Rush River 2016

[JBMasterAngler]

Certainly didn't expect to be trout fishing this early in the year, but since I'm on vacation and my trip to lake of the woods was cancelled because of weather, I wasn't going to let the day go to waste. Hit up the rush after church today and fished out of Martell and El Paso. A lot of surface activity. Gnats were flying around, so I'm assuming that's what they were eating. Caught 2 brookies, with quite a few strikes. Had a follow from a really nice brown, also lost one due to poor hookset. My dad lost a really nice brookie right at his feet. River was low and clear, but it was gray and cloudy all day, so the trout were active. All the times I've fished the rush, I've never actually driven through Martell on highway 63, but I took that route on the way home and found tyson park. Looks like a good place to wet a line. 

[DrJuice1980]

Been out 3 times so far.  Action has been iffy.  Trimbelle has been decent.  I'm getting out again this weekend but going to try a more remote location.

 

Hitting spinners, bright colors have not produced well, more the browns and golds.  

[rascal23]

Got out for the first time this year, today.   Fished up from El Paso. We started just after the rain and it was still fairly clear. The fish were definitely on. We fish minnowbaits almost exclusively. Caught quite a few, biggest was a 16".  What was cool was to see how fast it clouded up. We saw rocks disappear in a matter of 10 minutes. Great start to the season.

   rascal

[DrJuice1980]

Wanted to keep away from the crowds so I hit up a few spots and did very well for brookies, 10-12" mark on 3 of them, some Browns as well, mostly on the smaller side, punted about a 16" right by the bank, that's fine with me though.  What I wasn't expecting was seeing quite a few of these guys, luckily there was a dead one I could take a picture of. 

 

[JBMasterAngler]

Nice job! How many total did you catch? I Got a late start, but I was on the rush by 6:30. Only had a few hours, so I stayed in Martell. Trout were very active. Caught 17 total. 11 brownies and 6 brookies. Most were pretty small, but biggest brown was 14 inches, and biggest brook was 12 inches. I had one brook trout that was every bit of 16 inches follow my lure twice, but then faded away upstream  water was maybe a few inches high, but running clear. Suckers were starting to bunch up in places for spawning. Do they swim all the way up from lake pepin, or does the rush have it's own resident population? Maybe the lampreys are spawning also, or are just there because of all the extra suckers in the river? Anyway, great morning on the river!

[DrJuice1980]

I'd have to say around a dozen. The brookies were definitely the highlight. 16"? That would have been a very nice photo op!  She's still there though.

 

Those have to be resident suckers as I've encountered them seems like year round. The lampreys throw me off though.

 

Definitely was a great morning out there.  

[Zelmsdawg]

I was on the rush for opener as well with my dad. Fished one stretch in the am and another in the pm. A little disappointed as we only caught 3 or 4 browns, all small. Did catch around a dozen rainbows between us, keeping 3 in that 12"ish range. Maybe a hair too warm and bright for fishing, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute out there.

Zelmsdawg

[DrJuice1980]

Hey Zelms, Wisconsin opener isnt for a few more weeks.  I hope you were talking about a MN stream and didnt confuse the brookies for bows....

 

 

[JBMasterAngler]

I'm assuming he's referring to the rush creek in SE Minnesota, which is stocked with rainbows. 

[JBMasterAngler]

Banner morning on the rush today! Didn't get on the water until 6, but it was fast action for the next few hours! Caught 33 trout! Lost just about as many, and had strikes/follows on darn near every cast! Caught every fish on #0 and #2 "bleeding bumble bee" mepps. 22 Brown Trout, biggest at about 12 inches. 10 Brook Trout, biggest was a whopping 14 inches! And the highlight of the day, a chunky 12 inch Tiger Trout! I wanted to take a picture of it, but it slipped out of my hand before I could even admire it. Had the brownish color of a brown trout, but with less spots, and had long very pale worm like markings across it's back. Once the sun got above the tree tops and the temps climbed into the upper 80's, the bite completely shut off. I had planned to fish all day, but wearing neoprene waders in this heat became unbearable! And with the trout in hiding, I called it a day around noon.

[JBMasterAngler]

River was a little busy on Saturday morning. Pulled into the lot at 5:30 and there were already 2 cars there...looks like I'm gonna have to set my alarm for 3:30 from now on  Anyway, unfortunately time wasn't on my side. Was only able to fish for 2 hours. But it was a good 2 hours! 17 trout total, 9 brookies, and 8 brownies. One of the brookies was a 12 incher, while 2 of the brownies were about 12 inches. Rest of the fish were on the small side. Looked like the river was recently very high, but seemed normal level yesterday, maybe slightly cloudy. Used a black/red panther martin...they might actually like that more than my traditional go to lure.

[DrJuice1980]

Been an early bite anyways, seemed to shut off around 10. I was down there Saturday as well and the traffic was more than I've seen in a while. Went down there 2 weeks ago too and got rained out but before that storm came through it was absolutely lights out. I went 8-8 on casts to hooksets at one point. Red and yellow panther for me.

[JBMasterAngler]

Another banner morning! Got to the access at about 5:30...the same guy that beat me last week, was already there again. Ended up running into him later in the morning...was an old timer, close to 80, sat in the same spot the whole time floating worms. Was nice chatting with him for awhile. He told me he's been fishing the rush since 1962, and didn't have any reason to go anywhere else. After today, I'm pretty close to feeling the same way. Caught 29 total, 20 brookies and 9 browns. Also had a brown trout, that was at least 20 inches long follow my bait 2 different times. Caught a brook trout that had another one accompany it the whole way back to me. Kept nudging her, like he was trying to help her escape from my lure. Couldn't have asked for a better morning to be on the water. Started out with a black/red panther martin, but the black is already starting to fade off, so I switched to ol' reliable...bleeding bumble bee mepps. Was done at about 10, and by then the lot was packed with cars. This was the 2nd week in a row I was planning on going to the Eau Galle River, but chose the rush instead. Both times ended up being a wonderful decision! Maybe someone is trying to tell me the Eau Galle isn't worth it?

Edited August 6, 2016 by JBMasterAngler

[JBMasterAngler]

Does not get any prettier than that!

[JBMasterAngler]

Me and my 5 year old had a boy's day today. Was still dark when we pulled into the lot at 5:30. Water was a little high and cloudy. Was definitely much higher just a couple days ago, judging by the looks of the shoreline. Action was pretty slow. I was still getting a lot of strikes, but the fish seemed lazy. Only caught 11 total, but my son was able to catch, both his first brook and brown trout. I also caught my personal stream best brook trout, a colorful 15 incher.

[LindellProStaf]

What a beautiful fish.  Looks fake with all of those colors.

 

[JBMasterAngler]

Took advantage of the extended season today. Unfortunately it was an early evening outing, instead of early morning. I was surprised to see the water was actually low, and gin clear. Wasn't much going on. Only caught 2 little brook trout. Didn't even see very many fish. Hopefully I'll get one more outing before the season ends.a