Wisconsin Driftless Trout Opener 2020: Part 2

Aaron has been found, but he's been acting weird.  I found him down by the river fishing which is nothing unusual, but he was hooked in to a fish when I saw him...that's highly unusual!  He's literally the worst at fishing.

There was a lot of fishing the rest of the day.  No catching, but a lot of fishing.  When you're in company the catching doesn't matter much.  After seeing a few posts from others about the Wisconsin Inland Trout Opener, it was a slow day for all in the Driftless.

Bobby Nachos keeping a low profile.

Area Man watching Bobby Nachos work a streamer through some riffles.

Brown Trout and Bridge Beers Podcast.

Dirty Harry hero shot with a brown.  Love this reel case!

My Brown Trout and Bridge Beers Podcast sticker box always makes it out to the river when I'm fishing for trout, and so does my Vedavoo Dirty Harry patched Reel Case.

Area Man searching for the right used fly.

Area Man found it.

All in all, it was a solid first outing of the new year.  A fish was caught, Area Man was abducted then found, and I got out of the house and away from my computer.  Cheers and Happy New Year to all of you out there!  I hope 2020 brings you all the awesome!

Area Man working an area.

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Smallmouth Bass Float

Got out in my Flycraft to do a solo smallmouth float down a river in Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful day, and it was the first time in a long time I was able to get out on the water to just do some fishing, and it was awesome!

The CARF Flycraft ready to float.

Morning coffee on the river, taking in the sights and sounds.

The smallies seem to eat literally everything I tossed their way...clousers, other various streamers, and I even brought my spinning rod and tossed some paddle tail plastic baits.  All of my offerings were crushed!

One of the many smallmouth I hooked up with.

Of course I lost track of time out there, and was late getting back for dinner.  I think we've all done that once or twice...or 100 times.

Links to gear used/seen in post

Raft

Net

Bug Stopper Hoodie

Awesome Coffee Holder

Amazing Coffee Lid

Brown Trout & Bridge Beers

I sat down with the guys from the Brown Trout & Bridge Beers Podcast to talk brown trout.  Per usual with me, it went off subject rather quickly and we found ourselves chatting and laughing.  The conversation went from talking brown trout fishing, to whales, dolphins, mop flies, marabou, and I gave some tips on how to succeed out on the water.

Give it a listen to below.

Would love to hear some feedback.

Where you can find the guys of Brown Trout & Bridge Beers:

Soundcloud

Instagram

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Grant IG

Matt IG

Vedavoo Torchbearer Spotlight

Hello all of you beautiful people out there who still visit.  I am still alive, and I assure you that I have no intentions of ever throwing in the towel here.  Like Stella, I just need to get my groove back.  While I haven't been writing/sharing over here, I have been writing/sharing.  I had a short Q&A session with Matthew over at Vedavoo not long ago, and the interview has been posted.

Click on the link to be brought over to the Vedavoo Workshop Journal to read the interview.

>>>>>  VEDAVOO TORCHBEARER SPOTLIGHT <<<<<

BOW & ARROW BROOK TROUT

One of my friends saw that I was on the Carf #icatchsmallfishtour2018 and invited me along to go fish some of his favorite brook trout waters.  In typical CARF fashion I forgot the reels to my 3 and 5 wt rods, so, I had to borrow Cody's spare 5 wt reel.  It seems I'm always forgetting things.  This one time my friend Jim flew up from Chicago for work a day early to fish, and when I picked him up from the airport we immediately went to the trout streams.  I told Jim not to bring anything but his waders and boots.  Well, I should have told him to bring his fly box, because, I forgot all of my flies at home on my desk.  Ha!

Enjoy the short video, and be on the look out for a longer version of the video by subscribing to my Youtube channel.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2tl6hO4GM4

Let me know what you think of the video in the comments on the Youtube page, and don't forget to give it a "thumbs up" because it really does help in letting me know if it was good or not.

ANDY SELVIG DEER HAIR DEMO

If you find yourself in the Twin Cities area on Thursday 02/01/2018, then you'll want to stop by Gulden's Restaurant & Bar for a Saint Paul Fly Tiers meeting and demo.  There will be a deer hair packing and stacking demonstration conducted by Andy Selvig.  Andy claims that he's only good at a few flies, but actually sucks at most things.  Come on out and witness something that Andy doesn't suck at.

When working with deer hair, you have to be gentle.

ST. PAUL FLY TIERS MEET UP WITH BRAD BOHEN

B-RAD.

Special Saint Paul Fly Tiers meeting is going down tonight (Tuesday 01/30/2018).  Member or not...ALL ARE WELCOME!  So, come on down to Gulden's Restaurant & Bar tonight to see the Musky Madman himself, Brad Bohen.  He will be doing a fly tying demo and he will have a bunch of Primo Tail materials available for sale.  He will have Primo Tail Bucktail, Hang Time Hackle, and some very killer Bohen Bionic Bucktail Brushes aka B4 for sale. Brad accepts cash or PayPal.

If you can, be there! 

TUESDAY - 01/30/2018

5 - 9:00 P.M.

GULDEN'S RESTAURANT & BAR

2999 NORTH HWY 61

MAPLEWOOD, MN 55109

Brad's Links

MUSKY COUNTRY OUTFITTERS

INSTAGRAM

BMFS: HOPS & HOPPERS 12/05/2017

Another fun night at Lake Monster Brewing for Hops & Hoppers hosted by Bob Mitchell's Fly Shop and Lake Monster Brewing.  I meant to tie a bunch of flies, but that didn't happen.  So enjoy a bunch of pictures.

1st & 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Bret is a rad dude with laser like focus when he's tying trout bugs.  He also in a band Too Pure To Die.

Focus.

Some times that focus affects Bret's periphreal vision, and he has trouble sensing dangers in the form of A-A-Ron looking intently for the right opportunity to pounce on him.

 

Guys who wear undersized hats always find each other.

Here we have Drew and Josh.  Josh is really cool, and has some mad skillz at the vise.  Drew...we just don't know about.
 

Josh on the left.  Questionable Drew on the right.

One of the guides that works out of Bob Mitchell's Fly Shop is a super fishy dude, and his name is Evan.  He has a goal to tie 1 million of these white murdich minnows by winters end.  Not even 1 month in, he's 1/3 of the way to his goal.

Evan whipping up murdich minnow # 34,120

Grant and his wife are some pretty rad individuals.  They like cooking bacon on their flattop grill, and posting ridiculous pictures of each other on social media.

Grant giving Ashley some tips on what to do when you see a camera aimed at you.

Awww so cute.

Below we have a picture of something that simply cannot be explained.  Rhea, Matt Ebbers, and myself just couldn't keep a straight face while Grant just looked over at Ashley like this was a normal occurrence.  Can you take a guess at what was happening here?

Amazing.

Eddie Rivard has a black belt in bugs.  Here is a rare shot of him sharing his knowledge to Josh, Micah, and an unknown dude for free.

Josh, Micah, and an unnamed dude listening to the expert advise of Eddie Rivard.

Do you know about The Driftless Flyer?  If you don't, simply click on the name/link and do a bit of reading, and you will.  Did you know that it was that easy to know about something?  Now you do, and you're welcome.  The Driftless Flyer is actually a 2 person team comprised of Micah and his wife Abigail.

Do you even trout, bruh?  Question for The Driftless Flyer

Mike Carina is super creative...how do I know?  Well, he has a website appropriately titled Carina Creative. 

Mike showing off his creativity at the vise.

Eddie Rivard is also an International Fly Super Model.  Here he is helping Carlin Samela show off some of his most recent musky flies for free.  Such a charitable man that Eddie Rivard is.

Say Cheese.

Andrew Muntz is a flure tying machine.  Some people make balloon animals, but Andrew makes fly animals.  A little kid walked up to him at the brewery and asked him to whip up a lion, and he did.  Mad Skillz.

Andrew Muntz showing off some serious vise skills.

...another fun night at Hops & Hoppers.

DREW & EDDIE

This is Drew.  He likes to tie flies and fish for trout.

Drew admiring a musky fly.

Drew is also a big fan of playing with my camera while I'm using it.

Drew using my camera while I was trying to use my camera.

Drew also likes to play with my camera when I'm not using it, and sneak close up pictures of peoples faces or behinds.

Drew in search of Eddie Rivards best side.

This is Eddie Rivard.  He likes to fish, tie flies, and share his stories on his blog Eddie Rivard Fly Fishing.

Eddie showing off some bucktails with the Chicago Bears colors.

...and here is the product of Drew sneaking up on Eddie Rivard with my camera.

Possible caption contest photograph for the future??

LUNDS FLY SHOP: BUGS & SUDS 11/15/2017

 It's the 3rd Wednesday of the month, and you're looking for something to do.  Well, you're in luck, because, every 3rd Wednesday of the month, Lund's Fly Shop hosts an open tie night at Swinging Bridge Brewing in River Falls, Wisconsin.  This open tie night has a name, and its name depicts exactly what you can expect from one of these nights, Bugs & Suds.

Tying flies and telling lies.

If you are without a vise, not to worry, because, there are extra vises to be used by anyone.  In my experience, others are willing to share knowledge, materials, and even teach others who are looking to wet their feet in fly tying.

I'm a fan of IPA's and Swinging Bridge Brewing is brewing up an excellent one by the name of East Cascade.  They also just released a fantastic stout, Captain Trips.  It's a chocolate roasted coconut stout that I was fortunate to get a taster of before they released it, and I must say...damn, that was delicious.

Head Brewer Mike O'Hara pouring me some fresh suds.

Wandering around checking out what others are spinning up, you'll find a variety of bugs.  Big bugs, small bugs, and weird bugs, they're all there.  One of my favorite things about showing up to open tie nights is the all of the interesting flies you'll come across.

Carlin Salmela showing off a fresh musky bug.

My vise waiting for me to replace the tiny hand with a hook.

Josh Mattis whipping up some trout streamers.

Tavis focused.

When you combine the people, the stories, and beer at Bugs & Suds, you're going to have a good time and some good laughs.  Oh, and pretzels, how could I forget about the pretzels, and beer cheese soup.  Hell, the whole menu there at the taproom is fantastic.  It was made with the help of other local business, and features quite a few locally grown/raised options.

Nick Brevitz kissing the fly 1/2 tied by myself, and the other 1/2 tied by Drew.

On this particular night, there was a tier by the name of Andrew Muntz.  Initially, I was greatly impressed with the work he was putting in on the musky flies he was tying.  Brian Smolinski noticed me watching and shouted out to me, "Hey CARF check this out" and handed me one of Andrew's flies.  I was like WHOA.  That is not a musky fly, that is a musky lure, and my level of impressed went through the roof.  This dude does some RAD work.

Andrew Muntz working on one of his impressive flures.

Others who were not familiar with Andrew's work were just as impressed as I was.  Drew was so impressed with the flure that he wouldn't stop petting it, and I think became best friends with it after a few more beers, and there are even rumors that Drew and the fly are now in an open relationship.

Drew has the look of love in his eye.

Peace and love in the heart of the Driftless.

So much love.

Drew loves everyone.

Don't forget - it's the 3rd Wednesday of each month.  If you need directions or more information please contact Brian Smolinski over at Lund's Fly Shop.

MY GEAR

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Rising Stellar Scissors - http://amzn.to/2yCE7wM

Vedavoo Bench Basin - http://amzn.to/2zGBU78

Rite Bobbin Half Hitch - http://amzn.to/2hzxKab

Peak Vise - http://amzn.to/2zXEBCd

**The above links are Amazon Associate links**

KINNI CORRIDOR PROJECT

I was contacted by someone with the City of River Falls and they asked to use a few of my photographs for their webpage.  They used 2 of my photographs for banners on their webpage from last winter.

Featured in the photograph below are 3 of my homies.  Jim Aronson, Charlie Forbes, and John Sherlock.  Jim was fishing a nice run, while Charlie and Sherlock were...I don't know.  Tying on new flies?  Talking about world domination?  Undoing wind knots?