April 21-21, 2026

I spent two days with a familiar client, Mike from Missouri, on four different streams. He came to the are looking to repeat last year's caddis dry fly action; however, dries were not in the mix this trip. Water temperatures, despite the air hovering in the upper 70's. still remained cold. We saw a few caddis on day one, but nothing really materialized on top. Sub-surface, however, was on fire for the two days we fished together.

We had two great outing, with over 35 fish caught and released both days. The scud pattern that I tie exclusively was the ticket for the most part with a silver perdigon trailer also being a top choice.

My only real beef is that there is a growing number of beaver dams throughout the driftless that are hindering natural stream flow. I talked to one landowner about his three-dam beaver problem, to which he replied that he contacted the DNR in St. Paul and they were unwilling to help with removal of said dams. He personally traps as many beavers as he can, tears out the small dams with a spike and four wheeler, but he is not getting any reprieve from the powers that be to help with his situation. I had some beers and steaks last night with fly fishing buds, one of whom also guides. We came to the conclusion that there is really zero interest in trout steam maintenance, by both the DNR and TU. It's all about doing projects.

My question is why do we continue to pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into poor Rosgen based woody debris habitat projects but have no interest in doing basic maintenance on the streams where there have been projects aleady competed?

Sure, there are a lot of trout out there, my friends, but the current state of fisheries philosophy is not good. It's an uphill battle that no one in any corner is willing to take on the good fight for long term betterment of southeast Minnesota streams.

February 11, 2026

The first outing of 2026 did not disappoint. More than anything, it was good to get out in some sunshine, low wind, minimal snow, and do some winter fishing after a disappointing January that left behind significant shelf ice.

I did nothing fancy, and nothing I wouldn't do during the winter season - tandem nymph rigged with a midge trailer, some tin split shot, no indicator and covered a bunch of ground.

I was on the water by 9:30 (28 degrees), so things really didn't pick up until 10:30 and stayed consistent the whole outing. Streams are clear (for now), certainly on the colder side with some lethargic fish when the water temp is cold, and LOTS of shelf ice, which may present some problems the next few days as it melts, breaks up, and moves on.