Fishing Reports Archives - Page 4 of 9

Rush River 6.27.16

June 27, 2016June 28, 2016Aaron Avestruz

I fished the Rush tonight from about 7:30 to 9:15. There was very little surface activity when I arrived so I fished with a size 16 Frenchie with a size 18 black zebra midge below it. I ended up catching 8-10 fish, most of them around 8 inches. They did begin feeding on the surface a bit as it got darker on sulphurs, and I talked to another fisherman that had luck with sulphur dry flies.

All of the fish I caught were in shallow riffles under a foot deep. Most of the time it took a dozen or so drifts through a riffle before I could get a take, so make sure to stay patient when nymphing these spots.

Looking to learn how to fly fish or just learn more about the local streams? Let me host you on a guided outing! I’m offering 20% off rates if you schedule your trip before the end of June!

Rush River 6.24.16

June 24, 2016June 25, 2016Aaron Avestruz

Aric and I fished the Rush from about 7:30 pm until just after dark. I started the night fishing a hopper dropper rig with a red hippie stomper and a Frenchie, and caught two small browns on it before switching to a Euro pheasant tail and zebra midge. Aric fished a pheasant tail with a zebra midge the entire outing before breaking off at dark. I ended up catching around a dozen total while Aric caught 8-10.

The evening started pretty slow until about 8:30 and the fishing continued to get better until I couldn’t see my indicator in the dark. The best fish of the evening was a chunky 12-incher that I didn’t have enough light to get a photo of. There was very little rising with minimal hatch activity outside a couple caddis and midges fluttering around.

Aric working a good looking run. I think we pulled four or five fish out of this spot.

We are definitely into summer patterns now. Focus on early in the morning or late in the evening. If you want to fish mid-day, find shaded areas for the best fishing. Also, the plastic hatch is in full swing on the Lower Kinni, so don’t expect to find much solitude between 9 am and 6 pm.

Looking to learn how to fly fish or just learn more about the local streams? Let me host you on a guided outing! I’m offering 20% off rates if you schedule your trip before the end of June!

Rush River 6.18.16

June 18, 2016June 20, 2016Aaron Avestruz

Aric, my dad, and I fished the Rush this morning from about 8:00 to noon. The stream was a little high and had a slight stain — perfect fishing conditions. I fished a hippie stomper with a Frenchie nymph two feet below and caught around 20, with the biggest around 13″. I had my best success in shaded areas adjacent to deeper pools, especially as it got later in the day. I’d cast near the bank in slower water and just wait for the hippie to sink and set the hook; it reminded me of fishing for bluegills with a bobber. I did catch three or four on the hippie and had quite a few come to the surface to investigate. There was sporadic rising throughout the morning to caddis.

This fatty was one of Aric's bigger fish of the day. — This fatty was one of Aric’s bigger fish of the day.

Aric and my dad fished with nymphs (pheasant tail with a zebra midge dropper) and caught about ten each in the riffles, with Aric’s biggest near 13″ as well.

If you’re interested in buying some hippie stompers as we approach terrestrial season, please contact me here or through Facebook!

St. Croix River Smallmouth 6.11.16

June 12, 2016June 12, 2016Aaron Avestruz

Yesterday I was invited by Brian Elwood and his brother P.J. to float the St. Croix River and fly fish for smallmouth. Going after smallies has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, so I quickly jumped at the chance to join them. I spooled up one of my reels with some 8 wt line for my recently acquired Limit Creek 8 wt Fly Rod and was set to go. We met at the landing at 7:00 am, dropped off my car, then headed a couple miles upstream to put the boat in.

After going the first couple hours with many takes but no fish in the boat, Brian got on the board with this smallie. He did most of his fishing on streamers using a sinking line, while I mostly used poppers and other flies near the surface on a floating line.

We fished through a small side channel where they’ve had success before, and soon I got on the board myself. I thought it was my first smallmouth on a fly, but remembered I caught a really small one in Southeast Minnesota last year while going after trout. We’ll just put an asterisk on that one since it was about 5 inches.

As we went through the side channel we could see smallies chasing baitfish right where it dumps into the main channel again, forming a nice dropoff. When we got to that spot, I made one cast with my popper, and after a few swipes from a smallie, I finally hooked him. This one was a little bigger than my first, around 12-13 inches.

We could still see the baitfish being chased around and Brian had a follow or two on his streamer, so P.J. was nice enough to row back upstream so we could get another shot at them. My first cast back into the area got me another fish. I could now see why people get so obsessed with smallie fishing!

We eventually made our way downstream and into another side channel, and Brian was able to bring a couple more fish to hand, while I lost a few myself.

What a beautiful place, minus the hundreds of kayakers.

We kept pounding the banks as we floated downstream and found another area around a couple fallen trees where the smallmouth were chasing baitfish. Brian tossed his streamer into the logs and hooked into what we thought was a pike. Nope, it was a gar! He put up quite the fight.

P.J. with the great net job.

About 20 yards downstream I hooked into another smallie. I could immediately tell he was bigger than the others I’d caught. After losing a couple earlier in the day, I stripped the fish in as quickly as possible and didn’t give him time to shake free. “Just get it in the boat,” P.J. would always say. We got him in the net and measured him at 17 inches, the biggest of the day. It was caught on the “Swingin’ D” by Mike Schultz. You can bet I’ll be tying a few of these up in the near future.

As we got closer to our takeout point we drifted by some more fallen trees where P.J. lost a big one the day before. Brian and I had cast after perfect cast into the logs, and I kept thinking (and probably even said) it would be a shame if we couldn’t pull one out of here. Right after that crossed my mind, Brian hooked into a nice fish. We got it in the boat and it measured 15 inches, his biggest of the outing. It was a great way to end the day.

We soon got to the landing to complete our day of fishing. Brian and I each ended up with 5 or 6 fish in the boat, and gave a long distance release to numerous more. I can’t thank Brian and P.J. enough for inviting me to join them, and P.J. for guiding us the whole way. P.J. guides fly fishermen in Southwest Wisconsin as well. If anyone is looking for a guide in the Westby-Viroqua Area, check out P.J.’s Guide Service!

Anyone know of a good deal on a drift boat?

Pierce County 6.10.16

June 10, 2016June 11, 2016Aaron Avestruz

With the Driftless Trout Anglers’ annual get-together (named “Troutstock”) this weekend, Driftless Area fly fishing legend Bryan “Trapper” Voldahl arrived early and invited me to join him on a smaller Pierce County stream this morning. We decided to fish a shaded stretch of stream because of the hot weather.

After nymphing for the first few minutes, we noticed a couple good rises and switched it up to dries. I tied on a variation of a parachute adams I’ve been tying lately and Trapper went with his favorite dry, the hippie stomper. It is basically a beetle attractor pattern.

Trapper's fly of choice was a red hippie stomper in a size 16. — Trapper’s fly of choice was a red hippie stomper in a size 16.

After having a few swipes and misses on the adams, Trapper stepped up and quickly had one take the hippie. We continued up stream switching off and picking fish off with the hippie stomper. Most were about 8-inches — this stream should have plenty of nice-sized fish in a couple years. The biggest of the day was this 13-incher that just poked his nose up to sip the fly off the surface — one of the prettiest rises I’ve seen.

The second biggest was this 12-incher. We caught about 30 fish total from about 9:00 to 11:30 am, all on the hippie stomper. It’s always fun to watch fish take your fly off the surface! I will definitely be tying up a dozen hippie stompers in the near future.

Lower Kinni 6.9.16

June 9, 2016June 10, 2016Aaron Avestruz

I took my friend Roxie on the Kinni this evening on a mission to get her first fish on a fly. After a short casting practice session, we hit the water at about 7:00. The first run yielded one fish for me as I was demonstrating, and Roxie lost one other. We eventually moved downstream to another run that I’ve had success with.

After missing a couple more fish, she finally got one in the net with this nice little Kinni brown.

As it was getting dark I said we needed to get one more fish before calling it a night. Soon, this nice 12″ brown took the Frenchie. Not a bad second fish on a fly!

We hoped to get into some dry fly fishing tonight, but there wasn’t nearly as much surface activity as there was earlier this week, so we stuck to nymphs. There were quite a few caddis out, however. The three fish that came to hand were caught on a Frenchie and zebra midge. We also missed a couple on an olive scud and a small pheasant tail (I believe size 18, but I tied it on a short emerger hook so the length is actually closer to a 20 or 22).

Rush River 6.8.16

June 8, 2016June 10, 2016Aaron Avestruz

Aric fished the Rush this evening from about 5:30 to 9:00. He nymphed the entire time with a size 18 pheasant tail and size 20 zebra midge. He had one of his best outings of the year with multiple fish over 15 inches and about 20 fish total. He said all the bigger fish took the pheasant tail. With the warmer weather, fishing has definitely been more productive early and late during the cooler periods of the day.

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Lower Kinni 6.6.16

June 6, 2016June 7, 2016Aaron Avestruz

Aric and I fished the Kinni last night from about 7:30 to 9:30. We began the evening nymphing, but after a small shower came through at about 8:30, the stream came alive with rising trout. I switched to a size 16 sulphur parachute I’ve been tying lately (will be available to order soon) and got swipes on nearly every cast, catching around a dozen fish before dark. It was easily the best dry fly action I’ve had this year, with sulphurs and caddis flies everywhere.

Aric continued nymphing throughout the evening with two size 18 pheasant tails and caught about 10 fish himself, while I caught 6-8 on a Euro pheasant tail and zebra midge before switching to the dry. No big fish of note, but it was fun to get into some great fishing on the surface!

Also, I am starting a guide service and am offering 20% off rates during the month of June! Click here for more details.

Post-Rain Stream Conditions 6.4.16

June 4, 2016June 4, 2016Aaron Avestruz

We didn’t get too much rain overnight — less than 0.3″ — while Ellsworth and Spring Valley to the east got closer to an inch. Aric fished the Rush this morning and it was pretty much unfishable, with clarity less than 6″. I took my dog on a walk to the Kinni this afternoon and it is still in great shape!

Rush River 6.3.16

June 3, 2016June 4, 2016Aaron Avestruz

Aric and I fished the Rush this morning from about 7:45 to 10:30. We both had luck with pheasant tails and zebra midges, catching around a dozen fish each. Aric had the big fish of the day with one around 13″. Fish seemed to be holding mostly in shallow riffles at the heads of runs. The fishing seemed to slow down a bit as it got later in the morning. There was a decent hatch of what I believe were march browns, and fish were rising sporadically to them.