4/10/16 Spring Brown Trout

This past weekend was pretty strange. The weather was really not very nice. I really wanted to get the kayak out but it was just not going to happen. When I woke up both days, there was fresh snow on the ground. Saturday was a high of 36 and 15-25 mph winds. Sunday looked better but was going to start out well below freezing. I decided to sleep in and check the weather in the morning to see what if anything I was getting myself into. It was still supposed to be relatively windy but the temperature looked much better. The forecast for up north was a high of 52 and occasional rain showers. I thought to myself "I can handle a little rain as long as it gets into the 50's" So with that, I headed north with my waders and a light weight spinning rod to fish for trout. Within minutes of arriving, it started to rain. It NEVER stopped the rest of the day. It also never got above 40 degrees. The weather was generally very miserable. Fortunately the fishing was fantastic and I brought a ton of very nice Browns to hand. My best was probably around 15 inches and I had several 12 inchers as well. I was catching them on small spinners. I pinch the barbs down on the trebles. It makes it much easier on the fish and unhooking the fish is pretty quick and easy most times. You lose occasional fish this way but the pros outweigh the cons. All Trout streams are catch and release only from the first of the year until the end of April. Also remember that most Trout streams are closed to fishing from April 15th until the last Saturday in April when "Trout Season" opens.

4/1/16 If You Can't Beat the High Water, Join It!

The weather continues to be a problem for fishing. There has been more than enough rain in the last month to keep most rivers too high and muddy to fish and it has been extremely windy most days when I had chances to go. The silver lining is that when rivers are too high and muddy to fish, there is a creek within 25 minutes of my house that has decent whitewater to paddle. The whitewater is pretty small with mostly class 1 with a few class 2 rapids at higher water. This type of creek is pretty rare in Indiana. It has a hard rock bottom with lots of rock ledges, plenty of big boulders, and some very neat cliffs along it's course. It is also unique because it is the only designated catch and release section of water in the state for Smallmouth Bass. We went down on Friday after work. The creek was a little lower than the first time we went this spring but still had plenty of fast moving water to practice catching eddies, ferrying, and just a little bit of surfing. It was fun night to be out. This crazy weather has to end eventually!

Three Rivers Fly Fishing / Fly Tying Show

Now that the show has gotten a lot closer, I just wanted to post this flyer one more time. Last years inaugural event was awesome. We had a lot of great vendors, speakers, fly tyers, prizes, and raffles. This year also looks like it is going to be a great event. If you missed it last year come on out this Saturday!