I live in SW Ottertail County, and I love flyfishing... I'm looking for streams closer than Wisconson, or SE MN (don't get me wrong, I love fishing there, but it's so far). I've fished the straight river, any other help would be welcomed.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/trout_streams/north_mn_maps.html

still have to drive...

Do you fly fish the warmwater lakes and rivers out your way? any fish in Minnesota can provide great sport on a fly rod.

yeah, if you willing to give warmwater species a try, there are plenty of great resources available in your area.

Funny, I'm in trout land and can't wait to get to MN.

If you don't live in Trout Country then you will have to fish other species. You might try bass or panfish. Even northern pike will hit a well presented fly.

Granted Trout are fun, but who said fly fishing was JUST for trout or salmon? In my grandfathers day when all they had were level wind bait casting reels on 5 foot steel rods or bamboo fly rods and single action reels you fished for whatever you could catch and did not think about whether a fly was JUST for a particular type of fish.

After alll, what is a fly? Just a hook that is fancied up with some fur or feathers or yarn or whatnot? Think about it? The first jigs were just flys that had spit shot hammered onto the shank. Sort of a poor man's wet fly? But they still caught lots of fish.

So try the fish that are in your area? And save the Trout for those times when you can head off to Trout country. You will find that flies are not just for trout. They will fish every type of fish swimming if they are presented right at the right time.

Tight Lines;
Uncle Kes

flyfshrmn, I was in your shoes several years back. I was primarily a trout man, but the options in our area are very limited. I began fishing warmwater species on the fly, and honestly have never really looked back. I still catching trout, but with all the diverse species in the rivers around here, it is hard to pass them up. Just think, you are in close proximity to three MAJOR river drainages, the Red, Minnesota, and Mississippi. The Otter Tail, Mustinka, and Pomme de Terre are just three excellent river systems to fish that offer a multitude of species to be caught. To top it off, since we are in lakes country, hardly anyone utilizes the rivers around here, so there is rarely and crowds on the river to fight, unlike the lakes.

After a few seasons of chasing warmwater fish on the fly, I've never looked back. If you spend enough time up here, you might just do the same.

After fishing for them all my life, I can't see what the big deal about trout is anymore. Steelhead, sure, but not the little guys. I pretty much only go for Bull Trout these days, since they get to 20lbs, hit huge streamers like a Pike and take much more line. I'm done casting size 20 midges to 12 inch fish with a 3wt. I'd still like to catch a Golden some day just to say I did. Monster Browns in New Zealand would be fun, too. I could also be jaded by the million Californians that moved up here and invaded the peaceful trout habitat. Used to be you'd only see a few people at most during the week, now there's one in every spot every day. When things go downhill, always blame California

Thanks for all the replys... I do fish a lot of warmwater species... I've fished just about everything in fresh water including warmwater stuff, steelhead, salmon, etc... I still have to say it doesn't get any better than stream fishing for trout. Call me a purist, call me stubborn, or call me an idiot, they may all be true. But here's what does it for me, it's the challenge. Nothing quite satisfies like those finicky little stream trout, plus they taste SOOO GOOD!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the little excursions this area affords, however I'm just trying to broaden my knowledge and options. You have all been very helpful.