Flyfishing beginner!

[Benson]

I have just purchased my first fly rod, and I live up in Saint Cloud. Does anyone know if there is any good trout streams up here or in the nearby counties?

[brandon72000]

I grew up in Litchfield and I believe that you are going to have to travel a long ways to find a trout stream. There are a few small lakes with trout in them but nothing major.

[Benson]

Yeah that is what I was affraid of. Looks like I have to either drive two hours north or two hours south to go river fishing huh. Can a person catch trout in lakes with flies? Do they go near the shallows at all? There is a lake five minutes from me with browns and rainbows (Big Watab Lake) but I think they hang deep.

[EatSleepFish]

go in a canoe or invest in a float tube considering how far you have to travel for river fishing, lake fishing seems more user friendly for you.

trout in lakes are usually dining on minnows, thats where a wooly bugger would come into play, and when the insects are hatching/emerging, the trout will be cruising around the surface gorging themselves on any thing they like. (usually damselflies)

[DEADhead]

all good advice here. I would reccomend early and late season fishing in trout lakes for the simple fact that they are not in the deep water. Fishing early morning or evenings in the summer during the hatch is possible, but often those trout lakes are so weedy, making it difficult to land trout. A float tube or kayak is a good way to get out into the open water and fish the weedlines. Nymphing chironomids (midge larvae) will probably be a good idea, since they make up a good part of a trout's diet. Wooly buggers or other baitfish patterns are good flies to fish as well.

Good luck!