2011 Winter C&R Reports

[itchmesir]

lol.. right on

w00t! no more wet feet!!! new waders came in today already.. dern fast.. 2 days.. was thinking i wasn't gonna go out tomorrow because today my left heel was completely numb for about an hour after fishing today from that dern leak

[Jerry]

Anyone been to Hay recently? I might try there tomorrow.

[ted4887]

lol.. right on

w00t! no more wet feet!!! new waders came in today already.. dern fast.. 2 days.. was thinking i wasn't gonna go out tomorrow because today my left heel was completely numb for about an hour after fishing today from that dern leak

Sweet! What kind of waders do you have?

[itchmesir]

Sweet! What kind of waders do you have?

I just picked up a pair of Hodgman Lakestream Lite 3-in-1's.. comes with a detachable fly vest that can be worn separate as well.. and padded knees.. normally $180.. got them for just over $60 @ hodgman HSOforum.. they are clearing out their inventory.. crazy good deals if they have your size left..

[ted4887]

Wow, that's a fantastic deal. I just bought some Simm Freestones a few months back, so I will hopefully not be wader shopping again for quite a while.

More on topic however, the fishing today was fantastic! I eneded up going to Hay creek, and just pounded the fish all day long. I'm guessing I ended up landing somewhere in the 40 fish range, with the average being about 10". Biggest went roughly 18" and was my last fish of the day.

[itchmesir]

Got out again today... got to the stream around 9am.. started out 3/4 up a section i fished the other day and then continued to work upstream.... first 1 1/2-2hrs didn't catch a single fish.. no midge hatching when i arrived and didn't really seem to take off at all.. big nymphs holding in the rocks... was throwing a #12 Hare's Ear trailed by a #20 nymph.. I'm thinking maybe its what i was throwing because i switched to a #10 Prince and trailed it with a #14 PT and I was in trout the rest of the day... caught quite a few... couple brookies but for the most part brownies.. most were in the 7-8" range and a couple that were 10+".. big shoulders.. catching the bigger ones right in the heart of the riffles... smaller one towards the tail end of the riffles...

got in a total of about 6hrs of fishing today.. and that seems to be about it for me for awhile.. winds are supposed to get up to 40mph in the area tomorrow and then its going to warm up.. over night lows above 32F next week... the big muddy is comin.. should make the streams perfect for opener!

[ted4887]

Itchmeister, that's good to hear!

And unforunately, I think i'm with you on taking some time off. With temps supposed to be in the high 40's and low 50's next week, the rivers will be on the rise. Plus, I should probably start saving some gas money so I can afford to drive over there for opener! Cost me $58 to fill up today... GEEZ! I almost keeled over right then and there.

[itchmesir]

how was Hay clarity? Where I was there was definitely some clarity issues in deeper pools.. places where normally i could see bottom.. i couldn't.. it was starting to murk up

yeah i hear ya on gas.. this week i have pumped $60-70

[ted4887]

Water clarity was fine, as far as I was concerned. But this is only the 2nd time I've fished it, and the last time it was about 15* with zero melt going on. I walked Close to 2/3 of the creek that was open to fishing today, and it seemed to be good all day long.

[Scudly]

Delayed report for WI pre-season opener but here goes. Opener was a tad cold at first and icing on the guides but really not too much to worry about. Braided line was even OK to fish with and was glad too because my other reel loaded with mono I started out with got stiff on me right off the bat.

Western WI, an obscure brook trout stream in Pierce County. Lots of nice brookies. Landed a 16" brown and buddy Matt got an odd ball 14" brookie with a big head and skinny body. We did well with gold PMs.

Also missed a solid 18"+ humpback brownie that jumped and next thing you know he was off. Knot failure! Brushy little stream and lots of logs, guess I should have checked my knots more often because buddy Matt said he was hooked solid, had the PM right in his mouth.

[reinhard1]

like those big heads on those males. great pics. good luck.

[scott b]

Panther Martin....MMMMMmmmmmmmmm.

Memories.

[ted4887]

Those are some great looking fish Scudly. Makes me think I might bring the ultra light and some PM's with me next time I get out fishing.

[itchmesir]

That's unfortunate about the creek condition. Is the creek getting some habitat improvement done to it right now? I didn't think they could start those projects until late summer/fall. But I might be way off base on that assumption.

[ted4887]

Well that's good to know itch. Everyone wins with habitat improvement.

[itchmesir]

that section is gonna look amazing!!!... there are some wicked bends in that section that looked amazing but were just too wooded to even toss a spinner.. cannot wait for next year!

[Jospeh]

Pine creek??? the one in winona county?

[itchmesir]

Pine creek??? the one in winona county?

yes

[Jerry]

Haha yeah, that is one funny looking brookie. Lots of nice fish, though. Thanks for the report.

[Scudly]

That big headed brookies is an odd ball. Buddy Matt got that one. Ended up being exactly 14." Fish would look a lot better filled out. I think it is an old male, on his way out. Skinny body.

Cannot wait to hit up streams but realize it is going to take a while to come down.

Oh did not realize one can fish with bait on ALL of the designated MN winter streams Jan 1 - March 31. This includes any of the streams that are listed as artificial only such as Hay Creek and Camp Creek. Been missing out all these years! One has only 3/9 months to fish Hay Creek with bait and the window closes at the end of the month!

Do we have ANY bait fishermen that get out during the winter season? If so do you fish with bait on Whitewater (main branch or north branch) or Hay Creek? This year will be your last chance.

New proposal will be open up ALL trout streams Jan 1 catch and release season. Repeal the barbless rule. Any stream that has an artificial only reg during regular season will also remain artificial only during the winter stream.

As it stands we only have 32 MN streams we can fish from Jan 1 - March 31. Out of the 32, NINE of these are artificial only April 1 - September 30. Next year you will likely not be able to fish bait Jan 1 - March 31 on these streams.

1. Camp Creek

2. Canfield Creek

3. Gribben Creek

4. South Fork Root River

5. Hay Creek

6. Garvin Brook

7. Middle Branch Whitewater River

8. North Branch Whitewater River

9. Trout Valley Creek

[Big Hit]

T Next year you will likely not be able to fish bait Jan 1 - March 31 on these streams.

Good. I've grown tired of finding plastic worm containers left stream side. I've also grown tired of the stream side etiquette of some bait anglers. If someone is fishing a hole it is not alright to lob a ball of lead and worms 2 feet from him on either side. Obviously the problem is only a select few dirt bags, but no bait regs. tend to keep the select few clowns away from my fishin' spots. Just saying.

[Scudly]

Big Hit what AO streams do you fish winter season where you find bait containers or plastic worm containers or bait anglers in general that do not offer good stream side etiquette? One of the nine listed above?

Yeah open up all the streams Jan 1 you will never see me at Hay Creek again, so for the better I guess. Like I said, I've never worm fished any of the AO streams during winter season because I thought AO streams were AO Jan 1 - September 30. I tried plastic at Hay once but no takers.

[itchmesir]

Scudly.. you are correct.. its simplifying Winter C&R.. no 32 streams.. every stream.. and you will have to follow the criteria for that stream whether is AO or bait allowed that is stated for regular trout season

[Big Hit]

I've found bait containers on numerous AO streams this winter and over the last three seasons I've had some terrible run-ins with bait anglers in Wisco basically casting right at me.

That being said, I've also had some great conversation with bait and hardware guys on the streams. I've no problem whatsoever with how a guy decides to try to catch fish, we're all playing the same game in the end.

The trash and littering is what get's me going. Leaving plastic worm containers, plastic bags, and beers can on the stream banks is uncalled for.

[grate8]

Good. I've grown tired of finding plastic worm containers left stream side. I've also grown tired of the stream side etiquette of some bait anglers. If someone is fishing a hole it is not alright to lob a ball of lead and worms 2 feet from him on either side. Obviously the problem is only a select few dirt bags, but no bait regs. tend to keep the select few clowns away from my fishin' spots. Just saying.

we could even try fly-only regs. then the bait dirt bags would be replaced by elitist yuppies. seems we're screwed no matter what the regs are.

i think we should focus on fishing (and less trolling) and try to find common ground instead of drawing lines.