Rush River

[Renneberg]

What a great day yesterday was for trout fishing.
It started off slow until I figured out where they were located. Then the action picked up.
I caught several nice trout before I seen my first 20+ incher of the year.
She was laying right behind some roots waiting for something to eat. The lure barely moved 3 feet before she came roaring up off the bottom and slammed it.
I was watching the size 11 orange rapala when suddenly everything but the head of it disappeared. Then I seen the huge flash of gold as she turn to go back down with her prize.
Once my heart started beating again I set the hook.
She gave me a few good head shakes that only a big brown can do, then she started for the roots. That's when the hooks came out.
All I could think about was that now she going to be even harder to catch.
After I checking my hooks I casted to next good lookin spot (some more roots just upstream). Again another big brown(18incher) came roaring up and slammed the rapala only to get off. That's fishing.
Moving upstream I countinued to catch good sized browns.
About a hour after I lose that big brown I watched as another 20+ inch brown followed the lure out from under a big log. As it was closing the gap I could feel my heart beating faster. It swam right under the lure and bumped it and swam off. O well. Must of seen something it didn't like.
The very next hole I had a 16 inch brown that lauched half of it body out of the water as it hit the lure. That was cool because it happened right in front of me.
By now I only had a few more bends in the river to fish before coming to the road and head back. There was still one more surprize in store for me. One that I had never seen a trout do.
As I fished the second to last bend in the river I watched as trout after trout followed my lure out but had no biters.
I crossed over to the other side of the river and began fishing the other side. Again I watched as more trout followed the lure out and again no biters.
I made a cast to the other side of the river and started reeling it in when I snagged a little bit of grass next to the bank. The lure came up to the surface, as it usally does when you snag something, so I started reeling it in to take the grass off. That's when a 16 inch brown exploded on it. I didn't see the strike I just heard it. I've never had that happen to me before. It got me thinking. Trout on topwater lures? Looks like I have something new to try this year.
Finally I came to the last bend in the river before I well turn back.
I don't think one could ever make a better lookin hole for big brown to live in then this one. It has two hole trees in the water with the roots facing the current and the branches facing down stream. Upstream of the trees you have several more trees with branches hanging in the water as well as some roots. Follow that up with rocky flats at both end of the hole and you have a picture perfect hole for big browns.
I have fished this hole many times and have seen very few trout come out of it. Non smaller then 14 inches. All signs point to one or more very big browns living in it.
Fishing around the downed trees only produced one 14 inch brown.
I got half way through the branches when I had my second 20+ inch brown on. I got her about ten feet from me before she too got off. I fished the rest of the hole and didn't see another trout.
With fingers frozen to the point that I could barely squeeze the reel handle, much less hold the rod, I decided to called it a day and started walking back.
I caught between 25-30 browns, with one 10 inch brook trout mixed in.
The majority of the browns ran between 14 to 16 inches, with two going 18 inches.

Not a bad day.

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"Study to be quite"

[smellzalilfishee]

hey renneberg try an unweighted muddler minnow on your fly rod if your looking for some top water action..

[smellzalilfishee]

or even better yet try dry flies. i think that is probably the best topwater fishing you'll get with trout.....

[Renneberg]

I tryed unweighted muddler minnows at the Willow River. The little browns (4-6inches) loved that thing. It was cool watching them come up and try to hit it.

That brown hit it like he was a largemouth bass. That's the kind of strike I would like to have happen more offten.

I thought about trying dry flies this year. I haven't seen any hatches so far. Plus I have yet to see any surfacing trout.

What kind of dry flies work best this time of the year? Is it to early for that?

Have you ever tried one of those flies that look like a mouse? I hear that they work quite well, but that's all I know about them.

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"Study to be quite"

[Guest]

Hey Renneberg!

What A DAY YOU had fishin Bud! Thanks for sharing the story of it!

Are you a married man?
If yes..ya got a heckuva woman there!
Seems you are out there fishin ALOT. Don't know many married men with wives SO well adapted to the outdoors as would allow so much "away time" as you seem to so enviously take-in!

"LUND-MAN"

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"Leave NO Trace"

[Renneberg]

No, I'm not married, but my girlfriend is pretty understanding. THANK GOD!

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"Study to be quite"

[smellzalilfishee]

renneberg, bugs hatch year round even in this region. mostly what you will see now are various midge hatches- small say size 20-26. if you try these you need tippet to accomadate. 6x or 7x should do fine. i have great days on the surface this time of year, you may also see alot of "tailing" if this is the case dead drift some emergers and that should pull a few up. the big big browns most usually wont waste their time for such a small insect but you can have a heck of alota fun. as for the mouse i use them and have had some success. their are certain times when this pattern is most effective {night} good luck renneberg

[Guest]

Where is Rush? Please provided direction from St. Paul, if you guys don't mind sharing.

[Magneto]

The Rush River is fairly long, where is it that you would like to go?

To fish Martell you take (from St. Paul)I-94 to 63 (Baldwin exit) go south on 63 to Martell, when you cross the bridge you should see a little park, that's Martell. Calling Martell a town is very generous. To fish El Paso (great place!) continue on 63 south until you reach Cty Rd N Go left (east) and go about 6 miles and you arrive at El Paso, you can fish the bridge there or explore it a little, there is some fine trout water just a little south of town. Again, calling El Paso a town is really generous. Good luck

El Paso has given up some big Browns lately

[Pig_sticka]

watch out for the guy with the no tresspassing signs in el paso, he needs help and an anger management class.
i was there yesterday n got a a few trout with the biggest at 17 inches. and i got yelled at a few times by the locals to go home, they knew we were minnesotans n didn't like it. have fun fishin but maybe have a bullet proof vest on under ur trout vest.

[Magneto]

Where abouts is this angered individual you speak of? I haven't run across him yet, and I've been down there nearly everyday for about 2 weeks. I did notice that there were alot of people down there yesterday, including some guys that decided they were going canoeing right through where my wife and I were fishing. I had hooked 2 in this nice little run with the largest being about 15 to 17 inches. After that no fish.

Because I live in Wisconsin, I do notice that the majority of people fishing these streams are from MN, but I don't mind. After all, we're all after the same thing. I assume that when I go MN to fish that you all have the same respect, right?

[Pig_sticka]

just as long as you dont have packer stickers
in el paso there is smaller bridge with a small stream heading into the rush, near the shore improvement area. he is right next to that.
the funny thing was he had this stupid little white dog with him when he was trying to act hard, we got a good laugh the whole way home. he asked us where we lived then he said he doesn't care where we live i think he needs a ego boost
good luck, and i am not kiddin about the bullet proof vest

[Magneto]

No, no Packers fans in my house. My wife and I moved here a couple years ago from MN so we are both fans of the Purple. After we moved here we noticed that when you get away from any towns like Hudson, River Falls etc. You run into more rednecks, like the guy you are refering to. As far as the bullet proof vest thing, I'll keep that in mind.

[Renneberg]

Maybe you guys missed this post of what happened to me and Tjhunter.

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/000081.html

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"Study to be quite"

[Renneberg]

Magneto, you can fish in Minnesota as much as you want, just as long as you have a MN lic. and trout stamp.

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"Study to be quite"

[Magneto]

No problemo, I also have a cabin near Nisswa on Upper Cullen so a MN license for us is a must. As far as trout in MN goes I haven't targeted them there as I'm fairly new to fly fishing and only have done it in western WI also on the Superior Tribs. (Brule) I have always been a avid spin/bait kind of guy but when we moved here with all the trout streams in our back yard well you know, just had to give it a try. Now I'm hooked!