Ugly Place

[Driftless]

Cattle everywhere.....

banks trampled down...

electric fence across the water.

First cast after the photo I caught a 21 inch brown from under the root wad caught on the fence.

and a really nice brookie just 20 yards up further.

Sometimes the old adage of "Trout Don't Live In Ugly Places" is wrong.

The only reason I fished this at all is that there was a huge spring emptying in 100 yards upstream.

[MyFishHasRabies]

I agree. Do the older fish just want to avoid all the competition they have to put up with in the "pretty" habitat? That's what people say, but who knows. Maybe the ugly places just don't get fished and only support a small number of fish anyway, so when they do, they don't get caught. Nice catches anyway.

[itchmesir]

Well on the minnesota side.. a majority of what is eased seems to be also HI.. which is what most people fish unless they know people or get permission from land owners to fish... or trespass... other times its because the stream is not designated so people don't fish it period... or the few who do.. know whats up and keep it to themselves.. and the trout are allowed to grow undisturbed... also a lot of the time.. natural waters are usually more marginal and slower.. fish aren't sitting up in the riffles eating nymphs if their aint rocks for them to cling to and live in.. only certain nymphs dig into sand/mud.. so they are stuck with one other option.. aquatic worms/crawlers/bait fish/fry/mice.. bigger food source means bigger fish

not words to go by.. but that's my logic