Knife River, Two Harbors

The Knife river is fairly shallow

The Knife River is a small river that feeds into Lake Superior.  It is decent for trout fishing, and can be accessed by following highway 61 out of Duluth, and then going west on county road 11 till you cross the river.

I was the only person fishing on this Sunday

You can park on the side of the road and walk upstream.  Waders were not necessary as the majority of the river is less than a foot deep.  As you walk the river, you will encounter several shallow pools that hold fish.

A Wulff tied by the author

My fly of choice for the day was the Royal Wulff (as described in the previous blog entry).  As soon as this fly hit the water, a trout would take it.  By the end of the day, this fly was too chewed up to be used.

The Knife River is beautiful and quiet

A rainbow caught with a Wulff

The majority of fish caught were small rainbow trout.  Although small, it was fun watching these fish leap to take the fly as it hit the water.

A nice brookie caught on a hopper

The catch of the day was a brook trout caught in a very long and deep pool.  This trout was caught by casting to the mouth of the pool and skating the fly off to the side of the pool where large rocks were located.

A green frog sits on a rock in the river

All in all it was a nice day;  A lot of trout and a beautiful river.  I would recommend wearing shoes or wading boots even though you will not need waders.  I opted for sandals, and my feet are pretty beat up from slipping off of algae covered rocks.

Fly Tying: Royal Wulff

A classic pattern that has been on fire the last couple weeks on the river is the Royal Wulff.  This pattern is named after Lee Wulff, the iconic fly fisherman who made many contributions to the sport, including fishing vests and left-handed reels.  His best known contribution may be the perfection of the Royal Coachman, a fly which was notorious for catching fish, but did not sit well upon the water.  Lee took the fly and replaced the feathers for the tail and wings with the more robust hair of calf, deer, moose or elk.

To tie the fly:

Hook:	Dry fly, #10-16
Thread:	8/0
Tail:	Moose body hairs
Body:	Peacock herl
Waist:	Floss, red
Wings:	Kip tail
Hackle:	Rooster, brown

Tip: While the original fly had two individual wings, Lee preferred tying one wing.  This is both faster when tying and more buoyant when fishing.

Kinnie, August 13th 2011

Brown caught on a 'fly' pattern

Returned to the Kinnie Saturday morning.  Water was cloudy due to some overnight rain, and few fish were rising.  No luck in the usual spots with nymphs, and no luck in the usual spots where trout rise with dry flies.  I used the imitation 'fly' pattern that Rev. Aadland gave me and began to catch fish.  I was casting upstream into a seam and caught two nice trout within ten minutes.  It seems that atypical patterns have their place when no other usual presentations will work.

Tying the 'Deer Fly' Fly

Reverend Aadland drifting a dry fly

This Sunday I had the opportunity to fish with my girlfriend, Brigitta's father, Reverend Thomas Aadland.  He showed me a new fly he had picked up that was litterally a black 'fly'.  Tonight, I decided to tie my own version, and created the deer fly pattern.

Deer flies are very common in Minnesota and can be quite a nuscience.  If this fly is succesful at catching trout, then it may be the fly's only redeeming quality. I have yet to fish the fly, but will report back after doing so later this week.

The 'deer fly' fly

Materials: 1mm black sheet foam, thin-skin, rubber legs, brown rabbit dubbing, flashabou.

Underside of the fly 

You can see the flashabou on the underside of the fly here to add a glimmer when sitting on the water.  I also used the excess flashabou to segregate the foam on the head to create the appearance of eyes.

Best Fishes!

Name change: The Polyphemus Pariah overthrows the Water Wulff

After some flak, the name of the blog has been changed to The Polyphemus Pariah.  Within 5 mins of searching I came across a variety of other water wolf sites, and variations on the term.  The Polyphemus moth is a great moth of the North, and a pariah is of course, an outcast.  This name fits this blog as I am usually both, up-north, and trying to escape monotony when I refer to events in this blog.

Pack National Forest, WA

A road bends around a ridge in Pack Forest on a misty morning

Nick and a Western Red Cedar 

Pack Forest was a gift from lumberman Charles Pack to the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources in 1926. Initially only 334 acres, today it has expanded to 4300 acres of forested land.

The forest is primarily Douglas fir, Western Red cedar and a small variety of other mixed conifers and hardwoods.  Some of the cedars are hundreds of years old.

One of the winding service roads leads to an old hidden pond.  There was initially a spring here that was diverted into a man-made pond that was used for water storage for fire fighting.  Helicopters used to lower their water bags into the pond and then take off to dump the water on the fires. The pond is no longer used for this purpose, but now holds some amazing rainbow trout due to its cool  spring fed waters.

The hidden pond in Pack Forest once used as a fire retardant source for helicopters

Backing the drift boat into the pond

The author fishing

The water in the pond was cool, clear and deep.  Minnow pattern presentations had no effect on the trout, only insect patterns.  The trout taken took a large insect pattern called a superior x-legs.  This fly has been my go-to when nothing seems to be biting.  It is a lead wrapped shank so the fly sinks quickly.  Retrieval should be a brisk haul to imitate a darting aquatic insect.

        A superior x-legs pattern tied by the author

A netted bow

 

A football shaped bow

The first fish of the afternoon broke my 4X tippet to my dismay.  I was disheartened until I had another fish on the line. With some careful netting by friend Nick Reep, a nice male bow was landed.        

The kype on this male is clearly visible

The rainbow had a prominent kype (black tip of the lower jaw) telling us the fish was a male.

Thanks to Nick and his trusty pal Lulu for rowing and showing me the ropes in WA