ice trout.

first off i despise ice fishing but in minnesota you dont really have an option. if you want to fish in the winter its limited. you can fish open water but who wants to be out in the cold? its easier to just set up your shack and sit out on the lake. so feeling cooped up i decided to meet up with ben and go fish. our destination was a little pond in southeast mn. we looked all over for fish, until deciding to just wait for the fish to come to us.

we fished in about 4 feet of water and watched as trout would come in to our bait.

i got the first one of the day, a 15" on a spoon tipped with a minnow




a little later on i see a very nice trout move in on my bait hit at it a good 3 times and steal my minnow. seconds later ben hooks up into a beautiful 17 inch bow.

storm ponds.

storm ponds are a very overlooked fishery. many people will form an opinion on them early believing the only fish present are bullhead and stunted bluegill, because well thats usually the case..but if you know what to look for these small ponds can be an absolute goldmine. the first thing i look for when i locate a pond is the obvious thing. fish. hang around the spot for a while look for anything jumping surfacing or if you see carp up shallow feeding. if a pond has a good number of fish present than it should be easy to quickly locate fish. second thing i look for when i discover a new pond is i see if there are any other bodies of water connected or nearby. even if there are no creeks flowing between a drain can provide fish with the opertunity to transfer from one body of water to another. so if you discover a lake with carp populations that has smaller lakes very close by those smaller lakes more than likely will also hold carp.another factor to consider is depth and current. if you have a stream dumping in it is always a good idea to start at the mouth of the stream as it typically will hold good quantity of fish. also a stream can add diversity to the pond. depth comes in handy on those tough days when your having trouble with the hoards of small panfish and bullhead taking your baits. if you can find the right depth of water carp should be easy to sight fish for yet not as spooky as the fish up shallower.

these ponds will also typically hold some species of micros. now these are a neat addition to any species hunters list because not many anglers can say theyve caught one on a rod and reel typically the micros found in these ponds are also for sale at your local baitshop. my personal favorite pond is home to quite a few golden shiners. oh what a pretty fish they are.

and for you sport fish guys some of those small local ponds you though were uninhabited may hold some trophy fish.

other usual inhabitants of the small storm ponds include panfish and bullheads. typically black bullheads and green sunfish seem to outnumber everything else in the pond and are usually a nuisance when carp fishing but a friend of mine has caught them up to 18 inches!! now that is a bullhead i am interested in. both bullheads and sunfish are quite a bit of fun on fly tackle and we've nicknamed them "sewer trout" as a bit of a joke for when anyone asks what we are targeting

alright and back to what i said earlier about streams flowing in giving variety to the pond. well its not terribly common and ive only witnessed it once. from time to time a fish that makes you wonder what the hell it is you just caught.. well in our local pond here in farmington ben caught a hybrid carp x goldfish. quite a blacksheep. this thing fought very oddly it came flying out of the water once hooked and zig zagged all over the place while fighting it. this is truly a memorable catch and a good reason to go out and start fishing your local storm ponds!

2010 pt 1.

spring is always a great time for any roughfishermen. sitting through winter brings back the feeling of being a small kid on christmas eve. sitting up all night excited waiting for gifts the next morning. only in my case the gifts are slimy and scaly. this being my first actual post im just gonna cover a few basics and talk about some of my favorite spots and species that i encountered in 2010 i expect my next few posts to just be adding on to this one.


golden redhorse: Golden Redhorse are avery common redhorse, possibly the most common in our area. While often found in reasonably fast water, goldens also frequent still pools and slow-moving sections of water. Goldens are somewhat intolerant of poluution, so heavily silted or overfertile water will not hold goldens. Goldens feed mainly on aquatic insects and crustaceans.

 Golden Redhorse are usually fished with live bait on the bottom, either with a stationary presentation or one that moves slowly with the current. Circle hooks in size 4-8 may be used. Goldens respond well to flies imitating mayfly and stonefly nymphs, as well as scud patterns and caddis pupae. Golden redhorse may be found in a variety of habitats, from trout streams to barge channels.

ive caught many in previous years but never hammered them like i did this year. i caught several trophy sized goldens and even got a few on my fly rod. these fish are incredible fighters, id consider it alot like a battle with a smallmouth bass. they make hard runs and will come soaring out of the water.

bowfin:The bowfin is a terrifyingly efficient predator equipped with an incredibly strong, muscular body and razor sharp teeth. Ancient fishes that have survived for millions of years, bowfin can breathe air. Bowfin are elongate, mottled fishes with a long dorsal fin and a rounded tail. Two tubelike barbels project from the nostrils. Male bowfin sport a round spot, called an occellus, at the base of the tail. During the spawn, the fins and lower bodies of male bowfin turn bright lime-green. Beneath their lips, the mouth of a bowfin is jam-packed full of sharp, jagged teeth. this year i was pleased to catch my very first bowfin.

what a beautiful fish that was.


common carp:The carp is the top gamefish in the world - more people rate the Carp as their most sought-after fish than any other. The Carp also exceeds all other fish in pounds eaten per year. The reasons that the Carp is the most popular fish to catch in the world are many. First and foremost, they are big, tough fish. Carp do not jump, nor are they blindingly fast. However, they are stronger, pound for pound, than any other fish, and will doggedly fight you to their last ounce of strength. In addition, Carp are found almost everywhere. Here, in the United States, most of our lakes and rivers have been stupidly polluted to the point where our prized native fishes cannot survive. The hardy carp hardly notices this, and thrives in waters where our native fishes cannot live, providing us with one of the greatest sportfishing opportunities that has ever existed.

river redhorse: oh boy. i dont even know how to start. i absolutely love everything about these fish, they are fairly uncommon in most areas around here but i am familier with a few spots on the st croix river where there are good numbers. i got my first river redhorse ever while sight fishing smallmouth bass with my fly rod on a rocky point. i saw the fish feeding in the shallows and drifted a fly over to it and to my suprise it savagely attacked it. putting up an insane fight.

new blog.

well im new  here and basically created a blog to kill some time while there is snow on the ground and remember some great times from the previous year. my first few posts are probabaly going to be recaps from the spring summer and fall of 2010 but expect articles on just about everything.