SE Minnesota Brown Trout

I began fly fishing on April 7th. Two weeks later, and I have now broken a personal record twice. Last week coughed up a 19-1/2″ beauty with broad shoulders, a huge tail, and girth. This week, I have fished a number of other streams, some very large, some very small, and have had pretty good success. It’s only a matter of time before the big bronzebacks of the Mississippi start calling my name, but I have had a heck of a fun time pursuing these trout on the fly, and it is something that I would like to incorporate into my fishing time at least a few times a month. Trout like these leave no question as to why I would set aside that time.

This past week, Zac and I have switched gears a bit. We went from trying to hit a new stream, or even two new streams per day, to focusing on trying to catch trophy fish out of waters where we know they are located. Since I caught that 19-1/2″ brown last week, there have been at least 5 others that size or bigger caught from the same stream between a handful of guys that have been fishing it. Zac lost the biggest hook jaw of his life last week, and said it would have easily taped 22+”, but knocked off at the net. We took a break from the glory creek on Sunday and headed to some beautiful territory on the Root River. It was by far the most beautiful stretch of trout water I’ve ever fished. We caught lots of fish, including a few brookies and several browns in the 14-15″ range, but no giants. The fish were crushing hendricksons on the surface throughout much of the afternoon. I went through several dry flies and caught a few fish, but not as many as Zac. Dry fly fishing is fun, but it’s definitely more work than fishing the beaded baits..It’s hard for a noob like myself to keep the fly dry all the while avoiding snags , but i caught a few.
The best fish of the day however came on an olive leech imitator with a beadhead. Fishing fast seemed to be the best way to attract strikes.

Having a short day today and hearing of the snowfall predicted, I thought I had better get out in the water and see what was happening. In fact, I’d still be out there right now if it wasn’t for wet gloves, wet coat, and for breaking my leader, all factors which compounded and sent me heading for the truck . The idea of fishing in the snow sounded adventurous, hardcore, and potentially productive, so I rigged up my rod, jumped in the truck, and headed for the bottom end of the same stream that we’ve been fishing. Theorizing that the bigger fish are utilizing deep pools in the lower ends of the streams, I was pretty anxious to find out if I was right.
Several casts were made to the edge of a current seam generated by a nice rapid section that flows into a deep but relatively narrow pool. It looked like the perfect spot. I spent about 10 minutes making roll casts to the opposite bank and stripping it back. Finally i decided that I had better slow my presentation down. I drifted that leech ever so slowly through the hole. To the point where I could no longer see my perfection loop (not using indicators). I picked up the line and instantly knew what to do. With a motion that has become pretty instinctive (at first it was pretty laughable) I set the hook into pure shoulders.

The fish instantly came to the surface and showed herself, As if to say, “Take a good look, ’cause you’ll never see me again!” Unlike my last battle with a big fish, I stayed calm and was able to avoid the “trout fever” shakes, at least to a degree. I kept the pressure on the fish with my right hand while the left hand was frantically trying to take up line on the spool. Meanwhile, the fish didn’t seem to mind, she was just content with sitting smack dab in the middle of the pool, ceasing to budge. After a tiresome battle (for both me and the fish) of at least 5 minutes (kind of lost track of time ) i had the fish in the shallows. It didn’t stop there though. The net was way too small for this pig. I scooped and hit the fish once, and it darted right past my legs and headed back to the deep water, completely changing the direction of my rod in the process. I am so lucky that that moment wasn’t the end. Finally after another stint of tug-o-war in the depths, the fish was shallow again, and this time I changed my approach. I steered the fish toward the bank as much as I could, then used the net to pin her against the shore. Finally the prize was mine; to the tune of a 21″ giant driftless brown trout! It was a rush. I took a few pictures (even got the timer so I could get my mug in the background) and then released her to fight another day. Despite not touching another trout today, It was well worth the trouble of heading into the field. I did have another 12-13″ fish come off in the air right next to my hand, and another beastly fish over 18″ strike a larger leech streamer fished upstream, but those will have to wait for another day. Needless to say, I’m still hooked on fly fishing more reports to come.

-Cade