The Kinnie, July 30th 2011

A Brown caught on a glass bead-head nymph

A new spot was found on the Kinnickinnic that looks to promise large fish. On a sweltering day with high humidity, the fishing was not fantastic, but the one brown pulled from a shallow pool was of some size.  The trout taken was in a prime lie (right outside of the ideal current, but hidden).  There were plenty of places where the river bottle-necked creating turbulent deeper pools on the end of the neck. At the end of the pool, or the tail, is where bigger trout like to hold.  

A nice Brown before release

 There were also many good visible seams in the water where trout wait just outside of the turbulence and wait for food to drift past.  There were a few fish rising, but none would rise to the variety of flies offered.  The trout taken was caught on one of my glass bead-head nymphs I  tied this past winter.

A very large, deep pool

I am excited to return to this new spot in the future.  At the end of the day, I found an extremely large and deep pool with a nice current and many fish rising.  By this point in the day however, I was out of my nymphs, sinkers and strike indicators and too many kayakers were passing by and stirring up the waters.  I am eager to see what this spot tholds in the
future.

Painted Turtle Photo

DNR turtle information poster. Painted turtle photo by T. Keyler

One of my photos was used for the DNR's 'Turtles of Minnesota' poster. I took the shot of the painted turtle this spring at the  Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen, MN.  The front helps with identification of these turtles.  The back of the poster educates readers about MN turtle species and what they can do to help their status.

Cascade River State Park

The Northshore is home to the most beautiful rivers in Minnesota.  These rivers offer spring steelhead and Kamloops rainbow runs,  fall Pink salmon runs and decent trout fishing at points.

Upper Cascade

Cascade River State Park offers camping within walking distance of the falls. The Superior Hiking Trail runs through the park, and this can be followed to many of the fishing locations.  

Columbine grows on the edge of the falls

To fish for trout in the park, you must hike above the falls (unless it is spring and you're fishing for kamloops).  The river widens considerably and the water slows. 

The author fishing a deep hole

There are a few decent holes that I like to fish, and plenty of fish hold behind structure in the river.  The areas that move at about 1'/sec are right for these trout.

A small Brown trout
 

I have been successful with both small trico spinners and small bead-head nymphs.  These waters hold small rainbow and brown trout. 

Rainbow trout taken on a trico

Rainbow release

Brigitta with a Luna moth

In the evenings, ir you're lucky, you may come across a Luna moth or a polyphemus moth fluttering about. 

View from Lutsen mountain in the fall

In the fall, the Pink salmon return to the mouth of the Cascade to spawn.  The males have a distinctive humped back that forms upon entering Superior.  Post spawn, the salmon die.  Egg patterns work best for these fish.

The author with a humpie on line

Male Pink salmon

Salmon Genetics

I just finished this paper for my Evolution Grad course: "Euro-American Influence on the Evolutionary Trajectories of the Pacific Salmon".  

Click HERE to read the paper

A sample figure from the paper