On this particular evening, I encountered some interesting situations.

(1) I was scared away from a fishing easement by a plethora of no trespassing signs, including one that said “private fishing access only, to center line of river.” I knew that this was false, but the whole area emitted such a bad vibe I decided to pass it up. Looked like great water too. The centerline of a navigable water is meaningless, as no man can own the bed of such a water in Minnesota. Also, the fishing easement is 66 feet on either side of the stream. The sign is misleading and tricksey and should be removed, or at least edited for accuracy.
(2) On to a more familiar reach. As I was gearing up, a guy parked behind me and we struck up a conversation. Turns out he used to fish/live here ~30 years ago, and this was his first return trip in quite some time. Hell, when faced with a homecoming like that you have to give it the best water, so I did that. Skipped the money hole and went downstream. Found very little action. Nymphed up a pretty trout from a deep hole, turned back and sprinted out.
(3) On to yet another posted reach – this one a little less intense though. I followed the road to a river crossing, and got in with the intention of not straying far. As dusk came around I found some rising fish and caught a few on a little trico parachute that was left in the chest pack recently gifted to me by a friend. Kind of a little thrill to see a rising trout eat a #22 dry fly. Cool.
(4) Moved upstream and found some fish rising in near-still water: a slight current and a subtle bubble trail winding past some woody debris. Fish rising. I put the trico on it a few times to no avail. I noticed on this outing that close was often not good enough – either (1) presentation was poor, (2) fish wouldn’t move to the fly, or (3) fish didn’t notice that little pinhead fly on the water. Not sure which, or what combination of those things was foiling me there. I had seen a cream colored mayfly in the air a couple times, so I pulled a compradun of similar size/color and laid it out there in the hope of attracting some attention… Sitting in that flat water for maybe three seconds… then eaten by the rising trout. Then the fish was eaten by me for breakfast the following morning. One fish fried in a cast iron skillet (CIS) is a good way to start the day. Somehow the flesh tastes like the stream – like aqua.
(5) Dog tried to run me down on the way out – see rear-view mirror. Horse and tree in foreground as sun sank in the west. Be back soon.