Iowa Trouting - 11-11-11

[ted4887]

The day went very, very well. The stream I ended up fishing was pretty clear, and low. The fishing however, was fantastic. Brought 9 fish to hand in about 3 hours of fishing. The fish wasn't even the best part of the day. Right away, I started my morning by absolutely smashing a racoon on I-90. Hooray for cracked bumpers! But seriously, the first thing I noticed as I pulled in and started gearing up was a mature bald eagle on the hunt. It made off with some small critter but unfortunately I couldn't make out what it was. That was easily the highlight of the day. A little while later I had two deer jump out of the brush about 50 yds in front of me. Seeing those type of things make these trips all the more fun.

I hit a small hatch of BWO's which were 18-20's that seemed to last about an hour or so. Not a ton of risers, but enough to switch to dries. I had a bit of luck on a pod of rainbows on some size 16 BWO's. Plucked 4 of the out of the pod that was there. The rest I flogged out after hooking a tree branch and breaking a good chunk of it off into the water.

The big fish of the day were both taken on nymphs, without an indicator. There was a fairly stiff breeze, so not fishing with an indicator made it much easier.

There were more pictures of other fish but apparently my photography skills need a little "brushing up". I always forget that I should check lighting before snapping those pictures, and they end up never turning out. Oh well, I took some quality mental photo's.

Overall, a fantastic day, some chilly fingers, some awesome wildlife, and some quality fish. We'll be seeing you soon Iowa!

[hookncook]

Rodger that! Looks like a great time. I just knew you would do well in Iowa. It's always nice to sneak across the border and take the trout edge off.

[Ufatz]

Sounds like a great trip. Some nice healthy trout and my guess is you put most of them or maybe all of them right back in the creek for next spring. Did not know there were many trout creeks in Iowa to tell the truth.

[ted4887]

Thanks guys.

Yes Ufatz, all were returned unharmed after a few photos were snapped. I'm just a simple CPR guy. It's just not in my nature to keep the fish. I'd rather go out for dinner and have a chef prepare them for me anyways. My cooking leaves something to be desired

[Chad Peterson]

Sounds like an awesome day to be fishing. Really like the first photo you have. Colors of those trout are beautiful.

Sniffer

[Scudly]

Rusty looking male (your new avatar) looks sweet. So there ARE trout in Iowa. Nice work. I never mastered fishing without an indicator as I always want something to follow, even a dry fly seems to work well.

Take it you used your tripod? It has come in handy. Thanks again for the recommendation.

[ted4887]

Thanks Sniffer!

Yeah Mark, I was a bit shocked myself at the number of trout. I was ready for a skunk, but did pretty darn well. The other thing is that the place I was at had GREAT hiking trails. I took a nice little hike after fishing, and ran into a surprising number of backpackers.

I fish with SA Sharkskin fly line, and this stuff floats like a cork. It's unbelievably easy to follow and works just as well as an indicator in most situations. The only time I'd need switch to a indicator is if I'm working directly into a really bright sun.

Yeah I used my gorilla tripod. The thing just rocks. I don't take many photo's, but it's nice to have around just in case.

[Scudly]

Quote:

Yeah I used my gorilla tripod. The thing just rocks. I don't take many photo's, but it's nice to have around just in case.

Yeah I bought the same one per your recommendation and glad I did so because I came into a few photo worthy browns this summer and only fish with friends about half of my fishing trips. Thanks again for the recommendation.

I enjoy rainbows because they prefer different areas than browns. Often they like fast water or they go hang out in the deepest pools. I can imagine there are holdovers too that can get large.

I don't think many people realize that Iowa has received the same great explosion of wild trout fishing that the rest of the Driftless Area has received. Seeding creeks with wild versus hatchery browns. Plus the brook trout are wild too. I even heard that some of the Heritage strains we stock here in MN actually came from Iowa.

Iowa may only have around 100 trout streams, and many are less than one mile long. Yet here we have year round fishing and a 5 bag limit on 90% of the streams. Iowa has had the same increase in natural reproduction Wisconsin and Minnesota received.

Wisconsin has over 1000 trout streams so Iowa pales in comparison. The only reason for this is Wisconsin has a larger portion of the Driftless.

[Ufatz]

Thanks guys.

Yes Ufatz, all were returned unharmed after a few photos were snapped. I'm just a simple CPR guy. It's just not in my nature to keep the fish. I'd rather go out for dinner and have a chef prepare them for me anyways. My cooking leaves something to be desired

Right on!! Who wants all that mess! Trout ain't that good to eat anyway. Gimme a big slab of king salmon from the Rocky Pass area. Or maybe right around Taku river. LOL

[ted4887]

Made it out again today but that wind was a killer! I left my 5 weight sitting on the kitchen counter, so was stuck with just my 3 weight. Just not enough for the 30 mph breeze. However, if you fly fish and are heading down there, the BWO's are going off like crazy. There were a ton of rising fish today, and they were eager to take your fly if you could give them a semi-decent presentation.

[hookncook]

Funny how that little spot gets in your blood

[ted4887]

I got out today to fish during the storm, and the fishing was great. If you're heading down though, don't forget the blaze orange.

On a side note, I took my first dive into the ice cold water today... so that sucked. Lost my footing while climbing down a bank, and SPLOOSH! Head first, not fun. That ended my day, but I'd put a hurting on the fish before that so I left happy.