Driftless / Lake Michigan Tributaries / Lake Superior Tributaries / Minnesota / Salmon / Trout / Wisconsin
To be, or not to be…
The world can be a cold and unforgiving place. Peddling your wares on the information superhighway is a tough road to hoe. You tend to tear yourself wide open to scrutiny. Sure, the digital high fives stroke your ego when it’s all going well, but the ebb and flow of zeros and ones eventually lead to...
Finding Nemo
Did you think I’d forgotten you? Without a doubt I suffer from multiple personality disorder. I’m able to switch from one vice to the next like a kid in a candy store. The frigid days of February made for some solid rounds of neighborhood puck and ice fishing, but left the long rod waning. This...
Nothing More, Nothing Less
Let’s not get too heavy handed with the Jack Handey banter in this edition, okay? It’s not like my insight on things is any more poignant than the next guy. My brain dump can sometimes lead to a communication conundrum on the information super highway. I usually pride myself in thoroughly planning out my expeditions, but...
Off the Grid
Welcome back folks. Feel free to soak in this stunning display of natural beauty kick-off the 2015 season. I put myself on a self-imposed hiatus. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to be knee-deep in fishing related banter, it’s that I’ve been dealing with a cancer diagnosis and a job layoff in the family (and the...
Great Expectations
I’ve stated ad nauseam that there is no finer fly fishing month in these parts than June. There truly are many fantastic times throughout the year to be a flinger, I just happen to be fond of June. As I recently searched through the battered remains of my Panasonic’s memory card I was left wanting. The...
Get ’em While They’re Fresh
From the neighborhood golf course to the Caribou parking lot, our cup runneth over. The amount of water pumping through the greater Twin Cities area and dumping into my hood is immense. At least one guy found the silver lining in our time of need. This season of historic high water has forced some to find...
It’s Starting to Look a lot Like Christmas
It’s kind of funny. Some things just need to sit and stew for awhile before I can commit pen to paper. My current rate of blog production is at a slow and steady pace. Gone are the days of racing home to post the latest and greatest conquest. I’ll leave a collection of photos in...
Sentenced to Hard Labor
I had just settled down for a long winter’s nap when it dawned on me that I’ve been negligent in my duties. Slow and steady wins the race, right? This post has been in limbo for quite some time. I partially completed the story a few weeks back, but the subzeroness of my daily life...
The Best of Both Worlds
Nothing says R&R like a magnificent sunrise in the greater La Crosse area. A quick peek out my hotel window revealed a plethora of choices. Should I wander over to the Home Depot for some wallpaper paste, or hit the Olive Garden for the all you care to eat pasta bowl with extra Alfredo? I opted...
Better Late Than Never?
One of my favorite stops on the information superhighway is the “blog apology”. If you’re not personally indentured to a blog you may not realize the effort it takes to keep it fresh. Since I’m in the business of advising actual folks on things like their “web strategy” I find myself discussing such things with...
Why We Fight
There’s no question this will be an abbreviated treatise when compared to Frank Capra’s legendary documentary Why We Fight . The Academy Award winning masterpiece convinced legions of young men to endanger their livelihoods for the good of the country during WWII. For some strange reason I think of this classic piece of propaganda when the ice begins to firm up on the...
Good Things Come in Small Packages?
2013 has been billowing like an overstuffed burrito. The ever important life/work balance has been stalled at the work end of the spectrum. There has been little room between the beans and cheese of life for chasing trout. As last week unfolded, I finally found a small window for a much anticipated day trip into...
Fair and Balanced
This blog entry has been partially written for the better part of a month. It’s been lingering in the air like a stale fart. Instead of committing it to the virtual waste bin I opted to polish it up and throw it your way. The scrutiny level of certain conservative media outlets reached of fevered...
Payback’s a Bitch.
It’s probably not the ideal situation if you are on the receiving end of my fishing might. I’m on cruise control after results fall short of my expectations. If I’m unable to decipher the code, it slowly burns me up inside and payback’s a bitch. My approach tends to be like the United States government’s...
Man vs. Wild
There’s no question that I fancy myself an explorer. But in reality, my sense of adventure is often tempered by things like, parenting duties, work, and the certainty of my urban existence. The fishing community is rife with like-minded travelers searching far and wide seeking what experience “isn’t” in their own backyards. Exchanging pleasantries with...
Trick or Treat?
By the time the kiddies are sporting their ghoulish duds on for an evening of tricks and treats I’m grasping at straws for the remainder of open water. The cold air may be slowly invading our turf, but there’s still plenty of warmwater flowing and fish to be caught. Beyond my aforementioned Muskie chasing tendencies, I also...
Misjudging a Book by Its Cover
Things have been a bit busy for me lately, and while I’ve been on the water, the blog entries have been waning. No worries Adrifters, I’ve got a back log of content and posts should begin to flow again. I’ll make up for lost time by stretching this post out a mile long. It takes two...
Boyz-n-the-Hood
I’m going to cut to the chase. Things could be awful tough at times growing up on the mean streets of Marion, Iowa. By the time I was in high school in the late 80’s gangs had begun to ravage the primary “suburb” of Cedar Rapids. If I recall correctly a particular group referred to...
It’s On Like Donkey Kong
The sumer of 1981 graced the world with the perplexing puzzle that is Donkey Kong and I with this slab crappie. While this fish may seem inconsequential to most, it continues to influence me to this very day. The summer of ’81 was one of great agony for me since I had suffered a serious burn to...
One Small Step for Man
Our erratic winter weather patterns continue. Normally it’s subzero snotsicles here in Minnesota, not today. An investigation of the freshly minted habitat improvement section of Hay Creek was in order with the opening of our winter C&R season. It’s almost blasphemy that I’ve never fished this stream over the last 15 years, as it’s one...
I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed
“I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed” is a notable tough guy quote from Minnesota’s ex-governor Jesse Ventura. It all started with a scratchy throat and congestion the night before my final outing of the 2011 trout season. By the time I was on the water Thursday morning it was full blown feverish chills, sore throat,...
All Style and No Substance
I had a meeting this morning that had me going less than 50 yards from Brown’s Creek north of Stillwater. I felt obligated to take a look. I had very low expectations for Brown’s based upon my internet research and word of mouth. This stream lived up to it’s lackluster reputation! I didn’t see or hook...
A Winona State of Mind
We made the run down to the Winona area for the Memorial Day weekend, as my wife is a Winona State alum. The kids had a good time at Farmer’s Park on Garvin Brook. Not a prime location from a hardcore fishing standpoint, but a solid choice for a picnic with the family and...
