Small stream Stories and Pictures;

[milt spawn]

Underwater shot from 11-18-11. milt.

[ted4887]

Here's a few from the "Driftless Area" of SE Minnesota.





One of the more interesting springs in the area.

[Hardyreels]

Ted,

The spring........... this is at least partially a spring creek then? Does it freeze over in the winter? Beautiful place,

Ard

[ted4887]

Yes, it's a spring creek, as our most of our creeks in the Driftless. This stream fishes wide open all year long with a pretty healthy population of browns. It's easily one of my favorite hikes in the area, but is well traveled so I tend to avoid fishing it with the exception of one or two times a year.



I should mention also, that the spring picture is from a different creek then the rest of the pictures, although those also stay mostly open year round.

[pegboy1]

Ted... love the driftless!! Heres our small stream "driftless" story.
Coming to the FFFT this winter...

"Reverb" fly fishing trailer - YouTube

"Reverb" fly fishing trailer - YouTube

[gatortransplant]

Ted, the water flowing from the rock is so cool, looks like a movie set, where the protagonists would be spit forth from some cave-related predicament into the safety of the river... Just really picturesque overall!
And pegboy, your s/n should have clicked before, I am sooo stoked for when your bit comes out, I watched the trailer the other day and can't wait. Plus it has me wanting to fish the Driftless area next time I'm visiting family in Illinois. When I saw Ted's post and saw that it was about the Driftless, I was about to mention the trailer...

[ted4887]

Thanks Gator. You definitely should give it a try. If you ever decide to make it over west of Madison, let me know and I'll see if I can get over that direction for an afternoon.

Pegboy - I've actually read something off your site about the video a while back and have been jazzed to see it more than you could imagine! The trailer is wonderful, and I'm looking forward to the full version.

[Hardyreels]

Very nice,

When I lived in Pennsylvania I believe I knew where every spring that had trout was located. I spent my years in education after high school studying geology and that gave me an edge. I knew the topography that would be conducive to spring flows whether they were limestone or bedrock aquifers that yielded artesian wells I gave plenty of thought to looking for them.

I would say that spring creeks are my favorite creeks unless I were sitting up on Francis Branch right now (freestone creek) then that would be the one. I guess trying to say I like one place or kind better than the other will never work out for me................. Here I like anywhere that I can't find a boot print and believe me, those places are harder to find than you may think

[ted4887]

You're spring knowledge far surpasses mine. I mark out spring locations when I find them but my finding them consists of dumb luck most of the time.

[gatortransplant]

While I'm decidedly new to fly fishing, whenever I pass a stream, I have always found myself wondering if there were fish, usually trout, inhabiting it. When I was little it was always that way, and to this day, my fiancee has to drag me on whenever we pass any waterway. Is there any particular way to know if a given waterway holds fish, besides fishing it? It doesn't help that trout are amazing at disappearing even when very close by...