This one pretty clearly keys to Kogotus, but it also looks fairly different from specimens I caught in the same creek about a month later in the year. With only one species of the genus known in Washington, I'm not sure about the answer to this ID.
I have been fishing the rivers up there for 30 years. The mainstem has always been my favorite. I took my 13 year old son last spring and he caught his first brown, and then two more on a grannom and a #16 dark hendrickson.
I have been waiting for that moment since he was born.
He wore all of my old gear that has been in storage. Remember that "state of the art" stuff from the 80's....Flyweight waders, Weinbrenner wading shoes, Marathon rainjackets, etc.
He looked like he had just jumped out of a Cabelas catalog from 1983.
This is what "Terminal Fish Disease" looks like at an early age. It is caused by being into your backing on a mainstem fish way too early in the game.
When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns. - Jack Handey
Wbranch on Mar 13, 2008March 13th, 2008, 12:49 am EDT
Kroil,
If you are interested and if you can ever get you son off from school Tuesday - Thursday from the beginning of May to mid June I'll take you both on a float of the main stem from Shehawken to Buckingham. I'm retired and never fish Monday or on the weekends. If you've been fishing the main for thirty years we may have even chatted at one time or another. PM me if you want to set something up.
Kroil on Mar 13, 2008March 13th, 2008, 12:54 am EDT
That is a very kind offer. Chances are we have probably met at some time or another. The Mainstem is my favorite stomping ground and I am known to frequent (some call it lurking) Sam Knight's property.
Let's keep in touch and have a cold one someday.
When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns. - Jack Handey
Wbranch on Mar 13, 2008March 13th, 2008, 1:38 am EDT
A friend of mine used to keep his trailer on Knight's all summer long back in the late 1980's and early 1990's. He parked it under the trees right along the river at the upstream portion of the property above the little island. He retired and now lives in Clancy, MT about 45 minutes from the Missouri.
I like the PA side of Knight's down near the tail and also the short riffle section that is actually below the tail of Knight's. There are some big fish on the PA side.
I like the pool below which we call "Russ's Run" and of course I love the "Wall". My cabin is on the WB just below the Methodist Camp. PM me if you want my cell number.
Kroil on Mar 13, 2008March 13th, 2008, 2:08 am EDT
I know the spots well. As to your cabin, I fish every morning early. I enjoy that time of day on the river and usually have very little competition. When the Main is low/warm, I am known to lurk in the morning fog outside of your doorstep fishing the slots and rubble where the old trestle used to cross the river. It is one of my favorite pools on the West. If you ever see someone casting ridiculously long, sexy tight loops to those sippers in the early am, I like my coffee bankside and black.
Regards,
Dave
When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns. - Jack Handey
Wbranch on Mar 13, 2008March 13th, 2008, 2:18 am EDT
I should of been more discreet now everyone will be fishing there and you won't have your solitude anymore. I used to have a great deck cantilevered over the river but the flood of 2006 took it out. Someone told me in is in a field upstream, and on the opposite side, of the shehawken access. The water from Balls Eddy downstream to the mouth has many opportunities for good fishing and is far less pressured than the water from Balls Eddy to Deposit.
Kroil on Mar 13, 2008March 13th, 2008, 2:37 am EDT
Oh, and I like my bacon crispy, my eggs over easy, light butter on my toast my pancakes with blueberries and real maple syrup.
When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns. - Jack Handey