MUSKY HUNT WITH VOYAGEUR PURSUITS

Since moving up here to Minnesota, I had visions of hooking up with monster musky - regularly.  That's definitely not the case, and you're probably thinking to yourself, who the hell does this guy think he is that he's going to catch musky all the time.  Trust me, I think that same thing, but what can I say, I'm a dreamer.

My homie Tom Hazleton of Voyageur Pursuits heard I was on the hunt for my first Minnesota musky, so, he invited me out.  The conditions seemed almost too perfect.  It was the evening, and there had been gray skies all day.  I had such a great feeling that today was going to be the day I caught my first Minnesota Musky.

Well, the evening did not go as planned, but it was a great time none the less.  There were no musky caught, but we had a few beers, and brought a few pike to the boat before calling it a night.  Huge thanks to Tom for inviting me out and showing me that musky really don't exist in Minnesota.

Catching Northern Pike on the Great Wall of China.
Photograph: Tom Hazelton

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Update - I'm back from the Bitchin' Tour

Recently, the PIG FARM INK crew borrowed a van from punk rock band Teenage Bottlerocket and set out across the Midwest and up to the Northeast to spread the good word that fly fishing is rad, and that we should all care about our environment.  

Being a Pig Farmer, I jumped aboard after the event we hosted here in Minneapolis - American Flydol (Fly tying and Karaoke), and originally I had planned to stay for 4 days, but I ended up staying for roughly 15...and yes, I still have a job.

I have a lot of catching up to do, and photos and video to sift through.  I just wanted to check in with all of you, and let you know that I'm still here, and that I am looking forward to sharing all of my stories of good times, and the people we met along the way that made this trip such an amazing experience.

Here's a taste.

Get Trashed

Delaware River Club

Starlight, Pennsylvania

Low riding on the Delaware River.

71 tires were collected!  That's not including the other trash that was picked up and out of the great Delaware River.  Everyone came back with a drift boat chalk full of garbage.  I mean how freakin' awesome is that!  71 tires!  There were so many left behind, too.  There was simply just not enough room in the boats to transport them back.

We're not stuck...or are we...

QUICKIE

Found myself in Wisconsin with some time to spare, so, I did the logical thing....I went trout fishing.  I was out and about enjoying the weather and hiking around Willow River State Park, and afterwards, I decided to head on down the road to the Kinnickinnic River.  I grabbed my FSA custom 3 wt, Vedavoo hip pack, and Tacky fly box, tied on a top water bug I've been working on, and walked on down to a new spot I scoped out back in June.

EATER

The no name fly I've been working on was the ticket and my fly box was not needed.  I found some rising trout on the tail end of some small riffles, and they were picking off anything that was drifting through.  

Vedavoo hip pack.

Wet waded up the river just a little bit in to some skinny water, and found some a few more fish drifting that same fly.  I don't know if it was the fly or the amount of fish caught, but the fly was starting to come undone.  Need to do some tweaking...I kind of want to think that the trout were just beating it up throughout the short outing, which is very possible.

Brook trout like to party.

Came across a floating fish, and upon further investigation - I determined it was the biggest trout that I have ever seen with my own eyes in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, and that it was a brook trout.  Didn't have a wallet on it, so, I wasn't able to determine it's age or where it came from.

What a shame.

All in all it was a solid 1.5 spent fishing on a beautiful day, and a reminder to me and to all of you that live here in the Midwest to get out there and enjoy the outdoors and the kick ass weather while we have it....Winter is coming.