Kinnickinnic River 2017

[JBMasterAngler]

Well, today was the unexpected start to my trout fishing season  I woke up this morning with every intention to go ice fishing! Once I got to the lake, I just didn't like the feel or the sound of the ice. So, my first thought was to go back home and grab my fishing pole and chest waders. But I didn't really want to waste the gas and time doing that. So I just zipped straight down to the kinni (I was already in WI), at an access that I knew was easily fishable without the need for boots. Luckily I already had my trout tackle box in my ice bucket. What did I use to fish with, you  may ask? Yep, my 18 inch ultra light ice fishing rod!  It was equipped with the same reel I use for trout fishing, so that wasn't an issue. It was definitely weird making casts with it, but I was getting the desired casting distance. And I was actually able to avoid overhead branches much better. Trout were swimming around everywhere. I got multiple strikes and follows, lost 1 or 2. In the end I was able to catch 2 little brown trout. Also flushed out a big rooster pheasant, and happened upon a few geese. Very nice, out of the ordinary way to kick off my trout season! 

[Driftless]

good to hear someone has been out fishing.

i have been fighting back problems and am

riding the recliner now for 2 weeks.

[JBMasterAngler]

Next Saturday was my planned start to the trout season. But now, every time I Check the weather, the forecast seems to drop 1 degree. It started out at 43 degrees, now it's only supposed to be 35, with the possibility of snow!

[DrJuice1980]

Ha! I did the same but ended up just thinking about it and drove back home.  I did hit the Rush last weekend, trout were a little tight lipped, only managed 8-9 of them and nothing real big.  Saw a couple in that 17-18" range on a few follows.  I'm either going out there again this weekend of further south east.  Egg color panther was the only pattern that produced.

[JBMasterAngler]

Can't think of a better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day than to hit up the "kinni" in search of some brownies! Too bad the weather wasn't nearly as nice as was forecasted. Plan was to visit several spots upstream of River Falls. My 9 year old daughter got things started right off the bat, catching her first ever brown trout! My 6 year old son followed that up by breaking his fishing pole. They would spend the rest of the afternoon running around in the woods, looking for Bigfoot signs  I caught 9 typical "kinni" brownies. All on a brown panther martin. Also discovered a new fishing easement. I remember seeing heavy machinery working on this spot last year. Hopefully the brush grows in good this summer, as it looks like a picnic area right now. Good day, despite the weather! 

 

 

[JBMasterAngler]

Started at the new easement yesterday, thinking fishing would be lights out. But that just wasn't the case. Fished the bridge crossing on liberty road for the first time. Nice little spot, but the houses are too close to the river for my liking. Kids spent the entire time playing in the woods and making "trout traps". I caught 5 brown trout, including 2 12 inchers that were really bright creamy brown colored. Black panther martin with brown dots did the trick. Bugs started showing up late afternoon, but there still wasn't much surface activity. Hopefully with the warm temps through next week, things will really be hoppin' next week!

[JBMasterAngler]

Got off to a late start, but was able to get to the lower river at 6 AM. Frost covered the ground, as temps were barely above freezing. I could hear turkeys gobbling as I walked through the field. Once I made it to the wooded river valley, the sound of grouse drumming echoed through the woods. Eagles and ospreys continually flew over my head throughout he morning. The water was mabye a couple inches high, and somewhat cloudy, but was noticeably clearing as the morning progressed. 8 o'clock seemed to be the magic hour, as that's when I caught most of my 13 brown trout. Biggest was 16 inches, and had a few swipes from some dandies as well. Beautiful morning to be on the river!

[JBMasterAngler]

Only had a couple hours to fish this morning, so I went to a couple spots north of River Falls. Water was fairly cloudy, but didn't seem like the levels were high at all. Caught 11, including a 17 incher, which is my personal best out of the "kinni" 

[JBMasterAngler]

Had quite the morning on the kinni today. Went out of the Jackson preserve access on the lower river and made the decision I was going to fish all the way down to the county road F crossing. The drive from the bridge to the access is 2.3 miles, not to mention, once at the access, it's about another mile just to get to the river  I estimated the distance by water, to be about 5 miles. I packed my tennis shoes into a backpack, as my plan was to get to the bridge, hide my waders and fishing pole in the woods, then walk the road back to where I started. While on my journey, my boot sprang a leak, so that made for an even tougher trek. Also, about a 1/3 of the way down, I fell on my butt, in just deep enough water so that it went down the back of my waders  luckily my backpack, and sweatshirt took most of the water. Anyway, the journey was nice and scenic, and full of solitude. But I'm never going to do it again! There were about 5 river crossings I had to make that were way above my comfort level, and 4 of them were in the final 1.5 miles. And in all honesty, the fishing wasn't even all that great. Especially in that final 1.5 miles, where I didn't even get any strikes! And to add insult to injury...for the whole 5 miles, I didn't get stuck once! Then at the very end...I'm within spitting distance of the bridge! I get stuck and lose my best lure!!!  caught 20 brownies, lost probably about the same, nothing over 11 inches. And now I will be spending the rest of the day packed in ice! Way too much walking!

[JBMasterAngler]

Was originally planning to fish the Rush on Monday morning, but had to settle for the kinni at the last minute. Didn't have much for time, so I was blasting through a bunch of different places. Only caught 3 trout, one of which was a brook trout! The only other 2 brookies I've caught out of the kinni was at the mouth of the south fork kinni, so that was a nice surprise.