trout fishing memorial weekend

[fish-a-man]

over memorial weekend i am going to southern mn to fish for trout and im wondering which baits would you prefer? which lures, preserved baits, or any other baits? im just getting into fly fishing and im not sure if i will bring that out while im down there. also any one else got plans?

[Scudly]

Spin fishing

Spinners (size 6 and smaller) work well. I prefer Panther Martin silver blade. All silver or all silver with yellow/red spots or black/yellow spots. Countdown and jointed floating raps in the brown trout pattern or silver/blue are also suggested.

Fly fishing

Bead head pheasant tail or hare's ear, with or without flashback. Tan and gray caddis for dry fly. LT Hendricksons / sulphurs coming out soon. Try spinner or parachute. Flies all size 16 would work. Look for evening caddis after dinner. Grey caddis still may be around too, say 11am. Oh, you can never go wrong with blue wing olives too. They are always around.

Bait fishing

Nightcrawler and a split shot work well. Feel like being lazy add a weighted bobber big enough to support the current. Going for a hog? Try a chub tail at before sunrise or after sunset in a deep hole next to cover such as a downed tree / root wad.

Memorial weekend!

Yes there will be many of us trout fishing this Memorial weekend! Weather looks pretty good for SE MN. Maybe some rain on Sunday but hey, cannot have three perfect days in a row right? I'll be at Beaver Valley Creek State Park in Houston County fishing Beaver and other local streams. Good luck everyone!

[tom_w]

For sure grab some spinners.

Mepps #3 or Panther Martin #4.

[fish-a-man]

thanks for the info. i will be staying at the cedar valley resort, ive never been down there but heard its pretty nice. If you know the area it would be nice to hear of some good streams to try. thanks if you share anything. :]

[tom_w]

email me off list. If we post streams here you may have a lot of company...

tom underscore wurdock at yahoo dot com

[Scudly]

Take your pick:

Map #5

Map #4

[Moonie]

Hello all, I'm in the same boat as fish-a-man. I'm taking my girlfriend camping this weekend. We'll be by The Root River and I would like to try my hand at some trout fishing. The only problem is the only trout fishing I've done has been on northern MN lakes. Good post scudly. I bought some in-line spinners and will pick up some crawlers. If anyone has any more tips tricks or insight, I'd greatly appreciate it. post here or email me at

moon100m at hotmail dot com

thanks!!

[tom_w]

As far as tips, I'd say hit the low-light hours as much as possible, don't be afraid to hike a little ways and let the big ones go!

[Fazerfish]

My family and I are camping in Whitewater State Park next weekend, and I am wondering how the fishing is there? I have maybe fished for trout 2 times, and with crawlers mainly. I will have my boys with (2 and 5 yrs old) and it will be hard to keep them entertained. Any suggestions?

[tom_w]

If you find a safe, slower part of the river, they may have a blast playing with rocks and building things out of sand and whatnot. My 3 year old could spend an hour at the water's edge playing with mud. then if you catch a fish every once in a while it's frosting on the cake.

I also have Rapalas with the trebles removed that he can cast with... if you have little poles for them.

Oh, and I bring treats and I ration them out when attention is waning. I'll have vitamin water and cookies and beef jerky and bananas. I use them when he gets too distracted.

But sometimes is just gets too boring...

[Scudly]

Those are some great suggestions for keeping kids occupied Tom! I will have to try that. My boy had a blast just as you described at WW last year (he was two then). We caught a handful of stocker rainbows all on worms an a bobber. The stockers are pretty dumb and easy to catch. Please keep them, that is what they are there for. WW gets fresh catchable sized rainbows dumped off the major bridges every other week, perhaps even more so right before a holiday like Memorial weekend. Suggestion is to get out there early and find a nice deep pool before everyone wakes up and kids and dogs start running around and the camp turns into a circus.

Matt playing at WW

Anyone know, was a new bridge built yet in the campgrounds? I'm talking about the one that washed away from the 07 flood? Great new hole there after the old bridge washed away. Be careful sliding down the hill .

[Fazerfish]

Thanks guys, I learned during ice-fishing this year that a small bag of doritos and a pop for my 5 year old will last him about 1 1/2 hrs in a ice house. This year we'll bring much more. I guess I will have to buy a trout stamp, do you know off hand what the limit is for trout down there?

[tom_w]

Ha! It's totally true that snacks = fishing time.

[fish-a-man]

Hey guy just got back from cedar valley a few hours ago, it was a lot of fun we went to a few different streams down in that area. i was one of the only ones to catch some trout, a few brown trout but overall for the first time trout fishing it was a good trip and i am looking forward to doing it again. Thanks tom_w for the few places you suggested.

[goblueM]

is using live minnows in a trout stream allowed? or are they only banned in trout lakes

[fish-a-man]

gobluem: It depends on the stream you are fishing, some streams are artificial only and some you can use live bait. you have to know the area you are fishing. The dnr HSOforum has maps of trout streams and they are color coordinated to show where you can and cant use live bait, also to show the different slot limits.

[tom_w]

Yeah, but live minnows may not be allowed even in bait streams. Any reg experts out there?

[Scudly]

"Possessing live minnows or using them for bait on designated stream trout lakes is prohibited. Only dried, frozen, or pickled (brined)."

Sec 1:21 (page 25 of 84) of MN 09 Fishing Regs

Trout like worms just fine. Buy crawlers. If they are really long, tear them in half as you will catch more and they don't fly off when you cast.

So anyone else go trout fishin' Memorial weekend? We hit up Beaver Creek Valley State Park in Houston County.

Memorial camping and trout fishing photos

[goblueM]

yeah i read that part in the regs, i'm well acquainted with the SE MN trout maps. I'd never fish anywhere I didn't know the regs. I'm well versed with trout and crawlers scudly, thanks.

i read those regs as stream trout LAKES. So I guess if bait is allowed on trout STREAMS it'd be ok to use minnows. Not that i'd be inclined to go to the trouble but I'm curious

[tom_w]

The term "stream trout lakes" seems confusing. Does that just mean lakes? Streams and lakes?

[itchmesir]

"Possessing live minnows or using them for bait on designated stream trout lakes is prohibited. Only dried, frozen, or pickled (brined)."

Sec 1:21 (page 25 of 84) of MN 09 Fishing Regs

Trout like worms just fine. Buy crawlers. If they are really long, tear them in half as you will catch more and they don't fly off when you cast.

So anyone else go trout fishin' Memorial weekend? We hit up Beaver Creek Valley State Park in Houston County.

Memorial camping and trout fishing photos

great photos.. i love beaver creek.. its definitely one of my favorite streams... i've drove through the park before.. never camped in it.. but the stream through the park looks tiny.. maybe i'm wrong.. i usually work the schechs mill area

[Scudly]

Quote:

great photos.. i love beaver creek.. its definitely one of my favorite streams... i've drove through the park before.. never camped in it.. but the stream through the park looks tiny.. maybe i'm wrong.. i usually work the schechs mill area

Thank you! We love the park too and already have a three day weekend booked in August. Unless you trout fish, you probably would not know about this park.

I only fished within the park on East Beaver for 1/2 hour trying to catch this guy from 4:30 - 5:00 am with a crawler. Spotted him at a downed tree during our afternoon hike. Big trout. Smart trout. I bet he was 25"+ and a 15" girth.

Big brown in East Beaver

I fished from Sheldon on up to the dam, as well as two other local streams. One stream for each morning.

[itchmesir]

about a month or so ago i spotted a rainbow that was easily 24"..he was huge.. but he was in an area i just couldn't get anything to.. was just north of the bridge by schechs

[mark p]

It does not mean streams. It means lakes that have stream trout (brooks, browns, rainbows)stocked in them. I have seen a list of the 'stream trout lakes' on the DNR HSOforum in the past. I would try searching there if you're interested.