Day 3
Today, we were on our own; fishing without a guide and using only the techniques and skills we had learned the day before with our able teacher Carl Haensel, www.namebini.com.
Based on some intel from David's college roommate, Steve, we parked off Tikkanen Road at the Bachelor's parking area.
Steve said Bachelor's Bend was a good place to fish, so we headed downstream in that direction. Turns out the day before was the "warm" day. With clear skies overnight, the morning air was in the 20s and, along the river, the grass still wore a coat of frost. 
Here's the set up for the day - Vedavoo sling, Fishpond net, Echo rod, and a Rio Switch line on my trusty Tibor Riptide reel.
I think this was my first experience fishing with ice in the guides.
There was an older gentleman at Bachelor's Bend, so we keep moving downstream.
David worked the bubble line on Long Run...
Down below, I caught a little brown to get things started.
In the cold, it was slow - at least for us. As we walked to stay warm, we stopped to enjoy the signs of wildlife in the north woods. I think David said this pattern in the tree bark was the handiwork of an ambitious woodpecker.
We made it to Trail's End and there were a bunch of downed trees and logs that provided structure next to the holes at the bend of the river. If not for steelhead, this was supposed to be prime habitat for brown trout. So I set up shop and started to cover the water with casts to put my nymphs deep in the pools. The tools that our guide Carl had given us the day before paid off and I hooked into a nice fish. I called to David downstream, but I don't think he heard me so I fought and landed the fish, barely, solo. It was terrifying but also rewarding!
David came back upstream to check on me just as I was landing this male and he snapped some pictures. Spectacular!
Turning the steelhead on its side really gave a sense of his girth; this was a solid fish!
The release...
The pattern and colors of the scales are a wonder!
After all the excitement, we retired to the bank to have lunch. For today's fare, David had arranged for a delectable streamside charcuterie of soppressata and aged cheddar from Driftless Provisions. Yum!
The only thing that could have made this better perhaps would have been some warm glug wine.
We have to document at least one selfie per trip. No so photogenic for me, but I was happy to be there!
One of the mantras of the Bois Brule seems to be, where you catch one fish, you may very well catch another, so David stayed at Trail's End to try his luck while I moved downstream.
As I made my way to Little and Big Dutchman, I snapped a few pictures of this beautiful river.
It was getting late in the afternoon, and Steve was late in leaving the river. His wife had texted him to question if he had not fished enough already that day. We all heard that dog whistle and hustled upstream only to find David tied into a nice fish. I grabbed the Fishpond net and after a few misses, got the hen in the bag.
The mantra is right; where there's one, there's two! We worked our way back to the parking lot and snapped one more picture of Bachlor's Run, leading up to the Bend.
David posing at one of the river crossings...
One last picture of the beautiful surroundings before leaving the river.
Once back to the parking lot, we executed one of our long-standing plans. We stealthily deployed a "flybrary on the back side of the parking lot kiosk sign and stocked it with a few swing and nymph flies.
"Need one, take one. Have one, give one" For more information, see: www.flybrary.com.
We decided to use the early hour to our advantage, and headed back to the Hungry Trout Inn for a socially distant dinner. We split a pizza that was massive and we washed it down with some cold local beer.
Back at camp, we collected tinder for the morning fire that would prep our oatmeal and coffee, and then hit the hay.
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