5 Flies for Winter Trout in the Driftless
With the winter trout season opening in early January in the southeastern part of Minnesota, there is plenty of opportunities to chase some winter trout. Chasing trout in the winter can be one of the most rewarding ways to fish for trout. Trying to get that perfect cast and line handling in gloves aren’t the easiest tasks to achieve, however, but once that cast is made and a trout accepts your fly, it’s super satisfying. It makes all the frustration of trying to get the right presentation in the cold worth it. Here are our top five flies for winter trout. #1. Green Caddis I recently added this pattern to my arsenal and it has yet to disappoint. This pattern is quick, easy, and simply catches fish. I have found that even with a small midge trailing behind, trout prefer this fly. Hook: #12 Caddis Hook Bead: 7/64″ Gold Thread: Olive or black…
5 Tips for Summer Trout Fishing in the Midwest from Black Earth Angling Co
Local Wisconsin guides share strategies for beating the heat and catching more Driftless trout during high summer. It’s been a peculiarly mild summer here in the Driftless. The oppressively humid days that usually plague August have been mostly absent, the past few nights have had a cool bite reminiscent of early duck season, and the trout have been mostly happy. But there are still plenty of challenges facing Midwestern spring creek trout anglers in the height of summer. The guys at Black Earth Angling Co. have a ridiculous amount of experience chasing trout in the spring creeks of southwestern Wisconsin and the Driftless, and I was very, very excited when they kindly agreed to share some of their strategies for summer trout. I’ve been drawn to their operation ever since I stumbled upon it on Facebook a while back, and for good reason. There’s an authenticity in their fly fishing that acutely…
Top Flies for Driftless Area Trout: Guides, Fly Shop Owners, and Trout Bums Pick Their Favorite Patterns for Driftless Spring Creeks
Under-the-radar flies that will help you catch more fish in the spring creeks of the Driftless Area… The Driftless is an amazing and unique fishery, and it arguably holds some of the most fascinating spring creeks in the world. Though standard trout flies catch their share of fish, a few unique patterns have sprung up from the special set of circumstances a spring creek brings a trout fisherman. A few guides, fly shop owners, and avid trout bums have graciously agreed to share some of their favorite trout patterns for the spring creeks of the Driftless Area. Some are standard trout patterns that have been tweaked for local waters, but most have been tied, tested, and developed specifically for the trout of the Driftless Area. Dave Anderson, On the Fly Guide Service Dave Anderson is a veteran guide on the streams and creeks of southeastern Minnesota’s Driftless Area. After…
So It Begins
April 14, 2014 Nearly all anglers have their opening day rituals, and we’re no different. Some involve early mornings, others involve dry flies, and all involve an unrealistically high dose of expectations and optimism. Though it’s hardly a “ritual,” Braden and I fished a small stream (we’ll call it Frustration Creek) on Minnesota Trout Opener for the second year in a row. It’s a torturous little creek, flowing deep, weedy, and horribly narrow, even in spring floods. A seemingly impenetrable wall of brush chokes the banks of the stream, intimidating even the most gifted of fly casters. If it didn’t scare off most anglers, I wouldn’t be surprised if a handful of innovative new casting maneuvers were invented from its soggy banks each year. The fish are another story if you can bear the brush. According to electroshocking surveys (a method I’ve been tempted to resort to on a…
Dry Flies and Driftless Tricos
The past few days have been a little chilly, but it was downright cold this morning when I hit the river before sunrise. I was freezing by the time I had waded a few yards upstream in my shorts, but the crisp morning air got me excited for the cooler fall days ahead. Fishing was a little tough this morning. I fished for about an hour and only pricked a fish, tangling a few rigs and losing a few flies in the process. I got my first trout of the morning indicator nymphing with a #20 pheasant tail in a sweet hole that brushed right up into a big logjam. Once I landed that first trout, things started to pick up. I managed a few nice browns in the riffles before coming upon a good run that flowed against the rip-rapped bank, very similar to the pool we found tricos…
Tricos on the Root
September 1, 2013 Day 2 – I persuaded Noah to hit the river with me early Sunday morning. It was another beautiful morning in the Driftless as we hiked down the trail and started fishing. This time we headed downstream and hit some of the deep, turbulent pools that brush against the limestone cliffs. Both of us fished dry-dropper rigs in hopes of picking off a few browns, but didn’t have any luck. After fishing nymphs for a while, I noticed a few sporadic risers feeding in a slow tailout. I checked the river for bugs, and sure enough a few tricos were floating downstream. I quickly chopped of the nymph and tied on a #12 Pass Lake dry with a big white calftail wing followed by a #20 trico spinner twelve inches behind. The trout were still rising inconsistently, and the first few browns I floated my trico over…