Coldwater Troutin

[Tyler Holm]

RugbyGuy and I hitup one of SE MN's many trout streams on Saturday morning to see if we could wrangle with some Brownies. We selected a stream with blazing cold water in an area with loads of structure and shade from the sun.

Luck was on our side as we caught and released nearly 10 fish each in just a few short hours of fishing. Our biggest was the first fish of the day at 13" but we had several over 12" with the majority of our fish exceeding 10"

I've realized this for a long time, but really never put it into deep thought until this trip. It's the big flashes you don't hook up with that makes you want to go troutin again another day. Both Andy and I swear we had 18+" fish flashing/slashing/dashing at our lures, multiple times. While we never boated any of those fish, it’s the idea that they are out there that makes we want to go back. And I will...

We concluded that natural colors were the ticket today. For the most part we fished Rapalas in the #5-9 size. More and more, I’m starting to like the suspending/slash-baits.

Rugbyguy took a few photos that I’ll try to get posted in the next few days.

[DEADhead]

sounds like you guys had a blast; can't wait to see the pics!

[WxGuy]

Sounds like a great day on the water! I'm looking forward to seeing some pics too.

[Tyler Holm]

Late, but here is a 13"er. All fish were happily returned to the water to grow even BIGGER.

[Tyler Holm]

Andy and I made it out to a similiar stream on Friday. We weren't surprised by the chocolate waters, but thought we could still wrangle a few. We ended the day with 4 browns: 1 dink, and 3 11-12"ers.

There was no exact science to catching these (at least we didn't figure out any). I caught 1 on a #5 floating Rap in the rainbow pattern, 1 on a 1/32 oz THO jig with a Berkley Power Bait trout worm on it (this was the dink), and 1 on a #9 FireTiger countdown. I tried the rest of the box, but to no avail.

I'll be out tomorrow AM somewhere on a trout stream. I learn a little more each time out. I'm thinking crickets/hoppers will find their way to the water tomorrow. That will be a first for me...

[nate larson]

Tyler,

Nice report. I can't wait to see the rest of the pics. To bad you didn't catch that BIG one!

Did you have any luck at Oxbow over the weekend? I am guessing that you didn't because I am sure you would have told us if you did.

Good luck trout fishing tomorrow.

Nate

[monkplunk1]

I have been looking at the board for the past few months, and it seems like very few Minnesotans flyfish for trout. It also seems like spin fishers tend to use unmodified baits(treble hooks w/ barbs, etc) when trout angling. Flyfishing is not qualitatively better and does not takes more skill but it is far easier on fish (see 2004 UCal- Berkley study on fish mortality)and provides much more enjoyment. Some enjoy ripping a Mepps across stream, but for some this too will get old.

For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to pick up a flyrod, I encourage you to contact you local Trout Unlimited chapter and they will arrange something for you - free of charge. This would also be a good opportunity to become involved in cold water conservation initiatives in your area, if not already. For those of you already involved with TU, send them an email and tell them you would like to start flyfishing. I'm certain they will hook you up.

Tight lines.

[Note from admin: This post edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you]

[nate larson]

monkplunk1~

I respect your take on the trout fishing in Minnesota. I think one thing that is different in Minnesota is that a lot of our trout fisherman don't target trout as their primary species. Many of us typically do more bass fishing, walleye fishing, panfish, etc. It is an easy transition for us to fish trout with the same equipment. I personally love fishing trout with a spinning rod and think that it requires a lot of skill to do it successfully. I crimp my barb to ensure that the fish aren't hurt and return them to the water quickly(preferably in slow moving water.) I know that most of my fellow trout anglers on this website do the same. I have a lot of respect for TU and the work that they do. I actually was fortunate enough to get to help them with habitat improvement project in Southeastern MN. I personally haven't got into fly fishing because it is an expensive hobby and I already have enough of those! Haha.

Nate

[Tyler Holm]

monkplunk1,

Now that’s some good stuff. You’re always going to have who don't agree no matter what you do.

I hear people debating catching walleyes in the spring while they are spawning and vulnerable. Same goes with pulling crappies, gills, and bass off their beds in the spring. I’ve witnessed debates for catching trout in the extreme heat. There was a bunch of discussion and for “how to hold trophy sized fish”. Don’t lay your fish on the ice prior to releasing as it can freeze the eyes of the fish in seconds. Live bait fishing for trout is another. Fishing deep holes during winter for channel cats is another discussion. I could honestly go on and on here…

Some of these I’m guilty of, some not. The bottom line is somebodies always got a better idea or reason to do (or not do) this or that. This is the first I’ve personally heard of not spin fishing trout, but it’s not surprising.

I own 2 fly rods and I have caught fish from off of them. I’m certainly not an expert by any stretch, but I’ve put in a few hours here and there with the fly rod. I’ve posted the results and pictures of those as well.

I’m relatively new to MN and this is my first year trout fishing. I apologize, but a 12-13” trout still excites me. In fact it might excite me as much as a 5lb walleye, 13” perch, 13.5” crappie, 9.5” gill, etc. Sorry for any upset stomach feelings… or am I?

I think your statement about very few Minnesotans flyfish is pretty bold. First off, MN is not known for its “10,000” trout streams. I have a feeling that the vast majority of our fly fisherpeople simply don’t post much on the subject. There out there thou.

I can’t dispute that barbed/spin fishing affects fish mortality, because I do agree that it is tougher on the fish. Did you jump to the assumption that all our baits are unmodified… barbed trebles?

In 2 weeks, the season changes to C & R w/barbless hooks and quite honestly I’m looking forward to it. I’ve already got plans to grab only the fly rod and go about my business on some random trout stream. I’ll do the exact same thing for this upcoming winter trout season. It will be my first.

Thanks for the info and suggestions about Trout Unlimited as that is solid information and an excellent idea. That organization has had a huge hand in making MN trout fishing what it is today.

Maybe this is the little “shove” I needed to leave the spinning rod a home a bit more and keep the dust off the bug rod.

The original intent of this post was to share information and experiences that one of my best friends and I endured together. Please don’t take anything away from that.

[DEADhead]

well put Ty. I'll have to agree that most fly anglers in MN aren't on this forum posting. Most trout bums are on the water, not behind a computer

I'm a diehard fly fisherman. If I had my choice, that's the only way I would fish. However, there are many other methods of fishing that are just as fun. If I'm out to catch some meat for the smoker, I am usually using spinning gear to catch stocked trout in a lake. If I am fishing a river for trout on MN, I am almost always using fly tackle, as I personally do not keep any trout from a river, due to the fact that I do not want to harvest any wild fish. I am well aware of fish mortality, and effective techniques for reducing mortality rates on realesed fish.

To each his own; if a trout angler wants to use hardware and spinning tackle to catch trout, so be it. If he wants to be a worm dunker, so what. All I care about is that the angler treat the resource with respect, leave it in the same or better condition than when he/she arrived, and realize how lucky he/she is to be provided with such an awesome opportunity to catch such a marvelous being.

[WxGuy]

Well said, Ty and JP!