My Home Stream

While reading Fly Fishing: Rocky Mountain National Park, by Todd Hosman, I was struck by his idea of a fly-fisherman's "home stream". The idea is a simple one and that is that every fly fisherman has a stream that is his. He knows the stream, its hatches, its runs, its pools. While I was still very young in my fly fishing pursuits, I found myself wondering "what is my home stream." Immediately one stream came to mind: The Big Thompson River. From it's headwaters in Rocky Mountain National park through the city of Loveland, Colorado, the Big Thompson is considered one of the best fisheries in the state, so I lucked out when Kendra got a teaching job in Loveland.

I definetly have honed my skills on the Thompson, but when I thought further about the idea of a "homestream" I had a realization that mine was actually not the Thompson and not even in Colorado. Broadening the definition of the term I realized that my home stream is the Kinnickinnic River near River Falls, Wisconsin. I grew up no more than ten miles from one of the best streams in Wisconsin and in June of 2010 when my dad discovered some rarely fished public access on the "Kinni" my fascination with trout and a fly rod began.

My wife Kendra and I at the Kinni

                                                                                                           

My first brown from the Kinni 

                                                                             

This 15 inch brown ate a #14 Elk Hair Caddis and sealed the deal for me... wish I had a better picture!