We are headed down camping this weekend and I just read this park is good for trout fishing. My 8 year old nor myself know how to fly fish let alone stream fish. Anything is possible but can we use spinning reel set ups? Trout fishing with fly rod usually means using a fly, but on a spinning reel I only hear people using Mepps. Does a worm and sinker work for trout?
Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.
Drift a worm under a float with a split shot. Or as you said a small Mepps spinner.
Trout fished down there last summer and did really well with 1/16 mooneye jig and small gulp minnow. Did well at the Brule with that setup too couple years ago. Nothing big but lots and lots of shorts, good action for kiddo
Small mepps spinner with black hair and or a small brown trout rapala . If they see you it’s over . Make sure you walk up stream against the current and pull the lures back down against the current . It’s a reaction bite so reel fast . Don’t spend too much time in one hole . If you don’t have one in 3/4 cast usually it’s not worth staying . Further from the crowds or tougher access the better it’ll get .
Look for morels and wild leeks on hillsides. Makes a tasty addition to trout dinner.
Panther Martin spinners work very well. And you can get them at Scheels, Cabela’s and Fleet Farm. I would get some with natural colors and some with bright colors, and purple always seems to do well.
If you want to try fly fishing, you can get a bubble so you can cast with a spinning reel. I have not seen the bubbles at Fleet Farm or Scheels, but they might have them. Cabela’s or online might be your best option. Or, you could always stop at a fly shop on your way to your fishing shop. Root River and Rod Co and Driftless Flyfishing Company are great options.
isu22andy nailed it. Don’t need much other than a small spinner. Personally my favorite is a the wordens rooster tails. I think Yakima Baits now own them. The 2 best colors are Black body with a silver blade or Brown body with a gold blade. Bright days use the black and silver, overcast days the brown with gold. A small floating rapala will also work and tends to catch the bigger fish. Like said work the baits rather fast. Trout ate reactin feeders and you almost cant reel to fast for the. Look for runout pools at the end of fast rapids. You can also catch lots of fish right in the fast moving shallow water. You would not think there are fish in that shallow and fast moving water but there is, You may have to reel rather fast to keep the blade turning. Like said walk and cast up stream. Another option and maybe a better one with a 8 year old is to find a deeper slack water pool and fish a bobber with a chunk of crawler or work below it.
I second the Panther Martin spinners on a spinning rod combo- I like yellow with red dots, the Trout love them and that’s all I bring fishing.
If they stock rainbows there and you want to catch some to eat, throw a spinner with pink on it, they really love that.
Thank you for all the feedback! What size lures…1/8 or 1/4? I’ll try Fleet Farm tomorrow.
For spinner try right around a quarter ounce.
#4 or #6 classic panther martin
One last thing – don’t forget polarized sunglasses to cut the glare . Huge difference to see in the water .
How about for fishing, we in the water, how deep is it? Are we bank fishing?
Just curious on footwear.
In my experience in other streams about chest deep is the highest but there are some streams that are deeper . I can’t recall fishing this time of year ever but in the summer months I just wore old tennis shoes . Even a simple pair of muck boots are better than nothing .
Can’t recommend sport water shoes enough for life in general, especially fishing. I have couple pairs similar to pic, drain water well, does better than most on keeping sand grit pebbles from getting in around ankle, and dry out quick without that super squishy feel of a wet shoe.
We biked from Preston to past Rushford last year on the trail and stopped several times to fish, bridges always had some decent structure fish held to. The jig and gulp caught em everywhere we stopped. That was the main branch, I remember the confluence of the south and main being a pretty heavy fishing Hotspot for folks. I’d assume the south branch to be similar perhaps skinnier in nature. Never walked in further than knee deep to get to spots.
Fun times, wish ya luck, loved the area and will be back. They had the old bridge closed in Forestville park when we went, for construction I believe, had a long detour to get around, not sure if that may affect you.
Also there is some thick itch weed along its banks, really made our legs on fire at certain spots. Rinse of water helped. Will be wearing my hiking pants next go around.
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