Question:
Good Point Randy!!..I’ve been wondering how to explain it away when I get questioned as to the strange noises in the background. I worry a bit more about the chattering Geese that usually accompany fishing in PA this time of year, or even worse the occasional Pheasant… That being said, I really don’t approve of taking my cell to the stream as it defeats the purpose I usually go out for, to get away from it. But with a 4 month old, and a 3 year old, any time that can be stolen away, will be, at any cost, The Finn
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it true that the sound of a river in the background over a cell phone is much like the air flow at highway speeds with the window down for circulation? Just planning ahead.
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Well Mike, I think he was getting ready to tell his boss that he’s "stuck in traffic." "Sure boss! Just listen, can’t you hear them guys going by in the opposite direction? I could be here all day!" — Frank Reid Reverse email to reply. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it true that the sound of a river in the background over a cell phone is much like the air flow at highway speeds with the window down for circulation? Just planning ahead.
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Is it true that the sound of a river in the background over a cell phone is much like the air flow at highway speeds with the window down for circulation? Just planning ahead. — rakane at gte dot net (remove NOSPAM)
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – when the cell phone rang….when I said sneaking out, I meant I was still on the clock so I kept the phone on to cover myself. It was the wife, "pick up some milk and bread on the way home"!!
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Snuck out to the Perkiomen on Friday, after work, on one of those Spring days that Winter borrowed for us to enjoy. It was unseasonably warm, approaching 65-70, so the fish were already taking advantage of some early Black Stoneflies, and midges, as I arrived. There was already someone in the honey hole, so I walked downstream and took the next decent stretch. The wind was up a bit, so I figured this would work in my favor, since the water was low and clear. The reel of choice was the back-up, as the Lamson is in the midst of a tune-up. Being hurried, and as a result, unprepared, I hadn’t checked my leader, but got lucky with a decent 9 foot tapered down to what looked like 4x or 5x. Even with the wind kicking up, there were a few sporadic risers out in front of me, so I knew I had to try a something on top. I decided to tie on a dropper and go with a black caddis on top, trailed by a beadhead green caddis larvae, what a mistake that was. The wind was too much to handle and it only took a few casts to have both ends wound around each other. After unraveling the two sections, I lazily kept fishing the same set-up and in two more casts I was in the bush on the bank behind me. Getting a little frustrated with conditions, and my "luck", I attempted to pull the line out of the bush first, and it came right out!! minus the beadhead larvae. Having enough with the dropper, I did some quick leader repair, going with a midge nymph. As I looked up, not only had the wind decided to just quit, but the trout took that as their queue to go hog wild on the surface, figures, since I whacked the dropper, and tied on the nymph. Not wanting to waste my effort, I made several casts, getting use to the drift with the new rig, adjusting the weight with a bb or two. Watching the water, estimating where my fly was drifting, I saw a quick, wavy, flash, and set the hook!! missed him. ….. Coming from a place in my head, where I was beginning to wonder if I should call it a day, to a level of confidence that couldn’t be surpassed, I took a step upstream and cast into some fresh water. As I think about it now, I had lacked any form of focus up to this point, and those subtle taps that I had written off as bottom, now turned into fish, being sure to set the hook on every one of them. This is a subject that I have struggled with in this water, as the pool has an uneven bottom, that combined with the slow, clear, water, I usually am a bit forgiving because I don’t want to spook the fish in the pool. That first cast was perfect, line went out straight, and true, into water that hadn’t been disturbed with previous drifts. No mending, or lifting was needed and the fly dropped down into the dim bottom of the slot. Another flash….lift…set the hook…get the line on the reel…..got’em. A suitable fight for this time of year, although those Perkiomen Rainbows don’t usually disappoint. It was around 16 inches, a bit above average for the Perkie, and just fine with me. Checked the line, took another step upstream, and made another great cast (it’s amazing what adrenaline will do for your casting), flash….set-the hook…got’em. this one just about the same size, but a little skinny. Was about to make another cast, when the cell phone rang….when I said sneaking out, I meant I was still on the clock so I kept the phone on to cover myself. It was the wife, "pick up some milk and bread on the way home"!! Well, having stolen the time on the stream, I knew it was time to call it a day, I backed out of the hole, and walked away. I did look back at that hole after a few steps and sure enough they were back on the surface. Made a few casts upstream on the way back to the truck, without any takers. I passed another angler and he hadn’t any luck, also using a midge nymph, so I took my last boost of confidence from that and bolted home, enjoying the end of that day, that Winter had borrowed just for me. The Finn
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Question:
I just knew it! If I expanded on Zimmerman’s type of humor I would raise a lot of bottom dwellers.
Boy, how sad to try and push that one over. Good Mo-o-orning! VietNam!
Sadly, you’re much more Bruno Kirby than Robin Williams.
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Sadly, you’re much more Bruno Kirby than Robin Williams.
Jeff, old pal, I’m just George.
george.vcf
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I am a pathetic ass. But I’m a hell of a fly fisherman!
George, hell just called and said to come back. ginksux
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I have a friend who once fished with you, he said you were a good fisherman. That friend is the best fisherman I know, matter of fact one of the people you speak of knowing mentioned his skills in one of his books, but to talk to him about fishing, not once will he tell how good he is. Good fishermen don’t have to brag about how good they are and in the overall scheme of things, it is just not that important George. Wayne
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am a pathetic ass. But I’m a hell of a fly fisherman!
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Wayne, you’re so correct and I agree 100%. I didn’t realize I ever gave that impression or did that. I’ve made a note of your constructive suggestion. Thanks, George – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a friend who once fished with you, he said you were a good fisherman. That friend is the best fisherman I know, matter of fact one of the people you speak of knowing mentioned his skills in one of his books, but to talk to him about fishing, not once will he tell how good he is. Good fishermen don’t have to brag about how good they are and in the overall scheme of things, it is just not that important George. Wayne I am a pathetic ass. But I’m a hell of a fly fisherman!
george.vcf
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I am a pathetic ass. But I’m a hell of a fly fisherman! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yup, You got us… However, I suspect that if I wrote that "Gherke is a Pathetic Ass" not a single soul would rise to your defense How does that feel.. I just knew it! If I expanded on Zimmerman’s type of humor I would raise a lot of bottom dwellers. Besides, look how good his name looks strung out almost 20 times in the longest thread Steve has seen regarding himself in a long time. It takes a master to kick start this group out of its duldrums. mend . . . *sigh* . . . staring at drift . . . twitch! Good Mo-o-orning! VietNam! Mr.G. "george, who is stir frying dog meat . . ." : )
george.vcf
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yah, you’re right. *sigh* – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – George Gehrke : "george, who is stir frying dog meat . . ." Don’t eat it, George. Cannibalism is illegal.
george.vcf
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George Gehrke : "george, who is stir frying dog meat . . ."
Don’t eat it, George. Cannibalism is illegal.
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Yup, You got us… However, I suspect that if I wrote that "Gherke is a Pathetic Ass" not a single soul would rise to your defense How does that feel..
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just knew it! If I expanded on Zimmerman’s type of humor I would raise a lot of bottom dwellers. Besides, look how good his name looks strung out almost 20 times in the longest thread Steve has seen regarding himself in a long time. It takes a master to kick start this group out of its duldrums. mend . . . *sigh* . . . staring at drift . . . twitch! Good Mo-o-orning! VietNam! Mr.G. "george, who is stir frying dog meat . . ." : )
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I just knew it! If I expanded on Zimmerman’s type of humor I would raise a lot of bottom dwellers. Besides, look how good his name looks strung out almost 20 times in the longest thread Steve has seen regarding himself in a long time. It takes a master to kick start this group out of its duldrums. mend . . . *sigh* . . . staring at drift . . . twitch! Good Mo-o-orning! VietNam! Mr.G. "george, who is stir frying dog meat . . ." : )
george.vcf
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Question:
Mark, Stay loose and keep trying.That’s why they call it fishing and not catching. You were going to C & R anyways. Correct pressure it’s just a matter of experience. You have to take into consideration if the fish is going upstream, down strean, how much string you have out, fish size.Just hang in there,have fun. Capt. Dan **** Posted from RemarQ – http://www.remarq.com – Discussions Start Here ™ ****
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Not to rain on your parade, but… <heavy downpour snipped
Most of your points are well taken. However, to make the story as interesting, yet as brief as possible, considerable details and irrelevent narrative were omitted from a long day of fishing. Had I included everything, I have no doubt you would be impressed with our ambassadorship for fly fishing, our sportsmanship, and the number of fish hooked and played by nearby anglers whist we stood by courteously and patiently when it was our turn to do so. You would also have been exceptionally bored. It’s a big river; and we neither monopolized any good holes, caught all the fish, nor substantially interfered with anyone’s enjoyment of the day. It was a fine day fishing for all; this story was but a snapshot of a moment. Lighten up, eh? If you were right, however, you’d have been right. Joe
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0] : Everybody see the theme happening here? "Put a little pressure on ‘em?" My : story: snipped: account of fishing for goldens : Still haven’t caught my first golden.. : -Mark : — Goldens aren’t hard to catch in wilderness streams provided they don’t see you first. They are ultra spooky. The whole secret is stealth. A six incher will scarf up a #10 Royal Wulff or just about anything else in your flybox, and there will be no question of being hooked up–he’ll be on. Just keep low, behind a bush or a rock–you don’t need a fancy cast, just get the fly on the water drifting reasonably. Actually I’ll suggest 14’s and 16’s are a more appropriate for the size of the typical golden, and are taken just as enthusiastically as 10’s. Mike — Michael McGuire Hewlett Packard Laboratories (remove x’s from email if not Palo Alto, CA 94303-0971 a spammer) Phone: (650)-857-5491
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My buddy and I were fishing the Salmon River (NY) last fall during the annual salmon run. We were there maybe a bit late for the peak of the run, and a lot of the fish in the river had been there a while and were a bit worn out. Not that it wasn’t fun anyway, but once in a while, we’d hook into a really fresh fish with tons of energy. These guys would take off like a freight train, jumping and taking you well into your backing going straight upstream. Using an 8 or 10 pound tippet on these big fish necessarily made for a long difficult fight, but we had learned from experience when we could safely "put a little pressure ‘em" and when to let ‘em run. The spinning rod guys, of course, had a lot less trouble dragging them out with 30# mono and so were somewhat impatient, but generally courteous, when we took our time bringing one in. On the last day of our trip, I worked a faster stretch, and my buddy was working a flat stretch upstream about 50 yards. We were both hooking up fairly often, but he was really nailing them. Every other time I looked up there it seemed, his rod was bent over while the spinning guys stood by with their lines out of the water. I didn’t realize how frustrated some of the other fishermen were with this arrangement until I hooked the big one. Fishing an egg pattern, I saw my line hesitate and set the hook. Instantly, the big salmon sprinted upstream, jumping three times on the way. "Fish coming up!" I yelled upstream, and a half dozen or so other fishermen obliged me by pausing their casting. The fish was so fast and strong, I quickly decided to walk upstream after him. He was already 100 yards away and my drag was still singing. That’s when I saw him. Not the fish, the guy with the net. This fish wasn’t even close to tired, but some nut case, tired of standing aroung waiting for another fly fisherman to land a fish, charged into the river and tried to scoop him out. As tight as my tippet was stretched, even the slightest bump with that net would have cost me the fish instantly. To my relief, he only succeeded in scaring the hell out of it and it sped across to the other side of the river. As I’m running up the shore to stop this guy, he practically sprints across the river (no small feat) in pursuit of my fish. He’s still too far away to stop him when the fish reaches the shallows on the far bank. The fish still has tons of strength left when "net man" get there. He takes one stab at the fish with the net and the fish sprints upstream again. My line wraps around net man’s legs and that was all she wrote. I was still too far away to even curse at the guy. I just walked back downstream and reeled in the slack.
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Everybody see the theme happening here? "Put a little pressure on ‘em?" My story: We were fishing in the 20 lakes basin of California. I am new to California fishing and newer to fly fishing, I grew up in Michigan. My buddy Paul and I had no trouble landing a couple delicious brookies the day before in the backcountry, and stocked rainbows from Saddlebag lake to days prior (my buddy Paul makes an excellent trout breakfast scramble). But we’re really looking for the gold.. Golden Trout. We try at several lakes and streams with no luck for goldens (just a brookie or two).. as we head further back into the backcountry, we come upon a stream that looks promising. The bank is about 10 feet above the stream.. and we approach low as the sun is high, though not high enough for us to cast a shadow.. and we see them. Goldens.. moving slowly left to right, slowing to inspect possible food sources (not rising) then continuing. Since we’re backpacking, I’m using a fenwick fly/spin rod that doesn’t excel at either but packs well.. and I tie on my nymphs one by one, throwing them from the bank (I am NOT a good flyfisher.. my casts still have the grace of a collapsing bridge), staying low.. and we watch them ignore our offerings. Paul (with only spinning gear) tosses out spinners and lures 40 feet downstream with no luck either. After an hour or two of fruitless fishing up and down the section of stream, we quit fishing to have some burbon and nutrition.. and we watch the Goldens pass by like we’re in some kind of twisted dentist’s office. Paul tells me about a pool he found downstream that might have a good evening bite.. so after a few hours of short hikes and exploring, I go back to camp, grab my gear and head to the pool. Paul is already there, watching the evening rise.. wishing HE had brought his fly gear. But Paul has proven why I like to pack with him.. he gives me first shot at the shittish rising Goldens with my fly gear. I tie on a caddis, approach low, cast upstream.. and the fly stops dead, ripple, SET HOOK and golden on! He jumps (yep, looks like a Golden, we estimate he’s at about 14-16"), heads upstream, yanking off my line.. all the while I’m having 2nd thoughts about my set.. the timing wasn’t great, didn’t feel real solid. I decide, in order to make sure the hook is in, I’ll "put a lttle pressure on…" to further set the hook. Yep, game over, fishy all gone, we’re done for the evening (even though we didn’t know it at the time). Still haven’t caught my first golden.. -Mark — Particle Salad/ Noom Room Studio http://home.earthlink.net/~psalad
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I was guiding a client last year on the Ocanuluftee river in the smokies.The water was high and murky and I tied on one of my prince variations for him on a 5X tippet. After fishing the first eddy I put him on he asked me if this was a joke.By the third eddy he fished he changed his tune.He hooked up about three feet off the bank and said I think I’m hung up! I told him to set the hook harder! He said but I’m hung up! I said It’s a big fish buddy put it to him! He jerked the rod sharply and the fish exploded! I screamed get downstream of him before he makes his run! It was too late! The fish lipped the pool and headed into class five water.He held the rod high as the reel sang it’s song.After about 120 yards the fish parted the leader.He said I didn’t know there were fish like that up this high.I replied’ I didn’t either. Moral to the story"Never under estimate the brown trout and use 2X tippet when the water’s murky! Tim
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In my youth, I was a bait fisherman, just like my dad. We were fishing the Chesapeake Bay near the Md/Va line and doing pretty well against some sea trout in about 70 ft of water. As usual, just as the sun starts going down and the wind picks up, the fishing starts getting really good, but it’s time to go in. Just before I reel in for the last time, I feel a bump and haul back on my rod. I got it, but what? Instantly it takes off south, aided by a 2 knot current. I’m using a medium stiff spinning rod and 18-lb line, but he’s just peeling it off at high speed. This is the fish of a lifetime. After what seemed like a minute, but was probably only15 seconds, the line goes slack. I’m deflated. On reeling in, I find lots of nicks in what’s left. Probably a big bluefish, maybe a shark, I’ll never know. Man was that a fish. Joe
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I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales? Herewith a modest contribution.
(Section deleted) Finally hooked a carp. I can remember fishing for Bluegill in my favorite section of Big Bear
Lake with my 3wt when I hooked into a monster. It took about 20 minutes to get this thing close to me. The largest Bluegill I’ve ever seen. It was absolutely HUGE!! I wanted to keep it as I knew nobody would believe me when I told them how big. I had no net with me, after all who needs to net Bluegill. I couldn’t get my hand around him and being a Bluegill couldn’t put my thumb in is mouth. No way to grab him !!! Finally my 6x tippet gave way. I dropped my rod and tried to grab with both hands, but he just slowly swam away. The following week I heard someone had caught a 4lb 9oz record the very next day. I guess you just can’t win them all. Bill
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Good thread, Michael. Fishing on the Beaverhead two years ago, floating below Dillon with the pontoon boat. Slow day in September, having to pound them up and not much sucess at that either. Dropped a two nymph rig into a drop-off that must have been 15 feet deep, and just let it sink – fooling around, mostly. WHAM. Rod bends straight down (like I was jigging for 10 pound crappies or something). Five seconds later leader pops at, of all places, the nail knot attachment to the fly line. Lost the entire leader. First and only time that has ever happened to me, but now I carry an extra leader. Then there was the time…… (man, I got a load of these kind of stories) Mark Faulkner
Oh Mark, you brought back bad memories. I had been fishing the Bow River in Alberta for three days and my luck had been so-so. it was getting dark and I worked my way up to this flat, just upstream of a spot called Policeman’s. I could see regular rises and there was one large regular one at the tail of an almost imperceptible seam. I drift a #14 Henryville down, the rainbow took it and headed into the current with me hanging on for dear life. I put a bit of pressure on and ping!!!, the leader parts in the middle. Standing there looking at half my leader, I remember stepping on it earlier when releasing a small fish. Must have nicked it with a stud. Damn. Would have been the best fish I had in a while. Peter Email address hacked. Remove -delete-this- to email a reply.
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These first few aren’t huge but memorable nonetheless… I guess there’s one every season or so for me, a brown that took a hares ear spider on one side of the river, and immediately bolted for a single snag/branch hanging into the water clear across stream and promptly wrapped the leader around it, I barely had set the hook. Same river, two years or so earlier, a rainbow picked up a damsel nymph hit the main main current, crossed the current to a backwater on the other bank 20 yards downstream leapt and hung the line up in a bush. Then there are the bruisers … usually in backwaters … I did my first and only float trip last year … what a revelation. This damned river Goulburn is much maligned as being difficult to fish and so it is, if you are looking for a swag of fish taken in runs, glides etc. Naturally things are differnt during a hatch, then selectivbity is a problem. On that trip I was broken in a backwater on the strike to a parachute dun, guide reckons "Biig" …hard to tell I guess, but the sight of that dun disappearing is something I won’t forget, damn fish charged it and managed to break the fly-knot on 6 lb tippet when I lifted into him. Man there is some serious recovery time needed after things like that. 
The best thing about that trip though was I found where the fish were, very few mid-stream, mostly backwaters and hard against the bank near overhang branches and the like. It gave me confidence in the water I knew there where fish and roughly where … so now I fish it with a heap of confidence, knowing that patience will pay off. Two weeks after the float, I returned foot, I watched backwaters relly looked and sure enough, 2lb plus fish accessible form the bank admittedly in tricky circumstances. I spotted a much larger brown cruising a particular back water 6 times , always he’d be coming toward me or I’d be caugth in the open and couldn’t move … on the seven occasion the wind blew and riffled the water as he swam away .. the size 14 heavy wire fiery-brown nymph was taken, I lifted and all hell broke loose in the shallow water. I couldn’t afford to let him run at all because of logs, and you guessed it … the hook straightened. I cursed a little and *laughed* a hell of a lot while untangling leaderr and line from around my ears and hat, checked my watch – one cast in 3 hours and worth every last second of it. That float trip has changed the way I fish ~that~ river forever. Geez …then there a the lake fish …. Steve
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I agree, this is a great thread. Last Memorial Day, I joined my Father-In-Law on the Potholes Res. in Central Washington. He enjoys fishing for walleye so was rigged up and trolling for them. I personally don’t care for spiny rays so had my rod rigged with my favorite Wolly Bugger pattern. After 30 minutes the fish finder turns black with fish and I start pounding nice 14 inch rainbows. My next hit, the reel starts screaming and I was totally unpreparred for this size of fish (even though the lake is known to have 10 pound plus rainbows in it.) After about 20 seconds the hook pulls out. I reel in and check my fly and leader and cast it back out. Two minutes later, I am into another monster fish that has the reel on meltdown again. This time I was ready for it and proceeded to adjust the drag while my Father-in-Law cranked up the downriggers and was getting to turn the boat around to give chase. In that short period of time, the fish was within 10 feet of spooling me with the drag cranked all the way down when the fly popped loose again. It never did slow down. Mike Wilson Fishing!! What else is there?
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I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales?
This is a little long… Jackson and I had spent most of the morning trying to gain access from ranchers to the river. We knew from maps that the state had designated it "Gold Medal Water" but we were determined to get on it somewhere other than the few public acess points. At the time Jackson was tractor salesman for Case power equipment so it seemd he was the right one to go knocking on strangers doors. After all, they all owned tractors. The hard part was guessing who were the Case guys and who were the John Deers!! A fella can be kinda partial to his heavy machinery, right up there with the pickup. And so it went – "No", after "No" after nobody home, when finally we hit paydirt. "Be sure to close the gate!" Always obey this request. We were in. A short drive and we came upon the water – wide and slow, winding through hay fields. We began to walk down current and came to a hard dog leg in the stream. A nice backeddy curled against the current. As we looked the risers became evident. Jackson patted me on the back – a little harder than I liked, but that was OK, our mission was accomplished. There was such an abundance of available food for these fish – terresterials and aquatics alike, that we really didn’t know what to use. One thing was certain – it was going to be dry. I went with a #14 irresistable and proceeded to put down every fish I cast to. Well, not put down exactly, they would simply move five feet ahead of where I could reach after a couple of presentations. Jackson was having the same kind of success. I had started fishing down stream of the bend, but soon found myself standing right in it with the trout now rising behind me. That’s when Mike (Jackson) called me. "Jonnie boy – check this dude!" I climbed out of the stream and walked over to him. From where he was standing I saw nothing at first. Then she breeched. Such a rainbow I’d never been this close to. The rise was stupid big. Just a big old bug sucking spotted maw followed by the back of a buffalo and the vertical tail of a whale. This fish was working less than two feet from shore faceing straight into the current. The assortment of insects seemed to delight him judging by the way he steadily fed. I tried to watch what he was eating but it was futile. There was just too much. I actually watched this pig eat a yellow jacket. Mike offered up the trout to me; he was going to watch. I eased into the current no more than 20 feet down stream and waited. I let this trout rise four or five times before even stripping out line. I wanted a solid bead on his lie, and I wanted him happy. My first cast was short. I waited for one more rise and made a second. It was perfect. The irresistable floated happily right over his lie. Dammitt. Again I waited for him to show. Then I tried to time it – kind of like a surfer counting waves. It was time. The cast was true and it was clear – even before it happened – that this was the cast. Mike knew it too and even called out – just before he struck – "That’s it". He was right. That trout took so confidently that I had to laugh. I did. Then I really started laughing as the fish made an immediate downstream run. Downstream? This I was not ready for. Don’t ask me why. The fish swam right passed me. I could have hit him with the rod. I stripped my wet ass off to keep the line tight and then right back out again and suddenly on the reel. The old Medalist chugged and groaned and I suddenly realised this fish was well on it’s way to spooling me. I clammered out of the stream and up onto the high bank. Mr. fish was an easy 60 yards into the backing when I had this great idea. Instead of continuing the chase on foot I’d: "Put a little pressure on him" Famous last words. The hook had simply pulled free. I fell back into the tall golden grass and held my forehead. Jackson was quick to produce a flask of good scotch. Dam that was a good belt of whisky. JE JE
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Wish this was mine, but it’s a good story anyway… My brother in law live in LA, and he’s a fishing nut! I took him to the quality waters here in New Mexico with a guide ’cause the water was flowing at almost 5000 cfm. We’re in Texas hole, and close to the top of the hole. He casts to the rapids, and gets a strike, a big one! He asks the guide what to do, and the guide say’s let him run. He ran about a hundred yards and tied up the line in a tree. I never heard a fly reel scream like that in my life! Sure wish it would have been me….
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Michael Goldstein wrote [great thread snipped] Long before I started fly fishing, when I was 12, I fished for bonito from a "bait barge" in Long Beach harbor. I was fishing a live anchovy in the usual manner with no weight…just the free swimming bait fish. (I’ve been told by my marine fishing buddies that this type of fishing is called ‘fly fishing’ … go figure). Anyway, on one particular day I was fishing with my $10 trout rod/reel spinning combo I had bought at Thrifty Drug store…You know, the cheap little spinning jobs where the line is always getting caught underneath the spool and wrapped around the axle. (You probably have to be at least 35 years old to know the cheap little reel I’m talkin about). Anyway, on this one particular day here I was with my bait in the water and the line caught up and wrapped under the spool in the usual fashion. In this situation there’s nothing to do but remove the spool and unwind the tangle. So, while I had the spool off and I’m unwrapping the line, a bonito hits…don’t know how big, but those of you who’ve caught ‘em know how they run when they hit that anchovy. So here I am, with the spool off and the fish pulling away like crazy and my trying to get control and put the spool back on … and the damn fish pulled the whole rig out of my hands and over the rail…rod, reel … everything gone. I was not a happy camper that day! — -dnc-
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales? Herewith a modest contribution. (Section deleted) Finally hooked a carp. I can remember fishing for Bluegill in my favorite section of Big Bear Lake with my 3wt when I hooked into a monster. It took about 20 minutes to get this thing close to me. The largest Bluegill I’ve ever seen. It was absolutely HUGE!! I wanted to keep it as I knew nobody would believe me when I told them how big. I had no net with me, after all who needs to net Bluegill. I couldn’t get my hand around him and being a Bluegill couldn’t put my thumb in is mouth. No way to grab him !!! Finally my 6x tippet gave way. I dropped my rod and tried to grab with both hands, but he just slowly swam away. The following week I heard someone had caught a 4lb 9oz record the very next day. I guess you just can’t win them all. Bill
While liveing in San Mateo Fl. one of my neibors was going to St. Augustine with his boat to fish and asked me to go along. My only rod at the time was a bamboo 7wt 7′ and I thought a mudler minnow with a straight leader of 20lb test would work fine in salt. We were up under the bridge of lions when I thought I was bottom hung. I started to be able gently to crank in line with just a bit of trouble when this shadow started to show and my buddy asked what the hell I had. As it came up I saw the eye of the most god awful tarpon I had ever even heard of. At that point he decided this was a bit more than a minor nuisance. There was this terrific splash of water and he was gone, my fly rod was broken just above the grip and all I could do was sit there shaking, looking at the busted rod. That was a 14′ boat and that fish was at least half the boat size. That is the truth although I can understand any disbeliefe. John Popp in Sanford Fl.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – These first few aren’t huge but memorable nonetheless… I guess there’s one every season or so for me, a brown that took a hares ear spider on one side of the river, and immediately bolted for a single snag/branch hanging into the water clear across stream and promptly wrapped the leader around it, I barely had set the hook. Same river, two years or so earlier, a rainbow picked up a damsel nymph hit the main main current, crossed the current to a backwater on the other bank 20 yards downstream leapt and hung the line up in a bush. Then there are the bruisers … usually in backwaters … I did my first and only float trip last year … what a revelation. This damned river Goulburn is much maligned as being difficult to fish and so it is, if you are looking for a swag of fish taken in runs, glides etc. Naturally things are differnt during a hatch, then selectivbity is a problem. On that trip I was broken in a backwater on the strike to a parachute dun, guide reckons "Biig" …hard to tell I guess, but the sight of that dun disappearing is something I won’t forget, damn fish charged it and managed to break the fly-knot on 6 lb tippet when I lifted into him. Man there is some serious recovery time needed after things like that. The best thing about that trip though was I found where the fish were, very few mid-stream, mostly backwaters and hard against the bank near overhang branches and the like. It gave me confidence in the water I knew there where fish and roughly where … so now I fish it with a heap of confidence, knowing that patience will pay off. Two weeks after the float, I returned foot, I watched backwaters relly looked and sure enough, 2lb plus fish accessible form the bank admittedly in tricky circumstances. I spotted a much larger brown cruising a particular back water 6 times , always he’d be coming toward me or I’d be caugth in the open and couldn’t move … on the seven occasion the wind blew and riffled the water as he swam away .. the size 14 heavy wire fiery-brown nymph was taken, I lifted and all hell broke loose in the shallow water. I couldn’t afford to let him run at all because of logs, and you guessed it … the hook straightened. I cursed a little and *laughed* a hell of a lot while untangling leaderr and line from around my ears and hat, checked my watch – one cast in 3 hours and worth every last second of it. That float trip has changed the way I fish ~that~ river forever. Geez …then there a the lake fish …. Steve
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I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales? Herewith a modest contribution. I often fish a pond near my house in Princeton, NJ which contains sunnys, smallmouth, and HUGE carp, i.e. 10+ lbs. Generally, I’ll try to catch the smallmouth, switching to the carp if I see them cruising. But in a year of hit-and-miss trying, I’ve never gotten a carp on. They are extremely spooky, and even if you get a nymph on their nose while they’re tailing (generally what I’m trying to do), it’s very hard to read a take. It’s late Fall, and the pond is already cold enough that the smallmouth aren’t hitting. Rather than go home skunked, I switch to a smaller streamer that is more likely to catch a sunny (though it still might attract a bass). On the first cast of the new streamer, it stops after a short retrieve. Now, if you’ve ever fished for smallmouth you know that one of the problems with catching them is hooking them. Their jaws are so powerful that even if you try to set the hook hard, once, they may have the fly locked in their jaws, and will spit it out after a few seconds. So, hoping the fish might be a smallmouth, I lock the line against the rod and hit it a second time. The theory here is that, with six pound tippet, it won’t matter if I lock up against a sunny, or even a smallmouth (which on this pond rarely get bigger than 2 pounds). But I want to make sure the hook is set. As I’m pulling on the line, I see a grey torpedo explode from the bottom of the pond near my fly. The acceleration is so rapid that a bow wave builds up in front of it across the entire width of the pond (maybe 150 feet). My jaw drops as I react to the awesome power display, and try to track the streak with my rod tip. It takes me a second to realize I should release my lock on the line, but as I do, the 6 lb tippet parts. Finally hooked a carp.
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Michael Goldstein: <<I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales? (good story snipped) I was fishing a river in Maine, early in the season which means I was lobbing big streamers with a 6 weight. I had a reel on that did not have the best drag system, and hitched into a *very* big fish. He zoomed across the pool and was headed down-stream to the next pool when I palmed my reel — palmed it too much, that is. The tippet broke and a couple of guys near me gasped in disappointment. About 30 minutes later a local fisherman started fishing and I thought his set up strange: He had a sinking line, very short leader, and was tying on a #10 White Wulff. He cast into the current and when the fly was down stream he retreaved it *very* slowly. On his second cast, He was into a big fish. I left the water, put my rod down and watched him land a 28 inch Togue (laketrout that gets into a river). The togue had my white Zonker in his jaw, right next to the White Wulff! He killed the togue, tied it to his Maine basket, packed up and left. He had his supper. Dave LaCourse
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I often fish a pond near my house in Princeton, NJ which contains sunnys, smallmouth, and HUGE carp, i.e. 10+ lbs. Generally, I’ll try to catch the smallmouth, switching to the carp if I see them cruising. But in a year of hit-and-miss trying, I’ve never gotten a carp on. They are extremely spooky, …
I’ve never caught a carp on a nymph or a streamer, only on mulberry flies. When the mulberries get ripe and drop into the water you toss a hunk of purple yarn under the tree. Some folks scatter bread crumbs on a spot for a week or two then use a "bread crumb" fly to catch carp. I don’t, I feel guilty enough about the mulberries. — Ken Fortenberry
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I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales?
We were camped at Rainbow Lake, about 10,000 ft above sea level on the Doubletop Mt. Trail in the Wind River Range. Finis Mitchell’s book claimed that Rainbow Lake was an excellent fishery. Being a flatlander I was not very good at unlocking the secrets of a high alpine lake. I tried my whole bag of lake methods and being limited to fishing from the shore, (no float tube or boat), I got discouraged and inattentive. I had a muddler minnow that I tossed purposefully but retrieved casually. On one of the strips of the retrieve, while I was planning where to make the next "perfect" cast, something hit that muddler so hard it took muddler tippet and all. I just wasn’t paying attention. — Ken Fortenberry
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I often fish a pond near my house in Princeton, NJ which contains sunnys, smallmouth, and HUGE carp, i.e. 10+ lbs. Generally, I’ll try to catch the smallmouth, switching to the carp if I see them cruising. But in a year of hit-and-miss trying, I’ve never gotten a carp on. They are extremely spooky, …
Folklore says that carp can feel the vibrations you impart to the line (movement, heartbeat and breathing). If you want to catch them, get a y shaped stick and shove the straight end into the ground. Prop up the fishing rod with the y shaped part of the stick. If you are using a fly, watch for line movement unrelated to the current flow. The subtle line movement (especially in calmer waters) around the shore will indicate a carp or sucker is on the line. When you see the movement, pick up the rod and set the hook. Failure to do so will possibly mean that your fly rod will be yanked into the water by the carp/sucker. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’ve never caught a carp on a nymph or a streamer, only on mulberry flies. When the mulberries get ripe and drop into the water you toss a hunk of purple yarn under the tree. Some folks scatter bread crumbs on a spot for a week or two then use a "bread crumb" fly to catch carp. I don’t, I feel guilty enough about the mulberries. — Ken Fortenberry
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I often remember the big fish that I’ve lost, especially from a mistake I made. Any interest in exchanging the tales? Herewith a modest contribution.
I’ve got two 12 years or so ago I was fishing the Androscoggin River somewhere near Errol, NH during the famed alder fly hatch. As dark was coming on I was fishing a nice pool and I noticed a fish sipping flies in a back eddy behind a rock, I dropped a fly on him and got a beautiful head and tail rise, to my amazement the fish was quite large, I missed him and he never came back up. The next day I got position in the same pool fairly early and just at dark there he was. I dropped my fly on him and he took it, I setup and my reel began to scream as he headed out into the main current. About 10 yards out he popped the leader. I thought well ok and then the fish leapt out of the water 4 times, each time furthur out in the river, apparantly trying to spit the hook. I esitmate the fish was between 25-30", at that time possibly the biggest trout I had ever hooked. A few years ago fishing for browns in a Maine river at dark I cast on a sipper. I set the hook and my rod bent right to the water, the reel began to scream as the fish ran downriver. I pulled the anchor in the boat to drift with the fish as my partner manned the oars. This was the biggest fish I have ever hooked (I think) the fish stripped me to the backing, turned up stream and came off as the line went slack ( I was stripping in like a madman but not fast enough). I never saw him, just felt the power and dream of a rematch! dave
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Good thread, Michael. Fishing on the Beaverhead two years ago, floating below Dillon with the pontoon boat. Slow day in September, having to pound them up and not much sucess at that either. Dropped a two nymph rig into a drop-off that must have been 15 feet deep, and just let it sink – fooling around, mostly. WHAM. Rod bends straight down (like I was jigging for 10 pound crappies or something). Five seconds later leader pops at, of all places, the nail knot attachment to the fly line. Lost the entire leader. First and only time that has ever happened to me, but now I carry an extra leader. Then there was the time…… (man, I got a load of these kind of stories) Mark Faulkner
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Then there was the time…… (man, I got a load of these kind of stories)
Yeah, me too. The most painful fish I ever lost…. Last year I went with a friend to fish the classic chalk streams of England. One day we’re fishing the Lodden. The water was off color that day, and nothing was rising. So I start, like any self respecting American fisherman, working a nymph, not realizing it’s not allowed on this river. (The guide is a young chap who’s filling in for the guy who booked the trip, and he doesn’t know either.) Anyway, so I’m fishing to a bunch of fish that have never seen an artificial nymph, and iIt’s a perfect river for this kind of fishing, as the fish have concentrated in some deep holes. In one hole, having taken a bunch of fish — easily 10 in the 2 lbs. class in less than an hour, all stockers — I see a huge shape flash on, then refuse, my bead-head hare’s ear. After a dozen casts, and no further luck, I tie on a "large olive bead head damsel nymph, tied Matuka style". In other words, a wooly bugger. Sacrilege in these parts, even where nymphing is OK. I just happened to have one in my vest, and the guide is helping my friend, so he can’t object. I feel deliciously wicked. I’m fishing on a short line on the dead drift. On the second cast the line hesitates, and I lift the rod. The resistance is so firm, I’m sure it’s bottom. But then the line starts to vibrate. It’s a bloody great fish! The line noses down, then my reel screams as the fish takes off across the pool. Then down again, there’s nothing I can do but let it run. Then upstream 20 yards, with me chasing it along the bank. I get a good look at it, it’s a huge brown trout, at least 30"! Then across to the far bank into the reeds. I put some side pressure on him and the line goes limp! Broken off at the fly. When we were fishing drys, the guide had put on 7x tippet, and I hadn’t realized. With 2.5 pound breaking strength, I’ve been too forceful. To make it even worse, guide points out that this was undoubtedly a wild fish, since the stocked trout are rarely more than 2 pounds, or 20 inches. I feel ill, mentally replaying the fatal sideways pressure, wishing I had shortened the tippet to a 6 lbs. breaking strenght 4x. In the stained water, nymphing, it would have been fine. It takes me about an hour before I have the heart to fish again!
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