Our technique was basic.  We casted from the middle of channels in the weeds to the weed edge and retrieved our spinners with a twitch just above the Prairie Island Spillway.  We found the Pike on points in the weed lines, the Bass in the thick of the weeds, and the Walleye on a weed edge with current.

In just over three hours of angling I managed to loose four Pike while landing one 24-inch Pike and a five-inch Largemouth Bass.  Wes landed a 19-inch Largemouth Bass, several Pike over 22-inches and one Walleye about 20-inches.

We had a snack of ripe Mulberries when we took the canoe out and both felt satisfied that our time on the water, in the sprinkling rain, was well spent.

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The trick of it is where to find them, how to stay hydrated doing it, and what do they fancy in their mouths today.

I suspect that a shorter drive to the boat landing will afford anglers lucky enough to have a boat more opportunity to find the fish. I recommend being careful to have a variety of baits known to take numerous species of fish prepared for your outing.

Days like today have typically garnished changing bites throughout the day therefor it behooves me to consider catching over non-catch related aspect of angling.

Heath Sershen with a new lifelist species, the Greater Redhorse.

I have now been working in Wabasha for about six months.  I started making the commute in November when the water had just began to start to turn over for the winter season.  I drive 30 miles of Highway that runs along the Mississippi River twice a day.

If you are a regular reader of my reports you will know that I have been playing catch-up and have not been writing and posting photographs as often as I once did.  I have many excuses for that.  One could say I have begun to lose the inspiration I was had with fishing exotic Trout species.  During this transitionary time I have been fishing a lot however seeking species that I have never caught before or species that I feel as though I had caught incidentally previously.  Further, I have many species of fish that I need to re-catch in order to document the proof of my catch-and-release quarry.

I have lived in Winona for eight years.  In that time I have spent over 1000 days on designated Trout water honing my ability to use a fly rod, read water, and match the hatch all while developing a mantra that affords me mental health hallmarks.

Heath Sershen with a new lifelist species, the Black Redhorse.

This season I intend to concentrate on the big river that flows through my back yard.  The same one that I drive 60 miles of each day.  The same big river that splits this country in two.  The same big river that holds fish over 75-pounds.  The same big river that is home to about 100 species of fish.  I have heard you calling my name for nearly a decade now Mississippi River and now I feel apt enough to forbode the training grounds of the feeder creeks and rivers that contribute to your greatness.

I have started this season with many great experiences; mayfly hatches in February, i have caught, handled, and released two species of fish that were previously unfamiliar to me, the Black Redhorse and the Greater Redhorse, and have caught numerous Bowfin on a fly.

Thank you again for visiting and here’s to another season on the water!

A sight fished male Bowfin that took a fly.

Native Bowfin will readily take the right fly presented properly.

Today I went to a different piece of water for my lunch break.  This was a place that was previously undiscovered to me.  It is what the locals call the slough as it is connected to the Mississippi River by means of culverts under the dike roads.  It has lots of veg in its murky shallows.  I can see the early signs of cattails and lily pads.  I was drawn here today after I noticed the splash of spawning Common Carp on my way to the office.  Carp known me and I know them.  When compared to Trout, our other exotic species in the region, they grow bigger and fight much harder.  Further, they are closer to where I am and do not require a trip out to the country, a climb over any barbed wire fences, and take a fly just as well.

I did not see the carp I had noticed this morning while scouting at noon however I did find a shoal of shiners.  Any skilled angler understands that where there is forage there are consumers of that forage.  In this case there were native Bowfin and Gars mixed in with Largemouth Bass and other various unidentified Panfishes.

I have little experience with Bowfin given that I have never really had the opportunity to target them directly.  Its not to be construed that I have never tried to catch them before.   In this case I have never found them.  I prefer to sight fish for many species and even more so when I am fishing with a fly rod.  Today all I had were fly rods in the car and a variety of flies.  I had the choice of a nine-foot four weight, a nine-foot five weight and an eight-foot three weight.  I had just received the three weight in the mail last week.  The Winston WT was a Christmas present to me from my wonderful wife.  It replaced my Winston IM6 that i had left on the rood of my car as I drove away from the South Branch Whitewater River last fall.  This is not just a regular Winston WT.  It is one that my brother, a master fly rod builder, made for me.  The rod’s name is Virga.

I chose Virgo as she treated me to a fish on the first cast with her.  I figured she would be the mantra I needed to catch a Bowfin on a fly in this Mississippi River backwater slough.  I had no tippet material so I was left with a six-foot leader of which I added a #4 green chub streamer fly to.

I could see the Bowfin cruising the shallows.  There were numerous big females and smaller males that seemed to have blue fins through the water.  I stood on the top of the culvert and used my photochromatic polarized glasses to my advantage as I sought out the right fish to catch.

A Female Bowfin or Dogfish is formidable prey on the fly.

Many Bowfin were cruising and gulping air then disappearing. I end up making a blind cast which landed me this wonderful female Bowfin over 24-inches long.

My casting lane was very tight in this situation.  Behind me was a powerline not more than 30-feet behind me.  I am a bit shy about wrapping my fly line around a powerline so I resorted largely to roll casts and plunks.  This style of presentation proved to accurately place my fly as I had numerous takes.

If you have ever fished and caught Bowfin before then you will understand that their mouths are very tough.  I lost many fish as with this combined with the fact that I was using a three weight on fish consistently over six pounds.

Now that I had the taste in my mouth for one Bowfin I wanted another.  I had watched the smaller males break the surface of the water.  To me it appeared that they had blue fins and bellies with golden sides through the water.  I wanted to more closely inspect on of these fish and began targeting them directly.

I managed one, photographed it, and released it before retiring home for the night.  I was surprised to find that the fins and belly of this fish were in fact flourescant green and not blue and that the side of the fish was mottled copper and brown and not gold.  I took a bit of time admiring the beauty of this wonderful example of one of Minnesota most mis-understood native species before releasing it.

A native male Bowfin that was fooled by a #4 green chub streamer fly.

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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.

St. Louis River Burbot

2009 brought about a season of firsts for me.  Although I am weathered by angling and 2010 marks my 30th season I am still catching new species of fish and finding new ways to catch the old species of fish.  Fishing is still a constant challenge that I welcome regularly.  Whether it be getting to the spot, running out of bait or lures, breaking or loosing gear, or being too sick to fish, I welcome it all!

I am gonna do this chronologically and will attempt to not digress as much as I would if we were sitting and talking fish over a cup of coffee.  If I loose you in this diatribe I am sorry in advance.  Your comments are welcome.

In January I caught a Burbot through the ice over Minnesota’s St. Louis River.  This is the first Burbot that I have caught and successfully documented.  As my life-list stands it is considered my first Burbot species as now I have the photographic evidence of the catch.

I started the “trout season” off by camping and angling with my fiance.  At this point Shell was six months pregnant and for the first time was armed with a box of flies that she tied and a fly rod that she had made by hand.  Further, she landed her first Brown Trout on that rod with one of her flies.  This weekend was a true blessing and a monument to my angling experiences.

A 20-inch Brook Char.

Two weeks later I was tossing spinners for Browns in timber on a section of Non-designated trout water when I caught and released back-to-back 20-inch Brook Char.  The one in the photo has obviously been caught and mishandled before.  I left her go healthy and good to go.

The last fish before the wind cuts me off.

May brought about the annual inland Walleye opener and found me in the wilds of Minnesota’s northern border country.  We caught many many many walleyes on this trip however this pike will remain in my memory because it is the last fish that I caught before the wind demon took my tackle box into the lake.  She is a modest critter however memorable indeed.

A three-foot 20-pound Common Carp from June.

A hookless lure caught and handled Longnose Gar.

For the majority of the summer I chased Gar and Sturgeon on the Mississippi River.  This required hours and hours of bottom fishing with heavy tackle.  Although I never did get a Sturgeon out of the Mississippi, I did manage to return to my youth by landing a 20-pound Common Carp.  At three feet long this fish fought me in the current for nearly a half-hour.  Where I grew up, Commons were the dominate species and fish of this capacity and larger were quite common.  Albeit, that was 20-years ago.  June also found me learning to tie my own rope lures to assisted me in hooklessly catching a Longnose Gar in the Mighty Mississippi river backwaters.

A 36-inch Shovelnose Sturgeon.

Dry Fly Shortnose Gar

In early July I shook the stick and finally managed to catch myself a Shovelnose Sturgeon.  I have been dreaming about this species since I was very small and saw them at in the fish tank at the county fair.  At 36-inches this fish is very old and very formidable.  I also finally landed a Shortnose Gar on a dry fly.  This has been a challenge of mine for five seasons.  It is wonderful to have closure and evidence of this challenging fly caught species of fish.

Shell and I got married in July.  She is my catch of the year, really, but she’s nto a fish, at least last time I checked!

Heath and Michelle Sershen.

Shell, Wilmo, and some riverland critters.

I typically chase the Hexagenia Limbata Mayflies on the Mississippi River in July.  This year Shell joined me on a day that would mark our bug hunting experiences summit forever.  We were out in the Refuge when the Hex storm began.  It lasted only a half-hour however we were covered in the beautiful little critters!

August was awesome to me!  Shell gave birth to Starker Dunkin Sershen.

Starker Sershen

Starker is named after Aldo Leopold’s first son.  I am sure that he will find inspiration from the solitude of the natural world however I am unsure as to how he will interpret that into his life and make it his own.

After Starker the year just got more and more awesome!

Shortnose Gar.

Dad got his first ever Shortnose Gar.

In September I added a Goldeye to my life list.

Goldeye

Shovelnose Sturgeon

I took dad to the spot where I was sure that he could catch his first Shovelnose Sturgeon.

In October we added one more species to the list for the season.  Dad and I each got Lake Sturgeon!

Lake Sturgeon

Lake Sturgeon

Over all, 2009 was a great year.  I left out that fact that I added two other species of fish to my list this season.  in January it was a Burbot and somewhere along the line I got my first Longnose Gar.

Ultimately being married and having a family of my own can be said that its better than angling however you cannot shake a stick at five new species in one season; Burbot, Longnose Gar, Shovelnose Sturgeon, Goldeye, Lake Sturgeon.

Heath Sershen handles a decent St. Croix Lake Sturgeon

After the past weekends fishing adventures I thought I would bring it to the attention that after at least 28 seasons on the water I have added three new species to my list this season. This last one being one of the most triumphant.

Being a mystical fish the Lake Sturgeon has been a target of mine for several seasons. With the help of many of my friends on RoughFish.com I was able to get one.

It was a triumphant fight with this fish. I saw the fish thump my line rigged with a 1/0 circle hook, three fatheads (two live and one smashed) and two night crawlers. It then went limp.

I began to reel in the slack and found that the fish was still there and was running at the boat. I pulled the line smoothly tight and the fight was on. We had two people with four rods in one boat. My fishing partner started to act on our “fish on” plan that we had set on our way to the river. His chore was to bring in three lines and two anchors. Our inboard motor had been pulled up out of the water as soon as we had set the anchors.

With two lines up I felt the lull of being wrapped around the front anchor. My partner switched to pulling in the anchor. Our plan was to pull the anchor up until we saw where my line was wrapped. We got the anchor up from the 30-foot river bottom to within three feet of the boat when we noticed my line was wrapped around three times. We took care of that with a sharp knife to the anchor rope making sure that we were holding on to the anchor before we cut the rope.

The fight continued. My partner got the other rod and anchor in and readied the net. We were in luck in that my buddy Chad was anchored 30-feet away in his boat. He aimed his 1 million watt spotlight our way so that the fish was easily netted.

As the fish came in the boat an eight inch Lamprey fell off. I promptly flipped the Lamprey back into the water.

The fish taped to 44-inches and came up at 17-pounds on the digital scale.

We photo-documented the catch and gently released it into the water.  I made sure that the fish swam off on its own volition which it did so with a fury.  It was 10.30pm and we had been fishing since 6pm.  This was our second fish for the night and it was truly wonderful to get an up close look at this species of special concern.  I found that this fish was truly unique in that the coloring on its body looks as sand does at the bottom of a clear creek.  Its something I have not seen in other species of fish and is unique to this one.

After at least 28 seasons on the water I have added four new species to my list this season; Burbot, Longnose Gar, Shovelnose Sturgeon, and Lake Sturgeon.

Definitively this catch-photo-and-release trophy definately makes up for loosing my tackle box to a Canadian wind storm on a border lake in May and  the fly rod that I left on the top of my car in September as I left a the River for the day on the South Branch of the Whitewater.

Anyone know of anyone that has found a Winston IM6 with an Orvis CFO on it in the Whitewater Area lately? Specifically around Altura?

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