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Summer On The Driftless
Post 05 Jun 2023, 16:13 • #1 
Guide
Joined: 04/26/19
Posts: 179
Location: L'Étoile du Nord
Its not really summer yet but man its hot.

Got out with Hotdish this weekend and it was a lot of fun. Not much hatching at all so we just skated and swung caddis on glass rods, Hotdish fishin his Barclay and I fished my new to me 1st generation 3wt butter stick 6 footer.

I dug out my old MG3 and it was a perfect fit and I really missed that loud old clicker, it was my first fly reel. I like the set up so much I fished it all weekend. I had a 3wt airflo super dri elite trout line and I thought it was a good fit for far and close fishing.

It was my first time fishing a butter stick it was hot, and we covered a lot of rivers and streams fishing structure and keeping on moving down. I think its an amazing little rod and its a lot of fun, handles and lands nice trout handily and it can cast tight loops fast and shoots line well, or I can slow it way down to sticky slow casting. The MG3 really screams when a nice one takes in current. Pretty amazed what this little rod can do, it's a fine rod. I have to work a little harder on longer casts but it's not really made for that and held up well, I really like how slow the rod is and still performs well.

Needless to say we had to work for them but still ended up catching a lot of fish. There's Hotdish down river swinging down. I was working this large deep pool run, one step to my right and its over my head. I had one big trout blow up on my skated fly from the deep, hit it caught a bunch of air, landed a bolted, broke me off, I tightened my grip on the line, and still barked the clicker, should of just let him run, could of had a chance, but it was so fast.

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I had to take at least one fish picture of a nice trout.

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And took one of my new rod. Solid butter.

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A solid weekend of fishing and we even went to a bluegrass festival one evening. Good to fish with my old bud.

Hotdish says he cant get on here with his phone anymore and post but he misses the forum.

Till next time, UF


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Post 05 Jun 2023, 18:36 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/16/05
Posts: 2537
Location: Georgia
Looks like fun. Nice looking water and fish. And it can be wonderfully memorable when a big fish ends the whole deal before it really starts. Although maybe not as memorable as a good look at it in the net.


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Post 05 Jun 2023, 19:43 • #3 
Guide
Joined: 04/26/19
Posts: 179
Location: L'Étoile du Nord
I fish caddis in a similar manner as soft hackles and there was a great thread on here about how many ways to fish soft hackles. I fish elk hair CDC caddis a number of ways. Dead drifted, skittered, full skater with trimmed flat bottom, partial skater with gel or top ride. waker, waterlogged sub near surface and sunk.

I start with the dead drift around structure or holes, at the end let it skate and or just swing it like a surface salmon fly or tiny muddler. I'll change it up until I see some interest.

Many times I will just walk and swing them like steelhead and salmon flies greaselined or deeper. Its hard to beat a trimmed skater caddis treated with top ride in current, in broken water, even large finicky trout, will come up like and Atlantic and just kill it.


And that is what happened at the head of the run in fast water. I was prepared for what might happen. The hole is a boulder garden in 15' feet of water and it was clear enough to see bottom with a slight milky stain.


Nice skate across the current to the seam and just into the middle of the river......Boom- a very large fish committed from the bottom of that deep run and crushed it. Largest class of fish in the river.

Its one of those situations I think everyone has experienced, its so fast and its really about making the right instinctive reactions, if I had to think about it- I'd be too slow and I experienced regret that I didn't do the quite right thing and he broke me off.

It is nice to see one of the large ones once and awhile, whether in the air or net, but it would have been something trying to land it. I know where he lives now, and I have better rods suited for him. Even if I had the FF75 it would have been probably the same instinctive reaction and ended up the same way.

You probably are wondering of the size and I dont know what to say except what I saw and what I can compare. Great lakes steelhead sized only less chunky more Atlantic salmon slender. I was more prepared after that but he haunted me, still does.


Last Year at this time I was spey casting fishing Kings in Alaska, and I was there early at the start of the run fishing with my bud 14' 9wt spey rod and speyco reel, hooked a very large chrome beast from the sea, the back looked electric blue and chrome the salmon jumped three times, and friend said wow that's about as big as they come, had me into the backing and fighting to not get spooled.

My mistake, I was deep wading and I panicked and got out of the river without taking a swim and got up higher on the bank by the tree line and I was moving down, I didnt want to get spooled. he was near the tail out and I was now ready to run after him if he went down to the next run. I think my plan was decent but I think I changed the angle and it was hooked in the lower jaw and now I was pulling up, anyway had the salmon coming my way and I was exhausted and the hook pulled and it was over.

Eventually I made my peace with it, but it took awhile. Yeh feel me. I'm sure I'm not the only one with fish stories on here and experienced afterburn. Tell us about it.


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Post 06 Jun 2023, 09:33 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/26/14
Posts: 3578
Location: US-MN
Great report!


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Post 06 Jun 2023, 18:38 • #5 
Guide
Joined: 06/15/20
Posts: 260
Location: Toledo, Ohio, USA.
Driftless is a bucket list destination for me. Sounds amazing.


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Post 07 Jun 2023, 12:52 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 04/08/22
Posts: 33
Location: Northeast Pa.
Looks like it was a great fishing adventure.


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Post 08 Jun 2023, 07:55 • #7 
Guide
Joined: 05/13/20
Posts: 250
Location: Lake Junaluska, NC
Thanks for taking us along! Looks like a stunning destination for sure. Our younger daughter has my old MG-3. Great reels!


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