SE MN stream conditions

[Chicago boy]

I know we have time before the opener, but it is killing me. Curious, what are the stream conditions like? Specifically, S. Branch of the Root and surrounding area? I would suspect run-off is just about donw given the snow cover. Now it is a waiting period on the rains.

Looking forward to another quality fishing trip to SE MN. I hope and pray it will be better than last year.

[itchmesir]

i was out on Rush Creek tuesday.. it was up.. by at least 12"... if not 18"... slightly muddy... 60% clarity.. i didn't go into rushford itself to see how the root looked.. i checked online.. said it was up a lil over 2ft...

[EsaysFISHON]

Not that I'm really into helping whitesox or bears fans, but since you're a fellow trout angler, here's a link that I use often before heading down to the south branch around Lanesboro from the twin cities. I've found that anytime it's running higher than 4 ft in the spring, it's chocolate milk time, 5ft it's raging chocolate milk. 2-3ft is ideal.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=arx&gage=lnsm5&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

[Chicago boy]

Thanks EsaysFISHON! While my handle is Chicago Boy, I'm much more of a MN MAN. Having spent my first 20 yrs south of the cities and I still maintain a place in Ely. Chicago is where the biz is.

I'm not a Cubs, Sox, Bulls, Hawks or any MN teams fan, I'm a fan of the great outdoors! Those bums (pro-athletes) are overpaid role models for our kids and deserve none of my hard earned money. My young kids are catching on. porkchopisland dot com

[itchmesir]

thanks for the link fishon... i normal just use the usgs reports but this has a bit more info.. nice find

[goblueM]

i was down on monday near Rushford and the Root didn't look too bad

[itchmesir]

went way south yesterday... fishing was great.. mayflys are hatching.. so there was a ton of action... another friend was fishing the choice area and the root south of whalen and they didn't catch anything

[Chicago boy]

Fish on and others,

I can't sem to get the NOAA to update. Others having the same issue? Can you cut and past anything that may help?

THANKS

[itchmesir]

im not having any problems with noaa

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=arx

or.. you can use USGS

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mn/nwis/rt

[Lucky Dogg]

didnt catch and release end on 3-31. what we're you fishin?

[EsaysFISHON]

yeah chi-town, sorry about NOAA not updating Lanesboro since the 2nd of April--not sure whats going on with the sight, usually it has been golden for me any time of the year, 24/7. Hopefully just down for some routine maintenance and we start getting some more updates before opening weekend. Thanks for the report goblue. LuckyDogg-catch and release started up in SE MN on 4/1. Best of fihin' to all on opener! -E-

[mark p]

The winter season ended on March 31st. During the winter season only select streams or portions of streams are open for trout season. The catch & release season started April 1stand runs until the "regular" opener on Sat April 18th. During the catch & release season all designated trout streams are open to fishing with barbless hooks and obviously all trout caught must be returned to the stream immediately.

[EsaysFISHON]

NOAA told me they had a changeout of the DNR monitoring equipment in Lanesboro and the new DNR device wasn't communicating correctly with NOAA. They hope to have it fixed late this week or early next week at the latest. A troutin' buddy with connections near Whalan said the South Branch is very fishable and wade-able.

[itchmesir]

The south branch is very fishable... it's been fishable for over a month and then some... some of the spots that i would have to ford to get to islands... looked very accessible back last month... i'm always fishing the areas between preston and rushford... its very very clear as well... so stealthiness is key... always looks brown from the road/bridge.. but when you get on the water you can see the bottom up til about ~5' deep... also the root is insanely slow... last i checked the USGS was reporting a flow of under 300cu ft per second... fishing on the root this year is going to be absolutely amazing.. but that also means starting late spring/early summer that the root is going to be flooded with tubes and canoes

[itchmesir]

oh.. one other note.. if you want insane constant action.. the mayfly hatch has had the waters just boiling.. haven't really noticed any top action on the root.. but smaller streams have had great success.. try around ~2pm

here's a video one of my fishing buddies recorded while we were out last friday

http://sershenbros.net/OutdoorPursuits/?p=1082

[SershenBros]

As Itchme said, the fishing is great down here and water conditions are clear and low. the hatches are going to be a banner year this year. I caught a hatch of Stoneflies yesterday, size 10, its a new hatch for me, as always, look me up on the web, my site has lots of info for you to find your answers.

best of luck.