Rainbow Revision from March

          Earlier in March I wrote how I thought the Wisconsin DNR was stocking the Kamloops strain of rainbow trout. I was sure it was because this trout's coloration was so different. It didn't have its usual silver sheen and had a dark red stripe instead of the typical pink stripe. However, I recently learned rainbow's spawn in the spring not the fall like browns and brookies. This rainbow was in its spawning colors but not a different strain. Look at the photos of the different rainbows and notice the differences.

Spawning rainbow from the Willow

Midsummer rainbow from the Willow 2010

Brown Trout on the Kinnie

Date: April 14^th 

Weather: 60’s sunny turning cloudy

Stream: Clear but low

Hatch: Yes, mayflies

Water Temp: Cold

Beer: New Glarus Road Slush Oatmeal Stout

Beautiful pool

            After my failure to catch a Steelhead on the shore, I needed to visit familiar ground and redeem myself. So far my fishing opportunities have been limited with a busy school schedule but after spending an afternoon looking for morels in St. Paul with my aunt and uncle I had to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. The Kinnickinnic or Kinnie as it is affectionately called has a soft spot in my heart. It’s a blue ribbon stream and rivals any stream in Montana, 6,000 trout per mile. It’s a beautiful river and it runs through some big canyons and beautiful forest in Western Wisconsin.

            The weather during the last week had been cold and dreary but today was beautiful, sunny and warm. The warmth had helped create conducive conditions for fishing, insects were hatching and trout were rising to sip bugs off the surface. Few things in nature are as beautiful as this scene. Previously, I had been fishing with a spinner because insects weren’t hatching and my nymphing skills on a fly rod are not as good.

First brown

            Typically on Saturday, the river is crowded and the best spots are limited. However, it was my lucky day, I didn’t see any other anglers and the river was mine apart from kayakers who are even worse. Brown trout spook easily and kayaks keep browns from biting for at least thirty minutes. Every time a kayak passes I have to move on to a new spot because the trout will quit biting.

Another brown

            I had only to walk a short distance till I saw some signs of activity on the river. Typically, I skip this spot because every other angler has stopped here and spooked the fish but not today. There were a few bugs coming off the water’s surface, it looked like some sort of mayfly but my identification skills are subpar, I can tell if it’s a mayfly or caddis but not the actual species like a March Brown or Dark Hendrickson. I picked out a 16 Parachute Adams, the bread-and-butter of every fly angler and had at it. My first few drifts produced nothing but at the end of a drift I had a bite. After a long winter my reflexes were slow so I missed it but I figured I would get another chance. Right after that, I had a hit. I thought I took a little too long setting the hook but I guess I got it just right. Fish on and it was pulling some line. It made a few nice runs but I was able to pull it in after a little fight. I was pumped; it was my first brown of the season and on the fly rod too.

Low water at honey hole

Spunky brown

            I fished the spot a little longer with no luck and headed upstream. The water on the Kinnie is so low, I’m still in disbelief. I said this about the Willow in a previous entry. Working my way upstream, I stopped at my honey hole. With low water I wasn’t expecting much but my second cast yielded a spunky little brown that fought harder that its size would suggest.

            Working my way upstream, I was delayed a bit by my search for morels and fiddleheads. Dead ash and elm trees with sloughing bark are the key sign for morels. I inspected each one I saw but found nothing. With such an early spring, I had to investigate. Same for fiddleheads, no shoots from last year’s dead fronds. 

Lime-green buds of spring

            My luck with trout ended quickly, a storm moved in and the trout quit biting. Reluctantly, I headed back to the parking lot to drink a beer and enjoy my day. Three trout, not bad for an evening but I was hoping for more with the hatch. I think I will have to make a return later this week because the morels will be popping. 

North Shore Steelhead

Date: April 5^th-7^th 

Weather: 30-40 degrees, sunny

Stream: Clear, low water

Hatch: No

Water Temp: 38-40 degrees

Beer: Summit Dunkel Weizen

Pic of woods and 61 while driving

            March and April brings the Steelhead run to Minnesota’s North Shore. It’s an event I couldn’t miss out and I had to get out of my Como Park bubble. I left all my homework and computer at home and headed up north. The large rivers have steelhead but due to the length of the North Shore, steelhead enter the rivers at different times depending on location. When I arrived, the North Shore looked parched, no buds on any aspens even. Coming from the blooming, green Twin Cities I was shocked.

Streamside espresso

            I figured I would try to maximize my success by hitting up as many rivers as I could. I started at the Devil Track  and worked down to the Kadunce, Cascade, Poplar, Temperance, Cross, and Baptism rivers. Steelheading conditions were tough from the start. Water levels were running low and the amount of fish returning to spawn was inconsistent. (See Minnesota DNR spring salmon creel). The Devil Track yielded nothing so I hit up the Cascade, a beautiful, canyon lined river close to Grand Marais. It was crowded; as I walked up to the trail to the river I saw a guy fly casting and quickly caught a beautiful steelhead. Good sign but the whole river was filled with fishermen and spots were limited. This is the drawback of North Shore steelheading; the rivers are not very long so there is a lack of shoreline.

Tricky climbing steep rock
 ledge get to his spot

Cascade River

            Instead of fly fishing, I used my spinning rod. A 6 weight rod is ideal back home but a stouter rod is required on the North Shore. I drifted salmon eggs off the bottom with a slip bobber. I hit the seams between the fast moving water and the breaks. That’s usually where they congregate but I couldn’t get one, not even a bite. That was the story for the whole North Shore. I stopped at the Bluefin bar a few evenings and it seemed all anglers were having similar luck. Low water was preventing many fish from entering the rivers.

Full moon over Superior

            The last night of my quick trip I closed at the Temperance River. I had great luck there with Pink Salmon in the fall so I figured I would give it a go. I spent a good time casting and swinging eggs through the river. The North Shore this time of the year is so cold, my hands were freezing. I was shivering but couldn’t give up. As the sun lowered over the forest, I heard a splash on the water. I was surprised, it was so cold but there were steelhead eating a few bugs off the surface. I assembled my fly rod and let loose. Nothing. But that’s fishing, it comes and goes. At least I knew I was in the right spot, that’s half of it, the rest is up to the fish biting your hook.

No steelhead but not defeated

            Regardless of fish, it was great getting out of the city up to the North Shore. I didn’t look at any homework, think about school, or check my email. The runs continue till mid-May so hopefully I can manage an excursion after the semester. Next time, I think I will hit up the Knife, French and Sucker rivers as I hear the Steelhead and Kamloops abound.