Yellow River Forest Mills Road Access (X-16 access )

The new trout maps for 2019 list another place to fish, The Yellow River Forest Mills Road Access (X-16 access ).  This is on the Yellow River (Obviously) at the X-16  county road bridge

I stopped tonight, to check it out.  IT'S True!  There's another place to fish on the largely private Yellow River.  This is the Next Bridge down, from the Allamakee county park at the Ice house.
There's (very little) parking, and when you get down by the bridge, there is a Private Property Fishing Access only sign

I wasn't sure from looking, where the access ended, but according to the new trout maps, it goes up about a half mile! yea!

I fished Mink Creek this afternoon.  They've put down some gravel for a drive on the way down the hill; which is nice, i was always worried about getting stuck there.

Saw quite a few trouts, but only had one strike; which i landed.  A rainbow on what i call a Pheasant Tail.  Don't know where/if the browns went to.  I'd heard that people weren't finding them. . . hope they're still in there.  Water looked good, though

North Bear and South Bear creeks in Winneshiek County join and become Bear Creek (duh), which goes into Allamakee County, where it flows into Waterloo creek shortly before Waterloo creek enters the Upper Iowa River.  A few miles upstream from its mouth on Waterloo, Bear Creek flowed through (what used to be ) a Girl Scout camp, called Tahigwa.
This year, the DNR purchased the 316 acre former campsite, and it is NOW Tahigwa Wildlife Management Area, and State Park (if you believe the sign on the gate.)

The land east of Bear Creek is posted (currently) as a Wildlife Refuge.  This side is near the old lodge, and (presumably) will be (is?) the state park.  The land west of Bear Creek is marked as a WMA.

I went there twice this week, and found the creek FULL of little (stream raised?) rainbows, that eagerly took dry flies, as there were large numbers of midges rising.  I also caught a 12 brook trout (male, with teeth and a kype).  The new DNR trout guide says that there are "wild brown trouts" and that there is NO stocking; which is Weird, since the rainbows and brook trout i caught were NOT browns.  It LOOKS like it should be GREAT brown trout water, and i was disappointed that i didn't catch any, but i only fished two spots, for a total of about an hour.
It's a currently a GREAT place to catch little rainbows, and i like it!
The only problem is that, judging from the footprints, it's going to be pretty popular

it's that time of year again!  Browns are making redds; so Watch your feet!

I haven't posted for a while.  Streams were high most of the spring, summer;
and are Finally getting down where they fish good

went out last monday, march 11th.  Hickory creek was pretty near ice free; but the road parking hadn't been plowed (much), and the the trudge through the deep snow was exhausting. I fished for about 45 min in the late afternoon; but couldn't (didn't) get down to the water; cast from shore.  I didn't see any rises or even trouts swimming, had had no luck.  I worked my way up to the end of the Nursery run, and by where the big tree used to be at the top, i switched to a size 14 woolly bugger (black).  I cast it out next to the stump (where there used to be a deep hole), and on my 3rd cast hooked up on what seemed to be a holdover rainbow; but it broke the line.  So i was skunked.

Rain this week, so streams will be blown.  At least (hopefully) winter is over!

i went fishing at Bohemian creek at Ludwig park (by Protivin, near Spillville) last Thurs, i didn't stay long; but it only took me three casts to get a strike (and land the rainbow).   I didn't see any trouts rising during the 10 minutes i was there; but when i was there in late November i saw Many trouts rising (midges?  tiny BWOs?). 
I think that there are Way More holdover stocked rainbows there that you might think.