We all have one, or many; at least I hope so. I have a happy place. It is one of many.
Hay Creek is a small trout stream in southeastern Minnesota. It has its headwaters west of Goodhue and empties into the Mississippi River just to the north of Red Wing. It runs 25.1 miles (40.4 km), over half of which is a Minnesota designated trout stream. Like the Vermillion River, Hay Creek receives extensive fishing pressure due to its proximity to Minneapolis–St. Paul.
Hay Creek was named for the hay meadows near its banks. A railroad once ran along Hay Creek from the clay banks near Goodhue to the pottery and stoneware factories in Red Wing, which also made use of the water from the creek. The railroad was torn up in 1937, but traces such as trestle pilings remain.
The red dot [on the map above] on the western end of 320th Avenue is one of my happy places. Minnesota Trout Unlimited has done a tremendous amount of work on this stream over the years. It is truly a gem and a pleasure to fish.
The valley is so peaceful; a beautiful display of nature. This morning was exceptionally beautiful with the fog settled in the spring creek valley.
A vertical panorama looking upstream from the bridge on 320th Avenue.
Hay Creek is a small trout stream in southeastern Minnesota. It has its headwaters west of Goodhue and empties into the Mississippi River just to the north of Red Wing. It runs 25.1 miles, over half of which is a Minnesota designated trout stream. Like the Vermillion River, Hay Creek receives extensive fishing pressure due to its proximity to Minneapolis–St. Paul.
Hay Creek was named for the hay meadows near its banks. A railroad once ran along Hay Creek from the claybanks near Goodhue to the pottery and stoneware factories in Red Wing, which also made use of the water from the creek. The railroad was torn up in 1937, but traces such as trestle pilings remain. ~wikipedia
Stream-side
I arrived stream-side around 12:45 p.m. I was hopeful that the warm sun and pleasant temp would be productive. Six other cars lined the side of the dusty gravel road. I walked over to survey the water by the bridge. I could see trout slurping Blue-Winged Olives (bwo) from the surface. A site like that installs a perma-grin on my face. It didn’t take me long to return to my car and get things situation. Since the fish were still feeding like crazy I wasn’t going to pass up the nice run immediately upstream from the bridge. My first cast yielded a feisty 10″ brown.
I caught a few more smaller ones in the same stretch and then moved on to another spot further upstream.
A wee bit further upstream is a nice riffle with a deep run below. I noticed there were a few Caddis flies in the air in addition to the bwo. There were trout slurping bugs from the surface here as well. It didn’t take long to catch a few more trout here.
The trout were in a full-on feeding frenzy. I switched over to an elk hair caddis fly and continued upstream.
The Honey Hole
When I arrived at my favorite spot on this stretch of Hay Creek, the grin continued…there were Caddis flies everywhere. I inhaled a few, but didn’t care. They were crawling all over me. The fish were hitting like crazy; I wish I had brought the GoPro. After catching a dozen or so fish, the action stopped. Check out the video below. I tried to fish a bit more after a rest, but I think the trout gorged themselves on Caddis flies. It was time to give the run a rest after having caught a good number of trout. I had a good run and decided to head back to the car. I didn’t connect with any monster trout this afternoon, but the action was plentiful and steady; you can’t ask for much more than that.
Take only photos; leave only ripples in the stream.
Adaptation of Chief Seattle’s Take only memories, leave only footprints.
