Well I just got back. Fished the Baptism, Manitou, Cross, and Temperance Rivers. Managed about 25-30 brookies and german brown trout in the course of 3 days. I threw them all back as they were only 3-6 iches in length. Locals told me all the streams were recovering from near or total freeze outs the winter before last. The populations were very large. In the baptism I could barely get my line in the water without nailing a juvenile brookie, often striking at my fly in between my feet as I worked on a tangle or such. In a couple years the streams will be good fishing again. Guess the upcoming steelhead runs up below the barrier falls will have to keep anglers busy for now.

So as a fellow fly fisher, I am going to soon take a newbie with me. I see you just did this with your wife, and congratulations to her btw. What kind of a setup do you use for regular bait plunkin in fast moving streams? Just a bobber with a sinker up the line above some leader?

Hmm, how can I put this. I have heard a lot of buzz from trout anglers and just general anglers alike lately on the Vermillion River. I for the life of me do not understand where this is coming from. I live near the Vermillion. It is an ecological disaster. High bacteria levels, and people in town who try to swim and fish it often get very ill. Also lots of toxins. High school classes in the area use it to study what indicator species like frogs look like when they grow six legs. Anything you could catch in it you would be putting your safety at risk to eat. Maybe perhaps at the very headwaters of the river before it goes through all the chemicals and raw sewage it picks up from farmland……otherwise, steer clear.