Monsoon June

Date: June 25^th  

Weather: 72 degrees, clear

Stream: High with slight stain

Hatch: Minimal

Beer: Spotted Cow

            The weather this last week and half has been unbelievable. Duluth is still under water and islands on the St. Croix are totally submerged. Overnight the Kinnickinnic rose almost two feet. Then, on top of that I was flung over the handles of my bike so I’ve been off the river a while.

Sandhill Crane footprint

            I figured the Kinnickinnic would be running clear by now and the silt would be out. However, I was wrong. It was clearish in the shallower runs but the pools were still cloudy. But I already drove that far so I had to make the most of it. Casting was a little difficult with my banged up wrist but I made due. Due to the river’s stain I casted streamers. Some old-timer told me a crayfish streamer after a big rain makes the trout go crazy but I had no luck. So I set my rod down and drank a beer.

            Rises were happening though they were very sporadic. It was mostly small trout and they were eating some sort of emerger. I tied a light cahill on to see what I could do. In one spot I saw a huge trout take a gulp of water so I cast my fly right over its hole and it immediately took my fly. It put up a great fight and I had to be careful not to break my line because I was using 6X tippet. It measured 13 inches on my rod rule, a great trout. On day like that, I’ll take quality over quantity. I hooked another smaller trout and that was it for fishing.

            On a side note, I am in a beer identity crisis right now. Ever since Summit Brewing stopped producing their summer Hefe Weizen I haven’t been able to find a quality backup beer to the Dancing Man. Spotted Cow is alright but plain. To make it worse, Summit brewed a first class beer this March as a limited brew, the Dunkel Weizen, but stopped producing it and released an uninspiring summer ale styled Kolsch and West Coast IPA. There is just too much plain old beer on the market and none of it really stands out. When will our small brewers stop trying to compete with each other to make the best boring brown ale, IPA or summer ale and try something unique and exciting like a real Kolsch or Stout? 

Early Morning Trout

Date: June 13^th

Weather: 52 degrees

Hatch: Minimal

Stream: Clear, lowered slightly

Beer: Streamside Espresso – Dunn Brothers Papua New Guinea

            One of June’s great pleasures is hauling your ass out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to make it to the river for the sunrise. When I woke up I couldn’t believe how much light there was that early and the sun doesn’t rise till 5:30 this time of the year. Typically, I prefer evening fishing just because I like closing out the sunlight hours on the river and enjoying a cool beer. Sometimes you have to make it out in the morning for a little different fishing experience. Plus, I love watching the world wake up on beautiful summer morning with a cup of coffee.

            I saw only a handful of insects fluttering over the water’s surface but that didn’t stop the trout from rising. I had lots of luck on dry flys; primarily a parachute adams and a pale morning dun. I hit my usual haunts on the Kinnie followed with some spots I usually don’t fish. Everywhere I stopped I caught a fish. It was great fishing throughout the morning and I finished with around 15 or 16 trout, I lost count after a while.

            The Kinnie is a long river and this morning I made the long hike to new fishing spots. The further up you go, those sections of water have light fishing pressure and therefore the trout are less wary. Also, wildlife abounds, I spooked two fawns, a turkey and stumbled upon a family of Wood Ducks with their ducklings. Trout were abundant on this stretch and the only thing which slowed down the bite was the arrival of noon. I kept one trout and should have had two more but both threw my hook as I was about to net them. 

McKenzie Creek and the Clam River

Date: June 8^th

Weather: 84 degrees

The McKenzie

Hatch: Nothing

Beer: Forgot to bring some

            A nice relaxing weekend at Balsam Lake, WI for a Fleischhacker get together gave me the chance to check out some streams around the Ice Age Trail. McKenzie stream is a small tributary of the Clam River system and supposed to have trout.

Endangered Blanding's Turtle

            I made it to the McKenzie excited to check out a new stream but it just went downhill from there. If I wasn’t being bitten by mosquitos, the undergrowth vegetation was stinging me, and if I wasn’t being stung, I was getting my line caught in the jungle thick growth. I managed to catch one puny three inch trout. This stream sucked. But at least now I know it sucks instead of having to wonder. Perhaps the worst part was I forgot to bring some beer with me. 

Pressing my Hot Streak on the Kinnie

Date: June 6^th

Weather: 80 degrees, overcast

Hatch: Minimal

Beer: The Dancing Man

            Scott Walker is still Wisconsin’s Governor. I was hoping for more uplifting news as I drove into Wisconsin but at least I don’t live there. There is no point devoting brain cells to the maddening political discussion when the are lots of trout to be caught.

            My luck on the Kinnie has been outstanding; I've had the best fishing of my life over the past few weeks. I knew driving out I might be pressing my luck. You can’t stay hot forever. I hit my latest hot spots without any success. A few trout were rising but the hatch was minimal and the trout were wary. Further upriver was the same story but I did hook one trout in a seldom fished pocket of water. It was just was I was looking for; I recently got a rodrule for my fishing rod which is a vinyl adhesive ruler. My first trout measured out at a nice ten inches.

            It started raining and that slowed down the bite. Disheartened, I headed back and stopped at one last spot in the fading sunlight. I hooked another ten incher followed by two smaller trout. It wasn’t the best night but four trout is better than one. Next week I’m thinking Burkhardt sounds promising. 

Brook Trout!

Date: June 2nd

Weather: 73 degrees and beautiful

Stream: Clear

Hatch: Yellowish mayflies, and some crazy ones I’ve never seen

Beer: The Dancing Man

Catch of the day

            Of course, the night I forget to bring my camera I catch a beautiful, rare jewel of a fish, the regal Brook Trout. My luck on the Kinnickinnic just doesn’t have any limits this season. I made another trek out and spent most of the time at my hot honey hole. I was just slaying the trout and on one I hooked I noticed a slightly different pattern on its body. Brook trout are rare on the Lower Kinnie where I fish and I was shocked to reel it in. It fought so hard and made some really nice runs. When I got a hold of it in my hand I thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was so unexpected and I didn’t have a camera to snap a picture. That was the first time I’ve caught a brookie on the Kinnie. I have caught them on the Willow, Poplar and a secret Boundary Waters lake I can never reveal. 

Brookie from secret BWCA lake

            Here is an old picture I have and see just how beautiful brookies are, much more than a brown trout. With that brookie, I have caught every species of Midwest stream trout this year except for the elusive lake trout up north. I missed one on Magnetic Lake once and I’ve regretted it ever since.

            But what’s the fun in catching trout if you don’t keep a few to eat? I never enjoy killing such a beautiful fish but sometimes if you want to eat meat you should be willing to do the dirty work. This recipe is taken from the Norwegian chef Andreas Viestad. It’s basically smoked trout with a spinach soup. I smoked my trout over a pot of apple wood chips in the backyard. The spinach soup was simply spinach cooked in cream for a couple minutes and then blended. I added a scoop of yogurt for some extra tang. It was a splendid lunch appetizer. I could sell that for 25 bucks a place in uptown. 

Homemade smoker

Finished

Lunch