the Willow, not known for great water quality anyhow, was flowing a sickly greenish grayish tan color, with less than a foot of vis.\u00a0 The Willow hadn\u2019t been fishing well for me for the past two years, I don\u2019t know what to make of this.\u00a0 It will be a while before I go back.<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t get the impression that I\u2019m only concerned with numbers of fish\u2014I enjoy steelhead and muskie fishing, neither of which is known for non-stop action, and I\u2019ve had plenty of nice days on the trout stream where I only caught a few fish. \u00a0I’ve just become accustomed to being able to have at least steady action on these streams. \u00a0Some days, steady may have meant\u00a0five or more an hour. \u00a0Other days is might mean one ever two hours. \u00a0But I am hoping for some version of “steady”.<\/span><\/p>\n Any of you out there that have been fishing the local creeks for more than a few years must admit–we had it good. Those streams being what they were for the last 40 years really have a lot to do with who I am.\u00a0 There wouldn\u2019t be four fly shops in the Metro Area if it weren\u2019t for how the streams used to be.\u00a0 And I know things are cyclic.\u00a0 It may take a few years, but the streams will come back.<\/span><\/p>\n I do know that I will be learning some new trout water in Southeastern Minnesota this spring!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It troubles me that I am going into this trout season with a genuine lack of enthusiasm.\u00a0 I\u2019m still looking forward to walking the creeks, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells, but I just know the trout catching is going to be off.\u00a0 For reasons I\u2019m not going to get into here, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,53],"tags":[39,31,7,38,36,10,42,8,32,37,41],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1146"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1168,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146\/revisions\/1168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"flies\"](\"http:\/\/wildsmallie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/flies.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>I have never been so glad to land a five inch trout as I was when I brought in the first of a half dozen or so.\u00a0 At least I wasn\u2019t skunked.\u00a0 I did catch one brook trout that was maybe 10 inches, and broke of a slightly larger fish. [I was using tiny flies on a 7x tippet, and the only 7x\u00a0I had\u00a0in my vest was some Seaguar that I KNOW has been in my vest since the 90s.]<\/span><\/p>\n