600 spring creeks. 24,000 square miles. 4,000 miles of trout streams. Brown, brook, and rainbow trout. Dramatic limestone bluffs. Solitude. Freedom to explore the streams you choose. Driftless Love.
On July 28, I hit two wider spring creeks. Both of these brought several nice browns to my hand, but one in particular was a real beautiful stretch of water. I covered a lot of this stream while hiking deep into its valley. Being surrounded only by dramatic bluffs, sweet rock formations, clear water, and plentiful wildlife. Glancing down at the next bend, I spotted two deer in the middle of the creek. They were splashing each other while playing in the crystal clear water, never once spotting me. This lasted a good five minutes. One of the more memorable parts of the trip.
It was very apparent that my hand, well two fingers in particular (ring and little finger) although the whole hand was immensely swollen, did not feel normal. So I had two choices: 1) Pack up my fishing gear, dismantle my camp, and head back home to get this thing checked out. In other words, the option that the masses would choose. Or, 2) Take a 20 minute break, regroup, refocus on the three priorities that I laid out to myself before this trip started, and get back to the challenge at hand. Well if you think back to my post on my January 1, 2013 outing, you’ll remember the words “no risk, no reward”. At the end of the day, stuff like this happens when you’re willing to hike further than most or cast in areas most would pass up. But by taking that risk, you see some of the most beautiful stretches of water and trout left nearly untouched.
On Wednesday, July 31, I hit three more Iowa Driftless streams. One of these was a real keeper. It was a wide spring creek with several brown and rainbow trout. It was enjoyable wading and will be a real treat to cover once the leaves start changing colors. Later in the afternoon, it was time to head for the final destination…the Minnesota Driftless.
Thursday, August 1 saw the discovery of two more very solid streams. The first was a very pristine-looking stream that meandered within a tight valley. A highlight of this stream was very old stone ruins that was just yards away from the stream. I later learned that this used to be an old flour mill built in 1868. Pretty neat to say the least.
The second stream was a definite “wow”. This spring creek had a wider flow, extremely clear water, several trouty runs, and some of the more beautiful wild browns that you’ll see. Landed several nice browns, but lost the Big Boy while covering a lot of ground on this stream. It instantly became one of my top Minnesota Driftless streams.
Friday, August 2, the last day of my Driftless Vacation, was spent hitting several streams. I stayed at each stream long enough to scout its trout-production capability then moved onto the next. While retreating back home, I reminisced on the week and quite the week this was.
- Distance traveled in car: 930 miles
- Distance hiked along streams: 27.25 miles
- Total number of streams explored: 25 (19 of which were brand new ones)
- I can count on two hands, maybe even one the number of other fishermen seen throughout the entire week
Tags: Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Catch & Release, Driftless Area, Driftless Area Rock Formations, Driftless Love, Driftless Vacation, Fly Fishing, Iowa Driftless, Minnesota Driftless, Native Brook Trout, Spirit Streams Fly Fishing, Spring Creeks, Summer Fly Fishing, Trout, Wisconsin Driftless
