Trout Photo Gallery

[Driftless]

Ted is a MASTER with that center pin rig.

[Driftless]

[Driftless]

have go where the streams are open.

was a bit urban for me.

[Driftless]

Some spinner and center pin action

[Driftless]

Had guy email me about the photos above.

He told me to quit trying to pass off bait and spinner fish as fly caught fish.

I asked what me meant.

told him to read below the photos...i identified what they were caught on.

he said: "That big of trout CAN'T be caught on traditional fly gear...it wouldn't handle them."

I agree.

[Nate McVey]

Quote:

he said: "That big of trout CAN'T be caught on traditional fly gear...it wouldn't handle them."

I disagree, but that is for another conversation. I've caught/seen caught fish that size on 6 and 8 wt.'s..............

How do you explain Tarpon, Musky and Northerns caught on fly gear then?

[Driftless]

traditional is 5/6 weight and lower in my book.

a 7/8 for sure could handle it.

shiner you have landed 34ish inch 15ish pound steel on a fly rod?

tarpon/muskie/northern on open water.

[Driftless]

traditional fly gear is for targeting 5-18 inch trout.

anything over 18 inches spinning gear for big trout is MUCH

more efficient.

Only my opinion from 48 years of trout fishing.

traditional fly gear...5/6 weight and under.

[Driftless]

BIG trout tend to migrate to heavy cover.

They hunker down and stay under cover of darkness.

they come out to feed at night.

they dive towards structure upon hook up.

this tight cover the BIG trout prefer makes a BACKCAST impossible.

[Nate McVey]

Quote:

shiner you have landed 34ish inch 15ish pound steel on a fly rod?

29" has been my biggest chrome....have seen 31 and 33 caught.....which fish above is 15 lbs.? Have you been using the scale of another accomplished carp fisherman on this site? That male is the only one that has a chance of being close and you didn't catch that one........

I also believe I mentioned a 6 wt............

Quote:

BIG trout tend to migrate to heavy cover.

They hunker down and stay under cover of darkness.

they come out to feed at night.

they dive towards structure upon hook up.

this tight cover the BIG trout prefer makes a BACKCAST impossible.

If you're referring to the above pictures, I don't think I would have any issue with my backcast, let alone a roll cast. It also appears to not be dark? Maybe I'm mistaken but isn't that what you said big trout like? Brule is much tighter and the fish are just as big. Maybe I'll run into you up there next spring...................

[Scudly]

Len I have an 8wt I bought for bonefish in Belize. Reel is G Loomis Venture 7 and I bet it could handle a fish like this. Believe it is an OK reel. Likely many better reels out there. It was what fit my price range at the time. Anyway the drag is 10-fold better than my Scientific Anglers reels (lightweight drags). Get a 9' 1x leader and tie a streamer or egg pattern direct and you should be in good shape. Fly fishing for streamers is more of a chuck and duck deal anyway is it not? Not too many false casts? It is on my list of things to do.

Shiner has good points Len. In this instance it appears you are fishing a pretty wide stream - not in tight quarters. This place you and Ted are fishing does not look hairy to me. Lightening Creek or Chub Tail Creek in April would be a different story however...

[Big Hit]

traditional fly gear is for targeting 5-18 inch trout.

anything over 18 inches spinning gear for big trout is MUCH

more efficient.

Only my opinion from 48 years of trout fishing.

traditional fly gear...5/6 weight and under.

I'm not sure I follow this "logic" here. What about spey casting which has been around since the 18th century? If that's not traditional I don't know what is.

In the last 15 years there have been so many advancements in technology and gear that it's impossible to label something as "traditional." If that were the case the only "traditional" spinning gear would be a 7ft medium action rod/reel so many of us around here use for walleyes? Try explaining to a muskie fisherman that his muskie rod/reel set up isn't "traditional," or telling an Alaskan halibut fisherman his gear isn't "traditional." Traditional, in the sense you are using it Len, is what you as a fisherman are used to. To me a fly rod is a fly rod, spinning gear is spinning gear, bait casters are bait casters, and what is most important is fishing is fishing. It's not how you do it, but what you are doing.

[Driftless]

lake run fish....

traditional...

I mean small stream.

I haven't big lake fished in 15 years other than just the other day "one time". It is fun to catch them but they just AREN'T as smart as small stream trout.

The thrill of the hunt is what i like about small stream fishing.

The bush whacking....the tight cover. I have three fly rods. I

use them in less tight cover and I typically use it when I brook trout fish.

Big Lake are a good adrenaline rush but not my cup of tea.

[Big Hit]

Exactly. It's all what were are accustomed as fisherman and what we consider our "home waters."

[Driftless]

your surrounding have a lot to do with the fishing experience.

The saying "Trout Don't Live In Ugly Places" does not apply to lake run fish....least the ones I fished for lately. Have heard the brule is quite beautiful.

[Big Hit]

Both the North (MN) and South (WI) shores of Lake Superior are extremely beautiful. You've got to do a bit more work to find the stream trout but the scenery makes up for it. And then there's the lake runs...

[Driftless]

[so haaad]

One of the well-known trout novelists once described steelhead by saying that you can feel the ocean in their fight. It doesn't exactly relate to our great lakes fish, but I still like that saying.

My biggest north shore steelie was a 30.5 inch chromer fresh from the big lake. It was taken from one of the smaller streams not too far from Duluth. Ironically I landed that fish on a 5/6 weight St. Croix, along with many others. Might not be the ideal weight for steelies, but it can be done on the smaller midwest streams.

[s t fanatic]

that beggs the question of why one would use traditional fly gear if it wouldnt handle big fish?

[s t fanatic]

never mind got in late on this one.

[s t fanatic]

lake michigan sunset

Shot with E5900 at 2009-11-23

seems scenic enough for me. how about you?

[mnhunter17]

I caught this brown while trolling a reef runner deep diver for walleyes on Lake Michigan. 17 lb 8 oz

[waterbound]

mnhunter, that's one nice fish! Were you fishing near a river mouth or anything? It's awfully colorful for a lake-run brown.

[grate8]

mn hunter indeed you are the man,

dat trout is DA BOM

[mnhunter17]

waterbound. It was a completely random catch, we were not near the mouth of a river. I caught that trout while fishing with my uncle, who is an expert walleye fisherman, and fishes in that area of Lake Michigan a couple of times a week, and he has only caught a handful of browns. Without a doubt the best fish I have ever caught.