Not much to add here Jerry, everything said is right on.
I won’t say where I have been fishing exactly because I want folks to spread out. But here is a method that has been working for me. Look on your map and find a small trout stream, follow it down to where it flows into a larger river, pick a point about a 1/4 mile below that spot on the large river and fish from there up to the mouth of the small stream to about 1/4 mile above. the Root has been getting hit heavy but there are several other rivers that fit the bill which are almost ignored. Branch out from the norm.
John

Sorry I missed this one Dave, sounds like it would have been fun!
John

I’ve been in the process of moving and am just now getting my computer online and other things back in order. It has been a mess, but I have been able to steal an hour or so to fish now and again.
My new location is in Rochester.
John

All and all I think that it was a fairly good year. My numbers were way down, with only 425 trout total, I spent 120 hours fishing and averaged 3.45 fish per hr. Most of the trout caught were on spinners, but a misleading stastistic because spinners are what I used most of the time. My largest trout were mostly caught on the Silver/Gold Super Bow spinner, however I did land a dandy 22-23″ Brown using a black knat fly on last day of season C/R. The size of trout was the thing this year. I caught and released 8 trout over 20″ and have lost track of the numbers in the 16 to 20″ range. Most of the big trout came from the Root River system. Almost all of my fishing was in the afternoon.
John

I recieved a pair of Cabalas Goretex waders as a gift from my wife, that was about 8 years ago. They have been great! The first pair developed a small leak but Cabalas exchanged them for a new pair with no hassel. I have heard nothing but good reports about Simms but have had no experience with them.
John

You’re absolutely right Art! but it’s not just the Root, almost all small rivers and streams are comming alive with Smallies. If there is a rocky bottom and some moving water, chances are there will be a Small-Mouth holding somewhere.
I have found great action on the Straight, Ceadar, Cannon etc. But alot of small fish, about the size of my hand, I did catch a 17″ smallie on the Straight Sunday. If there is a small river or stream that connects to the Mississippi in your neighborhood, you may be sitting on a Bronzeback gold mine.
John Eggers

I’ve been wondering about this myself. Every time there has been a fee hike, it seems that we get less. In the late 60’s and early 70’s the DNR was saying that they would be adding another 5 miles of prime trout water every year. Thats been over 40 years and about $20 per license ago, and I don’t believe I can find that 200 miles of trout stream anywhere! We have actualy lost streams since then. Our overall stocking has decreased. And there’s supposed to be money being generated from Lottery tickets going into our natural resources. What Gives???
John Eggers

This is gonna be tough on the water skiers!
John

Dave, that definitely confirms what we’ve seen and heard so far. Thanks.
So far this thread has been a good source of smething new to talk about.
John

Yeah, I’ve been on Secret Lake with Hawger. Fantastic fly fishing for large sunny’s!
John

Yeah Jim I know what you mean about not enough time, and I would sure enjoy a gettogether on one of the streams this year. Let’s see if we can do that.

HYBES I know just what your saying, it’s almost like most folks don’t know whats going on or they don’t want to say. I did get some recommendations about the lake, but even the DNR people I talked too, had almost no idea about rivers or streams. I do feel that with that many streams being managed for trout, there has to be a few that have fair fishing, it’s just a matter of finding them. Keep in mind that a lot of the streams here in SE Minnesota can get very poor during certain times of the year. If one was to do a quick scan of these he would most likely write off that part of the state as well.

JOHN

JOHN

Won’t argue with you on that Dave, all I do is report on what I observe. The rocks and logs that I overturned as well as the shoreline plants held a wealth of insects and other life, maybe not the kind trout like, or maybe the hatch comes to late for the trout.
Steve,thanks for the response. What you say reflects the response I got from almost everyone I talked to. There can be no question about the great quality of fishing along the shores and the rivermouths of Lake Superior. I for one will not write off nor quit fishing this area based on the experience gained from a smathering of fishing done at the poorest time of the year. My reports are focused on showing folks as to what is going on at the time and to try to convey the flavor of the area and what to expect. In no way do I want to discourage anyone from fishing the Superior area, in fact my goal is just the oppisite, for the larger the dissplacement of anglers, the less pressure we will have on any one stream. With this in mind I try to show streams in the most possitive light, but the fact is I only caught and released 5 small trout.
John

Although the streams are extremly beautiful with an ample supply of forage fish,crayfish, and insects, the dark water heats up fast. Water temps in the 70’s. I only caught 5 trout the whole trip.
John Eggers.

I liked it Jerry! especialy about the water condition and the tubers. I can hardly wait for the pics! There must have been some rain since I left Thursday. Keep em comming!
John

Great report Jake! Thanks for sharing.
John Eggers

Welcome aboard Jerry!!

Jake, we went in by Orre on the sioux river, then worked our way up as far as Lynx Lake. We saw some deer on the way up but outside of that the only real wild life was an eagle.
John

Thanks guys, I just returned from the BWCA, this is a great wellcome home. I found that the smallies and wallies up there like Bow spinners as much as the trout do. If you thought wadeing for trout was work wait until you portage a canoe and pack, 268 rods across country in +80 degree heat.
But the work was worth it, the scenery great, caught fish, lots of fun.
John

Gimpy; If you are able to wade or canoe, the Straight River through Owatonna to Faribault has been produceing some nice Smallies for the past 5 years, as well as Northerns and Walleyes. I haven’t fished it this year yet, but it should be good. I always use big silver spiners (need I say what kind) and jointed Firetiger Raps.

John Eggers

How about this? since I have two spools for my reel, what would you recomend to put on the second spool?
John

Thanks guys, I’ve used Fireline for years when casting spinners, but was wondering if the braided feature of this line was too visible and might spook fish when jigging.
John

I used to go to Lumberjack Lodge about 60 miles north of Ignace. It’s located on Sturgeon Lake and has access to a whole lot of other lakes close by. They used to let me camp for about $4.00 a night and let me store our catch in their freezer as well as use the shower. It had Fantastic fishing for Lake Trout, walleye, northern pike etc. It usualy tok about 14 hours of driving at 55 mph to get there from Owatonna. The prices have most likely changed, because of new ownership, and I suspect that I was getting treated a little better because I had been going there twice a year for about 18 years. It might be worth looking into. You can look them up on the I-net at [email protected] or call 1-807-934-6902. It used to be owned by James Krosschell but now it belongs to Dave & Sherry Erickson.
Joh Eggers

Jake I am no expert in this department, but I have had some good luck on cats around 7 to 12 pounds in the cannon river in and around Faribault. I used old dead shiner minnows (this is hard to admit to)I hooked them deep through the head and then stomped on them until they popped(true story)The Catfish realy went for them.
John

Yeah Mark, that’s the one. When my map was made I90 didn’t exist, so it’s not there. I particularly like the specific inforfation on the back side, especialy the up to date surveys taken in 1946, Have you ever waded Carey or Hamilton creek(LOL) Or how about Masten? It might be fun just to go down them again.
John

Thanks Jim, Alex and his father were great! I always have the most fun watching a youngster pull in their first trout. That’s always the toughest fish to get on their line. After that I breath a little easier.
I wish there was room here for all the photos I took, I have a lot more that are equaly as good.
Hey, maybe we can get together and wet a line, I recently found one of my first trout maps that I used when I was still in high school. I had it laminated, I think that you would be interested in how things have changed n the last 33 years.
John Eggers

Thanks Jake,
I am tagging along with a group, and will have to ask again as to the where and what. I’ll let you know when I ask our leader. Just hopeing to get some time in on the walleyes for tips and practice.
John

Last year after the 4th of July, I picked up two full cans of Bush lite, one can of Heineken, and one Mountain Dew. While fishing the Root just below Lanesboro. It’s sure nice to have tubers on a river, a guy could go thirsty without them!
John

I feel bad that I didn’t read this until Friday night. I had a group to take out on the streams Saturday but would have been free the next two days.The Austin area is kinda home for me, so I would have been more than happy to make conections. If you’re in this area again please hollar!
Hope that you were able to wet a line.
John.

Yeah, the spinner I used was a Super Bow silver. The trout were all under 13″, but my first 7 were all between 11 and 13″. I met a young man from Austin, and he said that he was not having any luck at all, so I cut the Super Bow off of my line and gave it to him. On his sixth cast he landed a nice brown, in ten minutes he was limited out and went home happy. This made my day. The big manufacturers make their products with the idea of marketing first, My spinners were made by me for me with the idea of catching the most trout possible. Marketing was an afterthought. Thank you very much for purchasing the Super Bow spinner, it will catch fish.
John

I don’t want to crawl up on the fence here guys, but late night spech writing can easily make a hypocrite out of even great troutchasers like me. In truth I am probably out of my element here because all of the places that I report on are already made public knowledge via the DNR and a map with big blue lines. Also I never report on a stream or river that is not open to the public. The majority of my large trout come off of nonpublic water so folks never read or hear about them. I guess that in a manner of speaking this is keeping a secret. I’ll go back to my Trout streams and hide!
John