Spring has been slow. Waking up this morning it was ten degrees outside. I was going fishing. I grabbed a spinning rod, a fly rod, and my net. Coho salmon seem to be the only consistent species this year. I was able to pick up a couple early in the morning bobber fishing with the spinning rod.
The numbers of rainbow trout are dwindling along the North Shore of Lake Superior due to the stocking changes the Minnesota DNR has made in the past few years. This year has been the worst yet. As you may have noted, my posts have been lacking of rainbow trout action compared to the last couple of years. Just have a look at the archives from February-June of 2014 and 2013. And it’s not because I have not been going out. I have, and I get skunked. What fish are left have been pressured and are more difficult to catch. You may see them sulking around almost as if they are in a dormant state of mind, like in this video.
I broke out the fly rod and put on one of my favorite flies under an indicator, cast it out, and waited. Optimism was low which is weird, because usually to catch these fish you need to have confidence in what you are doing and what you are using. If I were to give anyone advice on fishing these rainbows, it would be to have confidence in your ability to catch these fish and anticipate your bobber going down.
And the indicator did go down, a slow sink as I whipped back in surprise attempting to set the hook. I felt something on the other end but only momentarily before the hook popped out. Whitefish is what I was thinking just because it did not feel very big, but it was only momentary so I really couldn’t say. Casting back out, the indicator sank almost right away again and this time I connected. There was a pretty good fight and it took a few attempts to get it in the net. There is always a lot of finesse and nerves involved fishing with 4lb test line.
Swinging my fly line back out there, it was only moments before my indicator sank again. Surprised, I set into another. It was shorter, but it was fatter.
The day turned out pretty good. I missed a few and caught a few. Hopefully more fish will show up yet and this season won’t be a total bust. It is only March after all, the best part has yet to come.