Dan recently made a pilgrimage back to the homeland of Minnesota with his family. Fortunately, he was able to sneak out for a day of fishing in the bluff country of Minnesota with his brother and son. Thanks for the pic's Dan! Following is Dan's description of the day's events.
Some people say that you can never go back…I disagree, as that is exactly what I did on this past vacation. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s in Southern Minnesota offered a lot of diverse opportunities when it came to sports and hunting…but the fishing, particularly in the Southeastern part of the state near Forestville State Park, Preston, and Lanesboro were just about as good as it could get. Streams by the mile, plentiful trout opportunities, and light fishing pressure( that I am told has substantially increased over the years) made for some great trips as well as lasting memories.
My brother Mark lives in Rochester MN, so it was only a short drive for us to the first location. Incidentally, it is the first trout fishing trip that my 10 year old Jack had been on in Minnesota; what a special day this was going to be. Whether or not we caught fish really didn’t matter, just being on the stream that I grew up on with my son and brother was enough for me!
We fished several locations between Cherry Grove, Arch Bridge, and Willow. The water levels were good in the streams to the West of Forestville State Park, but as you travelled farther East they were much higher and dingy…there were a lot of scattered thunder storms that week that would have attributed to this. Unlike North Carolina where gold colors reign supreme, silver seemed to be the best bet in MN that day. On the streams that were clear we ran spinners and plugs with the current, but on the ones that were high and dingy we worked spinners against the current very slowly, keeping the rod tip high to control the lure. As you can see, we had some good success that day.
Yes, a lot of things had changed since I left that area for the Navy in 1986, some for the better, many things not so much…but the fish remained the same. They hit the same tactics and lures that we used when we were kids and it was one of the best days fishing I have had in a long time. If you ever get the chance to reminisce in a literal sense like I did this past week I would highly recommend it, I was sure glad that we did. Good fishing and God Bless!