Alaska, Day 2

reflecting on chrome 

sea run dolly varden

Tim closing the day swinging.

Alaska, Day 1

A few months ago Nate asked me if I wanted to fish in Alaska. He was headed to ANC for a conference and couldn't pass up the opportunity to fish, nor could I, nor could Tim. Nate and I had never been to Alaksa. We fished 4 days last week. Slept in the back of a Ford Excursion and caught a bunch of unbelievable fish. Here's a few pics from day 1. Some cool fish coming in tomorrow's post. 

A Sunny Saturday in Minnesota

I spent a blue bird day in SE Minnesota with Dan. We worked our way over a lot of water and found a few takers. This was a new stream for me. Every time I fish a new driftless stream, I am surprised at how they all seem to be the same and yet very different. This one was pretty cool. Over the course of a few miles it went from one of the tiniest streams in the driftless to one of the largest. The best fishing was in the small parts.

Battle Scar

A nice fish from the far bank

Rock Wall. In case you were wondering if this was indeed the driftless.

April Fishing

Birthday Pie, oh my

Tether Ball Action Shot

The boys are getting fishy.

 The suckers are making their annual push into the creeks from the larger Rivers.

Quilback

March Fishing

steps at Palisades Kepler State Park

All about the flow

Today I spent some time on a stream that is typically ‘low and clear’. Needless to say, I don’t often do well here. Today was different, the water was up and it was a bit dirty. The run-glide-run sequences were replaced with one continuous riffle that seemed to go on for miles. I fished it all, casting to virtually every foot along the bank, stripping in slowly and letting my fly dangle in the current.  I did good. Fish were everywhere and it seemed like they were happy to be out of their typical pools, like chickens let out of their henhouse. 

 I sat down along the river. I let the sun warm my face. I closed my eyes and listed to the sound of the riffle. I let my mind wander to a time when the base flow of this stream, and many streams like it, was higher. Before agriculture, before drainage tile, water used to filter through the earth to be delivered to streams later, perhaps during the late summer, when trout need it the most. What was this river like back then? Was it one long riffle like it happens to be today? Was it full of fish, big fish? Then I started fishing again.

A brown  trout with dirty mop.

Darters

Darters are abundant in the trout streams and warm waters I fish. When I find a good bugger hatch I like a barred streamer. The Dirty Mop fits the bill. Iowa reports 16 species of darters. This Spring, be sure to tie on a rusty orange/brown bugger to emulate the spawning darter.

Iowa Darter - USGS info - good stuff

Darters

Sculpin Collage

A result of the polar vortex and a few cups of coffee. The combination messes with your brain. Come on Spring!

Winter Trout

Saturday, December 28, 2013. Driving in the dark with Bill Callahan in the player. Perfect coffee sip tunes -- "Well the only words I said today are beer and thank you" -Callahan. The car says 4 degrees now, but by 1:00 it's a pleasant 38 in the Driftless. An anomaly to the trending weather pattern. That was only a week ago and it feels like long ago... I guess it was last year.

Swinging for Trout

Winter conjures contemplation. I’ve been reflecting on how my small stream fishing style has evolved. A couple years ago most of my casts involved tossing the fly upstream and drifting or slow strip retrieving. The last couple years I’ve been tossing downstream and swinging/stripping against the current. While I still deploy the upstream cast, the ratio flipped. Why? Because the tug on a tight line swing is awesome. I think Nate would agree that fishing one Spring with Tim Pearson on some small WI streams helped influence our deployment of the downstream cast. I once saw Tim cast upstream but it turned out he was just releasing a downstream snag. 

Here are a couple nice Fall fish caught swinging on Driftless streams. Also featuring stream side lunch of soup, burgers, beer (whiskey gone by then). 

scar face

ended the season with a fat 20". my biggest trout of the year.

shelter from the strong wind

Steelhead

Photos from a great steelhead trip with Dan. Not sure much else needs to be stated. Enjoy..

DIY

I’m quick to throw aesthetics out the window if it will save me a buck. Here are a couple hacks you may get a kick out of.

Native has a bunch of nice accessories for your watercraft. For $89 bucks you can buy the factory seat riser for the Ultimate Series kayaks. Or use some 1" foam and duct tape to build your own stack on the cheap.

This may look like a top of the line rod holder. Don't be fooled, it's DIY.

DIY Finger Sleeves. I used an old pair of compression shorts. These things have worked great.

Searching...

We are out there, searching for late season pike.

Driftless

September leftovers. 

I love fishing in the rain

Like an old friend you haven't seen in a while, there is a driftless stream that will be there. It will have changed a little, but its character will be the same. It will be happy to see you and you will be happy to see it.