Graduation in Winona and the Whitewater River

Date: May 12^th

Weather: 68, clear, blue skies

Stream: Clear

Hatch: Light Cahills

Tall drink of water or
chunk of coal?

Water Temp: Cold

Beer: New Glarus Dancing Man

Whitewater as I stepped out of car

            This last weekend was another busy one for me. Just as I finished finals I went down to spend the weekend in lovely Winona for my little sister’s graduation. It was a great weekend; Winona is in the center of the Mississippi bluff country full of rolling forested hills, gentle flowing rivers and beautiful weather. Most of my weekend was consumed with graduation related stuff and I didn’t have too much time to do anything else. However, after the graduation ceremony Saturday I managed to sneak away for some fishing.

Nice pool

            Winona is stone’s throw away from some of the best Minnesota and Wisconsin trout fishing. In particular the Whitewater River Valley is spectacular. The valley is surrounding by immense bluffs and behind the bluffs are rolling, endless Midwest farm fields. It’s a weird combination but it works. In the valley, the Whitewater runs clear and is loaded with wild trout. Saturday evening was too beautiful an evening to pass up; I had to make it out fishing if only for a few hours.

Don't take photos facing the sun

Sweet

            As I drove through the valley looking for a spot I saw so many anglers. I knew the Whitewater was popular but I didn’t anticipate this large of a crowd. Regardless, it’s a wonderful feeling investigating a new river and finding new spots to check out. Today, the insects were hatching so the Whitewater was even more welcoming. The branch I fished didn’t have the deep pools and runs like the Willow and Kinnickinnic but still had excellent spots. The Light Cahills were hatching, so the trout were rising for those off the surface. Fly casting was tricky because the section I was on was so narrow and tangling your line in the vegetation was a constant hazard.

Farm field behind

            I hooked a few small browns in one particular run. Initially I thought it was too shallow but a trout jumped out of the water before my eyes so I threw a fly out there. The stream being so narrow, I had to crouch in the brush to keep a low profile so as not to spook the trout. One I hooked fought like a fish twice its size; it was a nice little brown.

Just beautiful

Light Cahill in mouth

            I had to get back to Winona early for dinner so I figured I could work my way back upstream and hit some spots again. That plan went down in flames when a group of eight young anglers came stomping through the stream looking for trout but only silting it up. Just no tact, it was infuriating. That ended my evening on the Whitewater an hour early but it was a great little side trip nonetheless. I didn’t know what to expect on the Whitewater only fishing for three hours but it was great. It’s a river I will have to make it back to this summer.