Kinnickinnic State Park

Essential gear for small river fishing

The Kinnikinnic, AKA the Kinni, is a Class 1 trout stream located in River Falls, WI.  Kinni State park offers 9 stream entry locations, 7 of which classify trout as abundant, and 2 as common.  There are brown trout and brook trout in these waters, brookies being the native species, but browns being far more common.

Picturesque Kinny

I use a 4wt rod and reel and an assortment of small nymphs and dry flies when fishing these types of waters.  I generally look for slower moving waters (1'/sec) and deeper pools to fish.  When nymphing, I use a small oval shot about a foot above the fly (depending on depth of pool), then a strike indicator a few inches above that.  For dry flies, I simply use a 16" 4lb tippet to give the fly maximum mobility.

A large pool that held decent fish

Some midge flies I tied

All trout were taken on a assortment of midge flies I had previously tied.  I used a variety of dubbing colors and different flash on these midges, but all used small, red glass beads for heads.  There is a previous entry on this blog for tying these midge flies.

First nice sized brown trout of the day

I caught 4 trout, with 10" being the largest for the day.  This trout was taken in faster moving water, and was holding behind a large rock.  I drifted the nymph past the rock multiple times until I got a hit.

Second, smaller brown.  Four browns taken that day

Late fern fiddle heads

Fishing aside, Kinnickinnic State Park offered a variety of flora, and an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.  I enjoyed it so much, I bought a WI state  park pass for the season.  I will certainly be returning to the Kinni.