Sunday, October 5, 2008

Big Time Fish - Big Horn River

It was a long summer with more downs than ups but the weather is beginning to turn and fall is slipping down upon us. Hopefully the change of seasons will also bring other good changes (hopefully a change to a new lab) and even if things turn out to be the same old thing in a different setting, at least it will be a different setting! Anyway, I digress. With trout season ending in Minnesota on September 30th Ted and I figured the best way to see out our trout season was to head to Montana, and the river he chose was the Bighorn River. He'd fished it many times before but for me it was my first time.


The drive is about fourteen hours if you can drive straight through and for us that meant an early start. I was at Ted's place right on time at 4:00am which is about a half hour from my place. We pushed straight through to South Dakota's Black Hills and stopped for a meal at a Pizza Buffet place and the delightful town of Spearfish. This place very much enamored me with the early fall colors, black hills as a back drop and a gorgeous, productive trout stream running right through the center of town. Of course the first stop Ted had us stop was the trout hatchery where we saw some monster brood stock in the grow out ponds. We then checked out a few stretches of stream with well manicured parks and a pleasant crispness to the air. What a great place!


When we finally got into Fort Smith it was getting dark and we were tired. We elected for a cheap motel room to rest our aching bones, bought our licenses, then headed down to the afterbay dam to try our luck. Like a fool I hadn't organized very well and didn't have any indicators on me so had quite a bit of trouble nymphing. This may or may not be the reason I wasn't hooking fish but during the same time Ted landed six or seven including a 17 inch rainbow. Within the hour the darkness (and tiredness) draped over us and we turned in for the night.


Now for whatever reason I didn't sleep very well at all that first night, tossing and turning and worrying about things back in Minnesota and when I did sleep I had the weirdest dreams so I didn't have any trouble with the early start. We raced out to the campground and secured a boat for the day, bought some flies, then set up the tent and our camp.

Back at the dam our drift boat was waiting and we were soon drifting the upper three mile stretch of the river. It wasn't long before my indicator dropped and I had my first brown trout. It was about nine inches or so but at least it was a start. A little while later we drifted towards the "meat hole" and this time when the indicator dropped an explosion erupted. A feisty seventeen inch rainbow leapt and ran through the heavy current until ending up in the net. My first decent Bighorn rainbow.


We anchored the driftboat and waded the "meat hole" hole for a good few hours and I experienced the coolest thing. As you waded the shallows you'd dig up some bugs under the rocks as you walked which resulted in a whole mess of fish (between say fourteen and twenty-four inches) sitting directly downstream of your legs, constantly sipping morsels being disrupted in the current. In fact, if you didn't move your feet for a while the fish would actually bump your legs to get you to move. It was truly amazing. Now you might think this would make them easy to catch but the opposite is true. These fish get fished to every single day of the year and they are crafty and wise. Even when you could finally fool one of these fish most were too strong to land.

The entire run was full of fish though so normal nymphing was as good an approach as any. In such big, strong water and such big, strong, wild fish it isn't suprising that even when you could hook one of these well educated fish (and that wasn't easy) the struggle had only just begun. Most of these fights began with a blistering run, a big leap clear of the water then a big head shake followed by the soul emptying numbness of a limp line. But the big fish were plentiful and you seldon needed more than a few moments to regroup and get refocused on the task of hooking up again.


The sun has high and bright in a cloudless early fall day and from what we saw on the water the fishing wasn't red hot for anybody but we were hooking up quite regularly. In fact, it was this spot that produced my biggest rainbows of the trip.


After a time we moved on down the river to a spot where I immediately encountered some good brown trout feeding in the shallows by some back channels. I hooked up with five or six in five to ten minutes but only brought two to hand, one around that sixteen inch mark and one at nineteen.



In the next hour I had a few more hits but that things slowed down quite markedly. A little further downstream I hit another good brownie from the boat and we soon anchored up for our first session at the "five dollar hole". Almost immediately after landing that first fish I hooked up with another nice brownie that took me way downstream and deeply into my backing. The angler downstream of me informed me he saw it as it swam past him and assured me it was well over twenty. Considering the great fight I had no reason to doubt him but when I finally got it to hand one fly was in its mouth while the other was in it's tail - no wonder it fought so well.

It wasn't long before Ted was also into the action and he began to consistently hit his stride. He was definitely outfishing me in terms of hookups. This spot (if my memory serves me right) was mainly rainbows but there were a few brownies mixed in. Ted got one very good rainbow from this stretch as well, either at or just below the twenty inch mark. We pretty much finished out the evening at this hole before making our way to the pullout and heading to "Polly's" for dinner. It had been a very full day and I don't even remember crawling into my sleeping bag but I know I slept like the dead.


The next morning saw us floating the lower eight miles of the Bighorn and is unfortunately where my memory becomes a little hazy. I could feel my mind and thoughts getting a little scrambled and mixed up and I struggled to keep myself together. It was a very frustrating feeling! Anyway, once in the boat everything was fine and I could just focus on doing what was needed to catch fish. As it turned out today was going to be a good day, not because I caught a lot of fish, but because I learned a very caluable lesson that I think will be very important in helping me catch more fish in the future. Actually, it was a very frustrating day fish wise for me as I had to watch Ted hooking up left right and center and I couldn't get more than the odd fish here and there, or even worse, I couldn't figure out what we were doing differently.

It started off well as I banged a nice brownie from the boat at the first nice hole we drifted through. We anchored up and almost instantly I had another brownie. Then it started. Ted began banging them. We switched positions, flies, leaders (and that did help) and everything else we could think of but that just wasn't it. I mean, I was still getting fish and it would have been great had I been alone, but when you can see there's something you're not doing quite right you NEED to find out what it is. The longer it takes to figure it out the more obsessed you become!


By midday we found a great hole full of rainbows and Ted was banging them and I just couldn't hook up - at all by this point. I was trying everything and was out of ideas. Nothing was working. This became the norm for the day. Admittedly though, there weren't too many rods bending on the river, but Ted's and some of the guide boats were doing OK. Despite the fishing being slow (Montana standards but still stellar for Minnesota) it was impossible not to enjoy the river. It has a character very different from the Madison and the rivers of that area. It was a wonderful evening and I was still getting fish from the boat (the first clue as to my problem).


After an evening of contemplation, and watching the vice-presidential debate at "Polly's" while enjoying a nice meal, Ted and I began to figure out my problem. Although my drift was good, in that it was dead drifting, I was not mending upstream hard enough to have the flies coming down well ahead of the leader and strike indicator. This probably doesn't matter as much on some streams but a stream with the kind of angler pressure as the bighorn the fish become well educated and to trick them you need to be better than in other places.


On the third day we decided to hike up to "five dollar hole" and wade fish for the day. For some reason the fish just weren't as aggressive as they'd been and both Ted and I found the fishing much tougher. Ted found himself a small pocket of rainbows and locked in on them, with some good results. We didn't do very well in the morning so had a few hours break in the middle of the day, then went back in the evening. That is when Ted found his fish and he did quite well. In fact he hooked and landed a 23 incher, but I left the camera in the car. In fact, I didn't even see the fish close up because another couple of anglers came to help him out with landing it. I did get a few fish but apart from that small pod of rainbows, none of the dozen or so anglers in the area were getting more than a few fish here and there.

After another long day we enjoyed a nice bottle of Bryan's "Krajicek estates" wine with our meal at "Polly's" and I don't know if it was the long days, the over-abundance of sun, the lack of water, or my mental state, but I was pretty drunk from my share of the bottle. It was a good kind of numb though and made for a good night's sleep.

The next morning it was overcast and we thought that might get things going. We hiked back into "five dollar hole" and took up our usual positions. The fishing was slow. My recollection is very hazy at this point but I did get a run of brownies ranging in size from small to medium. I also got one final decent (I'm going to say big because we have no proof anyway) rainbow that we lost right at the net. That would have been a great photo to end the trip on but it was not to be. We didn't fish too long as we had a long drive ahead of us and it seemed much longer coming home then heading out.


We ended up stopping at a cheap motel somewhere in South Dakota, then after a meal at a McDonalds where the craziest, most condescending to farmers, freaky speaking Ronald Mcdonald displayed for us. That will teach Ted to push random buttons! The trip back was tedious and my thoughts were really wild and all over the place. My stomach was knotting up and I was just not a happy camper. Still, it was no relection on the trip or the fishing. It was good to learn the valueable lesson that mending upstream enough to get a drag free drift isn't as good as mending a little harder to ensure the flies are presented to the fish before they can see any line, shadow from the strike indicator or anything else. That is a lesson I'm sure will pay off big time in steelheading.


All in all the fishing was exceptional with plenty of big fish and regular action. It was amazing to see the big trout zipping in and out right behind, and sometimes between, your legs but not touching a fly as you ran it through. The weather was nice, the campground was quiet and uncrowded and my only complaint is that I wish it were a lot closer. Still, I would probably never go to work if it was closer. I mean, where else do you not bother taking photos of seventeen and eighteen inch fish because they're not that memorable!
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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Full Circle

In the depths of last winter my friend Vincent went flyfishing for the first time. He picked up the basics of casting very quickly but it was hard to find big blocks of time to get the finer points. The fishing during winter is always tough, but especially so during this long, cold winter and the aftermath of the record fall floods. Still, we got out and enjoyed a few hours on some nice streams.

Unfortunately, the year was also broken up by some other things, mainly linked to my illness, but also trips abroad and the ever present work. I tell you this not as an excuse for Vincent not catching his first trout sooner but more...........well, let's be honest is kind of an excuse. I won't mention it too much as it's documented earlier in this blog but it was a tremendous lift from me when Vincent struck a fine hatch on one of my favorite streams and scored a few fish.

We've had some interesting stories and adventures over the season, and fished some of Minnesota's most famous trout streams, from the Whitewater and Root Rivers to Trout Run and even Foster Arend Pond. Perhaps the most spectacular hatch was a late summer hatch of tricos on the Root River, which lead to some challenging fishing with tiny spinners in crystal clear tailouts to well educated and selective trout. Together we didn't catch a lot of trout I tried to introduce a wide variety of streams and techniques to Vincent. He began with streamers, then nymphs and finally learned the art of casting the dry fly. In fact, Vincent has fished tiny dries down to #22 and #24 on tiny spring creeks. That's pretty good progress in one season.

Well trout season in Minnesota ends here on Monday 30th September so after an unsuccesful late evening session Friday night, we headed out a little earlier on Saturday. The first pool we fished was just beginning to develop. A heavy hatch of tiny black gnats were buzzing overhead, a few mosquitos could be heard (along with the odd .22 shot from the squirrel hunters close by) and occasional miscellaneous mayflies dancing in their mating rituals could be seen. Almost first cast Vincent had a good strike but was a little too eager in setting the hook. It wasn't long though before he hooked up again, and this time brought to hand a feisty little brown trout.



A few minutes later and Vincent was again hooked up and brought to hand a larger and well colored brownie. It was then I needed to find out what fly he'd been successful with. Turns out he'd selected a small sparkled nymph that I only carry to fish for rainbows. Turns out it works on brownies as well. I know I'll be carrying a few sparkle nymphs next time I fish that little spring creek again. We fished that pool a little longer and I finally hooked up with a nice fish but after a good fight I lost the fish after it scooted under a log and liberated itself. We headed upstream to take a look at some other water without much success and by the time we got back it was too dark to fish. The girls were back at my place and almost certainly hungry (Vincent's wife is pregnant) so we called it a night and went home.


It was a fitting end of the season whereby I was outfished by my student, which must mean I was doing something right. Hopefully before the winter sets in the two of us will have the chance to catch a few salmon but time will tell. Sunday I couldn't help myself with a cool overcast day and went in search of a BWO hatch. There was a few coming off on the upper Whitewater and although I got a couple on the dry most of my fish came on an emerger. The majority of the fish were small with only two or three adult fish, but the fishing was steady and the fall colors were pleasant. My guess is that's the end of my Minnesota season but there's still tomorrow but maybe I should use that to pack for Montana.
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Monday, September 1, 2008

Crow Wing Camping

After the success of our earlier camping trip it was decided we'd have a go at a slightly fancier one, this time at a State Park in the Brainerd area. Also, being that it was Labor day weekend we could camp for two nights. Natalya was at her grandparents so Jessica left to visit and pick up Natalya on Monday (with most of our supplies) leaving me to work hard and get my lab stuff done for the week. On Saturday morning I hitched a ride with Claire, Vincent and Lucas to meet up with my long lost family.

Both of our families are state park passport holders so it's always good to visit new parks and get fill in our stamps so when we noticed Lake Maria State Park was on our way we just had to find an excuse to stop. Fortunately we had a pregnant lady in the car leaving us a plethora of excuses (needed to eat, go to the bathroom, stretch her legs, etc) to hide out childish desires to get a simple stamp. I won't say we found the park without effort or make excuses because of the sometimes ludicrous street name designations in this part of the world (I swear the cold weather freezes some important parts of the brain in Minnesota) but we eventually made our way to what appears to be a lovely state park with ponds (read swamps) and at least one extensive lake. The hardwood forest was nice and I'm sure the trails would be a pleasure, had we had more time to explore them. We sat at the uncrowded picnic table and ate a (wait for it) cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese and ham sandwich (well perhaps I overdid the number of types of cheese for effect but I must say the French do seem to love their cheese). I should perhaps be a bit careful because the sandwich was nice and if I'm too sarcastic I might be watching everyone else eat in the future.

Anyway, it wasn't long before we were back on the road. As we got close I was getting really anxious to see the kids and as soon as I saw them I felt my face break out in a huge smile. Jessica had most of our camp already set up (she'd driven down from her sister's place that morning) and the Leonard/Repellin camp was assembled in record time as well, despite all the kids wanting to play in the tent as it was assembled. The campground was fairly open and pretty much full but campsites were set apart enough that it was bareable. Campfires were going all around, kids were riding around on their bikes and running about. People were heading back and forwards from the showers but it really did still feel like camping.



As the evening enveloped us we had another huge feast and a campfire. We could see the stars pretty clearly and I pointed out a satelitte in the night sky to a VERY sceptical Vincent. I still don't think he believes me that it was a satelitte. It was a relaxing night and a little warmer than the previous weekend but still very comfortable. There was one or two mosquitoes but not enough to bother anyone.


In the morning we headed into Brainerd in search of the huge Paul Bunyan statue but instead found a touristy gimmick place charging altogether too much for the little bit that was on offer. There was a large Paul Bunyan at the information center and because Jessica wouldn't honor my request of posing with him I had to resort to posing myself on his knee as he gave me a spanking. Natalya being the good daughter also wanted her picture taken in the same pose. After that we headed up to Cuyuna State Recreation Area for another stamp and a picnic lunch. This area is an old iron ore mining area with the pits now filled in and stocked with trout. Being late in the season and with summer water temps our chances of catching fish were low but we tried anyway. The water was very clear and cold, but it was a little nerve-racking knowing how deep it was with my kids swimming along the shoreline. I almost went in above my head in the deceptively clear water stepping into what looked like four foot depth. There were a few people about but not too many for a holiday weekend.

Our next stop was to stock up on a few items at Walmart in Brainerd. I stayed in the car with a sleeping Pierce while the others headed in. Natalya and Vincent bonded as she got to help him sith his shopping and they negotiated on which balls to get. Natalya came out in love with Vincent. Back at the campground the plan was to get the kids to sleep but it turns out Vincent was the only one that could manage it. The rest of us headed south to check out Lindbergh State Park. The park is close to a number of recreation areas and within the limits of Little Falls but still a nice place. It was getting dark when we arrived so the kids played on the swing sets and things while I took a quick look around.


There was a nice little brook that I'm sure would be quite nice in the spring but at in the season it was a little dried up and looked more like the home of a million mosquitoes (which were very abundant) than the scenic wonderland I'm sure it is at times. Nevertheless the kids all seemed to have a good time and worked off some energy. The adults just slipped into a new depth of exhaustion. Despite our fatigue we once again stayed up until late talking and enjoying ourselves. It was amazing how many people left on the Sunday.



Monday morning I arose early and headed down to the Mississippi River (the banks of which is where we were camped) to try my luck at some smallmouth bass. I did get one fiesy bronzeback that put on a good show until he tangled up in the heavy weed. Still, one fish is better than none. The breeze did pick up and made casting quite tough (at least with the 6 weight I was using) so I headed up for some breakfast. We had a good meal and Vincent and I headed back down to give it another try. We walked upstream and downstream without any sign of luck but it was a nice day and a scenic river. It has a very different personality than it does as it flows by our place further south.


Eventually the girls got sick of waiting and began on a hike. When we saw them we tagged along and got to explote the park a little better. The river is the main attraction but the woods are nice and quiet. We did see both bluebirds and bluejays along with other wildlife. It actually got quite hot during the walk and when we got back we had to break camp. The kids weren't happy by the time we were done either. Finally though we were on our way towards Lake Mille Lacs.


What happened next I'm not quite sure as Jessica and mine (I'm not sure about everyone elses) got a little bit crossed. Admittedly I fell asleep in the passenger seat but instead of pulling up at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park we ended up at a Dairy Queen. Despite some Parent Issues that Lucas had to deal with, we all ended up at the Dairy Queen for a while. There was a play area outside and I think the kids had fun.


As afternoon rolled by we headed to one final spot for a hike/swim (again, I'm not sure everyone was quite on the same page at this point) at Father hennepin State Park. There was a nice swimming beach there and it was a warm, clear evening.


The girls stayed and watched the kids swim while Vincent and I went off and got lost on the small hiking trail system. We started along the lakeshore and then headed towards the picnic area and then...................... Not that we didn't see anything cool along the way. As we were walking we spotted an albino deer. After snapping a few shots it slipped into the greenery but then we saw another. Both were does and we began to get greedy and strained through the forest for signs of a big albino buck. It wasn't to be though.


It was getting dark so we didn't hang around for very long as we still had quite a bit of driving to do. With the sun setting Claire, Vincent and Lucas headed home but we stayed and finished a picnic dinner before setting off. It was another good camping trip with plenty of relaxation and sites to see and both the parents and adults had a good time.
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