Rush River

I fished the Rush today from about 11:00 to 2:00. The snow melt was in full force, as the water was high, cold, and cloudy. I was able to catch one small brown on a zebra midge pretty quickly. After a while without a bite, I decided to change it up and tie on a streamer. I rarely fish streamers and my goal for 2016 is to become a better streamer fisherman (and hopefully hook up with some big fish in the process). I ended up missing one fish and netting another — a nice 13″ brown — my first Rush fish ever on a streamer.

We fished the Rush today from about 10:00 to 12:30. Between the two of us we caught 12-15 browns and one brookie. Most were pretty small, but Aric was able to catch one about 11 or 12″. They were all on a hot spot pheasant tail and ice cream cone midge combo, with most hitting the midge. I also tried stripping a streamer through a few pools and moved a couple fish (including one about 15″), but couldn’t get any to commit. There were a lot of midges coming off, but we didn’t spot any rises.

It seemed like the others we talked to on the river were having success on small nymphs and midges as well. With this warmer weather, the fishing should only get better over the next few days.

 

We got out for a little while today for some pre-Super Bowl fishing on the Rush, from about 10:00 to 12:30. The water was crystal clear with bright skies out, not great conditions. We were only able to bring one fish to hand, a small brown caught by Aric in a deep pool on a size 18 zebra midge. Is was nice to be fly fishing regardless, as temperatures in high-30s are definitely not the norm in February!

 

My friend Eddie Rivard and I hit the Rush today from about 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. Eddie caught six trout — four over 13″, with 18″ his biggest — on a green turd (a variation of an olive woolly bugger). I caught four myself — including one 13″ and one 16″ — on a Euro pheasant tail nymph and zebra midge combo. I caught two on each fly. Fish were in both shallow runs and deep pools. In one pool we saw about a dozen rises and noticed midges on the bank. It was definitely a great day to take advantage of the new early trout season!

 

We went on the Rush Thursday morning from around 8:30 to 12:00. The water is pretty much back to normal after the last rain on Saturday night. I started off using a pheasant tail and caddis larva combo and caught four smaller brookies. Around 9:00 I noticed that smaller fish were starting to rise to tricos so I figured that some bigger fish would be rising somewhere. After a few hundred yards of walking I finally found a good pool with some more active fish. I tied on a size 20 trico but I couldn’t get anything to take it. Right before I was about to change my tippet to 6X (I was too lazy to put it on in the beginning), a nice 14 inch brown sipped my fly off the surface. Later when I switched to 6X, I caught 5 to 6 more. I’ve been having the best luck on cool days with overcast skies.

We went to the Rush tonight from about 7:00 to 9:00. The stream was very clear, and the last deluge really swept away a lot of the silt that was in this particular spot before. I had three browns to hand and missed a few more on a pheasant tail and zebra midge combo, while Aric caught three browns and two brookies on a pheasant tail and caddis larva combo. Dad tried to catch some on the surface with a beetle pattern and had a few swipes but none to hand. On our way back to the car we noticed a few risers, but it was getting too dark to re-rig, so we just kept walking. We noticed some blue winged olives in the air, so I believe that’s what the fish were after. It looks like we’re going to get a good soaking overnight, so we’ll see how the streams look in the morning.

Also, this will be my last post for a while, and Aric will be taking over the duties. I’m leaving for Southern Iowa Monday for an internship at Midwest Whitetail. It should be a great opportunity to expand my knowledge of outdoor videography and photography, and hopefully help me find a job in the outdoor industry! I will post links on here and Facebook to some of the projects I’m working on throughout the internship. If you like whitetails, check out MidwestWhitetail.com. It is a great site to learn more about hunting strategies and see some nice bucks!

I was able to do a little fishing tonight just before dark, from about 7:45-9:00. The stream was pretty much back to its normal flows and clarity. Seeing how high the water got was pretty amazing. There was no surface activity and I didn’t notice many flies outside of the occasional caddis. I ended up catching three (two browns, one brookie) and missing a couple more on a pheasant tail nymph — not a bad night.

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.