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Lightning strikes twice with the dry line

4K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  steeliesncarp 
#1 ·
Since landing my first Great Lakes fish on a dry line, I’ve wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. As a teacher, I’m off this week and was hoping for some slightly warmer temps to get out and fish. It looked like today would be a small window of a warmup with rain forecasted after snow moved through.

I packed my stuff, tied two flies and started the hour drive to the river. About halfway there the roads and snow was so bad I considered turning around and heading home, the only issue was there really wasn’t a good place to do so. I was hoping that the roads would be wet on the way home once the front moved through.

I had a pool all to myself but had to wait for close to two hours for the slush to dissipate so that it could be fishable. I made one halfhearted pass through and took a break since it wasn’t quite fishable. An energy bar and some coffee later and while there was still a bit of slush the water could be fished.

Deep into the tailout I got a sharp tug and was figuring it was another ice chunk until my hardy perfect started to sing it’s song. I was still in disbelief as to what was happening and then saw a fish splash before making a long run.

I’m gaining more and more confidence in the dry line. This particular pool required a different cast angle and mend to keep the fly swimming than I normally would fish but it got the job done today.

The fly was another Picasse variant with buck tail. I haven’t used a lot of buck tail in my flies previously but I’m becoming a believer.
 

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#3 ·
Congratulations my friend on another GL's dry line steelhead !!
I guess this fish didn't get the memo either, only flies with big 'ole eyes and T-material will do :chuckle::chuckle::chuckle::chuckle:

Gorgeous fish and nicely tied fly :smokin::smokin:
Those Picasse style flies are working on both sides of the lake these days !!


Mike
 
#5 ·
We generally don't have slush in our Oregon rivers either!
The slush can be a welcomed sight here in the GL's Todd .... better than having a river frozen over :hihi:
We like to call it "slush puppies" in the Georgian Bay region :D

I keep coming back to this thread !! I truly am happy for your winter dry line success my friend :):)


Mike
 
#6 ·
Thanks so much for the support! I guess this just goes to show that if you’ve been on the fence to fish this method, try it out and commit. I definitely was not “expecting” to get grabbed with slush in the water the other day. That made me a believer, it’s time to round up my t-tips and skagit heads and post on classifieds
 
#12 ·
upstate ,
gorgeous fish ! good for you man . so , when you say " dryline " , could you give a brief description of how you're fishing that fly ?
mono leader ? long ? fishing on or near the surface ? dragging ? i'm just throwing pizza on the wall here . any help or guidance is appreciated greatly .
thanks , jim
love bucktail as well . maybe partly because the rest of it tastes so good .
 
#13 ·
Jim,
15ft leader (7ft 15lb maxima, 4ft 12lb, 4ft 10lb)

The fly sinks pretty quickly, I did hang up twice on the bottom when fishing it steep angled downstream. In order to avoid hanging up in the slower tailout section I casted slightly upstream, threw a downstream mend to get the fly moving and then once it was about 45 degrees below me I mended the line again but this time upstream to slow the swing. Kind of had some weird currents to deal with. I have no way of knowing but I don’t believe the fly was just under the surface. However, in 2-3ft depth everything is probably near the surface.
 
#14 ·
That's a tricky run in low water especially from that side. Drylines or extremely light polyleaders are the way here. Did you pop that one off the rock pile in the middle of what I would call the "Upper Tail?" or in the lower tail where the pinners stand by the trail? In low water it's hookup or hangup in there....lol.
 
#18 ·
I think Im mostly jealous that your drive to the river is 1hr....I need almost 5 <img src="http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/images/smilies/frown.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Frown" class="inlineimg" />

anyway fantastic post ...keep the faith I have enough to share if you start to lose any <img src="http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smilie" class="inlineimg" />

Thanks!

D
Wow - impressed with your commitment to the dry line! Was out in a long sleeve T at 6:30 yesterday morning on my home river. No bumps, low holed twice, but otherwise a gorgeous morning. Also didn’t see any fish that looked remotely like yours - must be that cold water that keeps them shiny, and keeps the adipose fin on...

Also removes any excuse for me to need to fish heavy. Thanks for the inspiration!
I think it’s been 3 months since I started to fish without a tip, now it isn’t even a thought. I’m excited that I’m thinking more about fishing when I get out. Where to cast, the angles, the mends. It’s becoming a very fun process and I’m starting to look for different types of water as well.
 
#17 ·
Wow - impressed with your commitment to the dry line! Was out in a long sleeve T at 6:30 yesterday morning on my home river. No bumps, low holed twice, but otherwise a gorgeous morning. Also didn’t see any fish that looked remotely like yours - must be that cold water that keeps them shiny, and keeps the adipose fin on...

Also removes any excuse for me to need to fish heavy. Thanks for the inspiration!
 
#22 · (Edited)
Upstate, your dedication in just getting in the conditions in your pic is an inspiration. I’m taking the day off tomorrow to hit the river, since it’s supposed to be overcast and the coldest day this week - 66 degrees. I don’t have thick enough fleece for a rivers that is “slushing up“. And fishing dry? You’re the man.
 
#23 ·
Upstate, your dedication in just getting in the conditions in your pic is an inspiration. I’m taking the day off tomorrow to hit the river, since it’s supposed to be overcast and the coldest day this week - 66 degrees. I don’t have thick enough fleece for a rivers that is “slushing u
“. And fishing dry? You’re the man.
Appreciate the vote of confidence. It’s looking like this weekend we get a warmup with temps approaching 60 on Monday. Now with the time change on Sunday I’ll have enough time to fish after work so that is my plan. I think mid week last light would be my best opportunity for a surface fish but who knows.

Part of the fun is planning out my fishing day ahead of time, thinking of the runs/pools I’d like to fish provided that no one else beats you to the spot. I also like to think about water I would normally pass by that might make sense to fish with a surface fly.

I should have a new to me 15’6” walker in my hands on Sunday as well as a Gaelforce 73’ head to test out so I’ll likely bring two rods, one with a sunk fly and one with a surface fly. I used the same training wheels when transitioning to the dry line only.

Good luck out there!
 
#24 ·
I am not familiar with your water but I think if a fish is willing to take a fly on a dry line the he's likely looking up. If he's looking up then there's a good chance he'll take a dry fly. If your not fishing a dry fly then you will never know. Of course the river/weather conditions will dictate what's likely to work but if there is any chance of a take on a dry fly I would make the effort.

Dan
 
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