The fish are all around you

Living along the Mississippi River in the driftless area leaves no shortage of fishing opportunities for all seasons. We have hundreds of miles of trout streams at our fingertips. And if you get creative and are willing to explore the warm water fishery, the opportunities seem limitless

This week I went for a short walk exploring one of the tributaries of the Mississippi River. I had Intel from a friend that there were fish gathering at a confluence of streams.

It turns out Hot Dish and I stumbled onto a pack of wild gar. they didn’t put up the Best Fight but man are they a cool fish

Latest book: Lost in the Driftless by Tim Traver

I started this book a couple weeks ago and I’m slowly making my way through it. And so far it has been an interesting read. The author is trying to explore the culture of trout fisherman and the differences between the conservation based catch and release flyfisherman and there were all worm fisherman who is catching to eat. I’m only a couple chapters in so it’s too early for me to say if I agree with his assessment. Regardless, so far it has been insightful and I’m looking forward to finishing it. Have a feeling that his conclusion is going to be that we need all types of fishermen to best protect the viable resource. We need good land management to protect habitat. And the more people that enjoy resource, The more awareness there can be with regards to protecting that resource.  That’s my guess where this is going.

I’m thing is for sure, I love fishing the driftless. Things are in full bloom and the banks are getting sick fast. Pretty soon casting will get really difficult. But the great thing about high grass and streamside brush if you could sneak up the holes easier and swing your tenkara rod into a deep pool Full of unsuspecting fish.

New video: Driftless Area Classics: Bikes and Music

Midwest music fest is a two weekend event held in lacrosse, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota each spring. There are tons and tons of bands playing throughout each city during the weekends. Lots of genres and styles. Intimate venues and big stages. It is awesome and a great way to explore a city. 

Last weekend I went to Winona with a couple friends to spend the afternoon biking around Winona and then enjoy music throughout the night. 

Winona is a cool city. It has about 30,000 people and is essentially a city on an island. It is in between the Minnesota and Wisconsin blufflands along the Mississippi River and is almost completely surrounded by water. It has a couple universities giving it a nice energy. Great biking trails and some nice lookouts including Gavin Heights lookout. 

I made a short video of the trip. I used a song played that night by Jay Smart during his set. He had a phenomenal voice. Think David Gray meets Ed Sheeran meets Tracy Chapman. His cover of Nirvana “Smells like teen spirit” was something to behold. 

Check out the video here on Vimeo!