Rickr's Story Of The Week

[reevesr1]

I got the chance to go fishing tonite with Troutlover and MissinTheBow for a little nighttime action. Everyone had some action, not fast and furious, but certainly enough to keep us entertained. MTB had to go early, and it looked like Troutlover would follow, but he is a bigger addict than I am and we headed upstream to swing hoppers in some quiet water.

 

We started getting action right away, with a couple of missed fish each. Then, as I just started to raise my rod to cast, I almost have it pulled out of my hands from a big, big hit. The fish never jumps, but is moving a LOT of water. He works upstream and Jared asks "what tippet are you using" I say 2X and he says "that fish is yours" and then "I forgot my net". Can you say jinx? Anyway, I really start to feel the weight of the fish, and after a minute or so I say "this is the biggest trout I have ever hooked" and then he finally makes his move. I wouldn't call it a run so much as a decision to just cross the river. He never did anything really quickly, he was just unstoppable. I wasn't really worried at first, just let him run. He stopped for a bit, I put a bunch of pressure on him to turn him, and he just started swimming across the river again. At that point I knew I was in big, big trouble. I saw a big swirl half way across the river and I kept tightening the drag, palming the reel to no avail. Jared asks "are you on your backing" I laugh and say "uh, yeah". Anyway, I try side pressure with no change. I have the drag set as high as I dare, in fact, I am quite surprised the 2x held with all the pressure as I was applying. Then I hit the end of the backing and bye bye fish.

 

We have no idea how big. I will say this. I have caught lots of big fish on rod and reel in my life, but have rarely felt this much raw power from any fish, anywhere. He was awesome! I shall call him Goliath. I may have to give 'er a go this weekend with my 8 wt.!

[bigbowtrout]

[Guest bigbadbrent]

man, least in the sunlight you'd have somewhat of a fighting chance

 

unless you did a me, and decided to go for a swim

[LynnF]

Yep...been there done that way too many times now. Such a rush when you see that backing start to unwind, but that quickly turns into panic when you realize (a) you're not gonna see the monolith of a fish and/or ( there's a real good chance that you're gonna be going shopping for a new flyline the next day. More than a few times I think I've foul hooked something as it's taken straight off upriver and absolutely nothing will slow it down.

 

Too bad you didn't see it.....but that guy will keep ya going back for more

[reevesr1]

I've been going over the fight in my head to figure if I could have done something else. The only thing I could have done would have been to use my light to look at my backing so that I could have reefed on the drag earlier. But even then, I sincerely doubt that fish was catchable, by me anyway, at night using a 5 wt.

And he will bring me back!! But I would've been back anyway...

[monger]

Beavers are not fish

[hydropsyche]

What a rush.

 

It was your tippet that broke, not your rod or backing, right? 8wt - 5wt (designed to deliver fly line, not to fight fish). Shouldn't have made a difference.

 

Can of worms.....opened.

[hydropsyche]

Beavers are not fish

 

Didn't know Beaver liked Hoppers. Maybe it thought it was a stonefly.

[troutlover]

IT was no beaver i saw the splash and it was text book brown trout slash. And then text book big fish casual pull up stream then when rick started to put the boots to him he took of to his safe spot on the otherside of the river where i know the big boys in that section live during the day. I was tellin Rick comon you gotta palm the reel and pull!! and hes like "you have no idea how much pressure i have on this fish!" So he stops the reel and pulls and the fish didn't budge. And i'm just thinking WOW! i'd love to have seen that fish but..........a hooked Beaver would have kicked our arses.

[reevesr1]

What a rush.

 

It was your tippet that broke, not your rod or backing, right? 8wt - 5wt (designed to deliver fly line, not to fight fish). Shouldn't have made a difference.

 

Can of worms.....opened.

The 2X broke just after I hit the bitter end of the backing. And I'm staying away from the rod size argument!

[hydropsyche]

The 2X broke just after I hit the bitter end of the backing.

 

I have only been into my backing a couple of time. Never, ever, been to the end of my backing.

 

Wow.

 

And I'm staying away from the rod size argument!

 

Damn. A sniff, but he didn't take.

[reevesr1]

Beavers are not fish

Dude, that was just mean, but I was thinking he felt suspiciously mammalian in his head shaking!

[OneMoreLastCast]

..... I was tellin Rick comon you gotta palm the reel and pull!! and hes like "you have no idea how much pressure i have on this fish!" So he stops the reel and pulls and the fish didn't budge.

 

 

That was your first, (and last), mistake Rick. Hopefully we can get you into a decent fish next time we're out and I can show you how to stop them....Now that you're into your second year I think you're ready.

 

You will probably gain a bit of weight though since you won't be running downstream so much.

[monger]

OK maybe not a beaver... a submarine? Sounds like great fun. I hope you get another shot at him. The big browns should be moving up river for the October spawn. Perhaps there will be more of these stories over the next month.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

they'll be chasing the whitefish moving up too...start slinging 4-6 inch whitey streamers, you'll be hitting some beasts

[flyangler]

The one that got away has more power than just what is in his body. He has power over our spirits. You might as well name him Moby Dick.

[reevesr1]

That was your first, (and last), mistake Rick. Hopefully we can get you into a decent fish next time we're out and I can show you how to stop them....Now that you're into your second year I think you're ready.

 

You will probably gain a bit of weight though since you won't be running downstream so much.

I didn't chase as there was nothing to chase! Didn't want too man facts to ruin a good story, but here was the scenario:

 

Fishing a very slow flat section, swinging big hopper (some october caddis coming off) downstream. Fish hit close to shore as I was lifting the rod. Very good hookset (by accident), almost no way he was foul hooked. He stays within 50 feet of me for a couple of minutes I would guess. I worked him aggressively at times, but he would pull back so hard I would back off. Once he decides to vacate, it looked like he went directly across the river, through a deep, fast section toward cliffs on the opposite shoreline. I don't know what is over there as I've never fished it, but I would think it is fairly deep. Now I am faced with line that appears to be heading straight into the river (remember that I can't see squat) perpendicular to me. I assume the fish must be heading upstream since I know I have to have a big bow of line going down river and if is seems that the line is going straight out, so he must be heading upstream. And also remember he NEVER stopped pulling drag. So my dilemma is what to do? I considered throwing pulling line and throwing a downstream mend, but what good would that do? All I would be doing was mending into very slow water and couldn't see how that would change any angle of pull on the fish. I worked the rod from side to side, but with the bow in the line/distance to fish, again, what good did that do? The only thing I could think of was big pressure. Didn't work as he just pulled until I was out of line.

 

I've hooked enough big fish to realize that sometimes, unless you are very lucky or very skilled, there will be times when you are under geared for the fish you have hooked. I once caught a 40ish pound redfish on 12 lb test line in the surf once, at night with 125 yds of line on my reel. He almost spooled me three times, but I caught him. Took an hour, and I was very lucky (and moderately skilled) that I got him to turn each time he got towards the end of my spool. However she was way easier to deal with than whatever I hooked Monday night. I'm not doubting for a second that there are lots of people who could have caught that fish. I will say that I also know that he would have won a good percentage of battles, no matter who was on the rod.

 

All that being said, Brett, I truly hope you get the chance to show me what to do next time I hook one that big!! In my head (and that's all that counts, isn't it), he's already pushing 3 feet!!

[toolman]

I think I hooked the same fish a couple of weeks ago Rick. He swam across the river and then turned downstream to hide behind some submerged rocks and wrapped my line, which was 150' out and took another 10 min. to get unstuck.

I'll pm the location to you so you will know if it is the same location. Even with my Spey rod, there was no slowing him down.

[chidders]

Sounds like this story is shaping up to be a legend

[OneMoreLastCast]

I agree with you Rick. There are times when there is absolutely nothing you can do with a fish of this size.

 

The next time we get out I will give you a few things to try on the next one like this though.

 

I"m sure we'll hear some similar stories from Toolman and Hawgstoppah when they return from their trip in October.