I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and headed back to the Root River in Preston, hoping this would be the day I landed a Brown Trout (Salmo trutta). It took about 45 minutes to get there, and I was fishing by 6:00 a.m. It was a little chilly, but a really nice morning—sun, scattered clouds, almost no wind.

This stretch of the Root River is fairly narrow and probably not very deep. The night before, I’d seen some kids swimming in it, and they were often able to stand with their heads out of the water. I’d guess it’s about 30–40 feet across in most places. Still, it clearly holds fish. On earlier trips I had already caught Rainbow Trout, Common Shiner, Creek Chub, and White Sucker.

I started out throwing a couple of small inline Panther Martin spinners. I should have written down the exact size and colors, but didn’t. One was all silver, and the other had green, red, and silver—at least I think that’s what it was. Probably the next-to-smallest size. I made around 40 casts without a single bite. Eventually I decided that was enough persistence for one lure.

The water looked a bit murky, probably from heavy rains the day before, and I began to suspect the fish just weren’t seeing the spinners very well. Or possibly they were seeing them and choosing to ignore them—always another possibility. Either way, I switched back to the bottom rig that had worked well on my last two trips: 6 lb monofilament, 1/8 oz egg sinker, swivel, about a 12-inch leader, and a size 10 hook with a piece of worm.

The action was pretty slow, but then I finally caught a Brown Trout. Not a huge one, but a nice fish and, more importantly, a new species for me. I posted it to iNaturalist and, I’ll admit, kept checking back waiting for confirmation. About eight hours later someone confirmed that it was a Brown Trout. I also picked up another Common Shiner along the way.

After that, I switched things up and headed over to the Mississippi River to try for Bowfin. That’s a completely different game—different rod, different rig, different mindset. No luck this time, but that’s probably a story for another day when I actually catch one.

With the Brown Trout, I’ve now completed the trout “triumvirate”: Rainbow, Brook, and Brown. I’ve caught Rainbow in Minnesota and Washington, Brook in Washington, and now Brown in Minnesota. Next on the list are Lake Trout, Splake, and Tiger trout—because apparently there is always another fish to chase, and apparently I am fine with waking up at 4:30 a.m. to do it.