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For sure I would suggest having some wire leaders available. If you are having trouble with pike stealing flies, you can put one on and solve the problem. Depending on the water clarity where you're fishing, the leader might reduce your chances with walleyes, which is why it isn't a no-brainer...

I dealt with St Croix on a warranty within the last 6 months, and other than the replacement taking a lot longer to ship than normal because they were out of stock, and a limited lineup to choose from (my rod was an Avid, but replacement was an Imperial) they were as good as ever to work with...

I haven't targeted walleyes in stillwater with flies, but have caught some in rivers while fishing for smallmouth and pike. I'd say you're on the right track with flies, plus some Wooly Buggers and minnow patterns. I really like Murdich Minnows for smallmouth, and would think walleyes would...

UW Stevens Point, then lived in Wisconsin Rapids for about 5 years right after college

I'm happy to see this. I started fly fishing while going to college in Wisconsin and most of my fly rods (and several conventional rods) are St Croix. They have treated me well when I've had warranty claims, and really like that they're all made in North America. It seems crazy that they...

I was in Anchorage during the 2nd week of October last year. It was my first trip to Alaska and we only fished 2 days, so others will have better advice, but it seems like you're hitting the timing really well. There were still some silvers in the local rivers around Anchorage when we were...

No, but that would be a good option too! I haven't been on Vermillion since family vacations as a kid but remember how beautiful it is. I do almost all of my Minnesota smallmouth fishing in rivers... ironically got hooked on this particular river because my boat motor was running very poorly...

Bitterroot from last weekend And the Lochsa on the way back home Sunday

This is pretty darn funny! It does make me think back to some of the best days that I've had fly fishing for smalles,, and how some of them do seem to just sip a popper really delicately, like a trout. Then the next one will completely explode on the fly. All of my experience catching them on...

I was in Seattle on Saturday, so stopped at White Pass for the first time yesterday morning. The groomed runs were in pretty good shape, but the off-trail areas were as you'd expect after several warm days and no new snow. I suppose those of you that live around the Cascades get used to the...

I hit Lost Trail in SW Montana (and technically Idaho also, but the lodge is on the MT side of the border) for the first time Thursday and Friday last week. I don't have the cool action shots that some of you have, but it sure was beautiful. We fished the local river on Saturday afternoon...

I had done some research on fly fishing in Germany when I was headed there on business roughly 10 years ago, and at the time some regions allowed tourists to buy a short term license without all the tests, etc that residents need to complete. I didn't end up fishing at all and stuck with...

I'm not familiar with the lakes that you're fishing, but most of the success that I've had fishing for pike has been in relatively shallow water, so a floating line works fine. I'm not sure that it's necessarily an advantage, but using the same line for surface flies and subsurface is less...

Here are a few favorites: A river in northern Minnesota that I've come to think of as one of my home rivers, even though it's 1400 miles away now: This was truly home water for 3 years... a small river in NW Wisconsin that I lived along for 3 years. It wasn't great fishing, but had enough...

Wow, that is an amazing photo of a beautiful place!

Like a few others have said, almost all of my backpacking is to reach remote areas for fishing. Some of my favorites: Wind River Mountains, Wyoming Western Idaho: NE Oregon: This last one in only "sort of" backpacking... It's in Voyageurs National Park in northern MN. There are...

Yeah, with a pretty short growing season and long winters where this fish was caught, a 20" fish is a true trophy. I'm a C&R fisherman 99.9% of the time, but someday when I finally do land one that is a true 20" fish from this particular river, it's going on the wall. That made me do a lot...

Ha, I would bet that was John at the Great Lakes Fly Company. He has a nice shop and is a lot of fun to talk to... I was a fairly frequent customer when I lived just outside Duluth. Depending on how far upstream you plan to go on the Mississippi, there can be really good musky fishing at times...

This isn't from the PNW, but a trip back home to Northern MN last summer. It was the best couple days of smallmouth fishing that I've ever experienced. This one missed the magical 20" mark by about 1/8'.