Where would you go?

[fishingmike0770]

Me and a couple of my buddies want to get into some trout action this summer. We were either considering White Water or trying out the Superior Hiking trail. I've been to the Superior Hiking Trail before and it was fun because there were many other things to do besides fish. White Water is a little bit more navigatable and would be nice because of the campground. Which of these 2, or others but not too far, would you think would produce some good fishing?

[-Marc V-]

Hey FishingMike . . . My personal preference is Whitewater. The state park there is a wonderful thing. A branch of the Whitewater flows right thru the middle, and have caught some nice numbers of trout out of this section. Seems like every branch has a little different personality. I like that variation. DNR stocks about 11" (give or take) rainbows in various sections of the streams several times a year, so sometimes if you get lucky, you'll be on a stretch of stream that was resently stocked, and you'll giggle like a little school girl over the amount of rainbows you'll be catching. Talked to a CO down there that said they mainly try to stock them in the section of stream that runs through the campground for families to have a good time catching.

The only bad thing about Whitewater is there isn't much else to do besides fish. There are some hiking trails and such, but you can wonder around on all of them in an afternoon. So maybe Whitewater wouldn't be the best if you were looking for hiking and actual camping (rather than car camping).

I've only fished the Root River once, and that was down by Forrestville State park, which is beautiful country, but the average size of the trout we were catching were a little smaller compared to what we typically caught at Whitewater. I've heard of huge browns on the Root that co-exist with nice sized smallies. I'd like to put some time in fishing the Root more this summer.

The funnest part to me is walking an exploring new stream. DNR has stream books for both Northeastern and Southeastern Trout streams. We reference these considerably to find new sections of stream that maybe aren't fished quite as much as the easier access stream locations.

[fishingmike0770]

Is there any way to figure out when/where the DNR stocked it besides calling and asking? Browns and Rainbows, is it usually pretty consistent action or slow?

[-Marc V-]

One of the last times we were there a DNR said they usually stock around holidays, but they stock other random times also. We had awesome fishing a couple years ago at the walleye fishing opener, then last year we caught a ton of rainbows July 5th.

The stocked rainbows are usually fairly agressive. Browns that have been around in the stream for a while can be tougher to catch. There's so much that depends on if the fish are willing to bite or not. If there's been a lot of rain in the area, it will mud up the streams pretty good and make things tough. But if the streams are too clear the fish can see you and spook that much easier. Last summer seemed like a tougher year to fish trout, but I also changed over from a spin/fly guy to almost all fly, which for a knucklehead like me is slower to learn. I actually caught more on the fly, but they were smaller.

I personally choose to eat the rainbows, and throw back the browns because the browns can naturally reproduce in the SE MN streams, but the rainbows can't (someone please correct me if I'm wrong on this, or any of it for that matter). That's a personal choice I make (as a diclaimer I do not judge anybody for they way they fish, the bait they use, nor for the fish they eat. Unless you eat carp, then there is something wrong with you. But not if it's smoked, then you're okay.

It's just hard for me to eat a 16" brown when I know only 1 in a 1000 fingerlings will ever get that big.

[walleyefisher0990]

what kinda flys do you use, well i guess that depends on the time of year but do you got a favorite? A few years ago when i was down there we used the san juan worm and caught a few. Thanks

[WxGuy]

Hey walleye,

There are some basic flies that will always do well. Orange scuds in size 12 and 14 (preferably with some flash) are must-haves. Tan, orange, and pink scuds come in handy too. Have some pheasant tails on hand in smaller sizes this time of year (size 16 & 18), and some Prince Nymphs size 14 & 16. I also have some midge larvae patterns that I fish as trailers. I tie about 10-14 inches of tippet to the bend of the hook of whatever fly I'm using for the trailer.

Depending on the hatch, dries like caddis and bwo's will also work IF you run into a hatch. Caddis dries can be good to use in the absence of a hatch sometimes too.

You need to get your fly down to where the fish are, so when you're fishing pools you'll want to add some lead about 8" above the first fly to make sure you're getting down to the fishes mouth...

good luck!