Spring came a little late here in the northland, as it has been a cold and wet past few weeks …. not making for the best fly fishing weather. On today’s outing, my good friend Duane and I are once again out on the St. Croix River in/on our float boats in search of any fish that would take one of our flies.
To my surprise, the first fish I landed was a chunky 15″ smallie. That might not sound all that odd to you, but our smallmouth leave and migrate south along the St. Croix each season in early September and usually don’t return until mid to late half of May. So, to land a few smallmouth here on May 8th was certainly a treat for both of us. Duane actually caught the fish of the trip on a streamer using his new sink tip one fly line; a 19″ chubby river fish that gave him quite a tussle. On the afternoon I managed to land a pair of smallies, a pair of pike and one beautiful musky …. and all in a stretch of a little over a mile of river.
Frankly it was good just to be out and on our boats and to do so on a day which hit 70′ was indeed a special afternoon after the past few weeks of cold weather. The real beauty of the trip is that with the smallmouth back in the river system we are on a permanent go for fly fishing! That along with the fact that my turkey season comes up next week is a permanent lift to the spirits. I hope that your spring has also sprung and you are out and about enjoying all of the beauty and bounty that God has made for us to enjoy! As always, if you have any comments or questions you can leave those below and I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.
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