A winter weather advisory has been issued for southeast Minnesota.  One to three inches of snow are expected after overnight rain.  The biggest challenge will be the 25 mph sustained wind.  It will be key to locate a creek, that holds trout, that is relatively unaffected by the change in weather pattern and will be protected from the wind.

Last year i finished angling the remainder of all of the winter southeast Minnesota trout creeks.  I am confident that I know my chase well and their habits.  In preparation for the winter season i tied my favorite winter fly.  The miracle nymph.

This pattern has been proven successful over the past three seasons. This pattern is especially effective in a size 20. It is fished whenever midge are emerging. The success in this pattern is attributed to the region’s willingness to provide habitat for enough midge to make them the dominate macro-invertebrate biomass in spring creeks.

I tied 30 of these flies which i suspect will last me until March when I will begin throwing streamers at the point in the winter season when the ice starts to break up and the fish start to wake up.

 Regardless of what tomorrow brings this season marks the 10th for SershenBros.  I am optimistic that this season will bring at least as many jubilant rewards that the previous seasons have presented.

I have experienced an odd Sandhill Crane in the marsh here and there however never before have I seen over 75 of these birds congregated.

Thanks for watching.

The drive took nearly an hour and a half to get to the creek deep in a valley in the southeastern most county in the state.  Steam was rising from the crystal clear flows and the trees lining the banks were covered in hoard frost.  To me, the landscape was inviting, I understand that many would consider it daunting.  The temperature on the dash thermometer read -4 degrees.  I was dressed in my typical arctic weather layers however was motivated by the temperature to put hand warmers in between my two pairs of merino wool socks and inside my 2000g thinsulate hiking boots.  I suffered serious frost bite in 1994 of which has plagued me ever since with a nearly annual occurrence of a “black toe” by winter’s end.

Justin with his personal best Brook Char

As we hiked downstream through the valley we were teased by rising trout in runs however the temptation of finding out what was around the next river bend or below the next bluff was greater than that of rising 20-inch Brown Trout.  It was nearly noon and we found ourselves snow shoeing across the creek and through the entirety of the fishable winter section of creek.

We fished back upstream.  Justin could not resist fishing in the shade on the north side of bluffs.  I resisted and stuck with angling holes that were casted in sun.  The temperature disparity between angling in the shade versus the sun was nearly 20 degrees.  We both fished with olive #8 streamers and we both caught fish.

The fish were rising before noon, after noon not so much.  We did not see any midge or stoneflies crawling on the snowy bank edges today.  This is a creek that I hope to return to as I passed up casting to many fish that I would like to get photos of due to the brutality of their overall length and size.  Something compelled me to pass on them and to simply watch as they held deep and tight near the bottom.

We noted that active fish were nearer to the tails of pools and in shallow water. Further, the fish that were holding in the riffles of runs were held deep.

I met Justin at a car park alongside Interstate 90 and we were off to the forest in search of open water and willing fish.

All in all the mile hike to where the fish were holding required snow shoes.  We were thankful for the lack of wind today.  Our guides iced up on average every five casts and we caught fish consistently on size 8 olive streamers.

At the end of the day I was able to check another creek off my list.  We traveled over two miles by snow shoe and were pleased with the awards that mother nature afforded us on todays Driftless winter fishing adventure.

A winter Rainbow that fell prey to a miracle nymph.

This is the first episode for the 2010 season of On The Water. Filmed entirely in southeast Minnesota.

January brings ice and snow to Minnesota however the few of us that are smart enough to know where to go to fish trout in the dead of winter typically have a successful time. This video shows you how to present to active winter trout during a mid-day midge hatch when the air temperature is 5 degree.

Regards

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Part Two

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