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What A Day!!! - Printable Version

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What A Day!!! - LOAH - 06-07-2018

[Image: DSCN7188%20450x600_zpsp0jljeec.jpg~original]

Saturday had a plan. Holdsworth and I were supposed to drive for over three hours, then hike for at least another with our tubes. Our hopes were to find big brookies in a new (to us) water.

The information I recalled indicated that the fishing at this lake was similar to another on the same mountain, but with better fish. We each did our homework and carefully planned our approach, even going as far as making plans to meet up with someone else while out there.

It wasn't until late Friday that I received more current info from last year, stating that the fish were mostly small runts. We didn't want to put in all that effort to be disappointed, so both parties agreed to do their own thing and hope to run into each other the next day.

Saturday morning came nice and early. Aaron and I got ourselves on the road a little bit earlier than normal and were able to get to our targeted area before too long. My thoughts were of a different lake in the region initially but as we got closer to another, it was decided to go for it, where we ended up. Something about the water just "called to us".

My anticipation grew as I readied my gear on the shoreline, preparing to float. Just for fun, I grabbed my fly rod that was already rigged with a Frankenstein Sculpin pattern from Fly Fish Food and tossed out a cast into the deepest water I could reach in the shallow puddle.

A few quick strips along the bottom and I felt the fly stop abruptly, followed by a hard shake, a flash in the water, then nothing. Broken leader!

I should have tied on a fresh one prior to starting. Oh well. A new 10ft section of mono was tied on and a new fly. This time, an olive Sculpinator from the same shop was selected. Once that was tied on, I got on the tube and headed out for deeper water.

It wasn't long before I had another fish hit and I knew immediately that I wasn't messing with a chump. It was pretty far away when it bit, so I had to work it for quite awhile to gain any line back.

The battle went on for several minutes and my forearm was really feeling the burn. The fish on the other end still had a lot of fight left and had taken some strong runs, peeling out drag from the reel.

Letting the rod do the fighting, I reeled in the slack and finally noticed some fatigue in the massive tiger. My rod is 9ft long, but the leader was a tad longer, plus I didn't want to let the connecting knot where the leader met the fly line get into the guides, just in case Murphy was hanging around.

This meant I was high sticking, but still couldn't reach the fish effectively. No net either.

Eventually, I worked it out to where I leaned way back and had the fish basically swim up onto my legs, then a quick toss from the legs to the lap, then a bear hug, of sorts. The beast was landed!

When the dust settled, I was happy to hoist my prize up for a few snaps and measurements.

[Image: DSCN7159%20600x450_zpsutwtgw0g.jpg~original]

What a monster! 7lbs, 10oz @ 27 inches! A new personal best for me and somehow it came to me on the fly rod!

[Image: DSCN7157%20600x576_zps7hjtfp4e.jpg~original]

What? I really didn't expect that to happen.

[Image: DSCN7161%20600x450_zps6xnb0cof.jpg~original]

Shortly after, I started throwing jigs on my spinning rod. It didn't take long to hook up with another fish, though this one was much smaller, at only 20" and pushing 3lbs.

[Image: DSCN7163%20600x450_zpsbtnilxgu.jpg~original]

Gotta love it when that's a smaller fish.

Again with the jig, I had another good fish on the line, this time a 4lbs, 3oz tiger with an attitude.

[Image: DSCN7167%20600x450_zpshd5bmc3w.jpg~original]

The day was rolling out nicely already and I couldn't imagine it getting any better, but then it did and I hooked into another beast that like that marabou jig I was throwing.

[Image: DSCN7170%20600x450_zps2zeqqhnu.jpg~original]

Another great fish at 6lbs, 9oz. That one would have beaten my former best trout, had I not caught her big sister earlier. I got a video of this catch. Notice how I had gotten better at landing big fish with no net.

https://youtu.be/FY7_j9xyRu8

Somebody pinch me.

[Image: DSCN7173%20600x450_zpsepenubzp.jpg~original]

Meanwhile, Aaron's only action so far was taking pics of my monster. I felt bad for him and hoped he'd get his bruiser soon. Strange how the fish gods can shine a light on someone some days, while totally snubbing another.

To make matters worse, I hooked yet another pig tiger trout. Another large female.

[Image: DSCN7174%20600x450_zpstmkpz3k5.jpg~original]

I got a video of the release of this one.

https://youtu.be/r-nXl2YOlMw

Ridiculous! Cloud 9 was hardly visible from where I was sitting.

Switching back to the fly rod, I ended up breaking off again on another nice fish. Another great fly was gone, but I still had one more Sculpinator.

Throwing that around, I connected with the smallest fish of the day. That didn't stop it from putting up a great fight (or maybe my forearm was still worked from the hog) and as I brought it to hand, I realized that there was something a little extra "special" about this fish.

[Image: DSCN7179%20600x450_zpswohh2b8j.jpg~original]

So how about that for a productive fishery? Even fish that can't close their mouths can grow to a healthy 20" by swimming around with their mouths open. Must be because of these:

[Image: DSCN7178%20600x450_zpsp1ccftaf.jpg~original]

Definitely because of those.

One last good fish gave me another battle before my day was done and I was happy to finally land a solid rainbow from there, which had eluded me on former trips.

[Image: DSCN7180%20600x450_zpsvhhg4dzx.jpg~original]

Looks like this one only has one good eye.

[Image: DSCN7181%20600x450_zpsaujw4oaj.jpg~original]

We stayed for awhile longer, praying for Aaron to get some action, but it just wasn't meant to be. He was obviously happy for me, but I'm sure that burns. The poor guy had to watch me battle monsters all day, only to come up empty-handed.

It happens. Next time, it's his turn.

[Image: DSCN7168%20600x450_zps604mrpzi.jpg~original]

Happy Fishing, Humans.
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - SkunkedAgain - 06-07-2018

Wow is all I can say.... great photos and excellent story... seemed like Holdsworth had been getting his fish the last few stories you posted, so it was probably you just catching up... Nice report, sure makes me want to follow you around... Thanks J
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - brookieguy1 - 06-08-2018

Spectacular!
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - WET1 - 06-08-2018

Beautiful fish and a beautiful day buddy. Thanks for sharing the great story and awesome picks! I also want to thank you for demonstrating the right way to handle those delicate trout when releasing them, no fingers in gills! Way to go man!!!
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - _6x_ - 06-08-2018

Incredible! Congratulations!
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Re: [WET1] What A Day!!! - PBH - 06-08-2018

[quote WET1]I also want to thank you for demonstrating the right way to handle those delicate trout when releasing them, no fingers in gills! Way to go man!!![/quote]

no fingers. Just a scale.

[Wink]


Where's Cliff anyway? I'm sure he could tell us those amphipods have nothing to do with the size of those fish...


Good job LOAH.
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Re: [PBH] What A Day!!! - WET1 - 06-08-2018

Funny, I didn't see a picture of a scale in the gills at all in his post, but maybe you were there.
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Re: [WET1] What A Day!!! - PBH - 06-08-2018

I'm not being critical -- I don't care at all.

but he included weights to the ounce. He must have weighed them to get that specific....
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - fishinfool - 06-08-2018

Wow! Spanked them big tigers!!!'

fnf[cool]
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Re: [PBH] What A Day!!! - WET1 - 06-08-2018

I'm sure he did, but there are many methods to accomplish this without hanging them by the gills.
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Re: [WET1] What A Day!!! - PBH - 06-08-2018

[quote WET1]I'm sure he did, but there are many methods to accomplish this without hanging them by the gills.[/quote]

Maybe you were there?

[:p]
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Re: [PBH] What A Day!!! - SBennett - 06-08-2018

I weigh my nets and then hang the fish while in a net.
Let the fish go then do the math.
A win-win for me and the fish.
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Re: [PBH] What A Day!!! - WET1 - 06-08-2018

No I wasn't there but I didn't make the assumption that the fish were mishandled based on no evidence either,
There's a lot of folks that don't understand how delicate trout are and how much damage is done when sticking your finger through the gill plate to hold them prior to releasing them. I was very proud of the careful way LOAH handled the fish in all the pictures in his post and wanted to give him some recognition for a job well done. Hopefully other folks will see that and might get good ideas.
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Re: [PBH] What A Day!!! - LOAH - 06-08-2018

This is true. 4 fish were weighed. I was as gentle as possible and didn't grab any gills, plus the fish weren't thrashing around while weighing them, but yes, they were weighed by their faces before their release.

I should fashion a nice mesh/dowel device similar to the ones used by pike and muskie anglers, but until then I'm stuck with what I have.

I care about the fish, so when I intend to release them, they are handled quickly and observed while they recover, to check for signs of extra bleeding. If all checks out, they're free to go. If not, female tiger trout are delicious and I'm a good cook.[Wink]
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - Piscophilic - 06-08-2018

Incredible day, thanks for sharing! It was amazing only one of you caught fish. likely a statistical aberration. If so, he will likely get even someday[Wink]
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - PBH - 06-08-2018

good job LOAH.


Still wondering about Cliff.
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - Saltslam - 06-08-2018

Boy those are some beauties! You're also right about them being delicious. I prefer to take smaller ones when they are invited to dinner. It takes so long for them to get that big I enjoy letting the swim in hopes of catching them again.
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Re: [Saltslam] What A Day!!! - LOAH - 06-08-2018

Maybe I'm weird, but I prefer larger trout. Bigger fish are easier to fillet (for me), plus I only have to kill one to feed my family of 4.

The taste is every bit as good as the meat on a small fish, I've noticed. What factors into the flavor more than size is a mix of several variables:

Gender (females tend to have better flesh, especially with tigers and brookies)

Age (grandpa fish won't be as good as prime-of-its-life fish - size is not necessarily relative to age as much as forage)

Forage (Fish with a plentiful supply of highly nutritious food *bugs tend to have the best meat. If they starve for part of the year, they get mushy and yellowish inside.)

Time of year (During a species' respective spawn time, they should be released IMO - females are "hollow" and there isn't much meat on their sides. Males are usually mushy and slimier than normal. Just not worth it.)

Exceptions: My best advice, based on years of eating a lot of trout, is to look for a white belly - any species, any gender. If the belly is dark, that meat will be off-color and not very firm.

Just my observations.
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - brookieguy1 - 06-08-2018

I feel your observations about fish flesh are spot-on. Colder the water the better the flesh also IMO.
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Re: [LOAH] What A Day!!! - doggonefishin - 06-08-2018

[quote LOAH]

Forage (Fish with a plentiful supply of highly nutritious food *bugs tend to have the best meat. If they starve for part of the year, they get mushy and yellowish inside.)
[/quote]


Spot on. Scuds and zooplankton=high carotenoids=tasty red meat.



[quote LOAH] My best advice, based on years of eating a lot of trout, is to look for a white belly - any species, any gender. If the belly is dark, that meat will be off-color and not very firm.

Just my observations.[/quote]

This is especially true with tiger trout fisheries. The "silver bullets" are almost always delicious and have nice red meat. The colorful ones that take the best pictures often are yellow and frequently mushy, even in places known for good tasting fish like Huntington.
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