PlayDoh Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 I though it might be interesting to read other peoples favorite memories of the past year angling. I'd share my story of the 20" 5 lbs Marlin, er I mean Rainbow I caught, but I'm sure your all sick of it. Pics are welcome, but try to only pick your 1 favorite. As usual, specific locations are best kept to yourself I suppose, but a general idea and time of year and/or fly used would be great. By no means does it have to be the biggest fish, or actuall caught fish, but maybe just the memory of a trip, or day at the lake, or whatever your fondest fishing memory maybe of 2007. This summer I took one of my best friends out fishing, which he has rarely done & not for a decade. Although it was tough to get him to turn his cell off and enjoy himself without worrying about when he was getting back to the city, we had a great time. He was a little kid every time he caught one, grinning ear to ear. I taught him all the basics, and suggested he start thinking about taking his son out in a couple years when he's old enough, although I think he's forgotten all about it by now. Although it was nothing in comparison to my first Trout on a fly rod, and the only biggie I caught the same day, its a trip I remember with a smile. This year I somewhat gave up on always trying to find a fishing partner, and decided to go out on the boat a few times by myself, and eventually decide to get a fly rod and fish whenever I wanted to. I thought I was going to find it too boring, out on the boat all day alone, but it wasn't bad at all. I became more focused on fishing productively, and trying new techniques. Quote
regdunlop Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 My most memorable trip was in August with one other buddy in a place where I had to (B)ring ©ash. It was worth it though for 11 days straight of not worrying about anything but eating, sleeping, bringing enough beer, and catching fish like this. Oh, and we didn't see another person fishing the entire time. Quote
Teck71 Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 Thats tough but I would have to go with anytime felt sole touched water was pretty awesome Quote
Tie1on24 Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 So many to choose from, but i would have to say my two week trip a buddy and i took out to Vancouver Island. On our way out there we stopped in at Roche Lake near Kamloops fishing a few of the lakes they had there for Rainbows and Brookies. What a beautiful area that is. We camped on Black lake and had the whole lake to ourselves. Here is a shot from our camp. From there we made the trek to Campbell River. We spent most of our days fishing the Quinsam and Campbell for Pink Salmon however did make a couple other day trips. First we headed west on the island and fished the Elk River (A fly fish only river on Van. Island) for coastal Cutthroat. Lucky for us i think every other fisherman in the area was shoulder to shoulder on the Campbell and we had the river to ourselves. We also made the hour drive to the Gold River where i landed my first steelhead to date. What a beautiful river. Below is the pic of my steelhead. All in all it was a great trip. We didnt catch as much fish as previous years up in the Kitimat/Skeena system however i believe that the scenery made up for that. Cant wait for some new adventures in 2008! Tight Lines Quote
OneMoreLastCast Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 I had some great single day and multi-day trips in 2007, so it's hard to pick one. I had a great "Fish Every Cast" on Dries evening with Hawgstoppah and Toolman.... I had a great "Big Bulltrout and Cutthroat" trip to BC with Troutlover, Rickr and Swampdonkey.... I had a great week long trip for big Rainbows on Chironomids on a Semi-Secret Lake in BC.... As well as a few others worth mentioning, but I'd have to say my most "Memorable" trip was the day I'd arranged to go fishing with a member from this site for the first time down to Bullshead. We made arrangements the night before and I picked Rickr up really early the next morning. We did the obligatory "Nice to Meet you" hand shake, thru his gear in my vehicle and headed South. The weather in Calgary looked promising, so we anticipated a pretty good day. We got to know each other pretty well on the drive down and I was happy that I had met a new fishing buddy. As we got closer to Medicine Hat, the weather started to look like it might not cooperate, but we decided we'd gone far enough, we might as well give it a shot. As we parked, the heavy, (and damn cold), rain was blowing horizontally at about 70 km/hr....but we figured, we'd gone far enough, we might as well give it a shot. We walked around quite a ways to a spot that looked like it might be broken by the wind, we were half right. The wind and rain was only blowing around 50 km/hr. Three or Four casts later, we head back to the vehicle to avoid frostbite. Putting our heads together, we decide it might be better to drive back towards Calgary and try there since Rick's wife confirmed that the weather in Calgary was still nice. As we pull up to the Highway 24 bridge below Carsland, the weather is really nice. No wind and the sun is shining bright, so we get our hopes up again. We both re-rig up and start walking to the beautiful Bow River. I start telling Rick about some of the big Brutes that I've caught at this spot, etc. as we get to the edge of the bank where we could see the river..... I'm not sure how to describe what we saw, but I guess the closest comparison would be...Dark Chocolate milk with extra Chocolate! There were logs and other debris floating down beside our Corkies that went from the upstream cast to the end of the cast faster than you could blink your eyes. We figure that the conditions might be better further upstream, so that's where we headed. We were wrong.... By the end of this wonderful trip, we'd driven for about 8 hours and fished a total of about 20 mins. No complaints though because I made a good friend and as we know, fishing buddies are the best kind of friends right. Quote
OneMoreLastCast Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 So many to choose from, but i would have to say my two week trip a buddy and i took out to Vancouver Island. On our way out there we stopped in at Roche Lake near Kamloops fishing a few of the lakes they had there for Rainbows and Brookies. What a beautiful area that is. We camped on Black lake and had the whole lake to ourselves. Here is a shot from our camp. I'm jealous. One of my most memorable trips all time was when we were camped at that exact spot on Black Lake in '93. Did you catch any of the big Brookies that live in the deadfall in your picture? Beatiful Lake. Quote
Tie1on24 Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 I'm jealous. One of my most memorable trips all time was when we were camped at that exact spot on Black Lake in '93. Did you catch any of the big Brookies that live in the deadfall in your picture? Beatiful Lake. We didnt catch anything to brag about. A few small brooks and bows. I was talking to a guy up at the Roche Lake resort and he said he pulled a 9 lb rainbow from there a month prior but that with the summer heat the fishing had really slowed down. Definitely on my list of things to do this spring though! Quote
BlueNorther Posted January 3, 2008 Posted January 3, 2008 It would have to be when I took the Missus up to Alford lake in early september.She just started fly fishing this year.She wanted to try out her new Fish Cat 4.I rigged up a 9' 5wt for her and tied on a boatman and gave her a basic casting lesson. The day started off sunny and warm,much to her liking but didn't stay that way for long.We'd get 10 or 15 minutes of sunshine then a squall would come blasting out of the N.W. and last about 20 minutes before calming down,it was like this all day.The good thing was that it chased all the fair weather fishers off the water and by noon we had the lake to ourselves. It took about an hour before she got her first hook up and I coached her on fighting the fish and then the handling of it after I netted it for her.I was pleasantly surprized that she wanted to unhook and release the fish,a 13 incher.After that she never looked back,in two hours she hooked and released 12 more,two that went 18 inches.She was leaving me in the dust,at one point she was 5 fish on top of my take and enjoyed rubbing some salt into the wound.Everytime I'd hook up and think I might catch her,she'd catch another one.Finally I had to go to a dry fly and overtake her,she says I cheated . We fished for 7 hours and only took 1 break for some grits and a pee break.The days total was over 30 trout. Now the really best part of this is she wanted a flyrod of her own,so for Christmas Santa gave her a TFO package,9' 5wt Signature series.Now she can't wait for ice out to try it out. Quote
maxwell Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 definetly the most memorable fish this year was "angus"! i will never forget...i lost this brute several times for the past 2 years...took the red midge size 20... all teh tence screamin, cringing and yellin as he swam/flopped over teh dipped net..then silence once he was in the net a few seconds later.... as for most memorable trip.....theres too many too count..had tons of amazing days with good friends, new friends, clients, family, board members etc....thanks Quote
bulltrout Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 see post in photo related topic from one week ago... Quote
ladystrange Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 my most memorable was my trip to vancouver island. fished the quansam river for pink run. didnt catch a thing but i got to spend the afternoon tying salmon flies on the beach and then taught my longest best friend how to fly fish and then we hit the river. Quote
grannyknot Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 One beautiful day when I could do no wrong on the Crow. Hadn't realised fishing could be that much fun. Quote
reevesr1 Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 The funniest part of the trip with MTB was that after all the driving, the wind and rain, high muddy water, the one fish we caught (ok, I caught) was about a mile from my house! I'd give precise directions, but I wouldn't want a pile of people there this spring..... Quote
Din Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 most memorable was taking off for a week by myself to explore some new waters. wake up fish a new river, drive at night in the dark. park at a new river and do it all over again.....fished 7 new rivers/creeks in 6 days... Quote
Gary Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 Well my most memorable fishing trip ever took place this year. My life long best friend (from the time we were toddlers) and I after too many missed opportunities and conflicting schedules finally got a chance the first weekend in September to take a small excursion to places we hadn't fished together in years. While the fishing wasn't great we had a super time reminiscing and making plans for walleye fishing and getting our dogs out for pheasants later in the fall and touring on motorcycles next year. Weather was great. An absolutely great day my last fish of the day Norman fighting his last Norm's last fish....pure joy on his face This was our very last fishing trip together. Quote
ladystrange Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 thank you for sharing that story gary. it is nice that the 2 of you were able to get out finally and have some special time together. Quote
Gary Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 Thanks Ladystrange....I was a little unsure about putting it up Quote
bloom Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 Gary...there seems to be a good deal of finality in your post...sounds like a great last trip though. Quote
PlayDoh Posted January 4, 2008 Author Posted January 4, 2008 I could read these all night, thanks for sharing. Quote
Gary Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 Gary...there seems to be a good deal of finality in your post...sounds like a great last trip though. yeah unfortunately there is...was kind of unsure about posting it not wanting to ruin the thread. Norm was in a fatal motorcycle accident 6 days later. He had bad heart problems since his late 30's so each day we had for the last few years were bonuses. I am sure there must be better ways to go but he lived his life and passed on doing what he loved. Guess we can't hope for more than that. Quote
Teck71 Posted January 4, 2008 Posted January 4, 2008 Sounds like a great trip. sorry to hear about your friend. but at least you got the last trip, and as for motorcycle accident that is probably number 5 on my list of ways to go. number 2 if you discount the ones that have me naked. Quote
Hawgstoppah Posted January 5, 2008 Posted January 5, 2008 Sorry to hear about your friend. Glad you got to spend some precious time with him. I guess my number one from '07 would be: Every night I fished the Bow on the dry this year..... from meeting guys like MTB, Glenbow, Toolman, Maxwell, and many many more. The highlight of the year was the steelhead trip to BC with Toolman in Oct. We didn't catch a whole lot, but the experience and friendships we made out there were amazing and I can't wait till next year! Quote
birchy Posted January 5, 2008 Posted January 5, 2008 I'm going to have to go with that first fish on the dry fly.. 22" rainbow at the D Bar D in Castlegar BC. Being able to report back to the FFC gang that I caught and the Dimestore Fisherman did not. heh heh Quote
toolman Posted January 5, 2008 Posted January 5, 2008 Many good memories from 2007 and many good friends made, as MTB and Hawgstoppah mentioned. The trip of the year would have to be the Steelhead adventure I had with Brian... My best fish, well there were a few, including my first Steelie for sure, but there's a big brown that I got to meet last March that gave me a thrill I will never forget. I could post the pics, but you've all seen them enough. My goals for 2008... Pedal to the mat...Spey rod in hand...I'll find em'...photo's pending. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.