Minnesota Fishing & Hunting Reports

The last week has been fantastic for sight fishing to smallmouth on the fly. Some big fish being caught with the avereage size around 14 inches. Many more good days to come. Murdich minnow was the ticket yesterday.

The river is flowing at an excellent rate and the fish are in thier normal haunts. Today we fished for smallmouth bass and musky. We boated a 28" Musky and a number of smallmouth. We had another musky follow. Biggest smallmouth was 19.25" and 3.55LBs.

A Summer feeling has finally arrived here in the upper Midwest. With that has come some of the best hatches I have seen in the last few years as water temps warm into the 60s. This triggers EVERYTHING to POP. Brown trout can be found taking mayflies in the morning. On sunny days, they will be keying into caddis flies. With mayflies taking over again in the evening. Bugs notes on the last few trips - BWOs, Caddis, PMDs, Sulfars, and some March Browns (and midges). Flies that have been catching fish. Any mayfly emerger pattern seems to get a few fish. We have been fishing a cripple creek BWO in size 18. We have been searching with Outrigger Caddis to get a few fish. The number one pattern has been a Parachute tied on a curved (scud hook). Color doesn’t seem to matter (Purple Haze has been good). Apple River is looking like we will have a good early season and some viable water for floating! Northern Pike have been spawning in eddies and some smallmouth have been noted in the same areas. However they have been a little picky for this time of year. We will be getting on the water for some pre musky scouting the next two weeks. St Croix is running great right now. Smallmouth fishing is open on the river. Musky will open on the 27th. We will be getting out on the Croix in the next week as well now that the river has come down. Things are lining up for a killer summer float season. Hope to see you on the water this summer. Brian Maze

Fishing was slow until the water heated up this morning. We had very few rising trout until around 1030 AM. At that time - it went off! We had smaller sized BWO mayflies (18s) coming off. The fish were picky on most of our attempts with mayfly patterns. A lot of fish turning heads at the last second. Water temps came up fast with 52 degrees early AM and mid morning hitting 56 degrees. I think that was the trigger for the Caddis eruption that took place around 1030. After taking turns at a few larger fish - one finaly ate a caddis pattern I had just switched too. Step and repeated a few times with myself and my client - We looked at each other - Do we have the ticket? Often on the rambling streams just as we thought it was going to work all day, the hatch was over as quick as it started. We covered 2 miles of stream today on a 6 hour trip. Of that 2 miles only a small portion had a true feeding frenzy. Some nice trout were netted between 1030 and 12 pm today. And some smaller ones too. Without question we had some bigger fish contacts today! Guide Tips and Thoughts: On today's trip there were few factors that lead to our success. #1 Be looking for aquatic invertebrates ALL THE TIME(bugs, ya know? The stuff the trout eat). You can go to a fly shop, ask around, pimp a guy for intell, but the tride and true way to know what is going on in your fishery is to look in the water. Pick a rock up and look for these nymphs and larve. Keep notes and learn more about the life cylces. That is why I knew this location was going to have SOMETHING happening today. #2 Get uncomfortable with your fly selection. Sometimes fish will key into small details. Trying a few flies and styles will impact your chances of "matching the hatch" as some say. #3 Down size. I know, getting the cheater glasses out sucks. I now have to deal with these things too, urg. Taking the time to tie on size 6x tippet and size 18 and 20 flies may be all it takes to put a monster trout in your net. One quick public service announcement - Wisconsins Early Catch and Release season is ending this upcoming weekend. There will be a TON of folks getting after these fish starting May 6th. All I ask is that you treat other anglers as you wish you would be treated by other anglers. We all have a right to be on these beautiful streams. Those rights come with privlidges and responsiblities. PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF!!! Be respectful of those folks who may see trout differently than you do. We all have to share these resourses and the DNR would not allow a harvest if it was not approprate for the watershed. Get out there and find some new water. Seeking the Untamed - Chasing all Wild Brian Maze

As we head into April, I want to give you an honest update on the smallmouth bass fishing in the area. Unfortunately, the odds have been a bit challenging lately. During this time of year, smallmouth bass can be a bit sluggish and slow to bite. However, as an experienced fishing guide, I'm always up for the challenge, and I'm still working hard to put my clients on some quality fish. Despite the tough odds, fishing on the St Croix River is always a unique and memorable experience. The stunning scenery, clean waters, and the thrill of hooking into a feisty smallmouth bass are reasons why anglers keep coming back. So, if you're planning a fishing trip to the St Croix River in April, be prepared for some challenging conditions. But don't worry, I'll do my best as your guide to make it an enjoyable and memorable trip. Tight lines and happy fishing!