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3. The river giveth, and the river taketh away

I had some excellent fishing this weekend. I landed my first 20" trout, and caught 2 more around 19-19.5", an 18" and a few in the 12-16" range. On Sunday I fished with a friend. He ended up catching a 22". All browns.



After seeing a 22" trout, by far the largest we have both seen to date, we were excited to say the least. We walked up to one of the best looking spots on the river we fish. Our hopes were high. I cast about 60ft across and up river, landed right next to a large down tree. I stripped twice and my line stopped dead. As I've done many times before, I strip set and instantly there were two large head shakes. The fish came up and starting rolling on the surface. I finally pulled him across the current and started working him toward me to net. He thumped in the shallows and popped the hook no more than 15' away. This fish will haunt me for awhile. We both looked at each other and my friend said, "Holy f*ck that fish was huge!" He was right. As we discussed later, we decided it was at least as big as the 22" we saw earlier, probably bigger. I know where he sits and will be back to try him again.

On that note, I realized I need a bigger net. The 15" opening on my c&r style net doesn't cut it. I did net my friends 22", but it wasn't easy. I have been looking at the Nomad mid length net. Does anyone have this net? If so, opinions? Or, does anyone have any suggestions for nets? I like the mid length because I have an inflatable pontoon and the extra reach would be nice. Also, extra reach would be nice on bigger fish. I appreciate any help on the net!

P.s. more pictures are on the way.

WTG! You've done what you wanted to accomplish -catch bigger trout. You are on your way. Now the trick will be following them through the seasons. Congrats.

Thanks, Paul! I couldn't be happier I finally started hooking bigger fish. I'm excited to see if I can stay on them through the spring and summer now. I'm always up for a challenge.

Congrats my friend! Harder bringin the big ones huh? I lose alot of big fish too, mainly because I dont encounter too many and when I do get one hooked up, lets just say the margin for error is a bit less, know what I mean?

Good for you though!

Later,

Adirman

Well done and a beautiful fish! What fly is that, looks like a Zonker?

Jonathon

Nice work. Given what ended up in the net, it appears that your hooking to landing ratio is good, and some things are just up to the river gods. You'll land that big boy, or his sister, in the future. Till then, he'll provide inspiration. I like the Fisknat nets; the San Juan will land those big fish easily, and it's very light. http://www.fisknat.com/hand-nets.html But that Nomad net looks great and may fit your needs better with the pontoon boat.

Adirman - I do know what you mean! Those fish like to get deep and go to cover and one wrong move means broken line or a popped hook. They can put a serious bend in the 5 wt.

Jonathon - That fly is a creation from my friend. He comes up with some interesting stuff at the vise. There is some deer hair, zonker, cactus chenille, marabou, schlappen, wing n' flash, rubber legs, and craft fur I believe.

My flies tend to be more simple. A craft fur clouser with a healthy amount of flashabou was all I needed. Olive over white and yellow over white. Big thanks to Wbranch for showing me that fly. The olive over white has been taking fish year round on this river.

Martinlf - If I need to lose a nice fish now and then to the river gods in order to catch nice fish...I can deal with that. I hope when I go back it is either him or his fat older sister. Thanks for the recommendation on the net. I want a nice light net, so I will look into those.

Brookyman - Thanks! Nothing better than a great day on the water with a great friend.

"There is some deer hair, zonker, cactus chenille, marabou, schlappen, wing n' flash, rubber legs, and craft fur..."

Man, that's a lot of materials in ONE fly!!

"My flies tend to be more simple." My philosophy exactly! I don't feel like spending an hour tying one single fly that can be lost with one bad cast! And my fairly simple flies - KBFs, Woolly Buggers, and traditional dries like Adams, Elkhair caddis, Wulff patterns, etc. - catch plenty of fish for me on my local waters. Largely, I believe, because there seems to be so few fly fishers in this area, keeping the fish "fly-dumb"!

Jonathon

It certainly is. He is very fast though. I think he ties these in 10-15 minutes. Although it's a lot of material, it is a really simple tie. He ties these as fast or faster than I tie a clouser. I'm getting better though.

Kyle, do a search on here for my KBF fly. It's a nice little streamer that I started out warmwater fishing with - in fact it got it's name (Killer Bass Fly) from a 20" largemouth I caught on it in Texas - but in the last couple of years it has taken trout for me too. And it's an easy tie, just have to get the right materials. If you can't find it, I'll repeat the recipe here. Now if I can just get the fishies around here to start eating them again...been a real slow opener, did three hours yesterday at one of my favorite spots and came up with one dinker...

Jonathon

You asked me in a PM what I was tying for my small-mouth outing...The perch version of the Clouser is in the collection...You should think about wading off the beach there in Oscoda and toss your KBF over some spawning smallies...Just a friendly suggestion. Don't forget to spit some chewing tobacco on it...:)

Spence, I like to wait for hatches on Cooke Pond, where I can take smallies on dry flies! I even caught a Hex hatch out there two summers ago and nailed an 18-incher that I posted on here. If I can find some spawners, though, I will certainly KBF them good!

Jonathon

Jonathon, Do you have a picture of said KBF? I searched around and couldn't find one, although I found the recipe.

Kyle, I'll have to try and shoot some with my little digital camera and post them on here. I do not, unfortunately, have the fabulous camera gear that others who take beautiful insect and fly pictures that we see on here have. But I will do my best with what I have!

Jonathon