Landing Big Fish

[Guest JayVee]

Hi Guys

 

A little advice, if you don't mind. Since I started high sticking, I seem to be getting into a lot bigger fish. I don't know if that's just a coincidence because I didn't FF this time last year. I feel supremely confident I'm going to land my first BIG fish any day now. I know it's inevitable I lose some of these but I can't seem to land any. By big fish I mean 24"+. I've caught several in the 20-22" range and these were for sure significantly bigger than those.

 

So I'm a little confused with a couple of things. First, I don't know if this is a pattern of behavior or just something flukey thats happened to me, but several times the bigger fish will stop fighting and just sit there on the bottom. They do this for minutes, which is a long time when you're anxious to get him to the net. In fact, when it first happened I thought the fish had gotten off and my hook got snagged on the bottom. I even started to twitch the rod to get the hook free! Lo and behold the fish starts moving again. But the bigger problem is when they head for the middle of the river where the current is stronger. They just seem to know that this will mean freedom. Every time this happens, it's bye bye fish. So are there any tips you can share with me that might help me out with this? I'm inclined to start chasing the fish downstream but this is not always possible, but it did work this weekend with a smaller fish. Stopping him dead in his tracks seems like a ludicrous idea.

 

Again I'm aware I'm not the only one that loses big fish like this but I've never read anything about landing big fish so I just want to make sure I'm not missing something obvious.

 

By the way here's a little fish porn from this weekend, my best two evenings on the river so far. This is the last season I'll be home waiting for runoff to be over:

 

 

This guy taped at 22", but like Rick said in another post, a little on the skinny side. And yes, the grass is wet and all that

 

And for those of you who think you know the river well there's a case a beer if you can tell me exactly where these were caught

 

Neil

[toolman]

You need to keep the pressure on the big trout or they will sometimes just lie on the rocks with little energy wasted or bolt downstream on you. As soon as the fight starts, put the pressure on. If they take off, let them go a little ways to burn up some steam, then pull again. Anytime they stop, put the pressure on big time. I don't often have scraps that last more than a minute or two before they are at my feet or they get away. Don't forget, we all lose some time. Also, apply lift pressure with your rod held high at the 12:00 o'clock position and if the trout jumps... yell loudly....YEEEEHAWWWWW!

Just to remind yourself what a good time you're having.

ps. Nice Broonies!

[Tako]

LR-24 Smithroot Electrofisher

[SanJuanWorm]

Yah what toolman said. You have to horse the fish in. If you're nymphing with anything less than 8lb test, you're gonna have a problem (in my opinion).

 

This way just keep turning him away from the current. Now when they start swimming directly toward you..........thats when the fun starts. If you hear big F BOMBS on the river bank one day.......thats when you know i've lost a biggun.

[mkm]

Quick question about what SJW said about leader/tippet weight. I have always stuck with 4x leder/tippet for nymphing. SHould I be using a heavier tippet? Will the fish be more likely to see you tippet if its much bigger than 4x? So far for me it seems that I am not losing many fish with 4x but if I can go heavier without the fish noticing it seems to be a good idea.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[SanJuanWorm]

I use straight 8lb maxima for nymphing. For the smaller streams I use 5 or 6lb straight maxima. Hell I even use it for dries on small streams.

 

Im not much of a dry fly fisherman though.

[reevesr1]

I was out this morning before work. 0X leader with 10lb Vanish Flouro to the bottom 2 flies. High sticking techniques yielded 2 big fish landed and 1 more that came off at the end of the fight and then got hooked in the tail. It took of downstream in current and I broke him off on purpose as I don't think I could have landed him. Way bigger than the 24s. Moral of the story is they sure didn't seem leader shy to me. And when there are no chase opportunities, you really need the line to have some jam. I was putting TONS of pressure on these fish.

[SanJuanWorm]

Max and I caught cutthroats with 20lb test attached to stimmys.

 

Leader shy my ass. Now the Bow river they are a bit smarter. The fish, not Calgarians.

[monger]

Murky, fast water... the fish don't care about your tippet. You can get away with 10-15lb mono/leader for fishing leeches, buggers and big worms. With heavier tippet you can really keep the pressure on like Toolman said. Palm your reel so they really have to work to get ANY line from you after the first big run. Don't let them rest.

[fishfreak]

And for those of you who think you know the river well there's a case a beer if you can tell me exactly where these were caught

 

By the looks of the grass and the direction of flow, my guess would be about 20 feet upstream of the Burnsmead bridge, river right. Just a guess though.

[fishpro]

And for those of you who think you know the river well there's a case a beer if you can tell me exactly where these were caught

 

Neil

 

My guess is from the shore, I don't see any evidence of a pontoon or drift boat.

[Hawgstoppah]

If you can chase, do it. I did a bit of an un scientific study while guiding and the people that didn't want to listen to me and chase the fish downstream (don't LEAD it down just stay with it if it goes)... the people that didn't and tried to fight fish up current lost over 90% of their fish big or small if the fish was hooked nymphing and got directly downstream of them. So' stay with the fish keep it 90 degrees out into the river, stey level with it do not let it get down of you. Up is ok, and actually helps ya if it goes that way but don't let it get more than 45 degrees below you. that seems to be the bye bye point. past a 45 degree angle below you your odds of loosing it go up by at least double, and if it gets directly below you, 90% chance it's gone....

 

disclaimer. Studies done with experienced *AND* rookie level fisherman lumped into one unscientific sample :)

[Guest JayVee]

Guys, thanks to all of you for your input. Holding the rod at 12 o'clock seemed to work well and I always chase them downstream if I can. I had a chance to employ some of these tips tonight, though not with a huge fish. It worked well on this 20 incher though:

 

 

Here are a couple of others from this evening:

 

 

 

Stones, SJWs and Flashback Hare's Ear have been hot flies for me lately.

 

Oh yeah, guess I'll have to drink those beers myself!

[fishfreak]

Hawg's points have worked for me, as I've been able to get my landing ratio up, especially on the larger fish. I love chasing fish down river when they run like that. It gets the blood flowing.

[SilverDoctor]

Unless like me you chased a large Steelhead 100 yards around a bend and discovered a bridge with no way around - "snap".

[birchy]

Or you could just be like me.. and NEVER EVER catch anything over 22" on the Bow! heh heh

[SilverDoctor]

Or you could just be like me.. and NEVER EVER catch anything over 22" on the Bow! heh heh

But those dam 28+" fish keep bothering me.

[localanglr]

i try to horse them in if possible, the only problem i see is i tend to bend out alot of the smaller nbymph hooks or snap off. so i started buying 2x heavy hooks instead of standard wire and it seems to be helping out

[osprey]

i try to horse them in if possible, the only problem i see is i tend to bend out alot of the smaller nbymph hooks or snap off. so i started buying 2x heavy hooks instead of standard wire and it seems to be helping out

Ditto to that. Have lost a number of big fish when the hook straightened. I have taken to tying my nymphs on extra strong hooks. This year I'll also be tying caddis imitations on heavier hooks as well. There seem to be more bigguns than ever in the river.

[Gil]

If you can chase, do it. I did a bit of an un scientific study while guiding and the people that didn't want to listen to me and chase the fish downstream (don't LEAD it down just stay with it if it goes)... the people that didn't and tried to fight fish up current lost over 90% of their fish big or small if the fish was hooked nymphing and got directly downstream of them. So' stay with the fish keep it 90 degrees out into the river, stey level with it do not let it get down of you. Up is ok, and actually helps ya if it goes that way but don't let it get more than 45 degrees below you. that seems to be the bye bye point. past a 45 degree angle below you your odds of loosing it go up by at least double, and if it gets directly below you, 90% chance it's gone....

 

disclaimer. Studies done with experienced *AND* rookie level fisherman lumped into one unscientific sample :)

 

I can attest to Hawgstoppa advice. I lost some big fish until I starting to run (when possible) . Find slower water and keep side preasure on him. Be aware of both your tippet and hook size. if you have heavy tippet on a stone fly you can apply alot more pressure than if you have 4X tippet on a #14 hook. Landed a great 25" fish earlier this spring....