Aric and I got in some fishing tonight after the World Cup Final from about 8:00 to 9:20. Aric fished with a pheasant tail nymph and caddis larva combo, catching one fish on each. I caught one on a pheasant tail, and after seeing a couple caddis in the air, switched it up to a bread and butter caddis. There wasn’t much rising, but I was just really itching to catch one on a dry. After losing one nice brown, I landed a nice 12.5″ right after dark. Between a Carli Lloyd hat trick and catching a couple fish, it was a good night indeed!
It looks like we’re going to get a good soaking tomorrow, which will probably murk up the rivers for a couple days.
This solid 12.5″ took a bread and butter caddis just after dark. After a good fight, I finally got him in the net.
We had a late start this morning but fished the Rush from about 9:00 to 11:00. Dad found a few fish rising to tricos and he caught one on a trico spinner pattern while I caught four brookies and missed two browns on a pheasant tail nymph and zebra midge combo — my go-to rig as of late which I’ve done well on. The water was very clear and the fishing was most productive in shaded areas.
Dad and I fished the Rush this morning from about 7:30 to 10:30. Tricos were in the air when we arrived. After hiking a ways downstream and not seeing any risers, I decided to go with the pheasant tail (size 16) and zebra midge (20) combo that worked well yesterday. I ended up catching five browns and three brookies — with probably half taking each fly — and missing a handful more. They seemed to be all over the runs this morning, and hitting every little spot was key in catching fish.
Dad decided to hike further downstream from me and ran into some fish rising to tricos. He caught two browns using a size 20 trico spinner pattern. We both had a great morning.
UPDATE: I tried to do some night fishing and hit the Rush again from about 8:00 to 10:45 pm. I didn’t have any luck mousing, but caught one brookie and lost a nice 13-14″ brown while nymphing just before dark.
I hit the Rush this morning from about 8:00 to 10:00. I hiked quite a ways downstream of the bridge and saw my first tricos of the year in one spot. There was a pretty good swarm of them but no rising. In another spot I saw one small rise, so I tossed it the caddis I had on from the other night, and two casts later I had a 7″ brookie to hand. I fished my way back upstream to the car using a pheasant tail nymph with a zebra midge, anxious to get to a run I had good luck nymphing earlier this spring. Any spot a novice nympher like myself can catch fish in must be pretty good!
I finally made my way to the run and soon had a 10″ brown to hand on the zebra midge. I worked my way up the run, trying to hit every spot that could hold fish multiple times. A nice 8-point buck came out for a drink less than 10 yards from me, which got me excited to get to the farm and hang some trail cameras. As I made my way to the top of the run, I cast to a great looking seam and saw my indicator plunge underwater. I set the hook, but assumed it was a snag. Soon the snag came to life and I saw the flash of a trout. He held tight to the bottom, putting a pretty good bend into my Limit Creek Fly Rod, and I stumbled downstream to try to work him out of the run. A couple minutes later I had him in the net and he measured at 17 inches, my best Rush fish to date! I figured that would be a great way to end the outing and I headed back to the car.
This 17″ beauty took the pheasant tail nymph. I only got two photos of him since he slipped out of my hands as I attempted to take another.
We hit the Kinni below our house from about 7:45 to 9:15 this evening. I caught two and missed two more on top with a “Bread and Butter Caddis,” while Aric caught six and missed a handful more on a caddis larva. There were quite a few BWOs in the air by about 8:30 but very few trout rising until after 9:00. The water was still a little cloudy from the rains the other day, but definitely fishable. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can have some good fishing over the weekend!
We hit the Rush this morning with our friend Donnie. The stream was still a little cloudy from the recent rains but definitely fishable. A few caddis were coming off at about 10:30, but there was very little surface activity. The fishing was slow but we ended up each catching one — Donnie and Aric’s on black zebra midges, and mine on a caddis.
It was a great evening on the water! I fished from about 7:45 to 9:30 pm. When I got to the stream there were quite a few caddis in the air and an occasional riser. By about 8:30 the sulphurs were out in full force and the fish were really jumping. I kept my caddis on and still caught 8-10 fish while missing countless more. The river was clear to slightly stained with flows at about 108 cfs — excellent fishing conditions.
This guy took my little version of the “Bread and Butter Caddis.” The fish were going after it even though there were mostly sulphurs in the air!
The river was in great shape after the morning rains. I was able to get out in the evening from about 7:45 to 9:15. There was very little rising upon getting to the stream, but they really got going around 8:30. I caught three and missed probably a half-dozen more on a size 18 BWO Vis-A-Dun pattern.
A solid 11.5″ brown I caught this evening on the Kinni.
Over the winter we were approached by Limit Creek Fishing Rod Company, asking if we’d be interested in helping market their new “Driftless Dream” line of fly rods. After about a month of use, we have been very impressed. They are fast action, lightweight rods that shoot line like a dream. We’ve thrown everything from heavy size 6 streamers to size 18 dry flies on these rods and they all cast well. Check out this promo video we just completed for them!
If you’re interested in Limit Creek’s rods, check out their site at LimitCreek.com.
Aric went in the morning from about 9:00 to 11:30, catching two on caddis dries and missing a handful more. There was a decent caddis hatch and the fish were rising quite a bit. We went in the evening from about 7:00 to 9:45 and caught six total on the surface — five on caddis dries and one on a sulphur. The fish were rising sporadically until about 8:45 when they really got going, but when we arrived the occasional riser was usually willing to take an x-caddis.
Let’s hope today’s rains don’t muck up the streams too badly!
