We had a momentary relapse into winter early this week with the area receiving 12" of snow but with temps cresting into the low 50's and some light rain this weekend the white stuff has all but disappeared. Once again the melt was gradual leaving the streams in excellent shape - running clear and Oh So fishable! Yesterday, success was found with streamers early until afternoon when the BWO hatch began which took the fast and furious action to the surface. The dry fly action will only continue to improve as Spring progresses, so be sure to stop by the shop and re-stock your arsenal of flies for the season .... and be sure to check out the new Orvis products and gear!

Looking for a special gift for someone (or for yourself)? Consider a guided fly fishing trip to the beautiful Driftless Area of Minnesota!

Brian Schumacher

Thank you to all who stopped by the Driftless Fly Fishing Company's booth at the River Falls Fly Fishing Festival and the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo. It was great meeting and talking with so many folks about a shared passion of fly fishing. With that being said, even with being busy at the shows, I did find time to hit the streams a few times :-) Last Sunday, the "streamer bite" was still on and I had great luck on darker patterns of Woolly Buggers I had tied. The temperature yesterday hit 60 degrees and we experienced an amazing Blue Wing Olive hatch which made for a VERY fun afternoon of dry fly fishing. One would find that fact extremely hard to believe as it is snowing out now with a potential of 12 inches of the white snow forecasted.

Brian Schumacher

It took a little walking on Sunday to find some willing participants but when I did, they were active and hungry! The warm weather brought on a very nice midge hatch late morning which continued well into the afternoon. The hot patterns were BH Hare's ear nymphs and streamers subsurface while small midge dry fly patterns were what they were keying in on when rising.

Brian Schumacher

Be sure to stop by and see us at the Driftless Fly Fishing Company's booth at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo this weekend in White Bear Lake, MN

Mission: Find Some Big Ones, was a resounding success.

I set out yesterday morning with the idea in mind to explore some new water and to prove or disprove a hunch I had about the whereabouts of some larger Browns. I found them along with a nice Rainbow and a couple of Brookies to boot. This water is public access and available to anyone to fish and in this gorgeous Driftless Area of Minnesota we have hundreds of miles of trout streams just waiting to be explored. This outing was made even more special due to the fact that all were caught on flies I tied myself. Temps will continue to warm and the fishing will only get better so be sure to stop in at the Driftless Fly Fishing Company fly shop to get your fly tying materials, flies and be sure to check out the new Orvis gear! The next two weekends the shop / guide service will have a booth at the River Falls Fly Fishing Festival (River Falls) and then at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo (White Bear Lake) - be sure to stop in and say "Hi"!

Brian Schumacher


Black BH Woolly Buggers with some green flash in the tail continue to be effective as well as Pink squirrels and pink scuds.