Red Eyes

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk down to the Mississippi.

Getting to my favorite spot requires rappelling down this rope, which someone conveniently left tied to a tree. Well, maybe going this way isn't required, but it's by far the most fun way to get down the bluffs. 

Some kind of mayfly

A yellow stonefly

I saw a bunch of mayflies and stoneflies flying around, but nothing hitting the surface. The water was pretty murky, which probably kept the fish down. 

I caught two bass on streamer, one of which had the reddest eyes I've ever seen on a smallmouth.

Crabapple and apple trees are putting up a great display

Signs of Spring: Flowers and Aggressive Bass

Yesterday was the first nice day in a while here in Minnesota. It's been gray and rainy all week, but yesterday was sunny, so I decided to walk down to the river.

Tulips in bloom on campus

Large-flowered Bellwort

On the way I saw many signs that spring is really here. Maple trees are leafing out, tulips are coming up, and apple, crabapple, and redbud trees are in full bloom.

Last few Anemone acutiloba flowers

The water was high and dirty thanks to the rain (well, it's always dirty) but the fish were aggressive. I hooked into 5 smallmouth, but only managed to land 2. They were fighting a lot harder than they did a few weeks back - most likely due to the warmer water temperatures. The downside of the higher water is that my mobility on the bank was somewhat limited, so I decided to call it a day after hooking those 5 fish at my usual spot.

This guy was missing a mandible

Yum....

I graduate in 2 weeks, then it's back to Massachusetts for the best trout fishing of the year!

Flowering Crabapples

Wild Violets are everywhere right now

My First Carp

Earlier this week I caught my first carp. I went to the river looking for smallmouth, and I caught one right off the bat in my usual spot.

I moved up the shoreline a few feet and slowly worked my streamer along the bottom. About 15 feet from shore I felt a tug and pulled up, but felt an enormous weight on the other end. The fish immediately went on a run, sending my reel spinning out of control. I had some heavy mono from a spinning rod on as tippet, so I was able to get control of the fish. For 5 minutes he fought, allowing me to get him close, only to flick his tail and make a run back towards deeper water. When I finally got him in I was disappointed he wasn't a huge smallmouth, but happy to have caught my first carp and one of my biggest fish of all time.

I got one more smallmouth as the sunset before turning for home.

To keep with the theme of my last few posts, here are some more flowers I saw this week:

Rue Anemone

Bloodroot

Sharp-lobed Hepatica

Not quite sure what this is, but I think it's a wild plum or cherry (Prunus).

More Flowers and Bass

On Sunday I was able to get down to the river and catch a few more Smallies. The weather has been weird here lately - after a somewhat warm winter, the spring has actually been pretty cold. While the warmer winter seems to have gotten the bass active a little earlier than usual, they are only really biting on warmer days, so I've had to pick my days wisely.

Luckily Sunday was one such warm day, so I decided to give it a shot. I first checked on the flowers I saw the last time I was here. They were still there, only now instead of one flower there were clumps of popping up everywhere. Even though it hasn't been as cold this winter, it's still a relief to see things popping up.

After checking on the flowers I went down to my usual spot where the storm drain enters. I made a cast to the moving water, let it sink, and like clockwork felt a tug on the other end. I forgot how fun it is to catch something that really fights.

I moved to a different spot and began casting out into the main current. At one point my line stopped and I thoguht I had a snag, but when I pulled up I found a fish on the other end. This one was a bit smaller, so I let it go without a picture.

I didn't get any more bites after that, but the two fish I caught were a nice change of pace.

Flowers and Fish

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in St. Paul, with sunny skies and a high in the mid 60s. I had a little time in the evening, so I decided to take a walk down to the river and fish for a little. I've tried a couple times in the last few weeks, but the water was still pretty cold, so I don't think the smallmouth were active yet.

On my way down the bank I recognized a plant with a distinctive three-lobed leaf. It was a species we studied in my botany class this fall, and I remembered that it's usually one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. I looked a little more closely and saw one small pink flower poking out of the dead leaves on the forest floor.

Anemone acutiloba 

I took the flower sighting as a good sign and made my way down the steep bluff to the shore. The wind was starting to pick up, but the spot I chose to fish is a relatively sheltered cove where a storm drain empties into the river.  I tied on a size 8 beadhead streamer and a short leader to help with casting in the wind.

At first all I caught was the bottom, which is exciting at first...until you feel dead weight on the other end. A few casts later I felt my line stop again, but this time I felt movement on the other end. The fish pulled hard, and it took a solid minute to get it in. I love trout, but sometimes it's fun to catch something that can really pull.

I moved to the other side of the cove so I could get a better angle to cast to the spot where water from the storm drain enters. My first cast fell short, so I cast again. I've found that early season bass tend to take the fly as it initially falls or on the first pause, so I wanted to get the fly right where I thought the fish would be. The second cast was right on the money, and a second later I saw my line tip dart underwater. I pulled up and saw a bright flash in the water. This fish fought even harder, even taking line off my reel at one point. I had to scramble over rocks to get to a spot I could land it, but I managed to keep it on the line. This fish was about 16" and probably around 2 pounds.

That was all I got, but it was a great way to end the day.

Popper Bass

This weekend I was in upstate New York for a family reunion at a cabin on a small lake. I was able to borrow a kayak and get on the waterfall a few hours on Saturday night and Sunday morning, and fortunately both outings yielded nice fish. I only landed one on each trip, but they were well worth the effort.

Bass are willing to hit the surface by this time of year, and overcast skies meant I had an even better shot at convincing a bass to take a popper. I had seen a lot of frogs around the lake, so I decided to try a green popper. I paddled the edge of the lake, casting to gaps in the lily pads. For the first hour I had no strikes, and I began to worry that the bass wouldn't take my fly. I made one last cast to the edge of some lily pads and began to turn the kayak around to head back to the dock. Just as I turned I heard a huge splash. It sounded like someone threw a brick into the water. I looked back at the spot where my popper had been. It was gone.

As I pulled up on the rod I felt a significant weight. This bass fought long and hard, but ultimately I was able to get it into the boat.

The next morning was overcast once again, so I decided poppers would likely work again. They did. This time I had many more strikes, but all but one ended in a long-distance release. The one that did stay on was even bigger than the fish from the night before, and even towed the kayak around briefly.

All in all it was an unexpectedly great couple days of fishing.

Wachusett

On one of my recent small stream trips I decided to switch it up and fish a bigger body of water. As the second largest body of freshwater in the state, the Wachusett Reservoir certainly qualifies as "bigger".

Though I was too late for the reservoir's famed Lakers and Landlocked Salmon, I hoped to find some of the monster Smallmouth Bass I've heard inhabit its waters.

I got one decent smallmouth from the main shoreline before the wind drive me into a cove. There, I found a nice sized largemouth slowly cruising one section of shoreline. I tried every fly in my box - wooly buggers, poppers, and finally a mouse, but I couldn't entice it to do anymore than take a quick look at my fly.

Just as I was about to leave, I ended up getting a hit on the mouse from this small rock bass - I'm not sure how he would have swallowed a real mouse, but props to him for the effort.

The One That Got Away

I've been doing a lot of Smallmouth fishing this week. Most of the fish I've caught have been pretty big - probably in the 1 to 1.5 lb range, but last night I hooked up with a true monster.

I dropped a wooly bugger into the outflow of the same storm drain in my last post. The fish grabbed it and immediately started taking line. After about 3 minutes of fighting, I finally got him close to shore.

Unfortunately that's when I got cocky. I decided it would be a great idea to take a video as I landed it. Just after I hit record he turned his head and snapped my 3X tippet.

I caught a few more bass before sunset, but nothing like the big guy. I'll be back for him.

Urban Fly Fishing: Smallmouth bass in the Mississippi

I had a few hours free after class today, so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and fish. I walked the mile to the Mississippi and worked my way down the steep bluff to the river's edge.

In my several attempts to fish here in the last few years I haven't caught anything, but I have seen a few jumps, so I know they're around. Most of the shoreline is shallow and sandy, but I found a spot where the outflow of a storm drain leaves a culvert perched just above water level. The water leaving the culvert has dug out a deep hole that I knew just had to hold fish.

I worked a black wooly bugger through the deep section without a bump, so I decided that I might as well practice casting. I aimed at the spot where water from the culvert meets the surface. I stripped the fly in once, then felt a strong pull.There was a flash at the end of my line, then the fish dove deep into the murky water, taking line as it went. After a strong fight I landed a nicely sized smallmouth.

Three others followed in the remaining hour I spent fishing. I still prefer trout to bass, but it was fun catching some nice fish in a cool spot. Plus, you can't beat fishing a mile from home.