Paddling and Scouting

Last night around 10 p.m., I got a wild hair... I wanted to go paddle the Zumbro River. And so it was. Too late to realistically get anyone to join me, but I was alright with that. The solitude that the river offers is surreal. No noisy boat traffic, which drives me nuts all too often. There is something to be said for floating down a lazily winding river with nothing but your thoughts and the wildlife. And oh, was there wildlife. Throughout the ~12.5 miles I floated today, I saw roughly 30 eagles, countless other raptors, a few deer, and a ?gaggle? of turkeys.

The main reason I was so anxious to get out was to scout some new water for the upcoming smallmouth season. Lots of fishy water, saw quite a few bass, as well as tons of carp. More carp than I would have thought to be honest.

Overall though, the day was fantastic. 65*, overcast with a touch of drizzle, and 10mph winds. As far as I'm concerned, that type of weather is much better than the hot days where you sweat like a pig, and drink more beer than any human should.

Where to go: Yellowstone or northern Wisconsin

This is my latest quandary: I will have an ample amount of free time in June and July and so am stuck trying to decide how to spend it. My two choices at the top of my list are heading towards Yellowstone for a week or two to chase big trout, or drive the 5 hours up to Hayward, WI to chase big musky and smallmouth. Now, a little background on me... I'm a self-employed 25 year old, full time student, and self-proclaimed fly bum. Not that trout bum crap, I like other chasing other species on the fly just as much or more than trout. By no means am I well-off, but I live comfortably. I also need to live within my means. So, if I head out to Yellowstone which will cost me roughly 450 in gas will probably nix my ability to hire a guide. Since I've never fished the area I would much prefer that over just seeing what I find. If I head up to chase big musky and smallies, I'll have the ching to hire a guide. Tough choices, right?

What a slow start to the "Fresh Start"

Well, the past week has brought us 30+ mph winds almost every day. It's severely limited my desire to get out and fish. The one evening I did venture out I dropped my arm and proceeded to take a large Clouser minnow in the back, leaving a nice welt. Oh well, the winds will die down and my schedule will soon free up to allow me more time fishing.

A fresh start

As I was sitting here tonight, recouping from a long day on a southeast Minnesota trout stream, I decided to start this blog up again from scratch. It seems I sometimes lose focus when it comes to blogging. Too much fishing and not enough reflecting I suppose. I am going to use this as an opportunity to reflect on some of my wanderings through some local and not-so-local water. I'll also try to occasionally post up some fly tying pictures, and some SBS instructions for some of the patterns that I tie.

Hopefully through this blog I'll gain a few followers that share the same interest in fly fishing that I do.