The art of the cast

KELLOGG  — The spring creeks of the Driftless Area in southeast Minnesota are where Dave Anderson can be found casting a line on any given day. Anderson owns On The Fly Guide Service and has been teaching a diverse group of people to fly fish since 1998.

Anderson said he is hired for a variety of reasons. Southeastern Minnesota, home of the Zumbro River, Whitewater River and Root River watersheds, is a popular trout fishing destination. The region is known for its karst topography, a landscape in which dissolving bedrock has created sinkholes, sinking streams, caves and springs. Limestone bluffs and hills are prevalent throughout the area, and at the bottom of most are creeks with massive water deposits that come out of the ground and stay at a steady temperature year-round, which supports trout. The region is a convenient commute to Rochester, which is world-renowned for its medical facilities. Anderson said the Mayo Clinic provides an interesting draw that way.

“People who come to me have a variety of skill sets,” Anderson said. “I’ve gotten a chance to meet people from all over the world.”

Some clients are complete beginners who have never picked up a rod, and some have dabbled a bit but want to learn more. Anderson said this is typical of about two-thirds of the guide services he provides each year. The rest are clients who have mastered the techniques and hire him to reap the benefits that come with having a guide who knows the area well, he said. There are a handful of people who repeatedly come back and visit the area, Anderson said, but it is also not uncommon to meet someone once and never again.

“People do their homework when they travel,” Anderson said. “They’re looking up what there is to do, and this is something people can do.”

Having acquired a passion for fly fishing in the early ’90s, Anderson was working as a volunteer with Trout Unlimited, committed to helping expand their base in Minnesota. He has done this alongside his career in education, first as a teacher for 16 years and now as the middle school principal at Winona Area Public Schools.

“I use the same skills with clients as I do with kids,” Anderson said. “It’s about teaching and patience.”

In Minnesota, trout season opens Jan. 1 each year, while the harvesting season begins in mid-April. Many regulations are enforced depending on the water source, so knowing what is allowed where is crucial. Anyone who wants to fish trout in Minnesota needs a Minnesota fishing license as well as a trout stamp. While Anderson enjoys catching trout, he said he typically does not harvest them, and most of his guide trips are catch-and-release as well.

Fly fishing is somewhat of a solitary sport — wading in streams and creeks in the middle of the woods and valleys is not everyone’s preferred pastime. It can be a challenge, and that is why he said he asks a lot of questions before agreeing to take a client out.

“I’m a mobile fisherman; I’ll cover anywhere from 1 to 3 miles a day walking trout streams,” Anderson said. “My style is maybe a little more mobile than some people who want to stay in one spot and fish hard for 45 minutes. I’ll fish hard, and then I want to keep moving.”

October through April is when Anderson spends time preparing bins full of flies, tying 90% of the artificial flies himself, he said. The best bug hatches are late March through June, but there are bugs hatching all year, and trout feed year-round.

“You don’t have to get complicated with what you fish,” Anderson said. “I prefer to strip it down. … Let’s throw some flies where there’s going to be fish, and if you had a handful of patterns (specific designs), you could fish southeast Minnesota year-round.”

Everything Anderson fishes is based on cycles, so it is all about the season and the timing. Trout feed on insects, whether that is in the water or on the water. Anderson’s focus the majority of the time is nymph fishing, a technique where the fly is submerged in water, mimicking a trout’s subsurface food sources like larvae and underwater insects.

“Everybody wants to dry fly fish (on top of the water), but I’d say most of the time, I am nymph fishing below the surface,” Anderson said. “When I see fish start to rise and they’re picking off bugs from the surface, then we dry fly fish.”

Anderson said he fishes over 25 different streams, ranging in width from a sidewalk to a 2-lane highway. Wearing waders is completely dependent on the season, he said. There are deep holes, but one can often crisscross the water and get wet just knee-deep.

“Good streams don’t freeze, and good streams also don’t get so hot in the summertime that they can’t support fish,” Anderson said.

Brown trout is the dominant species, he said, since they are naturally sustaining and tolerant of extreme water temperatures. Brook trout is the native species, and rainbow trout is stocked as either fingerlings or catchables by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for harvest purposes.

A typical day out with Anderson as a guide lasts 4-8 hours, and he provides the rods, reels and bait. For beginners, he starts with simple demonstrations, going over all the lingo before moving onto the water. The fact that fly fishing is 2-handed can be a challenge for some.

“Your hands are doing something at all times,” Anderson said. “I remind people you’re learning a new muscle memory, … you can’t pick it up in the first five minutes.”

There is fishing line everywhere, he said, which involves constant casting and pulling the line back in.

“That is the cycle — … cast, drift, cast, drift,” Anderson said. “I’m coaching them the whole time because if you can’t cast, you can’t catch.”

Anderson’s guide service has been running for over 20 years. Anderson said as long as the weather is good, he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.

“I was raised in a boat fishing; my parents had a lake cabin up near Aitkin, which was fun growing up,” Anderson said. “But I can tell you I would much rather walk up and down a stream, out in the woods, trout fishing.”